Forrest Gump Rodriguez?

Forrest Gump Rodriguez?

Naivete, hard work, salesmanship and meetings are the keystones for Henry Rodriguez's commercial development style.

By Sean Roth

Real Estate Editor

For a newcomer to commercial development, Henry Rodriguez is doing well. This past January, he sold 20.5 acres in Osprey to the retail behemoth Bentonville, Ark.-based Wal-Mart Stores Inc., capping off almost two years of negotiations among Rodriguez, Wal-Mart, area residents and Sarasota County government. With his portion of that project completed, Rodriguez has turned his attention to developing a $150 million new urbanist town center next door. The project, Grand Oak Village of Osprey, will feature a mix of local and national retailers and about 600 residential units.

Even with the early success of Wal-Mart, Rodriguez isn't about to get a swelled head; in fact, he likens his many business successes to the history-making events of Winston Groom's fictional character Forrest Gump. It isn't that Rodriguez has made many bad decisions; it's just that he has learned time and again that he may not have the best idea in the room. Rodriguez attributes that way of thinking to 2000 when the stock market fell sharply.

"I thought, 'Man, I know how to pick 'em,' " he says. "And as God usually does when man gets too proud, he takes a two-by-four and hits him square in the knees. Any man that thinks he is too smart to learn something new is doomed to repeat his mistakes over and over and over again. Just call me Henry "Gump" Rodriguez. I will never get into a situation where I think I'm too smart."

This led Rodriguez to find a new, more inclusive way of developing. With the prospect of building a Wal-Mart store in Osprey, Rodriguez hosted more than 65 community meetings to discuss every aspect of the project from the future tenant to the very aesthetics of the future Wal-Mart. At the height of the development planning, he was getting 30 to 40 phone calls a week with questions about the development. He estimates that he went through at least eight months of contentious debate, most of which was unnecessary for the approval of the project.

Starting out

Growing up in Woodmere Long Island, N.Y., Rodriguez was the son of a building superintendent and a seamstress. Early on he gained an affinity for construction; his father would take him to see new homes that were under construction - "that we could never hope to afford."

When Rodriguez was 11 his family moved to Fort Lauderdale.

Rodriguez was a horrible student in high school.

"I was scratching by on Ds," he says. "It wasn't until I realized I needed to get good grades to go to college, that I really started buckling down. I'm happy to say that I got almost straights As at Broward Community College. That was almost all by self teaching."

One credit shy of an associate's degree in physical education, Rodriguez quit college.

"Basically, in life, everything boils down to beliefs," he says. "I can't stress enough you have believe in what you are doing to be happy in life. I was not really enjoying what I was doing."

In 1987, Rodriguez turned in his books for the car-bound life of a salesman, joining Check Technologies, an anti-theft device manufacturer. It was the right move for him. He found success in the areas he covered - Key West to West Palm Beach - but he still wasn't satisfied. So he called up the industry leader in anti-theft devices, Sensormatic. At the time, Sensormatic controlled roughly 80% of the market.

"I was basically able to go into Sensormatic and say, 'Hey, I don't want a regular sales job,' " Rodriguez says. "I told them I spoke Spanish fluently, which I did; I'm of Cuban descent. And they said, 'We have the perfect place for you.' "

That place was Puerto Rico. Sensormatic gave Rodriguez a plane ticket and arranged to pick up his expenses for a week so he could test the market.

"Little did I know at the time that they had offered the position to 10 other people and everyone had turned them down," Rodriguez says. "They gave me some leads ... and threw me right in. I sold more in that week than I had sold in six months in the states. When I came back I told them it was a terrible territory. So we negotiated a deal, and I ended up being offered a distributorship."

The company had such low hopes for the Caribbean market they gave Rodriguez exclusive distributorship rights to the Caribbean, parts of Central America and northern South America for $500, which he borrowed from a friend.

