From an early age, Pat Neal, founder and chairman of Sarasota, Florida–based Neal Communities, recalls his father teaching him “land is forever.” But as developers, most land opportunities and transactions typically involve building homes and communities on those parcels after purchase, opposed to preserving them for future generations. For Neal, he’s in the business for both.
It all started during a family vacation. Neal’s father was diving for Florida lobster—bug hunting he called it—in Big Pine Key. When he came to the surface of the water near the southeast corner of the island, he noticed a for-sale sign. While the family visited the area every summer together, this time his father “spotted more than lobsters, he saw an opportunity.”
Although it was several hours away from their home base, Neal Communities made an offer to purchase the mixed wetland forest on Big Pine Key. Neal worked for the next two years to get the property zoned for future condominiums but was conflicted in doing so.
“It was very controversial, and I didn’t feel good about it,” he says. “Nobody wanted to see our four-story condominiums from the Seven Mile Bridge, but this was our business.”
As a former member of the Florida Senate and having previously worked with the Trust for Public Land, Neal knew he had the option to give or sell the land to the nonprofit for preservation. Over time, he worked out an arrangement with the organization and donated the property. The Neal family’s gift was valued at $2.8 million and became a key piece of the National Key Deer Refuge.
Today, the preserve is owned and maintained by the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service and is a habitat for Key deer, an endangered species of small deer that can swim.
Since that initial donation, Neal has dedicated his life and his company to preserving key pieces of land in Florida.
“When I moved to this state, it had 9 million people. Now, it has 23 million people,” says Neal. “We need to preserve some land, physical features, beaches, and history for the future.”
For his commitment to the environment and for a handful of additional charitable efforts, Neal has received the 2024 Hearthstone BUILDER Humanitarian Award, an industry honor that recognizes a builder’s lifetime commitment to public service.
“Hearthstone is proud to recognize Pat Neal of Neal Communities as our winner of the 2024 Hearthstone BUILDER Humanitarian Award,” says Mark Porath, CEO of Hearthstone. “Although Pat has given back to his community in so many ways, I think his most impactful contribution is his dedication to preserving Florida’s unique land and water ecosystems.”
Closer to Sarasota in Manatee County, residents will find the Neal Preserve, a 119-acre parcel located on Anna Maria Sound with both coastal habitats, such as mangrove forests and salt terns, as well as pockets of upland oak hammocks.
Neal and his wife, Charlene—who also shares his passion for land preservation—donated the land to Manatee County in 2005 in order to preserve the wetlands and create an area for environmental education and enjoyment.
The site features passive outdoor recreation opportunities, including a 20-foot-tall observation tower, a 0.3-mile shell trail loop, and boardwalks that wind through the coastal environment, according to the Manatee County website.
The Neal Preserve also is historically significant and offers archaeological interest, as it was home to a tribe of Native Americans called the Calusa. Human remains were excavated from the site in the 1930s by the Smithsonian, but today’s visitors can learn about the Native American history and culture and witness reconstructed burial mounds and shells collected by the tribe.
“I would like to have an archaeological interpretation area, but I think the archaeologists want to leave it protected and we’ll explore it later,” states Neal. “So the Neal Preserve will be more developed for human involvement, but right now it’s a pretty nature preserve.”
Also in Manatee County, a third preserve—the Braden River Preserve—is another 30-acre tract of land that Neal gifted to the Conservation Foundation of the Gulf Coast. Apart from walking trails that cut through it, the preserve is an undisturbed dry site with slash pines, longleaf pines, saw palmetto, and a wide variety of other upland plants.
In addition to creating the various preserves, Neal has been active with environmental initiatives on the government side as well.
“I’ve always been in the real estate business, and I was in the [state] Legislature from 1974 to 1986,” he says. “I became chairman of the Senate Natural Resources Committee in 1982 when the land acquisition business started. We raised the Documentary Stamp Tax to create the conservation and recreational lands bond, which was our state’s first dedicated source of funds to buy land.”
As a former Florida senator, he spearheaded several environmental protection measures for the state. He was recognized for his co-authorship and passage of Florida’s first comprehensive hazardous waste law in 1983 and the state’s first wetlands law in 1984.
Neal brings his commitment to landscapes full circle by designing communities that peacefully coexist with the environment, always striving to preserve natural habitats and offering lush landscaping from natural trees and plants.
“We say you should know that you’re in a Neal community within 30 seconds of your arrival there because of our landscaping and preservation of physical features,” he says. “We promote that as part of our sales plan, and we encourage community participation as well.”
Looking to the future, Neal still seeks opportunities that follow his philosophy of considering the land first to maintain it for the next generation.
“If we don’t acquire the land for the public now, it won’t be available and won’t be as pretty of a place 100 years from now as it is today,” he concludes. “Land is truly forever.”
