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Anne-Marie Lenton

New Position: Vice president, Leslie Land Corp., Tampa. Previous Position: Apprentice land developer, Leslie Land Corp., Tampa

By Times Staff Writer
Published September 5, 2005

The past two months have been very eventful for Anne-Marie Lenton. She became vice president of Leslie Land Corp. about two months ago, and gave birth to her second child, Sofia, about six weeks ago.

"I work 24 hours a day," Lenton said from home during her final days of maternity leave.

Leslie Land, which develops mixed-use communities in the Tampa Bay area, has a number of projects under way. Among them is Central Park, a 60-acre planned community in Tampa; the Heights, an urban development in downtown Tampa; and Highland Park, a planned community in northwest Hillsborough County. Lenton oversees those projects as well as Renaissance Housing, a company that manufactures light-gauge construction steel. The first prototype housing using this steel is being built on Columbus Street in Tampa, Lenton said.

"We're extremely busy," she said, "and it's very exciting, so I often don't sleep. Put a baby into the mix . . . ." Lenton said she officially returns to work after Labor Day, but conducts meetings and works from home.

Other responsibilities in her new role include overseeing the company's marketing office, participating in land acquisition and focusing on funding for the company's various projects. "There are a lot of meetings," she said. "It's an adrenaline rush. If I'm looking at an urban design, it's exciting. The meetings are part of the process. Granted, some days I have no meetings and it's, "Hallelujah!' "

A native of England, Lenton earned a bachelor's degree from the University of Warwick in Coventry in 1987. She came to the United States right after graduation, attracted, she said, by the "entrepreneurialism" she observed during two summer visits while in college. Her first job was as a waitress in Chicago where a property developer, a customer, interviewed her for a job.

"I've been in real estate ever since," Lenton said.

She later worked as director of marketing for a development and management company in Chicago, then moved to Portland, Ore., to be vice president of a real estate sales and property management company.

In 1999, she moved to Austin, Texas, becoming a partner with Colliers, Oxford, a real estate sales investment and marketing company. In 2001, she and her husband moved to Milan, Italy, to work with Healey Baker, a real estate sales and management company and a division of Cushman & Wakefield. They stayed there two years before moving to Tampa, where Lenton joined Leslie Land as an apprentice land developer.

Lenton said she is energized by her line of work. "This is what I love. You can actually make a difference," she said. "Since I deal with so many different projects, it's so broad, every day is incredibly different. That's what motivates you."

Lenton said she tries to visit England at least once a year. Her twin sister still lives there. "Sometimes we rendezvous in Italy," she said.

Lenton is a member of the board of directors of CreativeTampaBay, an organization designed to foster and promote "the creative talent that we have."

She and her husband, Matthew Childs, have two children, Sofia and a 4-year-old son, Luca. They live in Tampa.

Lenton, 40, said she is an avid runner and has participated in marathons in Chicago and Portland, but none yet in Florida. "I'm determined to do a marathon under four hours," she said. "I have to check it off my life list."

[Last modified September 2, 2005, 18:02:02]