Going from dentistry to real estate development may seem like quite a leap, but not if you know the story behind it.
Moving to San Diego in the 1950s, several members of Joseph S. Sapp’s family have been in the real estate business. His grandfather, father, uncle and brother have all been developers at one time or another in California and other states, but Sapp didn’t want to have anything to do with the family business.
In 1978, he earned his doctorate of dental surgery from the University of the Pacific School of Dentistry in San Francisco after graduating from SDSU. Although he did well academically, he ended up doing small development projects on the side.
“I knew just enough to make me dangerous,” Sapp said jokingly of his family background and development work in the early days.
Although dentistry is something that he really loved and enjoyed doing, Sapp continued to work on real estate projects.
At one point in the late 1980s, he even had a business going with a partner. Although that dissolved in the early ’90s, the business did more than just survive the recession by doing well, he said.
– Family Featured
In Business Name
Soon after that, Sapp formed his own San Diego-based company, JenJor Development Inc., which was named after Jennifer and Jordan, his 19-year-old daughter and 17-year-old son.
Since then, Sapp has slowly cut down his hours at his dentistry practice and retired from the profession this year. He is the only member in his family that still works in real estate, he said.
The real estate services firm develops, constructs and manages commercial and residential projects. JenJor is also a licensed general contractor in the state.
The company has been responsible for the development, construction, planning and financing of more than $141 million in projects within San Diego County.
JenJor is currently working on four projects, which include residential development in the Balboa Park area and other office buildings throughout the county.
The company was also responsible for developing the Escondido Medical Arts Centre, the Valley Medical Plaza in Temecula, Vista’s Fortune Way Industrial Building, the Poway Retail Center, and the San Diego Hall of Justice Food Court, among others.
– One-Man Operation
Becomes Staff Of Eight
What started as a one-man operation has slowly blossomed to a business that employs seven. Sapp has worked with some of the staff for years, such as Mark Freed, who is vice president of construction and has worked with Sapp for about 12 years.
Not limiting the scope of projects JenJor takes on, the company has worked on medical facilities, office buildings, and retail and residential projects.
“It’s fun working with him,” said Michael Dyer, a vice president for Burnham Real Estate Services. The commercial real estate brokerage handles leasing for a couple of JenJor buildings and seeks development opportunities.
“He’s willing to look at a lot of different opportunities. It keeps you on your toes.”
Dyer has worked with Sapp for three years and describes him as someone who is very detailed, meticulous, energetic, creative, responsive and organized.
These traits are often glimpsed in his philosophies and ways of doing business. While Sapp is not skilled in all areas of development, he surrounds himself with experts when working on new type of projects. When working on a new and different kind of project, Sapp enlists experts and learns the nuances of the project.
This method has worked for Sapp, who has increased his knowledge, experience and size of projects throughout the years.
– Winning Combination
Is Development, Finance
Still there is more to building a business or a structure. “To be a good real estate developer, you have to be good at finance,” he said.
With years of writing subcontracts and making estimates, Sapp has gotten pretty good with the financial part of the business.
Success can be found by doing a lot of work and research on a project during the predevelopment stage, he said.
By making sure that there is a market for a project and that it will be viable once it is built, Sapp can more easily estimate the cost and profitability of a development.
He also tries to make sure that a building will be leased. Much of a development will be leased before construction and most projects will be fully leased by completion of the development, he said.
While figures are likely to change as a project progresses, Sapp said his estimates are usually on target and that if anything, the numbers usually go down.
Sapp said that his track record and experience have helped his relations with investors and other key people he deals with during projects.
Dyer seems to agree. He said that Sapp was one of his most valued clients.
