Bluegreen Corporation is a private vacation ownership (timeshare) company based in Boca Raton, Florida that employs more than 4,500. It provides vacations to more than 170,000 users in the form of stays at company-managed resorts (more than 60) plus hotel, resort and cruise options available through upselling and third-party exchanges. Since 2009, Bluegreen has made its development, management, sales and marketing, title, mortgage and financial services available to other resort operators on a fee-for-service basis. Originally a land-sale company, Bluegreen until 2012 also developed purchased land into residential and golf course communities and sold home sites within the tracts directly to consumers.
Bluegreen's core business is the marketing, selling and servicing of vacation ownership interests (VOIs) known collectively as the Bluegreen Vacation Club. Club participants, or owners, purchase annually replenished "vacation points" backed in perpetuity by deeded real estate held in trust.
In 2000, Bluegreen became one of the first vacation ownership companies to establish a cross-industry marketing agreement with Bass Pro Inc. It has since then built several such partnerships, significantly including a 2013 alliance with Choice Hotels International. Additionally, the company is known as an industry pioneer in the practice of offering fee-based services.
Bluegreen's philanthropic efforts include support of such organizations as the American Red Cross and JDRF.
History
The Founding and early years
The company later renamed Bluegreen was formed in Massachusetts in 1966 as Patten Realty. Harry Patten operated his company in a rural 25-room estate in Stamford, Vermont. Patten's original core business was regional in scope. He and a partner bought large tracts of undeveloped or lightly developed land, usually with token down payments, from farmers unable to market it themselves. Then he paid to have his land subdivided, and he resold the resulting 5- to 20-acre parcels to Bostonians, New Yorkers and other city dwellers as recreational or potential property. In 1976, Patten incorporated his business as Patten Corporation, and in 1982 he opened a branch in Portland, Maine.
Stock market boom and controversy
Annual sales increased more than tenfold to $35 million between 1981 and 1984 as Patten expanded outside the Northeast. In November 1985, Patten Corp. issued IPOs that returned $7.2 million and was listed the next year on the New York Stock Exchange. Patten was featured in the Jan. 5, 1986 edition of Fortune as one of 1985's "50 Most Fascinating Business People." By the end of 1986, Patten Corp. was the third-fastest growing company on the exchange. From the midpoints of fiscal 1986 through 1987, profits increased 175%. In 1988, the company cleared $15.1 million. According to the 1988 edition of Nelson's Directory of Investment Research, eight analysts tracked Patten Corp.
The company also saw its reputation tarnish as detractors and adversaries emerged to promote negative publicity. In September 1988, the attorneys general of Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New York and Vermont investigated complaints into Patten Corp. sales and advertising; the company agreed to a settlement in 1989 in which it refunded consumers without admitting wrongdoing. In 1990, the Maine Supreme Court ruled against company interests and strengthened land regulation in a case originating in Limington, Maine.In March 1991, Patten Corp. was profiled on 60 Minutes.
The move to Boca Raton
Those events aggravated the economic impact on Patten Corp. of a recession and sharp downturn in the Northeast real estate market, resulting in $45 million in losses in 1989 and 1990. The price of company stock dropped from $19 to as low as 38 cents before rebounding. Patten restructured the business to improve cash flow, restored emphasis on minimal development and instituted an additional layer of executive oversight. In 1991 he also decided to relocate to Boca Raton. Besides being friendly to business, Florida was conveniently located for travel to newly targeted territories in the Southeast and Southwest. Patten retained staff in Vermont, brought 15 employees with him to Boca Raton and filled remaining positions locally. The company was profitable within six months of the move.
Transition at the top
Patten remained in charge until 1993 when George F. Donovan, who had joined the board of directors in 1991, was named president and chief operating officer. Later in 1993, Donovan was promoted to chief executive officer. Patten served as board chairman until leaving the company and selling his 1.5 million shares of stock in December 1994.
George Donovan and sweeping change
Donovan came to Patten Corp. with a background in both timeshares and golf community development. He reorganized the company into land, timeshare and home sale divisions. In November 1993 Patten Corp. purchased 42 acres in Gatlinburg, Tenn., and developed its first timeshare, MountainLoftTM, which opened in July 1994. Thirteen months later, Patten Corp. opened a second resort bordering Great Smoky Mountain National Park, Laurel CrestTM. In September 1995, the company acquired land in North Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, for a third resort and first oceanfront property, Shore Crest Vacation VillasTM, which opened in 1996.
Donovan also changed the company's name after Patten's departure. "Bluegreen Corporation" became official in February 1996.
Donovan retired as Bluegreen President and CEO at the end of 2006. His successor was John M. Maloney, Jr., who had joined the company in 2001 as Senior Vice President for Bluegreen Resorts.
The sale of Communities and return to private ownership
In May 2012, Bluegreen became a pure-play company for the first time since 1994 when it closed on a $29 million sale of Bluegreen Communities to Dallas-based SouthStar Development Partners, Inc.
In March 2013, Bluegreen returned to private ownership for the first time since 1984 when it merged with Woodbridge Holdings LLC, a subsidiary of BFC Financial Corp. (OTCQB: BFCF), and BBX Capital Corp. (NYSE: BBX). A former subsidiary of BFC Financial Corp., Levitt Companies LLC, had been a lead investor since 2002 when through private transactions with Morgan Stanley Dean Witter and the investment firm Grace Brothers, Ltd., it came to control 40% of Bluegreen's outstanding common stock. Immediately prior to the merger, BFC Financial Corp. had, through additional transactions, come to own 53% of Bluegreen.
Bluegreen resorts are located in the following cities:
- Club Associate Resort
Philanthropy
Bluegreen supports national charities including Christel House International, JDRF (formerly Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation), Cystic Fibrosis Foundation and the American Red Cross, and regional and local charities such as Florida-based Deliver the Dream. The company also adopts 12 charities every year for support as Charity of the Month and allows employees to use two paid workdays per year volunteering for charitable organizations.
Bluegreen has been corporate sponsor for the JRDF Walk to Cure event in Boca Raton annually since 2006. In 2013, the company exceeded its $50,000 goal and raised the 15th highest amount of any corporate team participating in the more than 100 events across the United States.
References
External links
- Bluegreen Corporation
- Bluegreen Resorts Travel Site
Interesting Informations
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