You don't know Jack

The receptionist at Antaramian Development Corp. buzzes her boss to let him know his appointment for a magazine interview has arrived. A few minutes later, the clapping sound of flip-flops grows louder as Jack Antaramian nears the hushed lobby of the Fifth Avenue South office. The tanned and fit 62-year-old, with neatly styled white hair and full, dark eyebrows, is wearing khaki shorts, a tattersall Polo golf shirt and rubber thongs. This is his preferred business attire. Antaramian greets his visitor and leads the way into a conference room, where he sits at a gleaming wood-and-marble table and starts talking, his New England accent intact after nearly 20 years of living in Southwest Florida.

Antaramian proudly discusses his history of high-profile development while pointing to corresponding photos, illustrations and models of projects. There's his storied overhaul of the Colony Court building at 405 Fifth Ave. S. in Naples, which in the mid-1990s helped spark revitalization of the sluggish downtown thoroughfare into a vibrant, postcard-perfect setting of posh shops and bistros lavish with palm trees and Mediterranean architecture. On Marco Island, his developments include the exclusive Gulfside Cape Marco and the bayfront Esplanade. And he's undertaking two highly anticipated, high-ticket projects on Fifth Avenue southeast of downtown, with his signature, mixed-use plans of commercial and residential.

When Antaramian is asked to talk about himself, however, he hesitates; he says he doesn't understand why people would be interested. He's not a publicity hound. And although his name and bold developments are well known in the region, his quotes seldom appear in the press, which has made him something of an enigma. Except for close business associates, family and friends, few Southwest Floridians know what Antaramian is all about.

But as he reluctantly begins to discuss the experiences and ambitions that shaped his life, it becomes clear that Antaramian is a complex, creative and generous character, traits that have fostered respect from his peers, including fellow developer and Fifth Avenue businessman Phil McCabe. "Jack has a lot of vision and wisdom and courage," says McCabe, owner of The Inn on Fifth and president and CEO of Gulf Coast Commercial Corp. "A lot of what he does is at his own risk."

Solid Foundation

Antaramian hails from watertown, Mass., about six miles west of Boston, where he grew up on a block with few houses and an unpaved street. His home, headed by a housepainter father, stood amid several industrial businesses, among them a bottling plant and auto-battery manufacturer. His first job at age 11 was shining shoes, followed by stints as soda-bottle washer, janitor and theater usher.

In his senior year of high school in 1961, Antaramian quit to enlist in the Army's 101st Airborne Division, where he served as an infantryman. He received his honorable discharge in 1963 only a few months before the assassination of President John F. Kennedy, which also preceded his birthday by a day. He still remembers the respect he felt for the fallen president, especially for his courage during the Cuban missile crisis. By now married and the father of two young children, Antaramian got a civilian job cleaning floors at a grocery store, and eventually worked his way up to manager of the seafood department.

Next Antaramian tried construction, at first working on his own, pouring concrete and then repairing homes in neighboring Newton, Mass. In the late 1960s, Antaramian borrowed $5,000 from banker friend and mentor Charles Mosesian and started his development business. Antaramian began with residential projects and then went into commercial, sometimes combining those uses under one roof, with retail or office on the bottom and housing on upper floors. He would either remodel old places, build new or create a mix of the two. He also worked closely with residents near his projects to foster positive relationships. "I was successful in getting approval from the city because I tailored it to what the neighbors found successful," Antaramian says.

During those years, Antaramian got to know Charlie Thomas, Newton's director of development. Thomas appreciated Antaramian's vision and attention to quality in his work-so much so that Thomas joined Antaramian's company and has remained there for 22 years as its director of development. "Jack's very creative, very adept at finding opportunities other people don't," says Thomas, who relocated to Naples 18 years ago.

