He has been a broker with the Charles Skinner Company since last September.
WHAT DOES HE DO?
He is a broker and land planner. “I run numbers and prepare land based on where it is in the market place for development.”
IN ADDITION TO THAT?
Clark has a lot of experience with zoning, permitting, land use and all the changes in the process of taking land from a rural state to a developable state.
“There are a lot of large and small land owners in Jacksonville and Northeast Florida who have the land, but do not have the knowledge to take it from that rural state to developable state. What we do is, we go to large land owners and really smaller ones [2 -3 acres plus] and say, ‘Let us help you. We will take you through the process. When we start the land might be worth $1 a square foot, but after we are done with the entitlements, it might be work $5 a square foot. Then we might list it and sell it for them or help them develop it. We make the land much more marketable for the land owner.”
WHAT DOES THE CHARLES SKINNER COMPANY DO?
Commercial development, brokerage and entitlement services.
WHAT DOES THAT ENTAIL?
“For example, we represent Skinner Wholesale Nursery Land holdings at 9A and Baymeadows. So, for example, right now we have a grocery anchored retail center we are developing. We have the land, and are now working to get the engineers, environmental permitting, zoning and land use in place. We then work with the architects and construction company to put it all together while we lease up the space. We get the financing and build a shopping center.”
WHAT ELSE HAS YOUR COMPANY DEVELOPED?
The new Outback Steakhouse and Carrabba’s Italian Grill in that same 9A and Baymeadows area.
HOW DID HE GET THE JOB WITH SKINNER?
He was working in his own company, Property First Management, doing land brokerage when he was approached by Skinner. “He knew I was a land guy and was familiar with permitting, zoning and land use. Charlie Skinner called me and we met and talked about what he was working on and his ideas. I came to work for him Sept. 10 of last year.”
OTHER EXPERIENCE?
He worked for PricewaterhouseCoopers in New York City in their real estate capital markets group.
FAVORITE THING ABOUT HIS JOB?
“I enjoy meeting new people and discussing the financial aspects of putting a deal together and taking it through the process. I enjoy getting in front of the counties, board of county commissioners, planning department, watching a plan come together and ultimately the sale.”
LEAST FAVORITE THING
“Constantly having to come up with new creative ideas. It’s not the same thing everyday, so I have to come up with new business to generate revenue to stay in business. It’s fun, but at the same time it can be challenging. You never know where the next deal will come from.”
PROFESSIONAL AFFILIATIONS
He is a Certified Commercial Investment Member and is currently the district vice president of the CCIM North Florida district.
RECENTLY PLANNED THE FIRST COAST REAL ESTATE OUTLOOK CONFERENCE AND EXPO?
The CCIMs run the Outlook conference and he was asked to organize this year’s event held in February. “They said, ‘You seem energetic, why don’t you give it a shot?’ It was a big event, I enjoyed it. I got a lot of exposure, met a lot of really dynamic people who are very involved in the real estate community and made a lot of friends. I think the main thing was to accomplish the goal of making it bigger and better and we did.”
BIRTHPLACE?
Silver Springs, Md., but he moved to Jacksonville when he was two years old.
HIGH SCHOOL
Nease.
COLLEGE
He has a bachelor’s degree in psychology and a master’s degree in real estate finance from University of Florida. He is also two classes away from earning another master’s degree in business administration from University of North Florida.
FAMILY
He has been married to Mary Beth for three years. They have two children, Jonah, 18 months and Jack, 2 months.
RESIDES
Ponte Vedra Beach.
HOBBIES
Surfing, skateboarding, tennis and soccer. “Basically anything on the beach or on the water.”
FAVORITES
His favorite movie is “Something About Mary” and his favorite book is the Bible. When dining out, he enjoys The Outback Crab Shack. He enjoys visiting Costa Rica, Tabago and Trinidad. When relaxing at home, he enjoys tuning into reruns of “Seinfeld”.
—by Michele Newbern Gillis