Inside Helen Adams Realty’s 50th-Anniversary Celebrations

In a packed venue in late April, Helen Adams Realty CEO Jeff Adams reflected on the earliest days of his family-run firm. “Helen Adams Realty began in 1975—not out of opportunity, but out of necessity,” he told the crowd. “My mother, Helen, had three children to support and a husband who had gone bankrupt. She didn’t wait for the right moment. She made one. … By the time she sold the company to me in 1991, there were six agents—one of them being me. I didn’t know then just how much that decision would shape my life and my family’s future.”

Today, the firm has 230 agents and 26 staffers, occupying four offices in Central Charlotte, Ballantyne, Lake Norman, and Fort Mill, respectively. It’s also the No. 4 real estate firm by closed volume in the eight counties that comprise the Charlotte–Concord–Gastonia metro area. The event at The Ruth in Wesley Heights celebrated the 50 years that it took to get here and the future its attendees are forging together. The numbers, alone, are staggering. Yet, during the evening’s toast, presented in tandem with co-presidents Rebecca Adams Starrs and Frank Adams, Jeff maintained that the primary ingredients for success—and more important than any impressive figures—are its founder’s values of “integrity, transparency, hard work, deep market smarts, and above all, relationships.” 

Rebecca remembers the evening, part of a yearlong celebration for Helen Adams Realty, as a special time marked by “fantastic food, live music, and stories and laughter flowing.” More than 300 attended, including staff, supporters, families, and friends from over its five decades. A “History Room” offered artifacts that embodied the firm’s long, familial history: Staff spent months compiling memorabilia that included Helen Adams’ actual business card, newspaper and magazine clippings capturing major moments, vintage marketing materials, and much, much more. Meanwhile, a timeline display took viewers not only though the history of the firm, but Charlotte itself. “Legacy is a huge part of who we are—honoring my grandmother’s legacy and the legacy our dad has built on top of that,” Rebecca adds. “Frank, our two sisters, and I are 8th generation Charlotteans, and this community is what has supported our business and has allowed us to grow to where we are today. We wouldn’t be who we are without the history that brought us here.”

The event’s “History Room.”

Outside of this event, there have been several other bright spots over the past year for Helen Adams Realty. Jeff Adams was named one of Charlotte Business Journal’s Most Admired CEOs in an April awards announcement. Jeff had stepped into the role in 2024—the same year siblings Rebecca and Frank became the company’s new co-presidents. Also last year, HAR’s Relocation Department received an Excellence Award from Aires, celebrating outstanding client survey results in the global mobility industry.

As far as the future: Frank says the firm aims to “grow as the city grows” in the coming years. That means continuing to support its agents, with the broader goals of “growing with the market and capturing market share.”

Still, as it has for 50 years, the cornerstone of it all is relationships. “That means person by person, deal by deal, not through any big acquisitions,” Rebecca says. “Maintaining our close-knit community, a culture of giving, and an abundance mindset is very important to us.”

> Discover more below and on Helen Adams Realty’s 50th-anniversary website.