Today's Silver Companies is a collection of companies that share a rich heritage of innovation and industry leadership. While each company has a unique history, they all exhibit an underlying integrity and talent for deal-making that people in the real estate and financial worlds have come to appreciate. Since 1941 when founder Carl D. Silver began his first business, the name Silver has represented honor and hard work.

Silver Companies provides strategic direction and consolidated financial reporting for the numerous operating entities that collectively present real estate development, investment and equity lending opportunities nationwide under the Silver name. While our original interests were strictly commercial, CEO Larry D. Silver has continually expanded the scope to encompass nearly every facet of real estate development and financing that exists.

Real estate development has always played a part in the Silver's entrepreneurial ventures. As a teenager, Carl Silver managed to both attend high school and monitor trips taken by dump trucks he had purchased to haul gravel to a new military airstrip development. Later, when he volunteered to serve his country in World War II, Carl recalls writing home to his father about a property he wanted to purchase upon his return. After he was wounded and shipped home from the European Theater, Carl bought that quarter acre of land and built his first office. From a small white clapboard office, he grew a successful used car dealership during a time when car manufacturing had screeched to a halt. Used cars were tough to come by, but easy to sell if you could get them. The customer satisfaction promises Carl advertised along with his "Silverized" cars fostered a reputation for integrity that persists today.

After winning a Buick franchise in 1955 and a Pontiac franchise in 1957, Carl realized that as successful as his car business was, the real estate transactions he was making on the side deserved greater focus. And so he sold his interest in the car business to his sales force and began in earnest to shape a real estate development company. Carl involved his son in real estate negotiations beginning as early as 10-years-old, and in 1972 Larry D. Silver became president of Silver Companies.

Larry Silver's start in the business marked the company's first venture outside the commercial real estate market. The Silver Rural Land Development Business parceled farms into small "ranchettes" of five-to-ten acres for customers from Northern Virginia and Washington, D.C., who wanted "a place in the country". Soon the Silver Companies' umbrella covered a Retail Land Sales Business and a Wholesale Land Sales Business that sold lots to builders. Then in the 1980s, Silver Companies added vertical development to its previously only horizontal work. In 1989, Silver Companies ranked as the 107th Largest Homebuilder in the United States. For a period of time, Silver was building more than 600 homes in the same year it was selling more than 1,500 raw lots to other builders.

In 1986 Carl showcased his negotiating talent when he succeeded in purchasing 310 acres alongside one of the busiest corridors in the United States, and midway between Washington, D.C., and Richmond, VA. Today, Central Park in Fredericksburg, VA, is the East Coast's largest retail power center. Dubbed "the exit of exits" for offering shoppers and diners their choice of more than 140 retail and entertainment destinations, including 40 restaurants, Central Park's retail spaces total more than 2.2 million sq. ft.

Following Carl's lead, Larry amassed over several years 2100 acres adjacent to his father's property. Celebrate Virginia® is the name of the master-planned project now anchored by Central Park. The Celebrate Virginia® Project is slated to boast a campus of hotels and a conference center, an eco-adventure park, theatre and entertainment district, an indoor water park and hotel resort, and the National Slavery Museum. The Fredericksburg Expo Center and Hilton Garden Inn opened in Celebrate Virginia® Project in 2005. Prior to that, successful development concluded on a 1,250-unit active adult community by Del Webb, a corporate office campus offering 3 million sq. ft., and the award-winning Cannon Ridge Golf Resort. A Homewood Suites is the second of four hotels already under development.

The Celebrate Virginia® Project spans 2400 acres, making it America's Largest Retail Resort™. It is located along I-95, 45 miles south of the nation's Capital and within 500 miles of half of the population of the United States.

Between 1999 and 2005, Silver Companies provided more than $1 billion in capital to outside builders and developers in addition to funding all of its own residential and commercial development projects. Recognizing the strength of its financial capabilities and expertise, Silver Companies continues to evolve. As markets shift, Silver Companies shifts focus among asset classes. New partnerships and investment funds are fast initiatives. And its longevity in the real estate industry has established for Silver Companies a network of ready participants.

Today, Silver Companies is a premier real estate development and investment firm. By operating independently, each company can focus exclusively on delivering the best service for its specific market. Acting collectively under the trusted Silver Companies banner ensures that all of the companies benefits from association with one of the most highly regarded entities in the industry.