That's when Antaramian moved his company to Southwest Florida, some 15 years after discovering the region during a fishing trip to Marco Island. He immediately bought a vacation house there, and moved down year-round in 1985, which is when he opened Marco Beach Realty and undertook his first business project, Dockside, a 28-unit condo. Despite all of Antaramian's success up North, Dockside was a real challenge. "I couldn't get a loan here to save my life," he says. He wound up borrowing money from a Boston bank.

After work on the Dockside commenced, Antaramian found it easier to get financing and ascended to prominence in residential and commercial building, in particular with a precedent-setting project that changed the direction of downtown Naples.

Taking the Fifth

During the early 1990s, inactivity along Fifth Avenue South in Naples prompted officials to conceive of a plan to rebuild it in hopes of creating a vital strip that would sustain business and attract customers and tourists, much as Third Street South had. The city summoned urban planner Andres Duany, credited with rejuvenating many blighted areas across the country.

Well before that time, Antaramian had recognized the avenue's great potential. "I felt that on Fifth Avenue, architecture could change the street," he recalls. In the late 1980s, he bought the Colony Court building in the 300 block with the intention of remodeling, including some new construction, all done in a Mediterranean, tile-and-stucco style befitting the classic Neapolitan motif.

Not long after work began, Duany's report came out, recommending a mixed-use approach of commercial and residential, which Antaramian had done for years in the Northeast. He approached Naples city officials about amending plans for the Colony Court project to include a third floor for residential. "Jack thought it was a great idea," says Thomas of Duany's mixed-use suggestion. "He said, 'We'll stop if you give us permission right away for another floor. We'll do what Duany recommended.'"

Some local leaders were skeptical whether housing in the business district would sell, Thomas recalls.

Antaramian got the OK to alter the design, though, and rebuilt the structure into a nearly 24,000-square-foot building that now houses his office, a brokerage firm and (barely visible from the bottom) condos on top. He has since completed several projects similar in concept along Fifth Avenue. During that time, other developers followed suit with projects to complete the renaissance. "Revitalization doesn't work unless an entrepreneur comes in," Thomas says.

Antaramian notes that recently one condo on Fifth sold for $1 million and another for more than $2 million. Four years ago, the residences topped out in the $660,000 range.

McCabe, whose Inn on Fifth is celebrating its sixth year, attributes the downtown's pleasing aesthetic quality to Antaramian. "It looks as good as it does because Jack has redeveloped at least half a dozen buildings," he says.

East and South

Farther east, just across the gordon river on U.S. 41, Antaramian is preparing to develop Naples Bay at the former Boat Haven Marina he bought last fall for $19 million, not long after WCI Communities opted out of a contract to purchase the property. Antaramian plans to construct condominiums, shops, a hotel, marina and restaurant at the site.

Another major project Anatarmian is close to proceeding on is Grand Central Station, a mostly abandoned shopping center northeast of Fifth Avenue South and U.S. 41 that he wants to raze and replace with townhouses and a new business district.

Essentially, those two developments promise to extend the Fifth Avenue commercial district. "It's going to change dramatically," Antaramian says of the stretch.

Marco Moves

Farther south on Marco Island, antaram-ian's work also is well known. It includes the condo units of Cape Marco and Pier 81, and the Yacht Club marina. His latest project is the Esplanade Shoppes, Residences and Marina on Smokehouse Bay. The development mimics a coastal, Italian-style village with waterfront condos, restaurants, retail shops and other businesses, as well as fountains, palm trees, brick pavers and appropriate architecture. Fifth Third Bank, Starbucks and Rick's Island Salon are among the tenants. Many residences are sold, with most of the remaining ones carrying an asking price of more than $1 million. The third phase of Esplanade is under way.

A grand, common-area courtyard faces the 77-slip marina, and an 1,100-foot waterfront promenade along the shoreline is designated as a public area. A café planned for the piazza can finally move forward after overcoming some challenges from residents. Original blueprints called for an amphitheater at the shoreline, but Antaramian decided that a café would be a better amenity. Under the development agreement, he had the right to make that change. Resistance emerged over parking and the café's liquor license. But there was plenty of support, as well.