by Mike Sharkey
Staff Writer
Sixteen years ago, Jim and Sherry Davidson got tired of crunching numbers and decided to enter the real estate development industry. Sixteen years ago, the Davidsons also took a chance when they peered south into St. Johns County and began buying land and building houses. Today, Davidson Realty Inc. and Davidson Development Inc. are major developers in the ninth-fastest growing county in the nation. They have projects scattered all over the county with more in the pipeline. According to Sherry Davidson, it’s no accident that two certified public accountants began in St. Johns County and continue to focus on that area.
“My husband’s background was with Arvida,” said Davidson. “We were in Atlanta with Arvida for a few years and my husband was a real visionary. He could pick an area of Atlanta and see where to go next. He can really analyze the trends and see what direction the development is moving.”
Two things told the Davidsons that St. Johns County was the direction to look: the Avenues Mall had just opened and they knew St. Johns County had a good school system.
“Jim thought things were going to keep going this way,” said Davidson, who is president of Davidson Realty Inc. “He believes it’s going to keep going west of (State Road) 16 and even (State Road) 207. It will fill in. Nocatee is coming and so is Durbin Creek.”
In addition to what is proving to be great foresight, the Davidsons also have two CPA licenses and a masters degree in Taxation (Sherry’s) working for them. She said she believes that background comes in handy when they are exploring new options and areas for development. Davidson said the ability to carefully analyze the current market and predict trends based on the numbers has helped their companies steadily grow over the years. What started as a two-person, husband-and-wife team has evolved into a realty company with 23 agents and growing.
The Davidson Companies’ biggest name project is World Golf Village, a mixed-use development that includes two world-class golf courses, the World Golf Hall of Fame, several neighborhoods with homes ranging from $140,000 to $1 million, the IMAX Theater and several new developments including a new 17,200 square-foot corporate headquarters in WGV.
“We are moving into our new building in June of next year,” said Davidson, who also is vice president of Davidson Development. “We have converted a conference room in the old building into offices for seven agents. We will have 25 agents before we move and 40 fairly quickly after we move.”
Davidson said all the growth in St. Johns County is good for all the development companies. According to Davidson, there are 15,000 more units planned for St. Johns County and while it may seem like developers are in competition with each other, Davidson says the projects actually complement each other and prove that St. Johns County is, and will for be a long time, one of the industry’s true hot spots.
Proof of this can be found by just looking around. Areas that were once considered “nowhere” are either built out with full-scale communities or the land has been cleared for another 1,200 homes, golf course and amenities.
“When they built (State Road) 210 and Palencia opened up, that was the best thing that could have happened to us,” said Davidson. “Now, when people drive south through St. Johns County, they see six communities. When we started, there was only Cimarrone. Now, people can stop and look at 15 models instead of just two to attract people.”
And many of those folks are driving rental cars. Davidson said the influx of people from out of state is amazing and the ratio of those looking at homes to those that actually purchase is going down every year. Many of them are relocating from Atlanta, Pennsylvania, New York and New Jersey. However, Davidson said her highest conversion rates come from California.
“They are amazed at what they can get for their money. On average, we sell to about one of every nine prospects. We sell to one of every two from California,” said Davidson, who credits the Internet for helping bolster that conversion rate. “Through the Internet, they already know what they are getting into. They have seen the property and they are serious buyers.”
Today, Davidson says the builders can’t keep up with the developers. Land is being bought and permits are being pulled faster than foundations can be poured. Yet, Davidson asserts that St. Johns County has a good grasp of its development boom.
“The county is exacting huge money from the developers for improvements. The last few big developments have paid about $50 million each for road improvements,” said Davidson. “I think the St. Johns County Commission has done a good job managing that growth and that’s important because it’s good for the whole county.”