Like many boys growing up in Brooklyn, N.Y., young Alan Fixel had dreams of playing professional baseball.
In the early 1970s, Fixel left Brooklyn at age 20, his dream still in tow and his sights set on Florida.
“I was headed straight for Miami,” said Fixel. “I had my mind set on playing college baseball at the University of Miami.”
While at college, Fixel soon realized professional baseball wasn’t in his future.
After graduating with two master’s degrees — one in education and the other in education science — Fixel began teaching at Miami-Dade County Public Schools.
Seven years later, Fixel was left wanting more.
“A job teaching in the late ’70s really wasn’t a big moneymaker,” he said. “I was 30 years old and it was time to start making some money.”
At that time, Jacksonville was seeing a spike in population, including some members of Fixel’s family.
Seeing the potential in the residential construction business, Fixel made the five-hour drive north to make Jacksonville his new home.
“I was basically starting from scratch again at 30 years old,” he said.
Fixel began as a framer, but in 1983, in a partnership with his family, he began building homes in Jacksonville.
Determined to pursue his passion of building custom homes, he left the family business in 1994 and formed AF Alan Custom Homes.
Using his eye for detail and his talent for residential construction, Fixel’s next 17 years were spent pursing his passion.
His custom-built homes can be found in Marsh Landing and the north side of Jacksonville, where he built a subdivision, Lydia Estates, named after his first daughter.
“I name everything after my daughters — streets, subdivisions, floor plans,” he said. “They are my world.”
Revolving his life around his daughters is what made Fixel realize he needed a break from the construction industry.
In 2009, he headed to California, where his oldest daughter, Lydia, was living.
He knew spending time with her would bring the relaxation he needed.
“I thought it was going to be a short break. Six, maybe seven months,” Fixel said.
Five years later, Fixel was still living in California.
With his youngest daughter, Abigail, turning 11 and still in Jacksonville, Fixel knew he needed to make a change to be a bigger part of her life.
Last fall, he again packed his belongings and returned to Florida.
Fixel knew immediately what to do once he arrived in Jacksonville.
“Building custom homes is in my blood,” he said. “I was nervous, at first, after taking so much time off, that things had changed too much.”
But he immediately found his footing. He is building two homes in Mandarin with a price tag over $500,000 and the intricate details to match.
The homes are on Scott Mill Place, off San Jose Boulevard.
“I have a 10-year plan for myself,” Fixel said. “Jacksonville is my home. I want to make my mark.”