Michael Shalley is vice president of development for St. Joe Company.
HOW LONG HAS HE BEEN WITH ST. JOE?
Five years. He was brought in to run Gran Central, the real estate division, which is now Flagler Development. St. Joe Commercial was a spinoff of that division.
WHAT DOES HE DO?
His primary role is to manage the region from St. Augustine to Tallahassee. He is responsible for all development projects in that area. He is also responsible for the company’s 1031 reinvestment program, where funds from the sale of the timberland or timberland property are reinvested in income producing properties, such as office buildings in Orlando, Tampa, Jacksonville, Atlanta and Washington, D.C.
WHERE WAS HE BEFORE ST. JOE?
He was president of Richmond Investment Properties, a development company in Tampa, for four years before joining St. Joe. “I traveled a lot and wanted to get back to my roots in Jacksonville. I’ve lived here for 41 years.”
HOW DID HE GET TO ST. JOE?
Malcolm Jones, who was the CFO of St. Joe Corporation at the time, presented him with an opportunity which he decided to accept. “I wanted to get into a company that I thought had a great amount of opportunity with its land and its assets.”
BIRTHPLACE
Mount Vernon, N.Y. He moved to Jacksonville when he was 11 years old.
COLLEGE
He has two bachelor’s degrees from Florida State University, one in finance and the other in accounting.
WHAT DID HE DO AFTER COLLEGE?
He went to work for Peat Marwick and Mitchell Certified Public Accounting. “I specialized in real estate banking and insurance.”
AFTER ACCOUNTING?
Shalley went to work at TRECO, a local real estate investment trust. “I had left the public side and went into the private side and after a year of being on that side, I decided that I would rather be doing this stuff than accounting for it.”
MAKING THE SWITCH
He decided to make the transition from accounting to real estate development and went to work for Wilson Financial Corporation, a privately owned real estate development company before joining Richmond Investment Properties.
HOW HAS HIS BACKGROUND HELPED HIM IN REAL ESTATE?
“As you look at real estate, all of it is based on economics and finance.”
FAMILY
He has been married to Karen for 16 years. He has one child from a previous marriage, Michael Jr. He and Karen have two children, Kevin, 15, and Sarah, 13.
HOBBIES
He enjoys exercising, running, bike riding, playing golf, reading and watching his children play sports.
—by Michele Newbern Gillis