Brian Tuttle
CEO
Michael Tuttle
Co-President
Chris DeBehnke
Co-President
Nicole DeBehnke
Co-President
Brian Tuttle has time and time again worked against adversity to achieve success. Mr. Tuttle worked as an automobile mechanic as he put himself through the police academy. He then worked at the Palmetto Police department as a road deputy for three years before deciding to continue his education. Mr. Tuttle graduated from the University of South Florida in 1986 with an Industrial Engineering Degree. He was the only student from his graduating class to be hired by IBM in Boca Raton where he worked for three years.
Mr. Tuttle made the bold decision to leave IBM to start his own business, a landscaping and lawn maintenance company he built over 11 years into a multimillion dollar enterprise by servicing new home builders. Mr. Tuttle soon recognized a need of his new home builder customer base for developable land.
In 2000, he completed his first land development rezoning deal. Since then, Mr. Tuttle has purchased over 100 properties to develop and substantially increase their value. The work completed on these properties included consolidating lots, curing environmental issues, and rezoning. Mr. Tuttle has sold more than 190 million dollars’ worth of redeveloped land and has an additional 160 million dollars of property under contract now. There are currently offers and contracts pending on over 40 million dollars more in land purchases and acquisitions. Mr. Tuttle’s basic business plan is to buy raw land which is under-zoned, fragmented, has difficult sellers, complex entitlement issues, or severe environmental issues. Mr. Tuttle then works with his experienced team of consultants to fix these issues, increasing the value of the land before selling the land to national or regional home builders at a much increased price.
Michael Tuttle graduated high school in 2009 and then went to Finland for 12 months to serve in the Military as a combat medic for their defense force. Shortly thereafter he majored in Applied Science at the Finnish Community College. When Michael returned to the United States he worked as an armed guard. Mr. Tuttle started a landscaping company that worked directly with lenders to maintain REO properties. This company was responsible for managing 25 to 30 lawns per day. Later, Mr. Tuttle accepted a position in North Dakota working as a fuel fracking specialist for Thomas Petroleum. His responsibilities included managing the fueling operations for the fracking sites and training new employees, putting in a minimum of 100 hours per week.
In 2013, Mr. Tuttle returned to work with the family business, acquiring and developing properties. His first project was the management of a 187-acre site comprised of four parcels, made up of a land fill, horse barn, storage yard for off road construction equipment, and a wetland area. The properties were acquired for 11 million dollars. The decision was then made to invest eight million dollars into the property as well as rezone and change the entitlements, allowing the property to ultimately be sold for over 50 million dollars.
Mr. Tuttle has been personally involved with over 70 million dollars in closings and more than 50 million dollars of properties under contract for purchase. Currently, Mr. Tuttle’s main focus is the second phase of a successful project in Parkland. He is personally overseeing the initial stages of development from clearing, de-mucking, bringing in clean fill and getting the property ready to sell to a national developer.
Mr. Tuttle’s training has equipped him with the skills necessary to rezone and entitle projects to maximize profitability. He and his family are also overseeing the building and management of a 450,000 sq. ft. lifestyle center in Royal Palm Beach along with many other properties they have and are currently acquiring to rezone for residential and commercial buyers. Chris and Michael have been personally involved with over $70 million in closings and over $50 million under contract for purchase.
Chris DeBehnke graduated from four years of Bible College where he realized a passion of his and became involved in a state-wide youth ministry camp for over 11 years.
During the real estate crisis, Chris established a maintenance company specialized in maintaining the premises of REO properties in Palm Beach County for Bank of America. Mr. DeBehnke obtained an opportunity with Nozzle Nolen Pest Control, where he climbed the ranks, ultimately being given the responsibility of maintaining all community association clients of their Lake Worth office, covering territory in Boca Raton, South Palm Beach and Manalapan. Mr. DeBehnke had a lawn and ornamental route and was able to solely maintain and flourish this route.
One of Mr. DeBehnke’s strength is implementing operational processes which directly contribute to a company’s successfully meeting established goals. In early 2013, Mr. DeBehnke started working for the family business where his first project was to manage a 187-acre site comprised of four parcels. The four parcels included land used for a land fill, a horse barn, storage yard for off-road construction equipment, and a wetland area. Mr. DeBehnke’s experience and established skill set allowed him to create a Remedial Action Plan which was successfully carried out and, as a result, the project was completed on time. These properties were initially purchased for $11 million while another eight million dollars was invested into the property. The property was also rezoned and the entitlements changed, leading to the ultimate sale of the property for over $50 million. Chris and Michael have been personally involved with over $70 million in closings and over $50 million under contract for purchase.
Currently, Mr. DeBehnke’s main project is establishing the infrastructure of Tuttle Royale, a $500 million-dollar project in its early stages. Tuttle Royale is a 202 acre project situated in Royal Palm Beach Florida that will include over 1,300 residential units, a 1,500-student charter school and 400,000 square feet for a Lifestyle and Activity Center. Mr. DeBehnke is always up for a challenge and the opportunity to work on complicated deals. Whether it is working with a difficult seller, environmental issue, or fragmented parcels, Mr. DeBehnke will go the extra mile to assure each property’s potential is being maximized.
Nicole DeBehnke has been involved in the business world since she was a young teenager starting in her father’s office. After high school, she attended Palm Beach Atlantic University where she studied Business Management and Music.Her ability to anticipate and imagine what could be, paired with her strategic thinking and need for results has helped her to bring clarity and direction to the situation and excel in the business world. From 2010-2013 she worked for a private investor helping in the management and acquisition of 40 rentals. She used her skills to create excellent landlord tenant relations as well as maintaining the properties and collection of rents. Also, in 2011 Mrs. DeBehnke and her husband started a company that contracted with lenders to maintain REO properties during the turnover of the housing crisis. She then started and sold a successful salon and skin spa located in east Boca Raton. This salon was recognized by the Chamber of Commerce as “Best New Salon of 2017.” During all of that Nicole became the mother to two amazing children and continued to passionately serve at her local church as a worship leader.
She enjoys starting new projects and overcoming challenging situations. She is what you might call an intrapreneur, she takes leadership in her companies and champions the vision to produce success. She feels there is great power in a team of people willing to serve each other. Nicole believes if you have the strength and power to do good, you should always do it.
Mrs. DeBehnke’s primary focuses now are the family’s real estate business, assisting with various land development matters and securing high-end tenants for Tuttle Royale, the family’s 450,000 sq. ft. Lifestyle Center located in Royal Palm Beach, FL.