"They had no idea what an incredible market that area was," Rodriguez says. "I look back at my life and that was the best investment I ever made. I had (my friend) paid back within the month. Within four years, I had the largest distributorship in the company, and the highest profit margin."

Rodriguez says the success of the distributorship came down to two elements: an untapped area and a fast-growing industry of retail-theft protection.

"I had a tremendous satisfaction selling these sensors," he says. "Theft has a huge effect on shopping prices. If I can save a store 2% on the pilferage then the devices have more than paid for themselves. Especially in supermarkets, there is such a low profit margin that a store may have to sell $100 worth of goods to make up for even $1 stolen. It was a product I believed in. Plus, to be honest, Sensormatic was providing less than adequate service with the distributorship so I was able to fix that."

The first month he was in Puerto Rico, Rodriguez met a German tourist named Susanne Theisen. They married in 1991.

Three years later, Rodriguez's wife became pregnant with their first son and the allure of the high-crime Caribbean island quickly dimmed. Rodriguez, then 30, sold the distributorship back to Sensormatic.

Rodriguez declined to comment on the exact sale price for the distributorship, but says, "It was enough to where I would never have to work again."

Back to Florida

In 1993, Rodriguez and his family retired to Pinellas County. Rodriguez purchased a few real estate tracts, including property in East Lake Woodlands. And for about two years, Rodriguez traded stocks. "It had no redeeming value," he says. "Thank God I realized early on that I got no personal satisfaction out of watching it go up and down."

Instead, Rodriguez, by this time 35, and a friend started a telecommunications business to buy and resell long-distance phone time. Rodriguez initially invested $300,000 in the company.

"That was certainly not how much it took to keep it going," he says. "It just burned a hole in my pocket. Luckily, there was a tech boom going on."

Within 18 months, the company produced monthly revenue of $5 million, with about 35,000 small business customers in more than 50 states. "Even so, I knew somehow I had to get away from that (over-built infrastructure)," Rodriguez says. "So we sold the company to (Fort Lauderdale-based) LDI International. They were set to go public through Morgan Stanley."

As part of the sale, Rodriguez stayed with the company as an executive vice president. He was ultimately offered more than 2 million stock options, which at the expected IPO price of $20 a share, meant he had the expectation of $40 million in value. Financially it was a great job but it meant he had to commute to Fort Lauderdale from Pinellas County every week.

"One week I came home, and my wife basically said, 'It's either Fort Lauderdale or me,' " Rodriguez says. "It was an easy decision to make. It took me about 10 seconds."

After a four-hour meeting with the CEO, who was reasonably concerned with the impact of having an executive resign just prior to the IPO, Rodriguez quit and left those options behind.

Ultimately, LDI International's IPO never happened. Instead the company struggled through the stormy telecom field left by the collapse of the tech bubble into the waiting arms of WorldCom.

"To this day," Rodriguez says, "my wife looks back and says, 'Thank you. I know you were willing to walk away from $40 million for me.' At the time, I felt a tremendous sense of relief ... being able to bring home my bags. Even if the company went public I have no regrets."

Feeling the desire for waterfront lifestyle similar to the Caribbean, Rodriguez and his wife moved to Casey Key. Once again unable to retire, the workaholic Rodriguez bought the five-acre Lippincott estate on Casey Key.

"As a child I always dreamed of becoming a builder," he says. "My father started taking me to houses when I was four years old. It was fascinating to watch the natural metamorphosis. I always wanted to get involved."

Over two years, he subdivided the estate into four lots and eventually, built a home on one of the lots. At the time, the home sold for a record $6.5 million.

But after 9/11, Rodriguez decided he didn't want to build luxury homes.

Seizing opportunity

Looking for his next project, Rodriguez was driving on U.S. 41 from Casey Key northbound to Sarasota when he first saw the Wal-Mart property.

Imagine a line of musty old real estate agent signs running along completely vacant land, Rodriguez says. His property alone had been on the market for 20 years.

