by Michele Newbern Gillis
Staff Writer
Local builder Dane Boggs and former American Express executive Bill Barton have come together to form a new development company, B2 Properties of Northeast Florida LLC. The name B2 Properties came from the two Bs, Barton and Boggs.
The company’s first project is a 5,900-square-foot home across from the ocean on Ponte Vedra Boulevard priced at $2.9 million. Boggs is the designer, builder and CEO of B2 Properties. Barton is the CFO of the company.
The two have been friends for many years and recently, with Barton’s retirement, it was a perfect time to start a new business.
“At one time I was going to build it myself, but I knew that Bill was retiring from American Express,” said Boggs. “He had seen the project and expressed an interest in being a partner on it with me which helps take some of the financial stress off of the job. Between the two of us we are looking forward to building this and other ones in the future.”
Barton said he had seen Boggs’ work and was interested in getting in on the new venture.
“I had always liked Dane’s work,” said Barton. “I had seen his plans for this home and he was really excited about building it. I was very excited about getting in on it with the idea that this would be the first project for us. We’ll build this one and continue to do more projects. I knew we could work together and that we would have fun doing it, too.”
“I talk with the banks and get financing,” said Barton. “I’m also setting up our tax status and making sure we are complying all of the financial side. I am also handling the marketing and looking to see what other properties we can get into.”
Boggs has been a custom homebuilder with his own company, Boggs Construction, for 25 years. He designed and built new homes, completed large-scale renovations and room additions primarily in the beaches area. Barton recently retired from American Express as a general manager of operations after 25 years. He was in construction before he started his career with American Express and says he has always wanted to get back into it.
Barton’s experience with American Express has carried over to his new company quite well.
“Yeah, he tries to manage me,” joked Boggs.
“For the last three years, I spent a lot of time on quality issues and customer satisfaction worldwide,” said Barton. “One of the things that we did when we set out to start this company was to talk about the principles that we wanted to offer and what kind of customer experience we wanted people to have. For us, it is extremely important that whoever buys the house feels really confident that we acted with integrity, that we used the highest quality of materials and that we stand by it. Not only do we want to be environmentally friendly, but make sure that the buyers have a really great experience.”
“They are an interesting combination of thinking styles,” said Lisa Hewlett of Berry & Co. Real Estate, who is marketing the home. “When they get together, they have really good energy. Dane is very concrete, detail-oriented and thinks sequentially where Dane is more of a global thinker. It’s good energy having them together.”
With land so scarce in Ponte Vedra Beach, one wonders how they found such a lucrative lot for the project.
It so happens that Boggs lives on Ponte Vedra Boulevard and a friend of his owned the lot. His friend was transferred to Asia, so he was able to purchase it a few years ago.
“It is on the west side of Ponte Vedra Boulevard,” said Boggs. “It’s on the marsh. The front of the lot is 100 feet, which is standard and the depth is around 300 feet. It has deeded private access to the beach directly across the street.”
Boggs wanted to design the house to blend with his neighbors and the environment.
“I wanted to be sensitive to the environment,” said Boggs. “I feel that sometimes builders and developers don’t really respect the site. Sometimes a floor plan might not work really well with a lot, but they just pick it out of a plan book and plop it down. They don’t pay attention to their neighbors or big trees that might be on the lot that they should save and try to build around. The wind direction and the sun have to be taken into account when you build a house.”
Boggs likes difficult lots. He likes a challenge when building a home, to make the home the most it can be while still being sensitive to the area surrounding it.
“It’s more interesting to try and tackle that problem and put a nice beautiful home on it,” said Boggs. “This particular lot slopes away from Ponte Vedra Boulevard and it is in a dip, that’s why the garage is under the house. You don’t see the garage doors. They are hidden under the house. It looks like a two story house, but it is actually a three story house. I’m not encroaching on my neighbors and am a nice distance from them. It gives the privacy and this house offers privacy as well.”
He said he wanted to build a house that grows out of the site and looks like it belongs there.
Construction on the house should start early 2006 and it should be complete by the end of the year.
When the company starts making money, Boggs and Barton intend to set aside a portion of their earnings to donate to environmental groups.
“One of the things I love about the Ponte Vedra Beach area is that it is still beautiful, but it needs some help,” said Barton. “If you look at Iguana Park, it is a fantastic place that we have adjacent to Ponte Vedra Beach. If you think about the rivers, beaches and everything else, that is really why people want to be here. It really is beautiful, but it needs some help. One thing that we are committed to is making sure that not only are we making a profit, but that we are able to give back to the community.”