Organizational Structure of The Villages Developer

[RayB]

I have always been interested in the organization which is developing The Villages. I understand the operation and responsibilities of the two Districts which is a quasi government structure that administers the services in The Villages. I am more interested in the corporated structure of the developer. Is it a closed or public corporation? Who are the stockholders? Is the Properties of The Villages, Citizens Bank, the Insurance Company, trust company, The Furniture Stores, newspaper, television station, etc. all part of the developer corporation? Does the parent company own various construction companies which build the housing units, the town centers, shopping centers, etc.

Can anyone share their information on the developers organization.?

[PJ]

I've been wanting to know the answer to this also. Thanks for asking. I hope we will get answers.

[RayB]

One of the reasons I asked about the organizational structure is that I have not been able to get a straight answer from anyone in the Properties of The Villages. When I asked this question to our sales representative, I got the most beautiful evasive answer I ever heard. Nothing in the literature on The Villages ever addresses this subject. Inquiries to others I thought would know yields very little information. It almost seems the developers ownership structure and organization is a deep deep secret. I hope someone can clear up this question.

[darbyduff]

Pssst Ray,

I think if they told you they'd have to shoot you! 8)

[mejahu]

:agree: Sometimes what we DON'T know tells us as much as what we DO know! 8) The blog spot is very informative and also ccfj (about issues in Florida with property ownership) and the POA site for the Villages. ccfj is Cyber Citizens For Justice and has a link to the Villages POA. All property owners and prospective ones, should read the POA bulletin. :bigthumbsup:

[Happy Villager]

I have always been interested in the organization which is developing The Villages. I understand the operation and responsibilities of the two Districts which is a quasi government structure that administers the services in The Villages. I am more interested in the corporated structure of the developer. Is it a closed or public corporation? Who are the stockholders? Is the Properties of The Villages, Citizens Bank, the Insurance Company, trust company, The Furniture Stores, newspaper, television station, etc. all part of the developer corporation? Does the parent company own various construction companies which build the housing units, the town centers, shopping centers, etc.

Can anyone share their information on the developers organization.?


Not sure if this will provide an avenue for you to find the answers to your questions but I believe the Offering Plan provided at closing contains a lot of information on how the Villages was developed. The offering plan is around 3" thick printed on 8.5x11 paper. It does contain audits and on one from 1990 it states The Company, with the consent of its shareholders, has elected under the Internal Revenue Code to be an S Corporation. On a different audit it mentions The Lazy B Cattle Venture Ltd. was formed in 1991 as a retirement program for members of The Villages' management team.
I have read the complete offering with information provided only up to our year of closing and found parts of it to be rather interesting. I don't pretend to understand the majority of it but perhaps you will by reading yours. I have to say I admire the developers or their advisors on their ingenuity in developing this beautiful development. I wish them only the best.

[MikeH]

Suggest you go to a CDD Meeting held every week and you will learn all about The Villages government----which is set up under a specific provision of State Law. The Developer is the Morse family.

[RayB]

Your suggestion about going to the CDD seminars held every Thursday is good advice. I have attended this meeting twice now. They are very good in describing the organizational structure and Quasi government responsibilities of the two Districts. As you may know, the Districts are separate from the Developer organization. I would like to know more about the structure, organizational structure and scope of the developer of TV. During the two CDD meetings I have attended, I asked about the Developer and got the same evasive and non informative answer I have received when I asked others I thought would know. I am beginning to think the organizational structure of the developer and the companies they own or control is a deep dark secret. The fact no one has answered my original question on this subject sort of substantiates my opinion. I suspect the developer owns and/or controls Citizens Bank, Citizens Mortgage, The Trust Company, Properties of The Villages, Southern Style Furniture, movie houses, the insurance company, many or all of the contractors building houses and retail buildings, shopping centers, the law offices handling house closings, restaurants, entertainment division, Country Clubs, catering operations, etc. I also suspect they control the management and operation of the two Districts which operates and owns the recreation centers. In other words: they control most everything in TV. I must say, "they" do a very good job and I love living in TV. I just would like to know "whose on first and whats on second."

[MikeH]

If The Villages Developer is privately owned by one family, or by a family corporation, or is anything other than a publically owned corporation, what difference does it make? Only if it's a publically owned corporation are it's records and activities available to the public. As long as we are provided with the services, etc. agreed upon when we bought our property, I really don't care about the organizational structure of the developer, or how much money they make.

[mejahu]

Is my understanding correct that if the CDD's default, the property owners may be held responsible for the cost of whatever the county would take over? If that is the case, does everyone understand this possible risk? It's good that things are working well but if that ever changes, it would be good to know who is responsible for what.

[MikeH]

Go to a CDD Meeting! The CDD's are Government entities, just like the County, and State are Government entities. CDD's are established under specific provisions of State Law as Government entities.

[LG]

:cop:

THE VILLAGES ORGANIZATION CHART

GOD
|
GARY MORSE :joke:
|
THE CHILDREN RESPONSIBLE FOR DIFFERENT SEGMENTS OF THE TRUST
| | | | | |
SALES LEASING HAIR SALONS LIQUOR FURNITURE ETC

[RayB]

Thank you for your very informative organizational chart. Now I know who is ahead of everything. I always knew this was God's Country.

[Hancle704]

Please don't make the same mistake I did, when Monica Anderson of The Sumter Landing District Administration is present and refer to the CDD's as "quasi" government.

[peepop]

As far as I know, the "developer" is a privately held company headed by Gary Morse. Like any privately held property, it is not our business who is who in the organization. Suppose I asked you to disclose all your holdings etc. You would probably tell me to go jump in the lake (retention pond)

Jim

[larrydube]

The Morse family has a 60% stake in the Villages Bancorporation, Inc. who along with The Sable Trust company own the Citizens First Trust Company. Now this is a smart family..... :bigthumbsup:

[JohnZ]

I respectfully disagree. On a personal note, when the quality of our lives can be adversely affected, it IS our business. In the wake of Enron, WorldCom etc., the Sarbanes-Oxley act of 2002 was crafted to tighten regulations for governance, accountity, auditing and public disclosures etc. of publicly held companies but certain provisions of the Act now impact privately held companies in several areas. Further, it is widely anticipated by privately held companies that they will be required to become more "transparent" and the degree of transparency will be based on the size of the company based on revenue and number of employees.