HOW WOULD SHE DESCRIBE HER POSITION?
“Basically, I’m an ambassador for the community. I introduce it [The Shipyards] to prospective clients as well as the community. We want to make sure everyone knows what’s going on as far as the people living in Jacksonville. We’ve been trying to promote it to Downtown Vision and the general public so they’ll tell their friends about it. I guess my biggest job is to promote The Shipyards community to the public.”
HOW DOES SHE ACCOMPLISH THAT?
“By introducing it through the general real estate community, talking about it outside of the office and inviting people to come down to the site to actually see it. We feature a lot of events throughout the month and do presentations. We try to make them a little more fun, more like cocktail parties. We’ve taken prospective clients out on yachts so that they can see what the project looks like from the vantage point of the river. We do the presentations by showing them the overall project. We’ve got two site plans here, two models. One model is the overall site plan of what it will look like in the next 10-12 years and also, a specific model for just One Shipyard Place that is the first phase.”
THE TARGET MARKET?
“Right now we’re marketing to the Jacksonville community. We really have not thought of marketing outside Jacksonville and we’ve had a great response from the people living here. We don’t have a typical profile as far as the type of person. We find that most people are probably downsizing from a large home and want something a little more maintenance free to free up their lifestyle so they can enjoy boating or traveling a little more.”
IS THAT STRATEGY WORKING?
“Out of the first 100, we’re at about 50 percent sold without any models to show.”
TALK A LITTLE MORE ABOUT THE PROPERTY
“We have a total of 45 acres that we’re going to be developing over the next 10 to 12 years. It starts at Metropolitan Park, just this side of Kids Kampus, and goes all the way down to Berkman Plaza. One Shipyard Place, the first phase, is a combination of three buildings located in a U-shape in front of the marina. What we’re under construction with right now and commissioned by the City to have complete by the Super Bowl is the Riverwalk and park areas. It’s going to join up with the existing Riverwalk. We’re dedicating 17 of our acres to greenspace. One Shipyard Place has 100 homes that should be available for occupancy in the fall of 2004. We’re shooting for people to take up residence in November. Then we’ll have another phase of construction consisting of a tower which will be between 25-30 stories with some low-rise condominiums towards the river. Another two buildings will be to the east, again low-rise not to compromise views for the future. We have a hotel planned, which will be between 300-500 suites, two restaurants and then a million square feet of Class-A office space. We have a group that’s considering a spa [in that complex]. The final phase will be townhomes built out on existing piers. We have deep water access there. They’ll probably be three stories. We haven’t finalized the plans on that yet but we’re expecting to have parking on the first level and two-story townhomes above that. We’ll have approximately 300 boat slips when we’re done.”
HOW BIG WILL BE HOMES BE IN THE FIRST PHASE?
The smallest is 1,523 square feet and the largest is 2,600 square feet. “We have a full-scale kitchen model [in the sales center] to show what the standard features are. Granite countertops and marble tile floors are standard. Color selections are available, too.”
HER BACKGROUND?
“I’ve been in real estate sales for about 15 years. I did a little bit of general real estate, but I have basically specialized in resort/planned development sales so I’ve pretty much been a site agent my whole career. All of my sales experience has been in Vero beach. I’m fairly new to Jacksonville. I’ve only been here for about a year.”
WHAT BROUGHT HER TO JACKSONVILLE?
“I wanted the opportunity to be in a market that’s growing. Where I came from was limited. Growth and expansion was not encouraged. It was more of a retirement area.”
WHY GO INTO REAL ESTATE?
“I enjoy the challenge. I love meeting people. It seemed like a natural progression for me. I thought about architecture in college, but went into marketing and business instead.”
WHERE DID SHE GET HER DEGREE?
University of Florida.
WHAT DOES SHE LIKE ABOUT HER JOB?
“I enjoy helping people achieve their desires. When they’re looking for a new home, I like to be involved in that process.”
AFFILIATIONS?
“I’m a member of the board of realtors and I’ve done some volunteer work for HabiJax.”
HOME STATE
New Jersey.
WHAT BROUGHT HER TO FLORIDA?
“My father was in the space program long ago. We moved around a lot like a military family. He was a mechanical engineer; he worked on the rockets.”
HAS SHE WORKED IN ANY OTHER FIELD?
“I worked in business, the medical field, but it was long ago. When I was married, my ex-husband and I had a contracting business.”
HER INTERESTS?
“I’m very much into fitness. I’ve been an avid runner for 20 years.”
HER PET PEEVE?
“I don’t like it when I’m not patient enough. I like things to be done quickly and that doesn’t always happen in this business.”
PERSONAL STUFF
One of seven children, Veale considers herself to be a southern girl despite her northern roots. She enjoys historic novels, epic films and snowskiing. A beach resident, she frequents Giovanni’s Restaurant.
HER HERO?
“I admire Oprah Winfrey. She has a good heart and has done so much for people in general.”
— by Monica Chamness