For nearly a century the Hearon family, through their real estate businesses, have shaped Tucson's landscape.
And, Tucson has shaped the family; three generations proudly don eight different degrees from The University of Arizona.
Today though their real estate development company, The Ashland Group, faces a painful reality: to prosper they've had to look elsewhere.
A legacy born from adversity
The story begins in 1920, when 18-year-old Jim Hearon — "Jimmy" to those who knew him — fled from back East to Tucson. The Spanish Flu had ravaged his lungs, costing him half of one. Doctors prescribed the desert air as his only hope.
What started as a fight for survival became a love affair with Arizona.
He enrolled at the University of Arizona, earning two degrees while working with ROTC cavalry training horses.
His grit translated to the polo field with those horses, where he became the nation's top collegiate player under coach Colonel Parker. The accolade earned him a spot in the UA Sports Hall of Fame.
This photo shows a sign from the 1930's for Jimmy Hearon’s real estate company in Tucson.
In 1935, a decade after graduation, Jimmy founded Hearon Realty & Mortgage — the seed that would become The Ashland Group.
Tucson was Arizona's premier city then, powered by mining money and opportunity.
For 17 years, Jimmy Hearon built his business until health issues forced him into early retirement in 1952.
Second generation: Returning home
Jimmy's son Duff inherited more than his father's business acumen — he inherited his love for Tucson.
After earning dual degrees in accounting and finance from UA, Duff cut his teeth with a “Big 8” accounting firm in Chicago, but the desert called him home.
In 1985, after graduating again from UA — this time with a law degree and practicing law for seven years — Duff Hearon founded The Ashland Group.
The Ashland Group resurrects the family's real estate legacy, this time with a distinctive philosophy: invest their own money alongside their partners in every single deal. No project moves forward unless the Hearons have skin in the game — sharing both the risk and the reward.
This alignment of interests proved transformative. Over the next four decades, The Ashland Group completed more than 250 projects across southern Arizona.
Drive through Tucson today, and you're witnessing their fingerprints on the city's evolution.
Third generation: A difficult Pivot
In 2021, Duff James Hearon—also a UA graduate—left his investment management career in San Francisco to join the family business. He returned to a Tucson that felt increasingly different from the one his grandfather and father had bet on.
Duff Hearon and his son Duff James Hearon, the owners of The Ashland Group
While The Ashland Group had occasionally ventured into Denver, Phoenix, and Southern California, Tucson had always been their heart. But recently, that changed dramatically.
Duff James Hearon opened a Phoenix office and their last seven projects have all been in the Phoenix metro area. The shift is by choice because the opportunities are significantly greater.
As Duff explains, ”We needed to expand into Pinal and Maricopa Counties in order to continue improving.”
The economic reality
The data is damning.
According to the Earnings & Income Report from the Eller School of Management and Census data, Tucson's median household income lags behind its neighbors:
• Tucson: $54,546
• Yuma: $62,546
• Casa Grande: $66,354
• Phoenix: $77,041
A recent memo to the Board of Directors of The Chamber of Southern Arizona delivered another blow: "Among the 12 Western U.S. competitive markets the Eller Economic and Business Research Center measures, Tucson ranked last in job growth in 2024."
For Duff Hearon, these aren't temporary blips — they're entrenched trends that threaten the city's future.
Fighting for home
Rio Nuevo, The Southern Arizona Leadership Council, and The Chamber of Southern Arizona, are just three of many organizations endeavoring to turn things around. The Chamber has launched a Regional Economic Growth Initiative, bringing together stakeholders and business leaders to diagnose what's gone wrong and chart a path forward.
Three generations of Hearons have called Tucson home. The family that Jimmy Hearon built—the legacy that Duff expanded and Duff J now carries forward—isn't abandoning the city they love. But their recent pivot to Phoenix is a warning signal.
The Ashland Group wants to return to its Tucson roots. They want to help the city reclaim its position as Arizona's economic leader. They want Tucson to compete with the same message that drew Lucid to Casa Grande: "We want you here."
But wanting isn't enough. The question now is whether Tucson is ready to “Bear Down” to want them—and others like them—back.
