From an early age, Pat Neal, founder and chairman of Sarasota, Florida–based Neal Communities, recalls his father teaching him “land is forever.” But as developers, most land opportunities and transactions typically involve building homes and communities on those parcels after purchase, opposed to preserving them for future generations. For Neal, he’s in the business for both.
It all started during a family vacation. Neal’s father was diving for Florida lobster—bug hunting he called it—in Big Pine Key. When he came to the surface of the water near the southeast corner of the island, he noticed a for-sale sign. While the family visited the area every summer together, this time his father “spotted more than lobsters, he saw an opportunity.”