Welcome to Gorman :: News & Awards

Gary Gorman decided he would rather play the game of business than watch from the sidelines.

That was 21 years ago. Today, he's the president of Gorman & Co., the well-known and successful Madison development company that's regularly in the news on high-profile projects.

He's a lawyer and a father, a runner and skier who works hard and plays hard but has time to go fishing with his young sons. And he was Bucky Badger in college.

Gorman is serious but not sentimental about his projects.

"Don't love anything that doesn't love you back," he said. "That's one of my favorite sayings."

He enjoys the challenge of making a positive social impact while negotiating complicated legal and political paths.

"It is very complex and that's what I love about it," he said. "It's something our firm embraces."

Gorman, 49, grew up in Monona and graduated from Monona Grove High School. He started college at Lawerence University in Appleton and finished at UW-Madison with a degree in economics.

He took a year off and spent it fixing up a two-flat, crewing on a 55-foot boat and exploring Europe before returning to UW-Madison for law school.

Gorman was invited to become a partner in a Madison law firm in 1984. But he found himself more interested in making the deals than representing the dealmakers. He left the firm and created his company. His parents and brother had to co-sign his first loan. He's proud to say he repaid them.

In his legal work, he saw others make mistakes and take bad risks. He concluded "only the paranoid survive."

What does that mean? "You have to anticipate problems and avoid them before they occur," Gorman said.

He's seen developers who charge ahead, pursuing any deal.

"I saw a lot of those people crash," he said. "We'd rather have a small crash early than a big crash later. We'd rather live to fight another day."

Lean and successful
That Gorman's company has the financial cushion to do that reflects not only its success but also a lean operation that belies its size - about 130 employees and its own in-house construction and management divisions.

Headquarters are unpretentious underground offices at 1244 S. Park St., in a small commercial building north of the Copps Food Store parking lot. "No airplane, no fancy offices, no big cars," Gorman said. "It's modest to the extreme."

How successful is his company? "We do do well," Gorman said, declining to offer numbers. For him, the measure of success is that lenders and investors want to do business with him.

One commercial banker, Dennis Davidsaver of Bank One, credits Gorman and his staff with doing their homework.

"Gary can see the big picture and does not get caught up in the minutiae," he said.

But Gorman will tackle the small stuff. All of his tenants in more than 3,000 apartments, for example, are invited to call the president's hotline if they have an apartment problem. He'll deal with it, but he doesn't like to have to call his managers.

"I'm usually polite, but they don't want to get that call," Gorman said.

He's proud of having confident, capable employees. What makes him angry is inaction. He would rather have good people charge ahead and ask forgiveness later, if necessary, than wait and ask for permission.

How does he react if he's angry? "Curt. I rarely yell. That is just not my style," he said. "Direct. And blunt."

Gorman's executive vice-president, Tom Capp, said the arm-pumping enthusiasm of Bucky Bader is reflected in Gorman's ability to inspire his employees.

Willing to listen
Gorman found his niche in developing affordable housing under the federal Section 42 program, although his projects also include market-rate developments, condominiums and commercial space. The federal program, part of the Tax Reform Act of 1986, offers tax credits to investors in low-income housing.

Capp said the company can tackle tough projects because it helps communities solve problems, not just create apartments.

"If affordable housing is the only thing you're doing you're often developer non grata," Capp said.

Another Madison developer, Todd McGrath, calls Gorman "a good guy" and an ethical competitor who's respected in the developer community.

Most of Gorman's work is outside Dane County, but his projects here have been highly visible and occasionally controversial. His renovation of the landmark art moderne Quisling Clinic in Downtown Madison was delayed after neighbors opposed razing the building. Gorman eventually overhauled it to create 60 apartments.

Gorman measures his words when asked about his experience with city of Madison politics.

"Landlords and developers are easy targets for people who just want to throw stones," he said. But most communities have a predictable process, while the lack of predictability developers.

Gorman is praised by Madison officials - even outspoken housing advocate Brenda Konkel - for his willingness to listen.

"He's willing to do what it takes to involve people who should be involved," said Brad Murphy, director of the city's planning unit, Gorman's proposal to redevelop the 800 block of East Washington avenue has undergone extensive review by city staff and neighbors and probably will win favorable reviews when it goes to the Plan Commission Feb. 21, he said.

Even after the Quisling Clinic, Gorman has been willing to spend his Saturday mornings on a city effort to improve communications among developers, officials and neighbors, Murphy said.

Konkel sees Gorman as a developer who's "trying in good faith" to make the Allied Drive affordable housing project work.

Gorman has proposed a $13.1 million redevelopment of the former SuperSaver site at 4629 Verona Road, which would include apartments, a child-care center, splash pool and underground parking. He and city officials have been unable to agree on financial issues, although another meeting is set for Monday.

A few months ago, Konkel issued an off-the-cuff suggestion that Gorman "just come to the meeting" of the Affordable Housing Action Alliance to hear members' concerns. He surprised them by showing up.

"He was taking notes, he was open to having dialogue," she said. "There was some heated discussion and some disagreement, but I think it was a good intellectual discussion."

Athlete and cook
Gorman's competitive energy, nurtured in high-school wrestling, prompts him to run through South Side neighborhoods near his office when he needs a break. He plays a mean game of pickup basketball, according to friends, and coaches the Rockets in Oregon's youth program.

He's the designated breakfast cook for Bash West, a yearly all-guy ski trip that's headed to Vail, CO in March.

The menu? Eggs cooked in bacon grease.

Gorman cooks at home, too. On a recent weeknight, his wife, Mallory, was out of town. He and their sons, Danny, 9, and Adam, 12, decided dinner should be scrambled eggs and cinnamon toast.

Gorman also has three daughters: Emily, 24; Natalie, 22; and Katie, 21.

The Rev. Tony Schumacher, former pastor of Gorman's church, Holy Mother of consolation in Oregon, said Gorman combines social concerns and good business practices.

"He knows what's possible. He's not going to get into a fly-by-night operation out of sympathy," Schumacher said. "He's reliable, dependable and a person of his word."