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Joe R. Hembree is living proof that success in life, as Woody Allen once put it, is 80% showing up.
Hembree's commercial real estate brokerage and property management firm has been doing just that in Sarasota for more than three decades.
But Hembree & Associates has differentiated itself not just through relationships and a long line of community involvement with such groups as the Greater Sarasota Chamber of Commerce, the Sarasota Association of Realtors and the Argus Foundation.
Today, that civic commitment is being carried on by a new generation, Hembree's sons Joe C. and Kyle.
“We are very committed to the community,” says Hembree, 69. “The other thing that makes us different is stability. A lot of our 11 agents have been with us for 15 years or more.”
Unlike many commercial brokerages, Hembree also has delved into development, tenant representation, construction of tenant improvements, consulting and receiverships for lenders and lawyers alike.
Hembree is currently involved with developing 1500 State St. in downtown Sarasota and four properties in Lakewood Ranch. The firm manages, meanwhile, some 700,000 square feet of space in all, including the Bahia Vista Professional Center and Ringling Square office building in Sarasota and the Manatee Office Building in Bradenton.
But high-profile real estate sales have allowed the firm to stand out, as well. Most recently, Hembree brokered the $15.9 million sale of the 55,000-square-foot PNC Bank Building in downtown Sarasota to Capstone Management LLC.
Previously, Hembree was involved in transactions with the Sarasota City Centre office tower downtown; the IBM Building in Tampa; the Northern Trust Building in Bradenton; and the Northgate Industrial Park in Sarasota.
Collectively, those deals totaled more than $40 million and more than 435,000 square feet of space.
“They have a lot of experience with the commercial real estate market, and they're very focused,” says Charlie Murphy, chief executive of Sarasota-based Bank of Commerce. “They all get very involved in civic activities, and as such, they're considered the go-to people for knowledge about the market. I've found they have a lot of discipline that helps them get jobs done.”
Tramm Hudson, a longtime Sarasota banker now retired, recalls that in the wake of the economic recession of 1990-1991, Hembree organized a business group to help shore up massive downtown vacancies in Sarasota.
“Joe really rose to the occasion, and it really helped,” Hudson says.
That sense of civic activism has been a part of Hembree's business from the beginning of his career, dating back to work with the Harold Fred Burger Real Estate firm in Sarasota in the 1970s.
Hembree got into real estate after a stint in the U.S. Navy in Vietnam and time on the water running boats in Southwest Florida.
In 1985, he formed Hembree & Associates.
“I never had a big plan,” the senior Hembree says. “But I found I like real estate. Every day is a new day at the office. You very seldom come in and do the same thing twice (on consecutive days). It's not at all boring.”
These days, two of the North Florida native's sons join him in the office. Like their father, they ventured into real estate after significant time in the military.
Joe C. Hembree, 35, attended the U.S. Naval Academy in Maryland, from which he received a soccer scholarship. He joined the family business in March 2008.
Kyle, 33, went to the Merchant Marine Academy in New York, and worked for years aboard ship for the U.S. Coast Guard doing search and rescue missions and enduring hurricanes before returning to Sarasota and joining the brokerage in October 2012.
Both Hembree boys said the desire to start families led them, in part, to come back to Sarasota and work with their father. Today, Joe C. is a senior sales associate, while Kyle runs the company's property management division. In time, he expects to shift to the brokerage side of the business, following in his older brother's footsteps.
And while the senior Hembree has no plans to retire anytime soon, in five years he and his sons expect both boys will assume a greater leadership role in the company.
“I think they'll grow the firm and do a heckuva better job than I ever did,” the senior Hembree says. “I believe in five years we'll have expanded our management capabilities and be even more involved in downtown Sarasota, Bradenton and Lakewood Ranch. From a quality perspective, I don't think anyone can match what we do now.”
Both Hembree sons agree.
“I think we'll be the pre-eminent commercial real estate firm in Southwest Florida in five years,” says Joe C. Hembree. “We have a good reputation, and every decision we make tries to employ and further that. We're looking now at how we can develop relationships that will pay dividends for the next 35 to 40 years.”
This story was updated to reflect the correct spelling of Woody Allen.
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