His development naivete and imagination made the location an opportunity he couldn't pass up. Rodriguez purchased 33 different parcels from 26 owners, spending about $15 million (individually between $10,000 to $1.9 million) over three years for a total of about 65.5 acres. As for funding, Rodriguez paid cash for most of the pieces and he financed one piece with a friendly bank in Tampa.

After the purchase, a number of national retailers called Rodriguez about the property. "I was surprised by how many people knew about the Osprey area," he says. "I had over 14.5 acres of general commercial land that was already zoned. I was courted by every large retailer that was down here."

But Rodriguez wanted to make sure he didn't make the wrong decision so he held a multitude of public and civic meetings.

"I wanted to give them what they wanted," he says. "It was also an opportunity to make a difference and revitalize the city. What they told me was that first and foremost they wanted a supermarket. I researched the demographics of the site and found that it needed to be a destination location to work. The density of Osprey is just too thin to support anything else. That's why the grocery stores like Winn Dixie had passed it by."

So Rodriguez called the real estate department of Wal-Mart in Arkansas. He got as far as the receptionist.

"She said that I should send them a package," Rodriguez says. "Unfortunately, I had no idea what a package (for commercial development) was. She told me what to send and I mailed it in. One month later, they called me up. It turned out from their response, they already knew where and what Osprey was."

The Wal-Mart real estate staff visited Osprey and put a contract on the property with Rodriguez. Nevertheless, it was going to be a tough contract for Rodriguez to meet. Instead of developing the 14.5 acres, that Rodriguez owned, he sold Wal-Mart on waiting for a yearlong rezone of an additional five acres so the retail giant could build a 212,000-square-foot super center.

"I had no idea about the previous battles over Wal-Mart," Rodriguez says. "I had no idea about the controversy. This was my first commercial venture. I really feel like Forrest Gump having made it through. Thankfully, Osprey not only embraced the idea; they embraced it enthusiastically."

For the next year, Rodriguez did nothing except explain, debate, cajole and sell the Wal-Mart Supercenter. "It was very taxing on my family," Rodriguez says. "We started working with the Osprey Civic Association. I would say when we started, 50% of the residents were against us; a few months later we had over 90% for us. I decided early on, we were going to make a concerted effort to keep everyone in the loop. I believe people will embrace a project if it makes sense. I also believe that it doesn't have to be a dry presentation where you get up in front of a workshop just to state the facts. You can't just go through the motions; you have to believe in your project and what you are saying. Despite all the bad publicity in other areas I believe that a Wal-Mart Supercenter with proper aesthetics and a pleasing proper buffering is the right thing for Osprey."

It worked. The public fell behind the rezone. The county commission received almost 1,200 letters in support of the project and only four against it. The project even received support from the anti-growth environmental organization, Control Growth Now. Dan Lobeck, president of Control Growth Now, says the main reason for the support is due to organization Vice President Judy Johnson, who also heads the Osprey Civic Association (see sidebar). Plus, Rodriguez made it easier for the city organizations by convincing Wal-Mart to spend more money on building articulation, design and buffering. The changes are expected to cost Wal-Mart an additional $1 million, but Rodriguez sold it to them as necessary for the rezone.

On Dec. 17, 2003, the county commission voted to change the zoning, and a month later, Wal-Mart closed on the property.

"It might sound sadistic, but I enjoy going into a workshop," Rodriguez says.

New urbanist convert

Next up for Rodriguez is Grand Oak Village, the remaining 45 acres next to Wal-Mart. Rodriguez originally envisioned the oak laden site as a typical suburban community, but plans changed when he saw Bradenton Village.

"Some of the people against the Wal-Mart reached out and said. 'Let's work together,' " Rodriguez says. "At the time I had no idea what the concept of a new urbanist village was. One of the people suggested we look at what had been done at Bradenton Village. When I saw it my mouth just dropped."

