Home / News & Events / News Item Details
News & Events
August 01, 2006 | Press Release
Local Developer Expands Reach Outside of Delaware
With local and national headlines touting the end of the real estate bubble, Rehoboth Beach-based development group Ocean Atlantic (OA) has diversified their business interests both within asset classes and geographically. “A couple of years ago, we recognized that the strong residential real estate market in southern Delaware would not last indefinitely,” says Preston Schell, President of Ocean Atlantic. “At that time, we made a conscious decision as a team to focus on expanding our businesses significantly outside of the Cape Region and explore opportunities in related sectors both here in the U.S. and abroad.”
With that strategy in mind, Schell first partnered with two Harvard Business School classmates in 2002 to form The Veritas Group, an international self storage development and management business whose assets now total over $200 million with holdings in the U.S., Europe, and Canada. “Self storage has been a great fit for our development business as it has proven to be counter-cyclical,” said Schell. “As people move into smaller homes in a market downturn, they often need storage for their belongings and we are able to provide that.” The Company currently has twelve operating facilities and several more under construction that together encompass nearly 1,000,000 square feet. The Veritas Group operates its facilities under the Central Self-Storage trade name and is headquartered in New York City.
Secondly, Schell formed an alliance with another business school classmate, Greg Tobias, formerly of Clark Realty Capital in Washington D.C., to found Ocean Atlantic International (OAI), a real estate development company operating in central and eastern Europe primarily in the Balkan region of the former Yugoslav provinces. Currently, the OAI team is focusing on mixed-use urban development in Slovenia, Croatia, and Serbia with the first project, a €15M euro retail/residential development, expected to break ground this month in downtown Belgrade. “This is an exciting time to be involved in this part of the world,” said Tobias. “As our Belgrade project gets underway, we are also investigating opportunities in Krvavec, the largest ski area in Slovenia, where we can capitalize on the second-home market experience of Ocean Atlantic Associates.” Slovenia has just entered the European Union with Croatia and Serbia in candidate status. The Croatian coast is widely acknowledged as one of the most beautiful in the world. “There is a lot of real estate capital currently seeking out the highest returns in Eastern Europe,” said Schell. “Our objective is to get three or four projects established and then start a €100 million Euro venture fund to branch out into Turkey and Hungary as well.”
In addition, Schell has formed Genesis Partners with Karim Hutson, another longtime colleague from Amherst College, Merrill Lynch, and Harvard Business School. Genesis is focused on urban development with an emphasis on low income housing. The company currently has eight properties under contract in New York City as well as forty new construction rental apartments in Jersey City. The group’s largest project to date, however, is located in southwest Baltimore close to Johns Hopkins. Genesis has worked with the city of Baltimore to purchase 300 lots with the intent of redeveloping them into single family homes. “At Genesis, we are actively working to create buildings and developments that will seamlessly complement the active urban lifestyle,” says Hutson. “We’ve worked to put together innovative financing options that are allowing us to offer affordable, attractive housing to those who need it most.”
Although Ocean Atlantic has branched out both nationally and abroad, the company will remain focused on building first-class residential and mixed-use communities in southern Delaware. With over 120 employees locally and eight new communities under development in the region, Ocean Atlantic and Preston Schell will always call southern Delaware home both personally and professionally. “Although the slow down in residential real estate was both needed and expected, the long-term prospects for continued growth and prosperity in coastal Delaware remain strong,” says Schell. “We feel very fortunate that the communities we have designed and built in this area have allowed us to leverage this experience in new industries, markets, and countries. However, our roots will always be in coastal Delaware – it’s a great place to live, work, and raise a family.”
For more information on Ocean Atlantic and its affiliated companies, please contact Wendy O. Baker at 302-227-3573
