by Michele Newbern Gillis
Staff Writer
The Overlook, The Glades, Turtle Shores, Margaret’s Walk ... the list goes on.
These are all names of subdivisions and even though some of them may seem silly, weird or simple, developers put a lot of effort into choosing the right name that will propel their development forward.
“Some dos and don’ts of choosing a name are that you don’t want to confuse your name with any other community,” said Ed Burr, CEO of LandMar Group LLC. “You want to make sure your name reflects whatever the image is that you are trying to develop. That, and your logo, characterizes where you live.”
The first step to getting your division’s name set in stone is by presenting your plat to the city government.
“Subdivisions are guided by plats,” said Burr. “It’s only in your city or county that dictates what your subdivision can be named. You can’t have two communities platted the same because the city won’t process your plat. When you take a raw piece of land and develop it into lots, you have to file a document with the city that legalizes the lots. It’s a process of subdividing property through the platting process. Your lot now has a title to it and is legal. You can go to the county records and look it up. Your lot was platted in a subdivision so you can now buy and trade your lot.”
Burr said his company registers their names in Tallahassee for trademark purposes.
“If you see someone using your trademarked name, you can call them and insist that they stop using your name,” said Burr. If that doesn’t work, you’ll have to resort to legal action.
In the past there have been a few mistakes made and now there are a few subdivisions with the same name. Glenn McGregor, manager of Jacksonville’s Engineering and Topographical Survey Department, said those cases must have fallen through the cracks and that that is not normal practice when approving plats.
Where do the names come from?
“Usually it starts with developer’s offspring and loved ones,” said Rob Holland of Marsh Landing. “That’s a favorite for street names.”
An example: If you’re in Sawgrass, you might drive along “Preston Trail.” The original developer, Jimmy Stockton, had a sister named Preston.
“Sometimes it’s a name they pull out of a hat or a name they wanted to use for a long time,” added Holland. “Other times a public relations or advertising firm gets together and wants to honor some local history so the name would have a historical meaning or background.”
Example: Anything with “Fort Caroline” or “Ribault” in the name.
And, he said, “Sometimes it’s a geographical where they name it after a tree or a river.” So add St. Johns Golf and Country Club and OakLeaf Plantation to the list.
For instance, Marsh Landing got its name from the major physical aspect of the land — the marshes.
Holland said if you look at an aerial photograph you can understand the name quite easily.
“Because there is deep water on the property, the term ‘landing’ would come from boat landing,” said Holland. “They just took the characteristics of what was there and came up with the name.”
ICI division president Don Wilford said encompassing the geographical surroundings is a new trend.
“The trend today is that most developers are trying to really pay attention to geographic surroundings when they name their developments,” said Wilford. “A lot of developers will also look at a piece of history that’s in their geographic area and they will pull a name off of that. You will see that left and right out there.”
Bryant Skinner developed Deerwood Country Club, whose name origin is fairly obvious.
“Back in those days we didn’t have nearly as many deer in the woods in Florida, but we had a lot of deer in the woods there,” said Skinner. “It caused quite a stir when people would see them. When I got ready to develop it, I thought Deerwood was a pretty name. Back then it was quite an attraction to have deer on the property. We had deer on the golf course and in the parking lots.”
He also chose the name Deerwood because the deer was a very desirable emblem.
“I knew the name ‘Deerwood’ with the deer head and antlers would lead to a very handsome crest,” said Skinner.
Skinner said one way to get name ideas is to visit other cities. He said if you visit other cities and happen to see a name that appeals to you, you can use it back in your own town.
“A lot of my street names come from other developments in other areas,” said Skinner. “I’ve been traveling and seen ‘Deerwood’ in other cities. When I asked them where they got the name, they said from Florida. The name ‘Deerwood has been stolen many times.”
Some developers contact marketing firms to come up with a name. The firm does the research and comes up with a name based on a variety of findings.
“A lot is based on the history of the area or a spin-off of the region itself,” said John Kerr, vice president of marketing and branding and The Boardwalk Group. “Sometimes we use the name of the original developer, the person who owned the land.”
For instance, Glen Kernan was named after developer George Hodges’ wife, Kernan.
Nocatee was named that because a prior landowner of the property was a company called The Nocatee-Manatee Crate Company.
Bearsford and Kingsbury were the first two single-family neighborhoods at
the King & Bear in World Golf Village. The names were derived from the golf
course architect’s nicknames: Arnold “The King” Palmer and Jack “The Golden Bear” Nicklaus.
Kerr said a lot of historical research goes in to choosing the right name.
“We also use geographical characteristics if the property is on a bay, hill or if there is a lake on the property, that could be used in the name,” said Kerr. “Sometimes it is based on animals if there are eagles or herons that nest on the property than we might use that.”
