Scott “Skipper” Peek who is part of the leadership team that has developed Lake Nona into a nationally renowned mixed-use project that is recognized for its excellence in design, technology, health and wellness.
As featured in Authority Magazine
An Interview With Jason Hartman
As a part of my series about the ‘Five Things You Need To Know To Succeed In The Real Estate Industry’, I had the pleasure of interviewing Scott “Skipper” Peek.
Scott “Skipper” Peek who is part of the leadership team that has developed Lake Nona into a nationally renowned mixed-use project that is recognized for its excellence in design, technology, health and wellness. With over 40 years of experience in the real estate industry, Mr. Peek leads Tavistock’s commercial real estate transaction team for projects that have entitlements for more than eleven million square feet of development and contain more than 12,000 acres.
Thank you so much for doing this with us! Can you tell us the “backstory” about what brought you to the Real Estate industry?
Myfather was a real estate investor which started my initial interest. I was a finance major at the University of Florida and took a real estate elective class under Dr. Clayton Curtis which accelerated my interest. I had a great opportunity with a group called Georgetown Development out of Miami after graduation and the rest is history.
Can you share with our readers the most interesting or amusing story that occurred to you in your career so far? Can you share the lesson or takeaway you took out of that story?
My teams have had a lot of success on corporate build-to-suits over the years, including some of the largest transactions in Florida’s history. Many of these projects started as speculative designs where we were focused and forward-thinking on prospective tenant needs, with imbedded flexibility.
Because we had designs in evolution that were thoughtful and aligned with tenant needs, we were able to have a speed-to-market advantage over competitors that were starting from scratch. I think the key takeaway on this is that it helps to be forward thinking about your customer needs and be willing to risk pursuit capital to gain a time advantage, which can often be the difference between winning and losing an opportunity.
In the amusing story category, while at Highwoods Properties, we did a large build-to-suit for CNA Insurance and we agreed to a super aggressive schedule. I was literally helping to install toilet seats at 5:00 am on move-in day. The takeaway is you have to do what you have to do, to get the job done.
Do you have a favorite “life lesson quote”? Can you share a story or example of how that was relevant to you in your life?
This is simple; always do the right thing and don’t be afraid to be inquisitive and ask questions. Doing the right thing will be critical in forming people’s faith in your reliability and their willingness to do business with you.
Some people view asking questions as a sign of weakness and are afraid to show that they don’t know everything. I think asking questions is a sign of strength. There is something to learn in this business every day and real estate is changing and evolving every day. To be at the top of your game, and to compete at the highest level, one has to take a lifelong and daily approach to learning.
Are you working on any exciting new projects now? How do you think that will help people?
Lake Nona is the most exciting community that I’ve worked on in my career, with a constant stream of projects in the works. While I am usually an analytical thinker, Tavistock has pushed me to imagine the impossible as part of creating in Lake Nona, a new blueprint for a great American city-within-a-city in metro Orlando that covers 17- square miles, encompassing several million square feet of commercial property, with millions more in the pipeline.
We are relentlessly pushing for Lake Nona to establish a gold standard of living because of its rich mixture of uses, unique amenities and walkability. Whether you’re living or working in Lake Nona you have access to everything within 17 square miles; from the Lake Nona Performance Club, the most comprehensive gym and wellness center in Central Florida, to a vibrant Town Center with a variety and growing number of restaurants, retailers and entertainment venues with community events all year round, public art, autonomous shuttle program, and education from pre-k to MD. I think Lake Nona’s blueprint is the future of planned community living that people will demand to foster a well-rounded and healthy lifestyle for themselves and their families.
What do you think makes your company stand out? Can you share a story?
Wow…it’s hard to condense all the great qualities that make Tavistock different in a paragraph or two, but I will try. Firstly, we have an incredibly smart, visionary and well-resourced owner in Joe Lewis who has pushed us to the limit on creativity, our attention to detail, and commitment to excellence while allowing us to take measured risks. He has empowered Tavistock Development Company to take a generational approach to its communities and other projects.
Tavistock has an amazing team with unique skillsets and expertise across residential, commercial, mixed-use, health & wellbeing, sports & performance and hospitality. This really stands out in Lake Nona, where we’ve created an extraordinary environment that inspires human potential through excellence in design, community programming, collaboration and innovation. We’re fortunate that this vision has attracted an ecosystem of innovative companies that call Lake Nona home, including KPMG, BBA Aviation, SIMCOM and Fountain Life, to name a few. Plus a large cluster of research, clinical and education partners including University of Central Florida’s Health Sciences Campus, Nemours Children’s Hospital, The VA Hospital, UCF’s teaching hospital and the Sara Cannon Cancer Institute.
For the full article, visit Authority Magazine online.
