by Michele Newbern Gillis
Staff Writer
Norman Bray IS Amelia Island Plantation.
He’s been involved since its start and in the last 13 years has helped it grow to the phenomenal 1,350-acre resort/residential community it has become.
“We’ve been found,” said Bray, executive of vice president of the Amelia Island Company and the broker of the real estate company. “When I first came in 1992, we were in a real estate recession and it was not very good. Our beach was about to wash away and we had some very tough problems. But, in 1994 we got the beach problem solved and we started building Piper Dunes, the first larger condominium unit, because that is what people were demanding.
“We started selling those and they were very well accepted in the market. Then we started our private club which gave our owners and club members a sense of belonging and a place they could go along with all the other amenities in the Plantation. So, they had the best of both worlds. Real estate sales started picking up and the property values increased as well. For the last seven years, it has just been gangbusters.”
Amelia Island is situated with the Atlantic Ocean on the east and Intracoastal Waterway to the west.
When Bray started there 13 years ago, he had his real estate license in South Carolina and it wasn’t transferable, so he spent a year as a sales manager and then got his broker’s license.
“I’m the No. 2 man here in the company,” said Bray. “My main concentration is real estate sales and development. We have developed almost all of Amelia Island Plantation. In the last 13 years we have developed several communities and condominiums within Amelia Island Plantation. With the exception of two condominium buildings, we are developed out.”
Bray said the Amelia Island Company has fewer than 30 condominium units to build in the Plantations.
But, Jim Hardwick of the Dunes Club Company who has developed in Amelia Island Plantation for many years is developing the Dunes Club, a 56-unit condominium community in the south tip of the Plantations. The first building will close in May and it has about an 18-month construction period.
Bray has been associated with Amelia Island Plantation since 1972 when he joined Sea Pines Company, which started Amelia Island Plantation
Charles Frazier, the founder of the Sea Pines Company, bought about 4,000 acres on the south end of Amelia Island in 1971 and started Amelia Island Company. Richard Cooper bought it in 1978 and has owned it ever since.
When buildout is complete, Amelia Island will have about 1,000 homes and 1,200 condominiums.
“We have about 600 homes and 1,100 condominiums built right now,” said Bray.
When buildout will be is yet to be determined since about 400 lots have been owned since Amelia started in 1972, but haven’t been built on yet.
Bray said they build about 30-50 homes a year.
“We have a great brokerage company with some real estate agents who have been with us since the start 30 years ago,” said Bray. “We have eight real estate agents who actively sell here. We sell about 90 percent of what is in Amelia Island Plantation.”
Just because they sell 90 percent there doesn’t mean there aren’t opportunities for outside agents. Amelia Island does about 80 percent re-sales which any Realtor can list and sell. They do not co-broke, but they do pay a 20 percent referral fee for any clients outside Realtors send them as long as they have never worked with the client before.
Since some of the homes are 30 years old, Bray said they have had some that were bought and extensively renovated, but they have not yet had a home torn down to make way for a new home.
There is a lot more to Amelia Island Plantation than just homes.
They also have a long-term rental department to manage about 400 condominiums available to guests to rent.
“We rent them out, collect fees and those people come in and play and enjoy the place and then we have the 249-room Amelia Inn & Beach Club that we own,” said Bray. “We have about 5,500 square feet of conference space that we manage and we do about 300,000 guests nights a year and 2/3 of that is group business. Companies and associations come down and meet or send their people here for awards. We also have a 13,200 square foot spa, 3,100 square foot shopping village, three championship golf courses, 23 tennis courts and we host the Bausch and Lomb Tennis Championships each year.”
The Plantation also has a health and fitness center, fishing and sailing equipment and supplies, and 24 on-site pools.
In order to keep the visitors separate from the residents, they have the Amelia Island Club that only their residents can belong to.
“It is a 20,000 square-foot Ocean Clubhouse that is for residents only,” said Bray. “And our residents get priority tee times at the Long Point golf course. Also, with their club card they can get access to all of our resort amenities. They get the best of both worlds. It’s a wonderful place to live, work and play.”
In addition to the amenities and homes, there is a retirement community, Osprey Village, that they don’t operate or own, but they do handle the sales and marketing.
It is a 94-home community with independent living community with at 48-bed assisted living community. It is 75 percent sold out with about 20 houses left to build there.
Bray explained how real estate sales have increased at Amelia Island Plantation over the past seven years.
“In 1996 we had $34 million dollars in real estate sales and in 2002, we sold $107 million dollars worth of real estate,” he said. “We’ve had a great seven years.”
The average price in 2002 for a lot is $604,000, for a home is $764,000 and for a villa (condominium) is $627,000.
“We have a lot of condominiums in the $1.5 to $2 million range and we have some in the $500,000 range,” said Bray. “We have a good inventory of condominiums. Homes also sell for over $1 million.”
Bray said growth in Nassau County will continue west along the A1A corridor to I-95 and beyond.
“Growth will happen and hopefully the county commission will try to stay on top of it and manage the growth,” he said. “Hopefully they will make the right decisions to maintain the quality of life while still allowing everyone in the county to benefit from the property that they have, property values and their private property rights so they can use their property. It’s growing and it will continue to grow.”
Bray said that at this point, Amelia Island Plantation could be completely full as far as the resort is concerned, but the way it is set up, residents don’t feel crowded.
“It’s changed and it’s going to continue to change, but we don’t think it we will ever grow to a point that it is not a pleasurable place to work and play,” Bray said. “It has a lot to offer. The living is comfortable, you can do it at your own pace. If you want to be busy, there is a lot to do. Or you can do nothing at all and you can do it all within the 1,350 acres. There are seven restaurants on the Plantation and great children’s programs. If you like to play golf, play tennis, enjoy night life, bike ride, bird watch or fish. We’ve got everything.”
The Amelia Island Company has joined with others in a limited liability corporation to expand off the island. Amelia Island Company is the managing company. They have bought 153 acres off the island to develop Brady Point Preserves, which will have 85 lots on 153 acres. Marshfront lots will be over an acre and lake lots and interior lots will be over a 1/2 acre each.
“We are looking for land that we can develop in the way we like to develop it with low density, larger lots with good amenity views,” said Bray.
Before Amelia Island Plantation, Bray spent 18 with the Sea Pines Company in Hilton Head Island, S.C.
He joined the company as an accountant and in 1979 they asked him to take control of the real estate company. In 1982, he was named vice president of finance and administration.
“Jack Healan is the president of Amelia Island Company,” said Bray. “He and I were beancounters with Sea Pines Company. We came down in the early 1970s and actually set the books up when Amelia Island Plantation first started.”
Healan came down as the chief financial officer in 1978.
“He and I stayed good business partners and friends during that time so in 1986, he started talking to me about coming down here. In 1990, he offered me the executive vice president job, so I took it.”
Bray has been a member of the Amelia Island-Greater Nassau County Association of Realtors for five years and is the immediate past president of the association. Bray also serves as the RPAC chairman and is serving in his second year as chairman of the Association of Florida Community Developers.
Bray has a bachelor’s degree in business administration from University of Georgia.
He has been married to Jane, who worked for several years as marketing manager for Osprey Village, but is now a homemaker, for 35 years. They have two children and two grandchildren.
When he is not working he likes to hunt, fish and play golf and yes, he does live at Amelia Island Plantation.