About Us

Decades of Expertise, Driven By Your Success.

Founded in 2015, ClayCon Development leverages over 60 years of combined experience in real estate development from its principals, who have successfully managed more than 275 projects for prominent retail clients across 20+ states.

Founding partner Harry Clayton's leadership of Clayton Construction Company—a respected general contractor recognized throughout the Southeast—since 1981 adds to the company's extensive industry knowledge. Further bolstering ClayCon's capabilities is managing partner Michael McDonald, a seasoned real estate veteran with over 20 years of added expertise as a registered professional civil engineer. Together their combination of construction excellence and engineering insight uniquely positions ClayCon to provide exceptional value and deliver successful outcomes for every client.

By taking a personal interest in our clients' professional goals and thoroughly understanding their needs, we strive to align our interests to ensure mutual success. We firmly believe our effectiveness is directly tied to our clients' achievements. So our aim isn't just to meet expectations, but to exceed them, fostering successful long-term partnerships built on trust and the achievement of common goals.

Leadership

Harry Clayton

CEO, Founding Partner

Harry Clayton is the CEO of Clayton Construction Company and brings many years of leadership in construction and development to ClayCon Development as its founding partner. Under his direction, Clayton Construction has grown from $7 million to nearly $100 million in revenue, earning recognition as one of the Southeast’s premier commercial contractors. Harry has overseen hundreds of projects across retail, institutional, industrial, and multifamily sectors, building a reputation for quality, integrity, and results. An active community leader and Clemson graduate, Harry leverages deep industry relationships and a proven track record to drive ClayCon’s successful, client-focused development model.

Michael McDonald

Managing Partner

Michael McDonald has over two decades of real estate development experience in driving successful project delivery for his clients. A Clemson-educated civil engineer, Michael began his career in land development design and obtained his professional engineering license. Transitioning to real estate development in 2005, Michael has a proven track record managing over 250 developments totaling over $700 million in project cost and spanning over 20+ states. His completed projects include single-tenant and multi-tenant retail, child-care, hospitality, and industrial facilities. Michael excels at negotiating complex deals while building strong client relationships, which he has maintained with national brand tenants, private and institutional investors, retailers, franchisees and brokers over the years. He is also an active member of the International Council of Shopping Centers (ICSC).

Cindy Howe

Director of Finance

Cindy Howe has over 30 years of accounting and finance experience specializing in retail real estate development with prior experience in multi-family. Focusing on analysis and reporting functions to establish profit, financial statements and projections. She handles all aspects of cash management, audit preparations, tax support and distributions. She has been engaged in excess of over 500 acquisition and disposition closings. While managing budgets, schedules and construction loans to mitigate risk to clients, partners and investors. She emphasizes strong lender, contractor and vendor management skills necessary to complete successful projects.

Jim Gamble

Senior Vice President

Jim Gamble has over 35 years of experience in real estate consulting, development and brokerage. Jim formerly served as Land Development Principal for a large nationally recognized Architecture / Engineering firm where he was involved in multiple project types including multi-million-dollar mixed use, industrial, office and major retail for some of the country’s leading developers and corporate clients. This experience and the relationships that were created ultimately led Jim to successfully pursue a career change to real estate development and brokerage, primarily focused on retail. Known for his ability to navigate complex projects through relationship and consensus building with all stakeholders, Jim has led or been highly involved in hundreds of projects across at least 15 states creating hundreds of millions of dollars in value. He has experience in all facets of a given project from land acquisition, entitlements, financing, design, and construction through disposition and utilizes this broad experience to lead . A graduate of NC State University, Jim maintains professional licensure as a Landscape Architect and Broker in North and South Carolina and is an active member of ICSC and NAIOP. He has and continues to serve on various professional and community boards and committees.