NASHVILLE, TN — The Greater Nashville Apartment Association is proud to announce that Freeman Webb Chief Operating Officer W. Kirby Davis, Jr. has been awarded with their 2018 Lifetime Achievement Award. Awarded on Saturday, November 17, 2018 at the Music City Center, this award recognized Davis’ impact upon Nashville’s multi-family industry.
“We are so pleased to recognize Kirby’s years of service to our industry,” commented Diane Carter, president of the Greater Nashville Apartment Association. “In our 50 years of service to Nashville and to our industry, Kirby epitomizes the service and experience that has helped to bring unparalleled growth and success to Nashville through the years. His commitment to excellence and service is second-to-none.”
As part of their 2018 Awards & Installation Banquet with over 1,600 guests in attendance, the GNAA awarded Davis for his years of service to the apartment industry. “I am grateful to the GNAA for this award. I am proud to be honored with this distinction, and I thank the GNAA for their support and the important work they have done and continue to do in Nashville.”
“Freeman Webb is honored to have Kirby on our team,” stated Freeman Webb Company President and Co-Founder Jimmy Webb. “He brings a wealth of experience, proven success and keen insight to our company, and both Bill and I are grateful to Kirby for what he brings to the Freeman Webb family.”
Davis has been an active member of the Greater Nashville Apartment Association for several decades. His support and leadership has been unwavering from First Management through his tenure at Freeman Webb Companies. Kirby was elected to the GNAA Board of Directors in 1998. Serving in multiple capacities on the board, he was elected President of the GNAA Board of Directors in 2002. Kirby is also a Past President of the Tennessee Apartment Association.
Before joining Freeman Webb in 2014, Kirby served as Executive Vice President and ultimately President of Nashville-based First Management Services managing approximately 5,000 multifamily units in Tennessee and over 700,000 square feet of shopping centers. In 2014, First Management Services merged with Freeman Webb, where Kirby assumed the title of Chief Operating Officer, along with nearly every single First Management employees joining him at Freeman Webb.
Prior to his tenure in property management, Kirby received his law degree from The University of Tennessee at Knoxville, where he graduated Order of the Coif. He then served as law clerk to the Honorable L. Clure Morton, United States District Judge from 1983 to 1985. After completing his clerkship, Kirby worked in New York as an attorney in the offices of William S. Friedman, Vice Chairman of Southmark Corporation, which was then the largest owner and operator of apartments in the United States. Kirby is licensed to practice law in Tennessee and several of the federal circuits.
Kirby returned to Nashville in 1986 to work for Mid-South Financial (now Vista Commercial Mortgage), originating mortgage loans and brokering investment real estate. In his three years at Mid-South Financial, he financed and sold over $100 million of real estate.
Kirby has been active in a variety of charitable, civic, and professional organizations. He served in 2007 as chairman of the Nashville Downtown Partnership and currently serves the board as chair of the Business Development, Retail and Residential Committees. In 2008, he was named Volunteer of the Year by the Nashville Downtown Partnership and again received that award in 2013 as part of How’s Nashville focused on ending homelessness in Nashville. He currently serves on the board of Apartment Life.
Kirby remains active with GNAA as a Past President chairing the Budget and Finance committee. He has been influential in keeping the GNAA strong financially over the past two decades. He works closely with GNAA President Diane Carter and the GNAA Executive Committee. Kirby’s knowledge and expertise in commercial leasing has enabled GNAA to expand their office and training room, which enables GNAA to better serve their members with educational and networking functions.
Kirby is part of a second generation of multifamily industry leadership. He follows in the footsteps of his father, Willie K. Davis who founded First Management Services in 1969 (just one year after GNAA was formed) and currently works with his sister Patti Ruccio, Freeman Webb Regional Manager, son-in-law Sully Lemmons, Freeman Webb property manager, and Kim Mayo, broker for Freeman Webb. In the past, his brother Andy worked with them but he now serves as principal of Julia Green Elementary and has the distinction of being the only doctor in the family. Kirby is married to his high school sweetheart Ann Davis. They have two daughters and two granddaughters, all of whom live in Nashville.
