Crosland Moves into Florida; Former Celebration President to Oversee Florida Expansion

Former Disney executive and Celebration Company President Perry Reader will run Crosland’s Florida operation.

Charlotte, N.C., March 11, 2004 – Crosland, Inc., one of the Southeast’s leading real estate companies, has expanded into Florida. Former Disney executive and Celebration Company President Perry Reader will run Crosland’s Florida operation, which will be headquartered in Orlando with an office opening in early April. In conjunction with Reader joining Crosland, the company also announced two residential communities in the Tampa area.

Hire Unites Former Celebration Company Presidents
Reader was president of Disney’s real estate subsidiary, The Celebration Company, since 1998. He guided Celebration’s residential development, achieving record new-home sales in excess of $100 million annually since 1999. His commercial initiatives resulted in making the Celebration office and retail markets viable locations in the southern Orlando area, with more than 1 million square feet of office buildings. Celebration became internationally known as a model for successfully incorporating the principles of neo-traditional design and planning – in 2001, Celebration won the Urban Land Institute’s Award for Excellence, the development industry’s most prestigious award. Reader will report to Crosland CEO Todd Mansfield, who among other responsibilities, oversaw Celebration’s inception \ as executive vice president of Walt Disney Imagineering and Disney Development Company until 1997.

Crosland’s Move into Florida a Strategic Expansion
Mansfield said Crosland’s move into Florida has been planned as part of the company’s geographic expansion strategy.

“With Crosland’s capability in land, retail and apartment development, our focus on building high-quality developments and the experience we collectively have in Florida, we see an excellent opportunity for our firm in Florida,” said Mansfield. “Perry’s track record as a leader in community development and his experience in successfully creating mixed-use projects make him an ideal fit for us. His initial focus will include residential land development.”

Other Crosland leaders are also Florida real estate veterans: CFO Ned Long previously served in the same capacity for the Florida Land Company, while Senior Vice President Ronni Fridman held the same title for Walt Disney Imagineering before joining Crosland in 2001. Initially, Crosland will focus on land and community development and multi-use projects in Florida. Its first project is Oak Creek, a residential community of 550 single-family homes being developed through a partnership with local developer Mark Maconi on 200 acres in Pasco County, just north of Tampa. Crosland has also begun development planning on a nearby 350-acre parcel to be named Chapel Creek, which will include about 800 homes and an amenity facility.

Crosland is actively pursuing other land and vertical development opportunities in Florida. Mansfield noted that projects like Celebration and Birkdale Village, one of Crosland’s signature mixed-used developments north of Charlotte, are indicative of the quality and types of projects Crosland expects to bring to the state. Birkdale Village was named the nation’s best mixed-use development in 2003 by the National Association of Home Builders, which honored Crosland with its Pillars of the Industry Award. Birkdale Village was also recognized by ULI, chosen as one of 26 global finalists for the 2003 Award for Excellence.

Decades of Florida Development Expertise
A veteran community developer who’s been active in Florida real estate since 1975, Reader served as both president of The Celebration Company and vice president/general manager of Walt Disney Imagineering. Previously he established the Orlando office of Atlantic Gulf Communities; in its first year he secured four major projects, including the redevelopment of the 1,500-acre Orlando Naval Training Center. Earlier he established The Viera Company, the real estate development subsidiary of A. Duda & Sons that managed the creation of Viera, a 38,000-acre community in east central Florida. From 1975 to 1989 he led the Land Development Division for Scarborough Corp., a Weyerhaeuser real estate company subsidiary.

“This is an exciting opportunity for me,” said Reader. “To be part of a very accomplished Crosland organization and develop new projects in Florida, where I have expertise in creating unique real estate projects, is an exciting combination.”

Reader holds a master’s in architecture and a bachelor’s in design from the University of Florida. He is on the Community Development Council of the Urban Land Institute, is vice chairman of the Real Estate Advisory Board for the University of Florida’s Graduate School of Business, and is chairman of the Association of Florida Community Developers.