Corporate community

GreatStone Mortgage executives seem to be making The Hamlet their own private neighborhood.

By TIM GRANT

© St. Petersburg Times, published August 13, 2000

CARROLLWOOD -- All up and down the streets of The Hamlet, neighbors are buzzing about the changes in this cozy subdivision off Smitter Road.

The Hamlet, its seems, has become a haven for executives at a nationwide mortgage firm, and their extended families.

Corey Brower, CEO and president of GreatStone Mortgage, owns a home at 14805 Grimsby Place where county officials recently determined a grandfather oak was removed without the proper permit.

According to records, he and his wife own at least one other home in The Hamlet, as does GreatStone chief operating officer Steven A. Cohn.

Other company executives and their family members have bought or plan to buy even more homes in the neighborhood, which neighbors say the GreatStone officials have talked of turning into a kind of gated corporate residential retreat.

"If it does happen, it's maybe five years down the road," said Dan Ruskiewicz, a property manager for Greenacre Properties, which manages the Hamlet. "Right now it's all talk. Nobody has approached the residents yet with a proposal."

Aside from showing great interest in buying homes there, GreatStone executives have generated intrigue at The Hamlet in other ways.

They drive a fleet of luxury cars like Jaguar, Mercedes, BMW, Porsche and Lexus -- all black. Neighbors say that at one time the owners hired 24-hour private security to guard their homes, where armored trucks have made occasional visits.

Brower and Cohn did not return repeated phone messages to their office in the Fountain Oaks shopping center on Waters Avenue. Nor could they be reached at their homes in The Hamlet.

Most Hamlet neighbors asked about the GreatStone influx declined to be quoted in the newspaper. Homeowner association president Jeanne Kill referred all questions to attorney Robert Tankel.

"There's nothing that they're doing that is not allowed by the deed restriction documents," Tankel said of GreatStone executives' activities in The Hamlet. "The board is open to any suggestions by the members to change the documents to impose whatever additional restrictions the members may approve of."

One neighbor said she is excited about the home improvements GreatStone employees have made so far.

"I have no problem with any of it," said Linda Nielsen. "The plans I've seen seem to be for the betterment of the Hamlet. I think it's a good thing."

Neighbors say some of the future plans Brower and Cohn have mentioned include raising the boundary wall to 10-feet, annexing nearby property for a large playground, closing all but one entrance to the subdivision and adding a manned security gate at the Ehrlich Road entrance.

The Browers were cited last month by Hillsborough County environmental inspectors for chopping down a large oak tree without the proper permit. And the couple submitted a building site plan that did not indicate the tree was ever there, officials said.

Although the Browers will face a fine of about $1,800, the county will still issue their building permit to expand the 3,700-square-foot home by another 8,100 square feet.

"There was an issue with the removal of the tree, but we can't hold back a building permit because the tree was removed," said Jim Paleveda, manager of the Building Department's Northwest satellite office.

Ruskiewicz of Greenacre Properties said a spokesman for the Brower and Cohn families told members of the homeowners association board that two homes scheduled for major additions are intended for family members, and will be the last homes with major modifications.

According to Ruskiewicz, the spokesman said other homes the company owns in the Hamlet will be used by company executives. The improvements to the executive homes will be limited to interior renovations, he said.

- To reach Tim Grant call 226-3471, or e-mail him at grant@sptimes.com.

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