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Profile

Shad Tome

New Position: President, Central Florida Division, Taylor Woodrow, Tampa. Previous Position: Division president, David Weekley Homes, Fort Myers

By Times Staff Writer
Published May 2, 2005

Shad Tome is always on a treasure hunt. He's looking for land in the Tampa Bay area, especially Pinellas County. "It's like finding gold," he said.

Tome is the new president of the Central Florida Division of Taylor Woodrow, a homebuilder in Tampa. Tome's division covers Tampa, St. Petersburg, Bradenton and Sarasota - places where undeveloped land is very hard to find.

"We've got to think outside the box," Tome said. That means looking for "in-fill opportunities," or prebuilt areas where there's an opportunity to build vertically, he said. Or tear-down opportunities: developed properties that can be razed and redeveloped.

Tome's responsibilities cover the spectrum of residential home development, "overseeing sales, construction, warranty and land development operations."

His attention is focused on two current developments by Taylor Woodrow. One, Palma Sola Trace in Bradenton, will be a mixed-use community that will have condominiums, attached villas and single-family homes, 546 units in all ranging in price from $200,000 to $300,000, he said.

The second, in north-central Hillsborough County, is Ladera, consisting of 168 single-family homes, each on a half-acre to an acre plot of land, surrounding Lake Merrywater.

"Most of my day is encompassed in looking for potential raw land we can acquire, and planning," Tome said. "Most of that is done with a combination of computers and sitting down with local architects and engineering firms and looking at alternative ways of doing community."

Tome also works with large national brand companies that supply his company's homes with appliances and other products, "to make sure we're using the right products in the homes."

A native of Harrisburg, Pa., Tome earned a bachelor's degree in 1990 from the University of Shippensburg in business management and political science. "It was a running school," he said. "I had a track and cross-country scholarship."

Tome obtained his real estate license and explored new home sales while in college, he said, and this experience evolved into sales management. He moved to Tampa in 1992 and "got into the construction side" of the business with Pulte Home Corp. as a sales manager. In 1995, Tome joined Walter Industries, overseeing sales, marketing and construction.

In 1998, he took a job with David Weekley Homes. Tome worked in Orlando and was focused on developing homes at the planned community of Celebration. There were 200 homes already built when he joined David Weekley Homes, Tome said. "In my time, I would say I was involved in over 500 homes being delivered of various sizes" in Celebration, he said. Tome then relocated to Fort Myers to start a new division of David Weekley Homes.

The homebuilding industry continues to provide challenges, Tome said. "One of the great things, it's definitely ever-changing. There are different types of products we get a chance to build," he said. "It's a fluid environment. New products come to market every day. It's always a challenge to see how we can take those products and deliver them in our homes."

Despite the paucity of available land, Tome remains optimistic about the homebuilding industry. "One of the biggest challenges we'll face as an industry is the availability of material land for people," he said. "We're struggling, as all builders are."

Another challenge facing homebuilders, he said, is the skilled labor pool, particularly subcontractors, in this market. "There are more homes (now) under construction in our market than in the history of time," he said. "As you put more homes under construction, with low unemployment, (you) put a strain more and more on people, more so than on materials."

Tome said he enjoys working with homebuyers as they make the "largest investment they'll ever make, whether it's a $100,000 home or a million-dollar home. (It's) something they've put their sweat and equity into."

Tome said he also enjoys mentoring others in his industry. "One of my ultimate goals . . . is to watch (employees) take on challenges they otherwise might not feel they could be afforded," he said. "In a 12-hour day, I try to invest about 50 percent of that to enlighten or teach or share something."

Tome, 34, is single and lives in Tampa. He said he still likes to run when he can, including participating in the annual Gasparilla run, "but not as much as I used to do. It's hard to find the time to get serious about it. I'd love to get back into competitive running," he said. "Tampa offers a great circuit for some small 5K and 15K runs."

[Last modified April 29, 2005, 18:51:02]