A native North Carolinian, Jay graduated from the United States Naval Academy in Annapolis and served six years on active duty as a Navy Supply Corps Officer — where logistics, budgeting, and mission-focused execution became second nature. While still on active duty, he earned a master’s degree in business administration from Boston University’s Metropolitan College through an executive program. That combination of operational discipline and formal business training carried directly into a second career in real estate development.
Jay’s path into real estate development began with his father, a master builder and operator. After following his father into the business, Jay went on to lead development, club operations, and sales at the #1 selling St. James Plantation in Southport, NC — one of coastal North Carolina’s premier master-planned communities — where he was tapped by the community’s landowners to oversee its full lifecycle, from infrastructure and amenity programming to membership growth and broker sales strategy.
Today, Jay is an operator and real estate investor in the Carolinas. Through Jay Atkinson & Associates, he brings the same operating rigor — and the same builder’s instinct passed down from his father — to landowners and developers throughout the Mid-Atlantic.
Credentials List
- United States Naval Academy, Graduate with merit
- U.S. Navy Supply Corps Officer, 6 years active duty
- M.S. in Business Administration, Boston University Metropolitan College
- Licensed Real Estate Broker and Broker in Charge, North Carolina
- Licensed General Contractor, North Carolina
- Current President and Qualifying Broker — St. James Properties, Southport, NC
“My father taught me to do what I say I’m going to do. I’ve spent my career applying that same standard — first in the Navy, then in the neighborhoods and clubs I’ve helped to bring to life.”