…Our company started back in the fall of 1976, when two carpenters began building homes under the name of Larson and Carnathan Builders. In the spring of the following year, they decided to incorporate the business and wanted a name that reflected a broader range of dreams, so over a lunch plate of barbeque a decision was reached and Southern Ventures Corporation was christened. The median price of a home in those days was $45,300 which was just about what our first house sold for…nearly a year after it was built, so business was tough and inflation was on the rise but we learned and grew. In 1980, while most builders worked out of their trucks as we had up to that point, we opened our business office on Pinedale Road in Fort Walton Beach, where it remains today.
…The 1980’s was a pivotal time for Southern Ventures Corporation as it was for the country. Ronald Reagan became president and inflation was fought with high interest rates, as prime reached 21 percent. In spite of those economic challenges it was a time of pronounced growth and diversification for the company as we developed the area’s first office condominiums, Executive Park Town Offices, in a joint-venture with Whitworth Builders, who also joined us in creating Taliesin South Townhomes and Union Station Professional Centre. Southern Ventures was known as “Builders of Tradition” creating homes in the new developments of Candlewood, the Villages of Willow Bend, Shalimar Point, Spencer’s Crossing and Brittany Woods. Recognizing a need for rental housing, the company turned its attention to creating a new level of apartment living and in 1989 opened the first Cayo Grande Apartments in Fort Walton Beach. Cayo Grande’s colonial West Indies architecture and lavishly landscaped grounds created an island of luxury living at the center of the city’s many conveniences and was met with an enthusiastic response renting out most buildings before completion.
…In spite of the economic challenges that gave way to the S&L Crisis, growth continued into the 1990’s with more apartment units added to Cayo Grande ~ Fort Walton Beach. Adding another new market to its already varied business, the company opened the Cayo Grande Suites Hotel “Your Home away from Home” which included the Market Cafe in 1994 and followed with additions to the hotel as the Cayo Grande Villas opened in 1995 and the Cayo Grande Executive Suites opened in 1996. Expansion continued as Navarre, Florida’s rapid growth both in population and tourism, attracted Southern Ventures to add a second Cayo Grande Apartments on Navarre Parkway in 1999. Still in the single family home building market, Southern Ventures completed its 500th house in Okaloosa County.
…As the new millennium began, Southern Ventures had been in business 24 years, and 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 new markets with a Cayo Grande Apartments opening in 2001 on the golf course at Bluewater Bay in Niceville, Florida; the Riverwood Apartments opening in 2003 in Crestview, Florida and the Chez Elan ~ Fine Apartments opening in Fort Walton Beach in 2004. Having found success with our Cayo Grande Suites Hotel, Southern Ventures expanded its presence as a hotel company by securing the Embassy Suites Hotel franchise for Destin, Florida; opening the 155 room property along the Miramar Beach in 2001 and later by securing the Hampton Inn & Suites franchise for Navarre, Florida; opening the 102 room property in 2008. Also in 2008, Southern Ventures corporate office at Pinedale re-opened after more than a year long renovation program which resulted in a dramatic presentation of a Craftsman-styled building carefully nestled among the southern oaks that grace our grounds.
Southern Ventures’ great history is the result of our drive for the future; a drive that remains as Venture Residential manages one of the largest apartment portfolios in Northwest Florida; Venture Hospitality focuses on growing a dynamic and well positioned hotel program that includes a planned Fairfield Inn and Suites in Crestview; Service First Group provides our properties and the general public with an array of construction and maintenance services and in 2009 a return to our homebuilding origins with Craftsman Homes by Southern Ventures. Even in these uncertain times, as every company in America seems to be facing a challenge to some degree, Southern Ventures Corporation strives to meet those challenges as we have in the past; by providing our guests, residents and customers with great service and superior values.