In his 23+ years in Atlanta commercial real estate — and inspired by a colorful, deep-fried, parade-filled, culturally rich upbringing in New Orleans, LA — Gene Kansas has garnered a reputation as a champion of historic preservation, adaptive reuse, community building, and storytelling through the built environment. Each Gene Kansas project aims to blend an appreciation of culture and history with creative, responsible, and vital refashioning that brings new relevance to space and how it is used by clients, neighborhoods, and the city. The founder and president of Gene Kansas | Commercial Real Estate, Gene leads with passion and purpose, with the ability of looking forward and a mindset of giving back. Company accomplishments include: the historic preservation of the Atlanta Daily World Building in Sweet Auburn, named the #2 Preservation Win by the National Trust for Historic Preservation in 2014; the catalytic marketing and design contest that helped save the Clermont Hotel; and his creative repositioning, value creation, and leasing for Amsterdam Walk, Historic Commercial Row, and Sweet Auburn Curb Market. Gene is also the creator and founder of Constellations, “where stars come together to shine,” a civic and socially-based shared workspace in the reimagined Southern Schoolbook Building on Auburn Avenue. Through that, Gene Kansas | Commercial Real Estate is the only firm in the city of Atlanta to serve as owner, operator, broker, and developer of a shared workspace. (Constellations also gives Gene the opportunity to serve people two of his favorite things: free coffee, and free fresh-baked cookies.)