Kerr said his most recent favorite named community was Pablo Bay on San Pablo Road.
“It was a good name because of where it was located. It was the only new development on San Pablo Road and there were also a lot of natural inlets that spin off the Intracoastal that cut through the property,” he said.
A recent development, Palencia, is another example of how they used the area to name the development.
“We have just gone through the process of finding the right name for our new community,” said Naomi Lumley of Palencia. “Our property was known as Marshall Creek for years. Because of all the other communities with similar names we felt that we wanted a name that represented our beautiful property. After all, we have marshes, views of the Intracoastal Waterway, very large hardwoods and the history. The Spanish marched right through this land on their way to Fort Caroline. The old road is right behind our sales center. Sometimes when I am out on the property by myself I wonder who has been here before me.”
Lumley said many people were involved in the choosing of the name.
“We all had our favorites,” said Lumley. “Our advertising firm in Denver had their ideas. We went online and opened the St. Augustine history books. Then comes the legal search. We couldn’t use a name that was registered to someone else. After weeks of discussion it was narrowed down to four names. The history of St. Augustine and Ponce de Leon were so important. After learning that Ponce de Leon was born in the little town of Palencia in Spain, we knew we found the perfect name.”
Many times the names are based on a location or theme.
“Most of the time there is either a location criteria or a theme criteria,” said Ed Bondi, vice president and partner of Renaissance Creative Services. “Theme criteria are more oriented around nature or history or a character of the architecture for the sales center and club house.”
You also want your name to appeal to the type of buyer who would be attracted to your product.
“First, know your market [starter home, move up or luxury],” said Michael Bugg, president of Lifestyles REALTORs. “You want to appeal to your buyer. You also want to base the name on a concept that is memorable and meaningful. Is the area a nature preserve or an urban center? You want to appeal to location, amenities and characteristics. The name I liked most is a loft project my previous company marketed in Atlanta. There were 15 units with no historical relevance like many loft buildings so we named it simply FIFTEEN.”
Some developers choose a name to use in all their developments — to set them apart from the rest.
The “Hampton” name is synonymous with LandMar Group. Don’t think it was an accident; Burr planned it that way.
“The first time I used the Hampton name was in 1989 when we developed Hampton Glen,” said Burr. “At the time, Southside Boulevard was there and Baymeadows Road was a two-lane road that dead ended into the new entrance to Deerwood Country Club. We had to extend this two-lane road down to the entrance of Hampton Glen. No one else had been down there. So, it’s in the middle of nowhere and no one ever drives by it. It’s not like today where there is a four-lane divided highway passing Hampton Glen.
“We wanted to use a name that made it feel like it had been there for a long time. We pulled out because the name Hampton because of Hampton Court (a palace near London) which had been around a long time. That’s why we used the name. When you saw the amenity center, it was made of brick; brick lasts forever and the name Hampton has been around forever.”
Now, the last name.
“Glen was used because of rolling ridges in the property,” said Burr. “Glen is a noun that describes land with rolling hills. Hampton Glen was successful, so then we did East Hampton and there has been no contrived meaning to keep that going. We branded the name and LandMar has become better known and the Hampton projects have become better known. So, as soon as you see a Hampton project you probably know it’s a Landmar Community.
There’s now North Hampton in Nassau County and South Hampton in St. Johns County, so Burr may have to come up with another distinctive name. “I’m running out of directions,” he said.
After choosing a name, you have to make sure someone else hasn’t already used your name.
“We have an index, a filing system and basically the developer will call us up and ask us if a name is OK and then they will reserve the name,” said McGregor. “We will write the name on an index card and put it in the file and wait for the subdivision plat.”
Having that card in the file reserves that name for the developer for about 90 days.
When a developer wants to create a subdivision, he first has to submit a sketch plan to the Planning Department for approval.
“After the planning commission says yes, the concept is acceptable and then they get into more of a engineering and technical design,” said Ronnie Pinholster, assistant management improvement officer. “They then submit civil engineering plans for review through my office which is development management. We route them through five agencies for approval.”
Once they get approved, the developer pulls site clearing plans and starts putting in the infrastructure. At that same time, he submits a division plat, also called a record plat.
According to Chapter 177.051 Name and Replat of Subdivision of the Florida Statutes, “Every subdivision shall be given a name by which it shall be legally known. For the purpose of this section, that name is the ‘primary name.’ The primary name shall not be the same or in any way so similar to any name appearing on any recorded plat in the same county as to confuse the records or to mislead the public as to the identity of the subdivision, except when the subdivision is further divided as an additional unit or section by the same developer or the developer’s successors in title.”
So, the plat request heads into McGregor’s office where he searches through manual filing system to make sure the name is not the same or even close to another.
After the name has been approved, it gets recorded in the Duval County Courthouse in public records.