American Classic Homes by North American Constructors Journal

AMERICAN CLASSIC HOMES: JACKSONVILLE’S KING OF INFILL BUILDERS

With 80-90% of their projects being infill builds, this northeast Florida contractor has found its niche in revitalizing neighborhoods

Written by Dawn Killough

Produced by Stephen Marino

Jacksonville, Florida, homebuilder Richard Briggs, President and CEO of American Classic Homes LLC, is the self-proclaimed “king of infill builders” in northeast Florida. His company has built more houses on infill lots than any other regional builder. “I’ve built on over 10,000 infill lots in Jacksonville, over $1.5 billion worth of infill building,” said Briggs. And since he isn’t into building luxury homes, that number really means something.

Briggs builds all of his homes in the Jacksonville area, including Jacksonville Beach, Neptune Beach, and Atlantic Beach. His bread-and-butter homes are entry level 1,500 to 1,800-square-foot single-family homes with multi-car garages. But he also constructs two- and three-story four, five, and six plexes. Sales have been steady over the years, even

with recent slowdowns and higher interest rates.

While American Classic Homes has built some subdivisions, Briggs concentrates on infill properties in the middle of developed urban and suburban neighborhoods. “It really is the hardest type of build to do versus a new

subdivision,” said Briggs. “It takes a lot of grit, a lot of willingness, and a lot of time” to revitalize neighborhoods. “We’ve done it time and time again, and that’s one of the reasons why we have the reputation that we have, because we’ve done pretty well doing that.”

Overall, American Classic averages 600 to 800 homes annually, with 80-90% of those being infill builds. He has gained quite a reputation in Jacksonville, such that he doesn’t focus on marketing much anymore. “Most people know who we are in Jacksonville. We always get people saying they’ve seen our houses in just about any neighborhood since they have a very distinct style.”

“I’ve

built on over 10,000 infill lots in Jacksonville, over $1.5 billion worth of infill building.”

Richard

Briggs,

President/CEO

“You’ve got to be willing to live in the houses that you build. That’s my opinion. Even if they’re entry level houses, I’m willing to do that, and willing to have my family and my friends move into one of my houses.”

Briggs started American Classic Homes as a family-owned business in 2015, although he has 30 years of development experience.

“We’re a pretty healthy company. We’re debtfree, and we like to keep it that way.”

Hands-on Leadership

Today, Briggs is still heavily involved in purchasing lots and land. “I know the dynamics of where we need to buy, the type of lot we need to buy, and what the lots need to look like. Buying multiple individual lots is more difficult than buying land deals.”

He’s also personally involved in interviewing new hires, so they can hear straight from the top who he is and what he believes in: Always take care of your customers, employees, and subcontractors.

Many of his employees are his family members or relatives of other employees. “I used to have a policy that we’d never hire spouses, significant others, or family members. But now our business is built on the opposite of what I was trying to do, and it’s actually running better than I thought it would.”

“You’ve got to be willing to live in the houses that you build.”

Richard Briggs, President/CEO

His son is training to take over his position someday soon, and his wife’s two sisters are also working for him, while her brother is one of his subcontractors.

The company has over 80 employees, with about two-thirds being long-term hires. Briggs pays a lot of attention to the culture of the company. “It’s really a close-knit group of people that look out for each other. We try to build camaraderie so that, as much as you can enjoy work, it’s as comfortable as possible.” Outings, lunches, and small group activities help the team stay cohesive and connected. “I’m still very involved in my business. I love what I do. It’s still fun to me after all these years,” said Briggs.

Dealing with Florida’s Harsh Elements

While Florida has lots of sunny days, it’s also subject to severe weather. Preparing for and responding to the harsh elements is key for any contractor working in the region. Briggs and his team are as proactive as they can be when it comes to protecting their work and the safety of their workers and subcontractors.

“We know there’s bad weather coming in, so we try our best to make sure we hit every job site to ensure everything is picked up or tied down. If it’s really bad, we definitely are not interested in any of our employees or subcontractors being at the job site where they could put their lives at risk.”

Providing support for his superintendents is key for Briggs, so he has senior superintendents who work with two to eight project superintendents to help make sure they have everything they need and provide support when working with subcontractors and vendors.

In the past, Briggs has been very involved in subcontractor management, hiring and firing, and making sure the ones they chose were a good fit for the company culture. “We have to make sure we have the right subs and vendors, not just as far as pricing, but also a good fit with our beliefs, which is a high-quality product for the type of builds we do.”

Quality is important to Briggs, so they have strict controls on every project. Two quality control walks are performed, and issues are noted on a quality assurance log. If a subcontractor or vendor isn’t performing up to their standards, Briggs is proactive about not working with them again. “It’s very important to us that we have people with the same frame of mind as we do. With only 90 to 120 days on

each project on average, we’ve got to make sure everyone’s thinking in the right direction and not going against the grain of our process.”

Fast Payments Lead to Quality Work

“We pay our vendors faster than any builder out there. Other builders pay in 30 to 45 days. But every subcontractor or vendor that works for us, we pay every week. We believe in supporting the cash flow of each business, especially the small businesses that we work with day in and day out. They need that cash flow, especially if they’re going to work on bigger builds.”

Briggs prioritizes finding contractors that provide quality work at the right price point over turning in the right paperwork. He’s willing to spend his own time helping them to ensure that they get paid the right amount on time.