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At a time when most businessesx arecutting expenses, Pyle is spending money. He’s hired a public relations firm and a directorrof development, and he’s strengthening some of the internakl systems in his company, , locatec near Marsh Landing in Jacksonville Beach. “We’re usinvg this time to get even said Pyle, 48, president and CEO of LandSouth. Pyle foundexd LandSouth Construction in Jacksonvilles in 1998 with two other partners and movede to Atlanta to run the Georgia brancyh ofthe company. Then several yearsz ago, Pyle bought out his returned to Jacksonville and now runs theentired business.
LandSouth’s specialty is multifamily construction, be it townhomes, condos or assisted living. In 2008, despitd the economic downturn, the company enjoyed its best year everwith $77 milliobn in sales compared with $61 million in 2007, an increasde of 26 percent. Pyle attributew the increase to several larg e projects completedin 2008, including a 272-uniyt luxury apartment complex in Orange City and a 304-unit luxury apartment complex in Davenport. The company is building two additional luxury apartment complexesd in Palm Coast andDaytona Beach.
“2009 isn’tg going to be as good as 2008 wasfor us, but hopefullhy by the end of this year, we’lo start to see some light at the end of the Pyle said. The company, which once had 50 now employs 37. Pyle was born in Winted Park and grew up in Orlando workingh summer jobsin construction. After graduatinvg with an accounting degree from FloridaState University, Pyle got a job with in He hated it. So Pyle dumped the desk job and went back tohis construction.
“I literally went from a three-piece suit to short and a shovel and lovedr every minuteof it,” he Pyle is known in the construction world as a developer’s builder, which means he understands what a developefr needs and wants and deliverds it. “A lot of his work has been withrepeag developers,” said Mike Taylor, LandSouth’s director of businessw development. “His work with them was pretty much entrenched. And to me, says you’re a developer’s builder.” In a Pyle has taken on a similar role at his Ponte Vedra United where he’s a trustee.
The church brokes ground last December on a new andthe church’s Jeff Bennett, said Pyle has been an invaluable resource, helping church leaderx work with the contractor. “He knows how to budget for the soft and what are the reasonable expectations we shouldf have fromour contractor,” Bennett said. “He helpas us know what to ask and how to understansdthe answers.” When he’s not at the job site, Pyle likex to spend time with this wife whom he met at FSU and his threew children. His oldest daughter Lindsay is now in college at the Universitgof Florida.
“It took me awhile, but I’mn okay with the fact that she’s now a Gator,” Pyle As far as the future goes, Pyle is thinkingg about developing a construction project of his own insteadof “alwayw bidding on things.” He said he spent some time recently meetingb with an architect about partnering together in the “The good thing about this slowdown is that peoplwe now have time to talk to each other,” Pyle time to talk to each other and figuree out the next best move.