by Michele Newbern Gillis
Staff Writer
Trees, trees and more trees.
That is what Stephen Edmonds, the 2002 Northeast Florida Builders Association president, will be concentrating on this year.
“I think probably the biggest hurdle going in will be the tree ordinance,” said Edmonds. “We are going to court on that and it will start about the time I take over as president, so that’s going to be a huge issue. It will require a lot of time for us to get the facts out there to the people and going to court.”
He said his number one challenge will be for them to win and come out on top.
“We feel that the tree ordinance is not fair and it is not equally shared by everyone,” he said. “It has put a huge crunch on affordable housing.”
Edmonds was born and raised in Jacksonville. His father was a commercial builder and owned his own company, James Edmonds General Contractor.
“I went to work for him and he told me to try building a house,” said Edmonds. “So, I went out and bought a lot for $6,000 and built a house in Mandarin. I sold it and built another one and sold it.”
He was vice president of his father’s commercial division until he got kicked out of the nest.
“One day he came to me and said ‘You don’t need me anymore, you’re on your own.’ And I said, ‘Does that mean I’m fired?’ He said, ‘Whatever. You are doing well and don’t need me anymore and I’m slowing down so you are on your own.’ So, I kind of got kicked out of the nest that way,” said Edmonds.
Edmonds took this opportunity to open his own company, Garden Home Builders. About nine years ago, he switched the company name to The Edmonds Company.
Another objective for Edmonds this year is the Builders Care program, a new program that NEFBA will be working on in this year.
“We are going in and helping fix up homes for underprivileged homeowners,” said Edmonds. “One lady didn’t have running water in her house. Through our Builders Care program, we went in and we got her plumbing working. We had some people on our board like Peggy West of JEA, who was very instrumental with helping to get her water connected.”
The funds for the program come directly from the builders. Edmonds said they have some on board already who donate a certain amount to the Builders Care fund for each house they build.
According to Edmonds, the new building code will be huge, but may be held off for a while. Because of the terrorist strikes and the soft economy, Edmonds said now is not the time to implement the program.
“They are going to be a little bit more restrictive on the codes and it is going to cost more to build to the new codes,” said Edmonds. “And obviously that cost will be passed on to the consumer and housing is going to go up more.”
Edmonds has been active in NEFBA for many years, both on the board and on the executive committee.
“As president I will help local builders by fighting our issues like the tree ordinance which effects every builder, developer and real estate agent in Jacksonville,” he said. “I will be a good listener of the needs from those groups. The board that I have is very active in the community to help carry out these different issues that we have.”
Edmonds was on board of directors for about eight years before joining the executive board as secretary/treasurer.
“They came to me and said they thought I would be good for the position and that they wanted me to consider it, so I did,” said Edmonds. “I’ve known for two years that this was coming so I have put together a tremendous staff here at my company to handle the day to day responsibilities. Also there is a great staff at NEFBA; between the two they help me handle the load.”
With Howard White of North Florida Builders as the outgoing president, Edmonds is following in the footsteps of a friend.
“Howard and I have been best friends for years, way before Howard or I were on the executive committee,” said Edmonds. “So, one reason that I agreed to come in and serve as president was that Howard was in front of me and that I would be following a really good guy. Howard and I have the same beliefs and philosophies about NEFBA; about our own personal businesses and how we run them, so I knew it would be a good fit for me. Honestly, I can say that Howard has done a tremendous job. We have had a real string of great leadership and I think that will continue.”
The next president of NEFBA will be Denise Wallace of Stokes and Co.
“I couldn’t ask to have a better person coming behind me,” said Edmonds. “She would be the one that I worked the most closely with on the executive committee. Regardless, if she is a woman or what, she knows the issues better than anybody else and has been more involved even before she was on the executive committee.”
The Edmonds Company built 56 houses last year and figures to add to that total this year.
“This year we will build about 75,” said Edmonds. “We are a custom and semi-custom home builder.”
He has five people in his commercial division that he inherited from his father’s company when he retired and 14 in his residential division. His brother Jim and father Jim Sr. also work in the company.
“We try to be a little bit more hands one than some of the production builders,” said Edmonds. “We never build the same house twice. Even in our production type houses, we are willing to make changes. We will make whatever changes the customer wants. I know the customers and the customers know me. They are welcome to come in here and talk to me whenever they want or pick up the phone and call me. It’s worked out real well for us. Realtors® know that I will work directly one on one with the customers. We do what we say. If we tell someone something, that’s what we are going to do.”
Edmonds values his relationship with real estate agents.
“We have a great relationship with real estate agents,” he said. “It wasn’t too terribly long ago that I was the one out personally meeting with the real estate agents because I was doing a lot of the selling. We protect the real estate agents and cooperate when they bring us a buyer. To me, the real estate agents are our life blood. If they procure a sale with us then they earned their commission. “
Edmonds is excited to be building in Jacksonville.
“I think we have just tipped the iceberg,” he said. “Jacksonville is very much a niche market and I think that we have great things to come for Jacksonville. We are getting all the different items that make a great city and we still have land to develop. I think the Westside and the Northside are going to be the next two hot areas because the Southside is full and the Beaches if full. I think it’s going to be hot.”
Before getting into building, attended college and coached football, basketball and baseball at The Bolles School. He then sold Rainbow vacuum cleaners for three years until he decided to join his father in construction.
He has been married to Dana for 15 years. They have two children, Stephen Jr., 13 and Holly, 11.
When he’s not working he enjoys golf, spending time with his family and boating. He is also very involved in his church as a deacon at First Baptist Church downtown.