Schroeder-Manatee Ranch CEO Rex Jensen reflects on reality of Lakewood Ranch at 20

LAKEWOOD RANCH -- Call it audacious, ambitious, maybe even impossible.

Twenty years to build a community?

As unlikely as it might seem, that's what developer Schroeder-Manatee Ranch accomplished at Lakewood Ranch.

That impossible dream will be celebrated from 6-9 p.m. Oct. 23 at Premier Sports Campus during a free 20-year anniversary party open to the public. Like much of Lakewood Ranch, Premier Sports Campus, 5889 Post Blvd., is itself something of a miracle, and an attraction for grass-sports teams well beyond Bradenton-Sarasota.

Rex Jensen, president and CEO of SMR, sat down with the Bradenton Herald to share his thoughts on the evolution of the Ranch.

"We have done a lot of things out here that were not historic development practices," Jensen said.

Such as?

"One would be Main Street," Jensen said of the dining, shopping and entertainment district that recently hit its 10th anniversary.

"Two would be the ability to get some of the major transportation improvement projects done like State Road 70 and State Road 64," Jensen said of the road widenings essential to the development of Lakewood Ranch.

Another milestone Jensen mentioned as crucial to building a community was working closely with the Manatee County School District to build a network of A-rated schools.

Also on Jensen's list of community assets: Lakewood Ranch Medical Center, Lakewood Ranch Corporate Park and the quality of residential development, among others. "You put all that together and you have a community," he said.

A community of more than 25,000 residents, with much more to come.

How it started

While Lakewood Ranch is preparing to celebrate its 20th anniversary, planning for the development started years more than 30 years earlier.

Previous CEOs John Clarke and the late Mary Fran Carroll have said some of the early plans were made on napkins during breakfast at a country restaurant.

"Those breakfast meetings were great," Clarke said during a Herald interview on the 10th anniversary of Lakewood Ranch. "That's where everything came together."

Initial plans were much more modest than the current reality. A resort center with a large hotel, three golf courses and condos, however, was not the market.

"The market was soon telling us single family homes, parks, schools and quality of life -- so we changed," Clarke said in 2004.

Jensen had a consulting practice in Tampa when SMR officials recruited him for Lakewood Ranch.

"John Clarke reached out. I had laryngitis that day and couldn't speak well," Jensen said.

That's ironic, perhaps, considering Jensen is known for his direct, colorful speech.

"We took a lot off the plate of the county. We paid for our sidewalks," Jensen said of SMR's willingness to build roads and other infrastructure.

A big challenge going forward for Lakewood Ranch is concern about the Manatee School District, which has faced huge financial and leadership issues.

It will be important for the Manatee County School Board to overcome its dysfunction and find the capital resources needed to support a growing student population, Jensen said.

"We still have more growth to come. At some point we will need more student stations," Jensen said. "If you don't have a good school system, you don't have good economic development."

Beyond the school board and district administration needs, Jensen believes it will require a true community effort to put schools on the proper track.

"That can be managed with the right collaborative effort," he said.

Jensen also looks to the 7,000 acres Schroeder-Manatee Ranch has in Sarasota County, and what will eventually be the Villages of Lakewood Ranch South.

SMR has been negotiating with builders to help develop the Sarasota property, and has already contracted for $7 million of engineering work.

"I think you will see some development kick off in 2016," Jensen said of the SMR property south of the Manatee County line. SMR is also planning to make more roadway improvements, including extending Lorraine Road and Lakewood Ranch Boulevard south into Sarasota County.

Most SMR land is still undeveloped, and the tool SMR is using is the Stewardship District to assist in funding infrastructure.

The face of Lakewood Ranch continues to change with Del Webb and other communities coming to the eastern portions of the property, and the huge Lakewood Centre project north of State Road 70.

Community demographics are changing, too, with more apartments being built, as well as gated communities.

There is a large multifamily demand, which would increase population, but there is also "a resurgence of larger, luxury product, which creates a less dense population," SMR officials say.

It's all market driven.

"We provide what people want to buy," said Lisa Barnott, SMR spokeswoman. "We are becoming a lot more diverse and self-sustaining."

At some point will Lakewood Ranch incorporate as a city?

"It's up to the residents. In the end they are the voters," Jensen said.

Lakewood Ranch is a community and an ongoing diversified business enterprise with cattle, sod, citrus, nursery and mining operations.

It might not always be that way in the future.

"We have to understand there used to be a lot of cattle in west Bradenton," Jensen said.

Is Jensen mellowing or slowing down?

"Probably not," he said. "There is more to do in a shorter period of time. I have little patience for little things," Jensen said.

James A. Jones Jr., East Manatee reporter, can be contacted at 941-745-7053 or on Twitter

This story was originally published October 17, 2015 at 7:27 PM with the headline "Schroeder-Manatee Ranch CEO Rex Jensen reflects on reality of Lakewood Ranch at 20 ."