Charles (Charlie) Bell and his wife Laura Virginia Bell founded Charles C. Bell, Inc. (now called CC Bell Properties) in 1958. Having lived through the Great Depression, they were keenly aware of both the uncertainty of life and the importance of hard work. When first married, they lived with her parents, sleeping in the enclosed porch of the family home on 21st Avenue in Sacramento. Charles apprenticed with Frank Williams, a prominent Sacramento builder, during the day, and drew architectural plans in the evenings.
From these humble beginnings, Charles and Laura started a business – slowly at first – building starter homes and selling them upon completion. Charles designed the homes, ran the construction crews that built them, and then sold the homes. Laura was behind the scenes, handling the accounting and financial matters for their fledgling company – a company that was meant to provide for their family, their children.
In the 1940’s, the company bought land from Jere Strizek, developer of the Town & Country Shopping Center, on the east side of Fulton Avenue. That land was developed into homes, offices, shops, businesses and, in the late 1980’s, the Fulton Point Shopping Center. Charles and Laura moved from building homes to developing commercial properties and, in the process, tied the future of the company to the Arden Arcade community.
Since their passing in 1982, the company has been run by one of their daughters, Laurel V. Bell-Cahill, and her husband, Timothy F. Cahill. They were joined by their daughter, Christine Cahill-Reams, in 2005. Together, the trio has worked to maintain the integrity of the company’s existing properties while carefully expanding. They have been involved in local and national industry groups, including the Fulton Avenue Association, the Sacramento Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce, MetroEDGE, the Building Owners and Managers Association, the Urban Land Institute, and the International Council of Shopping Centers. Timothy was influential in the formation of the Fulton Avenue Association, a group of local business owners with a vision for the future of Fulton Avenue.
Hard work, honesty and integrity are qualities valued within our family as well as within our company. They were established by Charles and Laura and have been the constant cornerstones of our family and our business. We eagerly look forward to many more years of service and stewardship in the Sacramento real estate community.
