The Mullins Companies recently relocated its headquarters to near Southern Grace Apartments, the complex the company has been slowly renovating since the first purchase in 1998.

The process began about 20 years ago when Joe Mullins, founder and CEO of The Mullins Companies, began buying condos one-by-one at the Brandywine complex.

Mullins eventually bought all of the units in the complex — a total of 144 — by 2013.  Mullins has since consolidated the units to a private apartment complex, a move he says raised the value from about $40,000 per unit to more than $100,000 per unit.

The final piece of the puzzle, Mullins said, was to move his company’s headquarters near the complex.

The Mullins Companies’ headquarters is now at 220 Boy Scout Road, in Augusta.  “I started in 1998 and many people told me buying a complex up one-by-one couldn’t be done,” Mullins said. “By remembering what I was taught as a child — never give up on a vision and never say no — I set out to make it happen. It took many years, but now it’s complete.”

Mullins said the ultimate goal to improve a distressed area and increase the quality of life and value has been accomplished.

“My motto is if there’s a distressed area that people turn their back on, it’s probably heavy crime and drug-filled,” he said. “Look out, because I’m on my way to acquire it and turn it around.”

Mullins serves on the Statewide Opioid Task Force and works to create a drug-free environment.