by Michele Newbern Gillis
Staff Writer
Nancy Brenner, president and owner of Brenner Construction Corporation in St. Augustine, has always been a somewhat of a tomboy.
Growing up with four brothers and a father in the construction business, it was natural for her to be tough.
“I’m a tough taskmaster,” said Brenner. “I have a schedule to meet and if you say you are going to be somewhere, either call me or be there because the next guy is messed up if you aren’t. It’s a good vocation for someone like me. I love it. I wouldn’t do well in an office setting. I love being outside and working with the guys.”
Her father preached to her brothers to never go into the construction business but Brenner said he forgot to tell the girls.
So, when she graduated high school, that’s exactly what she did.
“Years ago, I worked for Scotty’s,” she said. “I sold to builders and after learning the pieces and parts of building construction, I said I could do that. I went to school and got my building contracting license and the rest is history.”
She was a superintendent and project manager for J.J. McGee Construction in Orlando before opening her own company in 1989.
As the only employee of her company, she subcontracts out all of her labor to build the homes.
“Most of my subcontractors I have used since 1993,” she said. “There’s only been two or three that I have changed out, but most of them have stayed with me.
Being a woman in a man’s world was a little tough at first, but Brenner managed to make a place for herself just the same. She moved her company to St. Augustine from Orlando in 1993.
“I had a little resistance in the beginning,” said Brenner. “Since St. Augustine is a country town, some of the subcontractors had a problem in the beginning, but you just have to show them that you know what you are doing.”
Brenner has just recently started doing some development on her own.
“I had built for a developer, Viscomi and Associates, for 12 years and was contracted to build all his homes, but in August I broke out on my own,” she said.
Communities in St. Augustine that she was the project manager and oversaw the development of include Lions Gate, Sea Gate and Sea Gate North. She has also built in Sea Colony and Pelican Reef.
Brenner built production homes as well as speculation homes with price ranges from $120,000 to $450,000. She intends to build about five to 10 homes this year and see where it goes from there depending on how much developing she gets into.
“I’m not going to become a tract builder,” she said. “I’d like to develop and then still build a few homes. It’s a lot of fun to develop.”
She is looking forward to doing more developing and creating communities in the St. Augustine and Hastings areas.
She created Brenner Land Company, a subsidiary of Brenner Construction Corporation, as her development company.
The community she is developing right now is a 13 home, 91-acre equestrian community, Gray Fox Farms, in Hastings. Each home will sit on either five or 10 acres and will be a minimum of 1,800 square feet and built in a Southern Comfort style with big porches and porch swings.
“People have three years to build their home,” she said. “Everything I want to sell, I already have reserved. I’m excited about it.”
Brenner keeps her real estate license with New World Realty, which was recently purchased by Coldwell Banker Walter Williams Realty.
Brenner is also very involved in the St. Johns Builders Council.
Brenner worked her way up through the chairs to vice chair, but didn’t accept the chairmanship because she just couldn’t give it the time she wanted to.
“Every builder should join the St. Johns Builders Council,” she said. “It’s a really good group. Every builder in there is helping you in one way or another. You also find good subcontractors there.”
She’s been the governmental affairs liason and spent seven years on the St. Johns County Code Enforcement Board.
Brenner moved to St. Augustine in 1993 from Orlando. She has been married to Cliff Gandy, an engineer with the St. Johns River Water Management, for five years.