Origins
The dream of this company began in the autumn of 1976 when the homebuilding partnership of Larson & Carnathan Builders was formed. The following year the company was incorporated as Southern Ventures Corporation – a name that reflected a vision beyond a single homebuilding operation.
In 1980, Southern Ventures opened its first office on Pinedale Road where we maintain a presence to this very day. In spite of the economic challenges of inflation and high interest rates, Southern Ventures developed the residential communities of Spencer’s Crossing, Saddle Creek, Brittany Woods and the Villages of Willow Bend during this period.
Additional growth came as the company diversified into other real estate markets, to include the area’s first office condominiums, Executive Park Town Office, as well as waterfront townhomes at Taliesin South and the rental offices at Union Station Professional Centre.
Expansion
Recognizing a growing need for rental housing, Southern Ventures turned its attention to creating a new echelon of apartment living in Fort Walton Beach and, in 1989, opened the first Cayo Grande Apartments. Featuring a colonial West Indies architecture and beautifully landscaped courtyards, Cayo Grande was enthusiastically greeted by the community – most buildings were fully leased before they were even completed.
Despite the S&L Crisis and severe restrictions on commercial lending, Southern Ventures was able to create new strategies to fund growth as more apartments were added to Cayo Grande and operations were expanded to include the Cayo Grande Suites Hotel and the Market Cafe at Cayo Grande. Homebuilding operations continued at a robust pace as new home construction continued in Lake Lorraine, Shalimar Woods and Harbor Breeze. By the end of the decade, a second apartment community was opened in Santa Rosa County – Cayo Grande Navarre.
As the new millennium approached, an ambitious, multi-front plan to expand into new markets and products was formed.
The New Millennium
With over 24 years of business operation, Southern Ventures continued to be an innovative leader in the local construction industry. The expanding economy fostered our own expansion as we continued to bring high quality apartment communities to market with a third apartment community sharing the Cayo Grande branding opening along the golf course at Bluewater Bay in Niceville, Florida in 2001 – Cayo Grande Bluewater. A new apartment brand, Riverwood Apartments, was opened in Crestview, Florida in 2003 while the first phase of Chez Elan – Fine Apartments opened in 2004 in Fort Walton Beach with later phases completing in 2006 and 2008.
In addition to multifamily operations – and based on the succes of the Cayo Grande Suites Hotel, the company expanded its presence in the hospitality industry by securing a franchise for an Embassy Suites Hotel in Destin, Florida and opening the 155-room property along Miramar Beach, Florida in 2001. This was followed by the development of a Hampton Inn & Suites hotel in Navarre, Florida which was opened in 2008.
A Great Recession
In 2008, having opened the final phase of Chez Elan – Fine Apartments and the new Hampton Inn & Suites – Navarre, Southern Ventures re-opened its Pinedale Center offices after an extensive remodeling program that yielded space for its various operations, housed in an iconic Craftsman styled building. That same year, of course, also brought new economic challenges as the national real estate market faltered and some of the nation’s largest financial institutions failed.
As the financial crisis expanded, its effects were felt across virtually all industries, especially the commercial real estate development business that had become the core of Southern Ventures’ business operations. The company responded with an increased focus on management operations of our existing portfolio of multifamily and hospitality properties with a drive to increase our efficiencies while continuing to deliver quality service.
In order to maintain some degree of ongoing construction while funding was unavailable for large developments in Florida, Southern Ventures decided to return to our roots by once again building single family homes in Crestview, Niceville, Fort Walton Beach and Milton, Florida in projects such as Swift Creek, Swift Creek Plantation, The Preserve and Shady Glen Cove.
New Opportunities
Today, having come through both a period of rapid growth & expansion, as well as tremendously complex & challenging time of economic uncertainty on a national level, Southern Ventures has refined our approach to real estate moving forward. We will continue to build single family homes within the northwest Florida panhandle as Venture Construction and market our brand through our full-service real estate brokerage, Venture Realty.
Simultaneously, we are still in the business of developing larger, commercial real estate assets within the multifamily, hospitality and commercial markets. In the autumn of 2017, Venture Management broke ground on the Fairfield Inn & Suites – Crestview which opened to the public in late Q3 2018. Additionally, the company has announced the development of the new Courtyard by Marriott – Pensacola West which is slated to break ground in Q2 2019 as well as the Springhill Suites – West Melbourne… both hotels are expected to open in 2020.
Venture Design, the most recent addition to our business operations, will work with both Venture Construction and Venture Management on the design and development of single family home plans, custom homes, project management and architectural review of our commercial projects.
Lowell Larson, Jr.
Overall Business Development
Strategic Partnerships
General Contractor & Broker
Brenda Henderson
Accounting Guidance
Tax & Insurance Management
CMBS Relations
Kyle Larson
Information Technology Management
Real Estate Asset Management
Digital Marketing & Graphic Design
Rhonda Larson
Corporate Marketing Management
New Home Decorating
Customer Relations
Lowell Larson, III
New Home Construction Management
Negotiate Subcontractor Agreements
Project Scheduling
Lou Gipson
New Home Warranty Management
Custom Carpentry & Woodcraft
Certified Mechanical Contractor
Mark Pfeiffer
Equipment & Construction Support
Warehouse Management
20+ Year Air Force Veteran
Mel Beggy
Principal Architect of Venture Design
Lead Design of Commercial Development
Custom Home Design
Larry Hoffman
Operational Management of Venture Realty
New Home Construction Sales Management
Real Estate Marketing
Royan Gower
1031 Tax Exchange Specialist
Estate Sales Specialist
30+ Years of Experience
Christopher Truitt
National Association of Home Builders, Member
New Home Construction Sales
20+ Year Military Combat Veteran
Emily Whitby
Real Estate Investments
Residential Real Estate
Property Search
Doug Murphy
Graduate, REALTOR® Institute Designation
Military Relocation Professional Certification
Residential & Commercial Sales
Cathy Floyd
Development Bookkeeper
Human Resources
Office Support
Marjorie Clark
Construction Bookkeeper
Purchasing
Office Support