Bluegreen Corporation

Bluegreen Vacations

File:Bluegreen Corporation Logo.png
Type	Subsidiary
Traded as	BXG
Industry	Real estate
Founded	1966
Area served	United States
Products	Real estate-based vacation ownership plans
Revenue	US$457.7M (FY 2012)
Operating income	US$54.3M (FY 2012)
Net income	US$39.7M (FY 2012)
Total assets	US$1.08B (FY 2012)
Total equity	US$ 349.3M (FY 2012)
Number of employees	4,500+ (2013)
Website	www.bluegreenvacations.com

Bluegreen Vacations is a private vacation ownership (timeshare) company based at 4960 Conference Way North, Suite 100 Boca Raton, Florida that employs more than 4,500. It provides vacations to more than 170,000 users in the form of stays at company-managed resorts (more than 60) plus hotel, resort and cruise options available through upselling and third-party exchanges. Since 2009, Bluegreen has made its development, management, sales and marketing, title, mortgage and financial services available to other resort operators on a fee-for-service basis. Originally a land-sale company, Bluegreen until 2012 also developed purchased land into residential and golf course communities and sold home sites within the tracts directly to consumers.

Bluegreen’s core business is the marketing, selling and servicing of vacation ownership interests (VOIs) known collectively as the Bluegreen Vacation Club. Club participants, or owners, purchase annually replenished “vacation points” backed in perpetuity by deeded real estate held in trust.

In 2000, Bluegreen became one of the first vacation ownership companies to establish a cross-industry marketing agreement with Bass Pro Inc. It has since then built several such partnerships, significantly including a 2013 alliance with Choice Hotels International. Additionally, the company is known as an industry pioneer in the practice of offering fee-based services.

Bluegreen’s philanthropic efforts include support of such organizations as the American Red Cross and JDRF.

History

File:Shorecrest Villas - Bluegreen timeshare.jpg

Shore Crest Villas at North Myrtle Beach on Ocean Drive in South Carolina, USA is one of Bluegreen Corporation's timeshare properties.

The Founding and early years
The company later renamed Bluegreen was formed in Massachusetts in 1966 as Patten Realty. Harry Patten operated his company in a rural 25-room estate in Stamford, Vermont. Patten’s original core business was regional in scope. He and a partner bought large tracts of undeveloped or lightly developed land, usually with token down payments, from farmers unable to market it themselves. Then he paid to have his land subdivided, and he resold the resulting 5- to 20-acre parcels to Bostonians, New Yorkers and other city dwellers as recreational or potential property. In 1976, Patten incorporated his business as Patten Corporation, and in 1982 he opened a branch in Portland, Maine.
Stock market boom and controversy
Annual sales increased more than tenfold to $35 million between 1981 and 1984 as Patten expanded outside the Northeast. In November 1985, Patten Corp. issued IPOs that returned $7.2 million and was listed the next year on the New York Stock Exchange. Patten was featured in the Jan. 5, 1986 edition of Fortune as one of 1985’s “50 Most Fascinating Business People.” By the end of 1986, Patten Corp. was the third fastest-growing company on the exchange. From the midpoints of fiscal 1986 through 1987, profits increased 175%. In 1988, the company cleared $15.1 million. According to the 1988 edition of Nelson’s Directory of Investment Research, eight analysts tracked Patten Corp.

The company also saw its reputation tarnish as detractors and adversaries emerged to promote negative publicity. In September 1988, the attorneys general of Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New York and Vermont investigated complaints into Patten Corp. sales and advertising; the company agreed to a settlement in 1989 in which it refunded consumers without admitting wrongdoing. In 1990, the Maine Supreme Court ruled against company interests and strengthened land regulation in a case originating in Limington, Maine. In March 1991, Patten Corp. was profiled on 60 Minutes.
The move to Boca Raton
Those events aggravated the economic impact on Patten Corp. of a recession and sharp downturn in the Northeast real estate market, resulting in $45 million in losses in 1989 and 1990. The price of company stock dropped from $19 to as low as 38 cents before rebounding. Patten restructured the business to improve cash flow, restored emphasis on minimal development and instituted an additional layer of executive oversight. In 1991 he also decided to relocate to Boca Raton. Besides being friendly to business, Florida was conveniently located for travel to newly targeted territories in the Southeast and Southwest. Patten retained staff in Vermont, brought 15 employees with him to Boca Raton and filled remaining positions locally. The company was profitable within six months of the move.
Transition at the top
Patten remained in charge until 1993 when George F. Donovan, who had joined the board of directors in 1991, was named president and chief operating officer. Later in 1993, Donovan was promoted to chief executive officer. Patten served as board chairman until leaving the company and selling his 1.5 million shares of stock in December 1994.
George Donovan and sweeping change
Donovan came to Patten Corp. with a background in both timeshares and golf community development. He reorganized the company into land, timeshare and home sale divisions. In November 1993 Patten Corp. purchased 42 acres in Gatlinburg, Tenn., and developed its first timeshare, MountainLoftTM, which opened in July 1994. Thirteen months later, Patten Corp. opened a second resort bordering Great Smoky Mountain National Park, Laurel CrestTM. In September 1995, the company acquired land in North Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, for a third resort and first oceanfront property, Shore Crest Vacation VillasTM, which opened in 1996.

Donovan also changed the company’s name after Patten’s departure. “Bluegreen Corporation” became official in February 1996.

