Thought Leader
Peter Rummell has been active in the real estate development industry for over 40 years, creating some of the most recognized and interesting projects in the world. His career began in real estate in 1971 with the Sea Pines Company, developers of Hilton Head Island, South Carolina, and Amelia Island, Florida. In 1977, he became general manager of Sawgrass in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida for the Arvida Corporation. He joined the Rockefeller Center Management Corporation in New York as vice chairman in 1983, leaving in 1985 to become president of Disney Development Company. Disney Development Company and Walt Disney Imagineering, the company’s design and creative division responsible for theme park development, were later merged and Rummell became chairman of the combined group, Walt Disney Imagineering. He is also the founding board chair and chief patron of One Spark, the World’s Largest Crowdfunding Festival.
Peter Rummell, 70 years old, is not ever going to a senior living facility. He seeks something more enticing and healthy. “Therein lies the community opportunity,” Rummell said. “Placemaking meets Healthmaking.”
Rummell, who helped create the community of Celebration for Disney, said his theory for building a successful development comes down to three ingredients, one of which is unique to his concept, “Healthy Town.”
The first is placemaking, the developer term for the feeling a person gets when they’re in a place that feels good or like home. He likened it to the feeling he gets when he goes to a city like Asheville, North Carolina, or Boulder, Colorado. We at BRIGET focus on this with every project. Indeed, it is our North Star.
The second layer is healthy living. While that might mean different things to different people — spinning, yoga, walks with friends, gardening — successful neighborhoods at least have access to these activities.
The third component, Rummell said, is new: multigenerational living.
He said he wants to target what he calls Generation H, which spans all ages, but includes people who have common health-focused lifestyles and interests.
“The thing you fear in getting older is isolation,” he said. “It doesn’t mean you can’t be alone if you want to. But enjoying getting time with people of different ages, that has its own value.”
“We think there are the makings of opportunity there, opportunities that the real estate industry has missed,” he said. Rummell said his concept will strive to be a fun and healthy venue that appeals to all ages. “It’s going to be energy meets convenience meets healthy,” he said. “I think it’s a big idea, and I think it’s the future.”
