President, Davidson Development
College: Georgia State University, BBA in Accounting.
Past business affiliations: Peat, Marwick, Mitchell & Co.; Cousins Properties; Portman Properties; Arvida Corp.
President, Davidson Realty, Davidson Property Management and Davidson Referral Network
by Fred Seely, Editor
Jim and Sherry Davidson have lots of trophies and the biggest aren't among the many animals they've shot, stuffed and mounted.
Their biggest trophies are in land, mainly the land that makes up the almost sold-out World Golf Village. There's more land like that to come, just as there are more animal trophies to come.
"We have about a hundred animals," says Sherry, looking at "my lion" outside her office. "Fifty more in taxidermy. Where will we put them? No idea. No idea."
The animals are from African safaris and the Davidsons' means of financing those forays are safaris of another nature: finding land, developing it and making the right sales pitch.
Those quests have taken them to many places: South Florida, Atlanta, Ponte Vedra Beach and, for the past 20 years, the giant World Golf Village property.
In the conference room on the second story of their plush WGV office building, Jim stands in front of a dizzying array of maps and takes visitors on a trip through the geography, and explains why his company is in the middle of a soon-to-boom area.
"We're a one-sided market," he says. "Can't sell land in the ocean. Other cities can grow everywhere. Atlanta: it's almost to Macon now, and it's headed to Chattanooga. Charlotte: north, east, south and west."
Here, he says, there's only south and west. The ocean is to the east. Wetlands cause development problems to the north.
"It doesn't take a rocket scientist to know that there's a lot of marsh between Jacksonville and Fernandina Beach."
Then he starts showing the lines on the maps. Roads, the key to everything. Beltways, numbers like 9B and 2209, names like Philips.
"Butler Boulevard opened the south part of the beaches," he said. 'I-95 used to be a place to get on up north and get off in South Florida, but it's our lifeline here. It can't handle the traffic now. But, we're lucky to have good planners and roads are coming."
The Davidsons' history with this area goes back to the days when much of the land to Jacksonville's east and south was uninhabited.
They came here in 1981 when he was with Arvida, which then had taken over Sawgrass and was struggling with multiple operating divisions that didn't communicate
It took two years to straighten out that problem and get the development headed for the greater purpose: to sell it to the members.
At the time, today's giant inland developments were just pine trees.
"All the land was owned by either timber companies or families," said Davidson. "No one had a real estate company. If you wanted to develop that land, you had to deal directly with them."
Back then, the family names were prominent: McCormick, Davis, Hodges, Skinner. The Cummer Land Trust owned thousands of acres of timberland. Mandarin was just starting to develop but still was nothing more than an extension of the San Jose area.
A group of Jacksonville businessmen heard that the Golf Hall of Fame was struggling in its Pinehurst, N.C. home. They already had lured the PGA Tour to the city. If golf's biggest and best organization was here, why not its Hall of Fame?
The businessmen brought the idea to the PGA Tour, which saw the potential and ran with the idea.
Now, where to put it?
Davidson wasn't involved initially. The original site was near the Avenues Mall but the landowners wouldn't sell. The idea moved south, about where Baptist South is. But there were environmental issues.
There was available land further south and Jim Davidson had connections.
Davidson Development was anointed to sell the residential land. To keep control, Davidson Realty was founded. Later came the property management and referral arms.
With all the struggles the WGV has had, it's now a success and it has brought attention to the landowners who once had nothing but trees and raccoons.
"Look at the big developments today; all are along I-95. Nocatee, the Durbin area, 210, the World Golf Village. Nocatee is doing well, so is the Durbin area. We're almost sold out, and so are the developments around here like MuraBella."
There's a big hole remaining and yes, Davidson Development is involved. The development is SilverLeaf, a giant tract that sits right on top of the World Golf Village. It will eventually have 10,700 homes. Constructionwill start when its owner, David Hutson, pulls the trigger. When he does, Jim and Sherry Davidson will be ready.
"The buyers are out there," said Sherry. "We spent five years on Internet strategy and it's paying off. Sixty percent of our traffic is out of state. Right now, we have buyers coming from Wisconsin, Connecticut and New York City."
Davidson Realty has expanded into Palencia and has added agents for the future.
It's all right there on the maps, said Jim Davidson.
"Look at a map and see what's where. The major arteries are in place and other roads, like 2209, are coming," he said. "The challenge is getting people to work and that challenge is being met."