Michael B. Vlass
Founder & President
The Vlass Group, LLC
Atlanta, Georgia | Southeastern United States
Industry: Real Estate
Sector: Real Estate Development & Urban Redevelopment
Specialties: Mixed-Use Development | Urban Redevelopment | Commercial Real Estate | Development Finance | Master Planning | Public-Private Partnerships
🌐Website
Leadership Focus
Transformational Development | Investment Strategy | Urban Revitalization | Economic Development | Strategic Partnerships | Long-Term Value Creation
CityBox Executive Essence™
Michael B. Vlass is a veteran real estate developer and entrepreneur whose career brings together commercial banking, development finance, investment strategy, urban redevelopment, and large-scale mixed-use development.
As Founder and President of The Vlass Group, Vlass has participated in complex redevelopment initiatives throughout the Southeastern United States, including Atlanta’s Atlantic Station and major master-planned redevelopment projects in Florida. His leadership reflects a long-term view of development: transforming underutilized properties into places capable of generating economic activity, investment, connectivity, and enduring community value.
Executive Overview
Michael Vlass is the Founder and President of The Vlass Group, LLC, an Atlanta-based real estate development and investment organization focused on complex urban, mixed-use, and master-planned development opportunities.
His career in real estate and finance spans more than four decades. After earning a Bachelor of Arts degree from Georgia State University in 1974, Vlass entered the management executive training program at Citizens and Southern National Bank, now part of Bank of America. His banking career included commercial lending, management of a portfolio exceeding $100 million in foreclosed properties and problem loans, construction lending, and ultimately leadership as Vice President and Manager of the Commercial Mortgage Banking Department.
In 1981, he became a founding principal of The Vlass-Fotos Group of affiliated entities, which acquired, developed, financed, and managed income-producing real estate across the Southeast. During its 18 years of operation, the company’s portfolio included retail, office, industrial, hotel, multifamily residential, and mixed-use land development with aggregate value exceeding $300 million.
Vlass formed The Vlass Group in 2000, extending his work into major urban redevelopment and master-planned initiatives. His development experience includes involvement with Atlantic Station in Atlanta, Uptown Altamonte in the Orlando market, and the redevelopment of downtown Temple Terrace in the Tampa metropolitan area.
Why This Leader Matters
Transformational real estate development requires substantially more than identifying land and constructing buildings.
Large-scale redevelopment can involve finance, land acquisition, environmental challenges, infrastructure, municipal priorities, public-private collaboration, market conditions, investment strategy, architecture, engineering, construction, and years of coordinated execution.
Michael Vlass brings experience across many of those dimensions.
His early banking career provided a foundation in commercial lending, troubled real estate assets, construction finance, and mortgage banking. His subsequent development career allowed him to apply that financial understanding to the acquisition, development, management, and repositioning of real estate across multiple asset classes.
That combination is particularly visible in his involvement with complex mixed-use redevelopment initiatives. Rather than viewing development solely in terms of individual buildings, his career reflects the broader role real estate can play in reshaping districts, creating economic activity, attracting investment, and influencing how communities grow over generations.
CityBox Leadership Signals™
Strategic Orientation
Connecting real estate development with investment strategy, financing, master planning, public-private collaboration, and long-term urban and economic development.
Decision Style
Strategic, financially disciplined, opportunity-driven, and long-range, with an emphasis on evaluating both immediate development feasibility and the broader potential of a property or district.
Primary Influence
Urban redevelopment, mixed-use development, commercial real estate, development finance, investment strategy, master planning, economic development, and public-private partnerships.
Leadership Strength
Combining deep financial knowledge with real estate development experience to navigate complex projects requiring capital strategy, partnerships, planning, and long-term vision.
Executive Signature
Transforming opportunity into places built for enduring value.
Leadership Environment
Commercial real estate, urban redevelopment, mixed-use development, institutional finance, municipal partnerships, investment, architecture and construction, economic development, and master-planned communities.
Selected Leadership Milestones
Michael Vlass’ leadership journey reflects more than four decades across commercial banking, real estate investment, large-scale development, urban redevelopment, and entrepreneurial leadership.
Commercial Banking & Development Finance Foundation
Vlass began his career with Citizens and Southern National Bank, where his responsibilities progressed from commercial lending into real estate assets, construction financing, and commercial mortgage banking.
His experience included responsibility for a portfolio exceeding $100 million in foreclosed properties and problem loans before later serving as Vice President and Manager of the Commercial Mortgage Banking Department.
Founding Principal | The Vlass-Fotos Group
In 1981, Vlass became a founding principal of The Vlass-Fotos Group of Affiliated Entities.
Over the company’s 18-year history, its portfolio encompassed retail, office, industrial, hotel, multifamily, and mixed-use real estate throughout the Southeastern United States, totaling more than $300 million in value. The organization also expanded into providing equity venture capital to other developers during the latter part of the 1990s.
Founder | The Vlass Group
In 2000, Vlass formed The Vlass Group, LLC, continuing his focus on sophisticated real estate development and investment opportunities.
The organization has participated in dense urban redevelopment and master-planned projects requiring the integration of development strategy, financing, partnerships, planning, and long-term market positioning.
Atlantic Station | Atlanta
Vlass participated with developer Jim Jacoby in the redevelopment of Atlantic Station, the approximately $2 billion transformation of the former Atlantic Steel site in Atlanta.
The project became one of Atlanta’s defining mixed-use redevelopment initiatives, bringing residential, commercial, retail, office, hospitality, and public spaces together within a major urban redevelopment district.
Major Florida Master-Planned Developments
Vlass’ development record also includes serving as Master Developer of Uptown Altamonte, identified as an approximately $300 million mixed-use redevelopment in Altamonte Springs near Orlando, and Master Developer of the New Downtown Temple Terrace, an approximately $160 million live-work-play redevelopment in the Tampa metropolitan area.
CityBox Leadership & Editorial Legacy
Michael Vlass has been part of the CityBox leadership ecosystem for years and was featured as a keynote speaker for The Trailblazers Atlanta / The Milestone Series, where his career in banking, real estate development, entrepreneurship, and major redevelopment projects was presented alongside other influential Atlanta leaders.
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