New downtown park to be named in honor of Bradley Company executive Mat Swift

For the last three decades, Mat Swift has been putting his fingerprints throughout Columbus, but specifically in the downtown area.

When the first phase of Riverfront Place, a Bradley Company development north of the 13th Street bridge, is completed in early 2019, Swift will have not just his fingerprints, but his name in a prominent place.

A park next to the 226-unit apartment and retail complex under construction will be named Mathews D. Swift Park in honor of the retiring president of the company’s Real Estate Division.

The recognition was revealed late Monday afternoon at a reception attended by more than 100 business, community and civic leaders honoring Swift at the Bradley Company Museum. His retirement after 31 years is effective Oct. 1.

Swift’s decision to retire was announced in May. Pace Halter was hired to replace Swift and has been working alongside him for more than three months.

“The thing that makes me proud is that I am part of a W.C. Bradley project for years to come,” Swift said. “I am honored and humbled by this and appreciate it very much. It is a quality project.”

Swift’s retirement comes five months into the construction of a $52 million riverfront apartment building downtown. It is the first project in a mixed use development that will transform the nearly 7.5 acres between 13th and 14th streets along the river. It is also the single largest development project in the Bradley Company, which was founded in 1885 as a cotton brokerage business.

The announcement came as a surprise and was made by Bradley Company President and Chief Executive Officer Marc Olivié and Board Chairman Steve Butler.

Butler read a long list of projects that Swift had either managed or participated in since the mid-1980s. It included the Eagle & Phenix transformation from a textile mill to high-end condominiums, the downtown Columbus State University campus, the Marriott hotel, Synovus Centre, and dozens of others.

“It was nice to listen to that list of all the projects,” Swift said. “But at the end of the day they are just projects. What makes us who we are is how we feel about each other. We are a family and that is what made it so satisfying.”

This story was originally published September 25, 2017 at 6:46 PM with the headline "New downtown park to be named in honor of Bradley Company executive Mat Swift."