Damon Becnel
Damon Becnel is a multi-million-dollar real estate developer and project management specialist from Destin, Florida. His projects include condominiums, hotels, conference centers, upscale residential projects, and private businesses.
Becnel started his career in the construction industry with an entry-level position installing drywall. This summer job was held during high school and college, and it helped him appreciate the hard work that construction crews put into his projects.
Through the years, he has developed many successful projects in Destin, Florida and beyond. A small sampling of his most prominent projects includes The Palms of Destin Resort and Conference Center, Sandestin Urgent Care, LLC, Med-Spa of Sandestin, LLC and Med-Spa of Destin, LLC, and the Osprey Pointe Condominium and Sandestin Resort. Residential projects include the Saddleback Equestrian Development, a 60-acre development featuring 24 estate lots and a 20-acre equestrian stable.
Damon Becnel is excited to be pursuing an eco-resort project in Cabo Rojo, Puerto Rico. This project will have 92 acres of land and 240 units. The project is still in the planning stages, but it will be an outstanding addition to the local community.
Damon Becnel has contributed a great deal to the state of Florida and the city of Destin during his career as a real estate developer and construction project manager. He will continue to be an influential force in the local community and beyond.
What do you do in your spare time?
I enjoy reading, watching classic movies, and staying in shape. I read both nonfiction and fiction, and I enjoy exploring new topic areas. I like to stay on top of the newest business books on the market.
I have a large collection of classic films at home, and I believe that they are better than anything being produced today. I find that these films help me unwind.
Exercise is also an important part of my life. I believe that it’s my responsibility to take care of my physical health in order to live longer and take care of my family.
What’s your favorite type of food?
My favorite type of food is seafood. Living on the Gulf of Mexico, we are spoiled with the variety of fresh seafood we can enjoy. I have been deep-sea fishing a number of times, and it is a lot of fun to catch what you are going to eat that evening.
My other favorite cuisines include Japanese, French, and Cuban. Whenever I get to Miami, I have a few favorite hole-in-the-wall restaurants that I like to visit.
Describe your typical day.
I usually get up quite early, between 6 and 6:30. I like to get my workout out of the way before I start my day. It is always good to get out before it gets too hot, a perennial problem in Florida. I try to eat a healthy breakfast, though some mornings it is hard to resist something sweet.
I arrive at work around 8:30. I am often one of the first to enter the office and the last to leave. The first thing I do when I get to work is to go through my emails and phone calls. I get a significant number of emails overnight, and it’s difficult to sort through them all. I try to answer the most difficult questions, working together with my employees to come up with solutions.
We have an all-hands meeting around 10:00 to go over the progress of all of our projects. We have many projects to track, so this meeting takes about an hour.
After the meeting, I start touring our construction sites to make sure everything is proceeding as it should. It is exciting to see new buildings rising and to see the transformation of the landscape.
In the afternoon, I take meetings with a wide variety of community leaders, developers, and my own employees. I am usually not ready to leave the office until about 7 or 7:30.
What is your favorite thing about working in your industry?
My favorite thing about working in real estate development is seeing the buildings go up. They start as ideas and drawings, and it is great to see them grow as real buildings. Taking a vacant piece of land or redeveloping a piece of land with old and unattractive buildings is satisfying in itself.
What’s your biggest pet peeve?
My biggest pet peeve is people who won’t listen. As a supervisor, I get very frustrated when people don’t listen to my instructions. Either they believe that they don’t need to be directed, or they simply don’t want to be bothered. I value listening to people a great deal, and I try to be a good listener myself. I think that a lot of problems in the workplace could be solved if people would only listen.