Bradenton Village is the Hope 6 housing development, formerly known as Rogers Garden Park, Rogers Addition and Rousch Field, that was recently redeveloped in a brightly colored urban concept emphasizing on street parking in 28 New Orleans-style townhomes.

"This is what life used to be like," Rodriguez says. "I talked to these previously disenfranchised people that lived there. They have such pride in being there and talking to their neighbors. They felt so empowered. I also visited West Park Village in Tampa. I was an immediate convert (to new urbanism). This is the future of the American landscape ... without suburban sprawl. I thought I have to build a community. And when I saw the vision of Sarasota County. My influence comes from looking at the great European cities of France and Italy ... going into the villages. I also felt there could be a peaceful co-existence between national and local retailers. The most important thing about the village is you must have density. Density creates vibrancy. Vibrancy creates a sense of community."

Rodriguez hired the Tampa-based architectural firm of Cooper Johnson Smith, the group that worked on the Bradenton Village.

To make a new urbanist village/town center work, Rodriguez wanted a central Sarasota library. Currently, he is negotiating with the county on donating the land for the new library.

Asked if he anticipates any controversies with the new development, Rodriguez points to traffic. "But actually what people don't understand is that this will have a huge internal capture rate," Rodriguez says. "The people who live here will be able to walk or drive to the stores or the Wal-Mart without getting on U.S. 41. So the traffic will be mitigated. The Florida Department of Transportation reviewing the site plan was very impressed with the internal circulation. ¦ The biggest challenge is how the county will adapt the land development regulations to allow for new urbanism."

The next scheduled meeting on the village is a completeness review of the conceptual site plan. Then the plan moves on to the planning commission.

"If I don't get to build a true vibrant village," Rodriguez says, "then unfortunately I would have to regretfully build a suburban-type community. But, I don't think that is going to be the case. There is very strong support for the village concept from almost every civic organization. If everything goes as expected we can start construction by June of next year. We see this as a catalyst for how traditional urbanist neighborhoods are going to be accepted in the market and the county."

Control Growth Now Letter

One of the most surprising letters in support of the Osprey Wal-Mart Supercenter project came from Control Growth Now. In a letter to the Sarasota County Planning Commission Chairman John Fellin, Control Growth Now President Dan Lobeck wrote:

"The proposed Wal-Mart is well located from the point of view of traffic distribution in the county as well as the environment. We understand that this parcel of land is highly disturbed, containing no environmentally sensitive areas or protected species, due to forty years of agricultural and commercial use. The super center will restore trees as well as preserve two beautiful oaks (one which is within inches of being a Grand Oak and the other a Grand Oak). Wal-Mart's decision to save the second tree is to be commended.

"Retention ponds are planned to the east of the property. The Sarasota County Storm Water Basin model shows the property water flow going almost entirely to the northeast then to North Creek. This is also documented by aerial photograph studies by the county's North Creek Basin Map. Wal-Mart will install low-pressure sodium downdraft lighting as required by the Osprey Revitalization Plan, with a 20-foot height restriction versus the usual 40-foot height.

"In regards to traffic, the Wal-Mart stores at Cattleman and Jacaranda are approximately 10 to 12 miles away from the Osprey location. The area between is underserved. This point was brought out by Ms. Giovanna Deveney in today's Venice Gondolier. The Osprey store will draw from a radius of five miles, providing great convenience to Osprey residents and reduce the "through" traffic by Osprey and neighboring residents traveling to the Cattleman or Jacaranda stores. Those more than five miles away will likely go to their nearest store. Currently Osprey's traffic on US 41 is 42,000 cars a day going by as a "pass through," but virtually no revenue from them is being generated by this neglected infill area.

"For these reasons and more, Control Growth Now supports the Osprey Wal-Mart Super Center with all stipulations that had been recommended by staff and the Osprey residents. We urge you to vote for this project as it will be a benefit to all in Sarasota County and Osprey in particular."