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The Legacy              

Mike’s family legacy derives from a bloodline of entrepreneurs, politicians, teachers, ministers, and war veterans.  The history equates to over a 100 years of community service.  His mother, Jeanne Gore Roberts, stems from the Gore legacy.  Her Grandfather and Father, Rev. Herman Gore Sr. and Herman Jr., pastured Christ Southern Mission Baptist Church in St. Louis, MO for over 100 years.

Mike’s father, Michael Roberts Sr., comes from the Roberts legacy.  His father, Victor Roberts, is a war veteran and retired U.S. postal supervisor and his mother, Deloris, retired as a St. Louis public school teacher.   Michael Sr. and his brother, Steve, continued the heritage and made an early decision to dedicate their lives to entrepreneurship and serving the public as former Aldermen of St. Louis City. 

The birth of the Roberts Companies was in 1974 and currently one of the nation’s largest and most successful minority-owned companies.  Specifically, they specialize in consulting minority and women contracting employment, TV broadcasting, wireless cell and towers, commercial & residential real estate development (historic restoration and new build), hotel ownership & management operations, and a continued commitment to environmentally sustainable and responsible GREEN construction.

The tradition continues…

MICHAEL V. ROBERTS, JD
Chairman & CEO
The Roberts Companies

Michael Roberts is the classic American entrepreneur.  Born to middle class hard working parents, educated in the St. Louis public school system, he worked his way through college and law school to become one of St. Louis’ leading businessmen.   Throughout his rise in business, Mr. Roberts maintained a strong commitment to the African-American community from which he came.  Locating his headquarters in the heart of this community, his endeavors over the last twenty-nine years have created thousands of jobs and entrepreneurial opportunities, raised the level of economic activity and enhanced the quality of life for the African-American community.
Mr. Roberts' broad range of professional knowledge and experience developed as both a business owner and public official (St. Louis Board of Aldermen, 1977-1985) encompasses the application of innovative financing strategies for large public projects, public-private sector development negotiation strategies, and successful management techniques for urban commercial properties.  His leadership in the creation of innovative strategies for financing of redevelopment projects propelled the City into a major redevelopment phase that lasted throughout the 1980s.

Roberts-Roberts & Associates (RR&A)
was founded by Michael Roberts and his brother Steven in 1974.  RR&A is a minority-owned business consulting and construction management firm headquartered in St. Louis, MO.  RR&A serves major corporations, governmental and quasi-governmental agencies, and private owners in the management of all phases of a construction project, including the design and management of programs to ensure the participation of Minority-owned, Women-owned, and Local Small Businesses.  RR&A has served as consultant to a wide variety of public and private sector clients over the past twenty-nine years, managing MBE/WBE participation as construction contractors, vendors and suppliers in projects throughout the country whose cumulative cost exceeds $30 billion.   

Roberts Broadcasting
was founded in 1989 by Michael and his brother Steve.  Roberts Broadcasting [RBC] is licensee for WRBU-TV, Channel 46, in St. Louis, MO, the first African-American owned, full-power television station to enter the St. Louis market in over twenty years. Originally, an affiliate of Home Shopping Network, TV46 became an affiliate of UPN in April 2003. In September of 2006, WRBU will become an affiliate of FOX owned MYNETWORK TV.  WRBU broadcasts to over 2.5 million viewers in the St. Louis ADI. 
In the early 1990’s Roberts Broadcasting began an expansion that added nine full power and two low power minority-owned television stations in:
Denver, CO       (sold)               
Raleigh-Durham, NC  (sold)
Nashville, TN     (sold)              
Jackson, MS   (Launched 2005)
Hartford, CT       (sold)             
Columbia, SC  (Launched 2006)
Salt Lake City, UT  (merger)       
Pensacola, FL. low power (sold)
Albuquerque, NM   (merger)      
Mobile, AL   low power (sold)
Santa Fe, NM  (sold)                            

 Roberts Brothers Properties
RBP was formed in 1982 as Kingsway Centre Partnership when Mr. Roberts purchased the old Sears [department store] building, now named the Victor Roberts Building, which stood vacant in a severely depressed section of St. Louis City.  The city's largest commercial office building outside of the downtown business district (200,000 square feet), the old Sears building threatened to become a symbol of the pervasive economic depression that plagued St. Louis' inner-city.  By 1985, under Mr. Roberts' business leadership and hard work, the Victor Roberts building had become a thriving commercial center, delivering goods and services to more than 3,000 people per day.  Mr. Roberts' success in revitalizing this commercial center was characterized by his ability to create innovative financing strategies and recruit a mix of tenants, which maximized social and economic benefits for the community. In 1991, the Roberts' added significantly to their community's economic progress with the opening of a new Aldi Supermarket -the largest Aldi store in the state of Missouri -constructed on the corner of the building’s parking lot.  In 1999, Mr. Roberts developed the 14,000 square foot out parcel adjacent to the Victor Roberts Building, attracting Blockbuster Video into the minority community for the first time.  This development also includes a Domino’s Pizza and State Farm Insurance office.

