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In 1997, Stanford Carr's philosophy of calculated risk didn't appear to add up. In a bottomed-out Hawaii real estate market, his development company, Stanford Carr Development LLC, built four resort model homes in Wailea, Maui, for landowner Shinwa Golf Group and lost $1 million.
"We painfully earned our loss," Carr says. However, that loss turned into opportunity when Shinwa offered Carr land to build the Wailea Fairway Villas. The 118-unit, multifamily condominium project doubled anticipated sales, earning $40 million in revenue, and turned the earlier loss into realized tax credits.
"I learned we needed to be diverse in our market segments," Carr says. Companies now under the Carr umbrella include: Stanford Carr Development, Pacific Island Realty, Inter-Island Home Loan, Alakea Design and Inter-island Home Builders.
Stanford Carr Development makes its debut in the Top 250 based on sales from its housing developments and project management fees. In 2005, Stanford Carr Development had more than $197 million in gross sales, up from $195 million in 2004. Although he's building about the same number of units in 2006 as he did in 2005, Carr anticipates 2006 sales will range from $175 million to $190 million, depending on the timing of closings.
Founded in 1990, the development company has weathered Hawaii's volatile economy, surviving the recession and real estate crash of the mid- to late 19gos. During that time, Carr's company developed successful projects on Oahu and Maui and won awards for design and quality.
There have also been challenges, such as a 1999 legal dispute over an Ewa development. Carr prevailed in the lawsuit, with a $2.8 million judgment in his favor in 2004. The case is on appeal. The company also had cash-flow problems in 2001 after buying a former C. Brewer & Co. development,...