Donovan retired as Bluegreen President and CEO at the end of 2006. His successor was John M. Maloney, Jr., who had joined the company in 2001 as Senior Vice President for Bluegreen Resorts.
The sale of Communities and return to private ownership
In May 2012, Bluegreen became a pure-play company for the first time since 1994 when it closed on a $29 million sale of Bluegreen Communities to Dallas-based SouthStar Development Partners, Inc.

In March 2013, Bluegreen returned to private ownership for the first time since 1984 when it merged with Woodbridge Holdings LLC, a subsidiary of BFC Financial Corp. (OTCQB: BFCF), and BBX Capital Corp. (NYSE: BBX). A former subsidiary of BFC Financial Corp., Levitt Companies LLC, had been a lead investor since 2002 when through private transactions with Morgan Stanley Dean Witter and the investment firm Grace Brothers, Ltd., it came to control 40% of Bluegreen’s outstanding common stock. Immediately prior to the merger, BFC Financial Corp. had, through additional transactions, come to own 53% of Bluegreen.

Bluegreen resorts are located in the following cities:

State/Location	City	Bluegreen Resorts
Alabama	Gulf Shores	Paradise Isle Resort*
	Gulf Shores	Shoreline Towers*
Arizona	Peoria	Cibola Vista Resort and Spa
Aruba	Oranjestad	La Cabana Beach Resort & Casino
Bahamas	Nassau	Blue Water Resort at Cable Beach*
California	Big Bear Lake	The Club at Big Bear Village
Colorado	Aspen	The Innsbruck Aspen
Florida	Bradenton Beach	Via Roma Beach Resort
	Daytona Beach Shores	Daytona SeaBreeze
	Daytona Beach Shores	Dolphin Beach Club*
	Daytona Beach Shores	Fantasy Island Resort II
	Delray Beach	Gulfstream Manor Resort*
	Fort Myers	Mariner’s Boathouse & Beach Resort*
	Fort Myers	Tropical Sands Resort*
	Fort Myers	Windward Passage Resort*
	Holmes Beach	Resort Sixty-Six*
	Marathon	The Hammocks at Marathon
	Orlando	Orlando’s Sunshine Resort
	Orlando	The Fountains
	Ormond Beach	Casa Del Mar Beach Resort
	Ormond Beach	Outrigger Beach Club
	Panama City Beach	Landmark Holiday Beach Resort*
	Panama City Beach	Ocean Towers Beach Club*
	Panama City Beach	Panama City Resort & Club*
	St. Augustine	Grand Villas at World Golf Village
	St. Pete Beach	Bluegreen at TradeWinds
	Sanibel Island	Surfrider Beach Club
	Surfside (Greater Miami)	Solara Surfside
Georgia	Marble Hill	Golf Club Villas at Big Canoe*
	Marble Hill	Petit Crest Villas at Big Canoe*
	Savannah	The Studio Homes at Ellis Square
Hawaii	Kapaa (Kauai)	Pono Kai Resort*
Illinois	Chicago	The Hotel Blake
Louisiana	New Orleans	Bluegreen Club La Pension
Massachusetts	Dennis Port (Cape Cod)	The Breakers Resort*
	Dennis Port (Cape Cod)	The Soundings Seaside Resort
Michigan	Boyne Falls	Mountain Run at Boyne
Missouri	Branson	The Falls Village
	Hollister	Paradise Point
	Ridgedale	Bluegreen Wilderness Club at Big Cedar
	Ridgedale	The Cliffs at Long Creek
Montana	Big Sky	Lake Condominiums at Big Sky*
Nevada	Las Vegas	Bluegreen Club 36
New Hampshire	Lincoln	South Mountain Resort
New Jersey	Atlantic City	Bluegreen at Atlantic Palace
New York	New York City	The Manhattan Club
North Carolina	Lake Lure	Foxrun Townhouses*
	New Bern	Sandcastle Village II*
	New Bern	Waterwood Townhouses*
Pennsylvania	Hershey	The Suites at Hershey
South Carolina	Charleston	The Lodge Alley Inn
	Hilton Head Island	Players Club*
	Myrtle Beach	Carolina Grande
	Myrtle Beach	Harbour Lights
	Myrtle Beach	Horizon at 77th*
	Myrtle Beach	SeaGlass Tower
	North Myrtle Beach	Shorecrest Vacation Villas I & II
Tennessee	Gatlinburg	MountainLoft
	Pigeon Forge	Laurel Crest
Virginia	Gordonsville	Shenandoah Crossing
	Williamsburg	Bluegreen at Patrick Henry Square
	Williamsburg	Parkside Williamsburg Resort
Wisconsin	Wisconsin Dells	Bluegreen Odyssey Dells
	Wisconsin Dells	Christmas Mountain Village

• Club Associate Resort

Philanthropy

Bluegreen supports national charities including Christel House International, JDRF (formerly Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation), Cystic Fibrosis Foundation and the American Red Cross, and regional and local charities such as Florida-based Deliver the Dream. The company also adopts 12 charities every year for support as Charity of the Month and allows employees to use two paid workdays per year volunteering for charitable organizations.

Bluegreen has been corporate sponsor for the JRDF Walk to Cure event in Boca Raton annually since 2006. In 2013, the company exceeded its $50,000 goal and raised the 15th highest amount of any corporate team participating in the more than 100 events across the United States.

External links

• Bluegreen Corporation
• Bluegreen Resorts Travel Site
• Better Business Bureau