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Roberts Lofts on the Plaza

Roberts Lofts is RBP’s major development project in downtown St. Louis.  Mr. Roberts purchased the old St. Louis School Board building in 2003. Renovation to provide 47 loft apartments and commercial space on the first floor will add the vital element of modern and convenient housing in the City’s downtown redevelopment activities. 

 Roberts Place
is one of the Roberts’s newest projects.  It includes renovation of the historic Enright School into 70 apartments and construction of 24 new 3,000 square foot single family homes.  The single family homes are designed to meet the LEED (Leadership in Energy Efficient Design) standards for environmentally sustainable and responsible development.  Roberts Place will be a gated community with 24/7 on-site security and free broadband Internet access to all apartments and homes. 

Roberts Centre of Denver
is an office building near the African-American community known as Five Points and only minutes from downtown Denver, CO.

RobertsWirelessCommunications
America’s First 100% African-American Owned Digital PCS Telephone Company, Built from the Ground Up

In early 1998, Mr. Roberts initiated discussions with Sprint PCS in Kansas City to explore affiliation opportunities.  In June of 1998, Roberts signed an affiliation agreement with Sprint PCS.
As the only Sprint PCS affiliate in
Missouri, RWC built and operated a
network that provides Sprint PCS service
to over 2.5 million residents of Missouri, Illinois and Kansas.
Mr. Roberts’ success in financing and building a wireless telephony network in record time led to a merger of Roberts Wireless Communications with Alamosa PCS, Washington-Oregon Wireless, and Southwest PCS in February 2001 creating Sprint PCS’s largest affiliate with coverage of over 15 million people in thirteen states.

Roberts Tower Company
America’s 2nd Largest Privately Held Tower Company

Roberts Tower Company was formed as a result of Roberts Wireless’ merger with Alamosa PCS.  Mr. Roberts retained ownership of communications towers in Missouri, Illinois, Kansas, and Oklahoma.  With Alamosa (a Sprint PCS affiliate) as the anchor tenant, Roberts Tower Company is growing fast as other service providers such as AT&T, Sprint PCS, Verizon, T-Moblie and Cingular seek tower space in the Midwest.  Additionally, it owns and operates television broadcast towers in Missouri, Utah, New Mexico and Tennessee.

Roberts Plaza, LLC
was formed in 1999 when Mr. Roberts purchased a strip shopping center and freestanding grocery store in St. Louis’ fashionable central west-end. Anchored by St. Louis’ largest grocery store operator, and located at one of the busiest intersections in the city, Roberts Plaza   has succeeded in recruiting a new Hollywood Video store and several specialty retailers such as Street Legends and Payless Shoe Store to fill the strip center. 

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The Shops at Roberts Village
a 42,000 square foot shopping center was completed in early 2003 and brings a new shopping plaza creating new jobs to the area adjacent to the Victor Roberts building.  Mr. Roberts received the Spirit of St. Louis Award, presented by the Mayor, in recognition of his contribution to the City’s revitalization.


Roberts Mayfair Hotel
The first and only African-American owned hotel in downtown St. Louis.

The Roberts Mayfair also represents the first affiliation of an African-American owned hotel with Wyndham Hotels, Inc.  This historic hotel opened in downtown St. Louis in 1926 and was acquired by Mr. Roberts in August of 2003.  One of the City’s most famous boutique hotels, the Roberts Mayfair sits in the center of the convention district.  This 18 story 182-room hotel consists primarily of luxury suites.

Roberts Tower
is one of the Roberts’s most exciting and aggressive projects.  A 24 story all-glass tower adjacent to the existing Roberts Mayfair Hotel that will include 58 for sale luxury condos, a new four star restaurant, a spa and exercise room, and new meeting rooms for the Mayfair Hotel.  Roberts Tower  is designed to achieve LEED Gold certification for environmentally sustainable and responsible construction.

