By Milton Kirby | Atlanta, GA | October 2, 2026

More than 1,300 business, civic and community leaders gathered at the Georgia World Congress Center on Oct. 1 to honor developer and entrepreneur Egbert Perry, who received the Council for Quality Growth’s 2026 Four Pillar Award for a career that has helped reshape Atlanta and influence urban redevelopment efforts across the nation.

The award, presented during the Council’s 37th annual Four Pillar Tribute, recognizes leaders who exemplify the principles of quality, responsibility, vision and integrity in their professional and civic lives.

Perry, chairman and co-founder of The Integral Group, accepted the honor before an audience of colleagues, family members, elected officials and business leaders. The evening’s theme, “Integrity. Innovation. Impact.”, reflected the values that have guided Perry’s work for more than four decades in real estate development, finance and community building.

“Atlanta became stronger because more people were allowed to participate in building it,” Perry said during his acceptance speech. Reflecting on the city’s history of expanding economic opportunity, he challenged the audience to continue creating pathways for broader participation and leadership.

Perry’s story is closely tied to Atlanta’s rise as a center for business, entrepreneurship and urban revitalization. Originally from Antigua, he built a career that merged engineering, finance and community development. An honors graduate of the University of Pennsylvania, Perry earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees in civil engineering and an MBA from the Wharton School before beginning a career in real estate development.

Before founding Integral in 1993, Perry spent 13 years helping grow an Atlanta-based real estate and construction company into what became the nation’s third-largest African American-owned business.

Over the last three decades, however, it is his work through Integral that has had perhaps the most lasting impact. Co-founded with a mission to “create value in cities and rebuild the fabric of communities,” the Atlanta-headquartered firm has grown into a national development and investment company with approximately 300 employees and active projects in more than 25 U.S. cities.

Under Perry’s leadership, Integral has developed more than 10,000 housing units through mixed-use developments, master-planned communities, transit-oriented projects and multifamily housing developments. The company has become nationally known for advancing development strategies that combine economic growth with community investment.

One of Integral’s most influential projects was Centennial Place, a redevelopment initiative launched in 1996 in partnership with the Atlanta Housing Authority and other collaborators. Conceived by Integral, the project transformed a distressed public housing site into the nation’s first urban mixed-use, economically integrated community, combining mixed-income housing with educational, health, recreational and social services.

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development later recognized Centennial Place as a national model for neighborhood revitalization. Its framework has since been replicated more than 250 times across the country, helping establish what is now widely viewed as a standard approach to holistic community redevelopment.

Speakers throughout Thursday’s ceremony highlighted how Perry’s work has consistently sought to balance economic development with community advancement.

Council for Quality Growth Chair Gerald McDowell said Perry’s influence can be measured not only in buildings and developments but also in opportunities created for others.

“His visionary leadership and unwavering commitment to building stronger communities have helped shape our region’s growth and continue to inspire the next generation of leaders,” McDowell said.

In remarks centered on the award’s four pillars, several longtime colleagues and family members reflected on Perry’s legacy.

Renee Lewis Glover, chief strategy officer and co-founder of Coretto Associates, spoke about Perry’s commitment to quality and his belief that successful communities begin with recognizing the value and dignity of every individual.

“For Egbert, quality begins with one fundamental truth: Every human being has God-given value,” Glover said. “It shapes the standard he brings to what we build, how we lead and what we ask of ourselves.”

Commercial real estate executive T. Dallas Smith described Perry as a mentor, business partner and friend whose sense of responsibility extends long after projects are completed. He pointed to Perry’s continued involvement in community and educational initiatives connected to developments he helped create, arguing that business responsibility and community responsibility are inseparable.

Perry’s daughter, Rian Smith, highlighted her father’s vision, describing his willingness to challenge accepted assumptions and imagine new possibilities for cities and neighborhoods.

“My father’s vision is about refusing to accept that the future must be limited by what we inherited,” she said. “Not simply seeing what does not yet exist, but believing, and then proving, that what exists today does not have to define what comes next.”

Perry’s influence has extended beyond development projects. Following the 2008 financial crisis, he joined the board of mortgage finance giant Fannie Mae and later served as chairman from 2014 to 2018, helping guide the organization during a pivotal period in the nation’s housing recovery.

Throughout the evening, speakers returned to the theme Perry selected for the tribute.

For Perry, integrity means maintaining trust and commitment through long and often complex development projects. Innovation has meant advancing ideas such as mixed-income housing and large-scale public-private partnerships long before they became mainstream practices. Impact, he has said, is measured not simply by buildings constructed but by whether communities are stronger, more resilient and better positioned for future prosperity.

“History tends to reward those who inherit advantage, but it is changed by those who question it,” Perry reflected in tribute materials distributed at the event. “Integrity is the clarity to see what is wrong, innovation is the resolve to try something different, and impact is the quiet proof that a different path was always possible.”

The Four Pillar Award is widely regarded as one of metro Atlanta’s highest civic honors. Previous recipients include former Atlanta Mayor Shirley Franklin, businessman Arthur M. Blank, Ambassador Andrew Young, former Gov. Nathan Deal, Delta Air Lines CEO Ed Bastian and the H.J. Russell Family.

In recognizing Perry, the Council for Quality Growth added another influential figure to a list of leaders whose work has helped define modern Atlanta and shape the future of urban development across the United States.

As Perry closed his remarks, he reminded attendees that the future of the city remains a collective responsibility.

“Atlanta, the region and the world are shared projects,” he said. “It is time for us to get back to work on our group projects.”

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