Columbus real-estate executive Stella Bucholtz dies at age 64

Stella Bucholtz, the longtime executive vice president of The Jordan Company, a major commercial real-estate company in Columbus, has died at age 64 following a battle with cancer.

Bucholtz, who in 2012 wed Dr. John Bucholtz, a local family medicine physician, was known as Stella Shulman when she was named executive vice president of The Jordan Company in 1999. The Missouri native started at the real-estate firm in 1987.

Perhaps the company’s best-known effort in Columbus during her tenure was the creation of Columbus Park Crossing on the city’s north side, with The Jordan Company working with Ben Carter Properties more than 15 years ago to develop a 380-acre property at the intersection of J.R. Allen Parkway and Veterans Parkway into a mixed-use retail, restaurant and multifamily residential powerhouse.

The work at Columbus Park Crossing included master planning, zoning, attracting and managing tenants. The portion that The Jordan Company now actively manages and continues to develop ranges from the former hhgregg electronics store east along Whittlesey Boulevard toward Moon Road.

“The vision that we all had back in 2000 and 2001 for this 380-acre master-planned, mixed-use development, where we wanted to try to integrate shopping and dining and living nearby, really does continue to be fulfilled,” Bucholtz said in a Ledger-Enquirer interview a few years ago.

Under Bucholtz, the company also has focused on developing areas just off the Chattahoochee River along Second Avenue in Columbus, as well as on Riverchase Drive in Phenix City.

Her work in the community has included serving as board chair of the Greater Columbus Chamber of Commerce, working with the Development Authority of Columbus, and sitting on the board of trustees at Columbus Technical College. She was a graduate of Leadership Columbus.

“Stella’s passion was making Columbus a better place to live, work and raise a family,” said her obituary in Monday’s Ledger-Enquirer. “She firmly believed that ‘to those whom much is given, much is expected.’”

Bucholtz was born on April 1, 1953, the daughter of the late Howard and Charlene Thompson. She graduated from Southwest Missouri State University with a marketing degree.

Her family has scheduled a funeral service for 10 a.m. Tuesday at St. Paul United Methodist Church in Columbus, where she was a member, with burial at Parkhill Cemetery. She and her family are asking that, in lieu of funeral flowers, donations be made to the John B. Amos Cancer Center in Columbus, where she was treated for Hodgkin’s lymphoma.

This story was originally published October 2, 2017 at 5:18 PM with the headline "Columbus real-estate executive Stella Bucholtz dies at age 64."