Roberts Crowne Plaza Hotel, Marietta -Atlanta

The Roberts Mayfair Hotel-Atlanta is conveniently located off Interstate 75, just 15 minutes from downtown Atlanta and 25 minutes from Hartsfield Airport. 

Roberts Comfort Inn-Busch Gardens, Tampa

The 257 room hotel includes a large conference center

Roberts Clarion Hotel-Johnson Space Center, Houston

The 220 room hotel includes a conference center.

Roberts Holiday Inn – Houston, SW

The Roberts Holiday Inn, Houston SW is a 207 room hotel with conference and banquet facilities.

Roberts Radisson Hotel – Spartanburg, SC

The Roberts Radisson Hotel in Spartanburg, SC is a 200 room hotel with conference facilities.

The Roberts Holiday Inn in Shreveport, LA

The Roberts Holiday Inn in Shreveport, LA is 267 room hotel.

Roberts Orpheum Theater
a historic and unique entertainment venue adjacent to the Roberts Mayfair Hotel.

The Roberts Orpheum Theater opened in 1917 as the Orpheum vaudeville theatre, decorated in lavishly ornamented beaux-arts style; it remained in the original owner’s family until purchased by Michael and Steven Roberts in 2004.  With seating capacity of 1,500, the Roberts Orpheum Theater will offer midsize touring theatrical shows and local productions concerts and non-ticketed corporate, weddings and special events.

Roberts Aviation
owns two aircraft, a Gulfstream III, 12-passenger luxury business jetRaibenAir in Dallas, TX manages operations. 

    
RobertsIsle and Resort
The largest African-American owned development in the Bahamas.

Founded in 1998, Roberts Isle and Resort is a 50-unit condominium and luxury apartment gated complex with boat docks, swimming pool and tennis courts in Sandyport, near Nassau.

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Roberts Cabinetry

Formerly a division of Roberts Brothers Properties, Roberts Custom Cabinetry & Woodworking became an independent company in 2005 as a result of commercial client interest in the outstanding craftsmanship of cabinetry and woodworking produced for Roberts Lofts on the Plaza, the Roberts Mayfair and the Roberts Orpheum Theater.
Mr. Roberts has served on the Board of Directors of the following publicly held companies:

Alamosa PCS Holdings, Inc. [OTC: ALMO]
ACME Communications [NASDAQ: ACME]
USA Network/HSN [NASDAQ: USAI]
Mr. Roberts currently serves on the Board of Directors of the following organizations:

• International Council of Shopping Centers
• National Association of Black Hotel Owners, Operators & Developers – Chairman
• National Association of Black Owned Broadcasters

       
Mr. Roberts has been the subject of feature stories in the following publications:

• Black Enterprise Magazine
• Forbes Magazine
• Success Magazine
• St. Louis Commerce Magazine (cover story)
• Business Week
• Kappa Alpha Psi Journal (cover story)
• The Black Collegian Magazine
• US Department of Transportation, “Transportation Link”
• St. Louis Business Journal

Mr. Roberts is a nationally renowned speaker and has served as guest speaker for the following:

• Harvard Business School Conference on Cooperative Economics
• Morehouse College Executive Lecture Series
• Northern Ohio Minority Business Council
• Kansas African-American Museum
• Pittsburgh Minority Purchasing Council
• Jackson State University
• St. Louis University
• University of Missouri College of Business
• 2005 National Urban League Leadership Development Conference
• Benedict College
• Dallas Black Contractors Association
• University of Missouri, St. Louis VISION Speaker Series

Mr. Roberts is the author of Action Has No Season, Secrets and Strategies to Gaining Wealth and Authority. Book reviews have characterized his work as, “a must read for leaders and entrepreneurs”; “his book proves that Mike Roberts is a capitalist for his time…part existentialist, part-capitalist, he is building a legacy for his family and all aspiring African-Americans who want to participate in the American Dream.”


Action Has No Season can be ordered from Mr. Roberts’s website as well as Amazon, Barnes & Noble and other major book retailers.
www.michaelvroberts.com
Mr. Roberts received his Juris Doctorate degree from St. Louis University in 1974.  Prior to graduation from law school, he was selected as a participant in special studies programs at the International Institute of Human Rights, Strasbourg, France (1973); and The Hague Academy of International Law, The Hague, Holland (1972).

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