In the year it took Alan Worden and his wife to sail from Nantucket, Mass., to New Zealand, plenty of unexpected events barraged the CEO of Scout Real Estate Capital L.L.C. The 2000 voyage navigated through multiple storms and a near collision with a freighter while anchored off the coast of the Galapagos Islands.Alongside their boat, the Windwalker, tagged along a leaky yet effective dinghy that allowed them to explore. Aptly, it was named Scout. Five years later, it seemed only natural for Worden to name his new company after the dinghy. \u201cAs a company, we will consider many opportunities, but we will only invest in stunningly beautiful and authentic places,\u201d he said.To that end, Scout Real Estate has redeveloped and restored the Harbor View Hotel & Resort in Edgartown at Massachusetts\u2019 Martha\u2019s Vineyard, has built The Westmoor Club recreational center in Nantucket, is planning to open the 32-acre Southampton Beach Resort in Bermuda in 2011 and is conserving 5,800 acres of former sugar-cane property in the Big Island of Hawaii\u2019s Kau district, which was struggling after a sugar-cane company closed shop.Other parts of Hawaii had weathered economic hardship through resort development, but the remote Kau district is not a resort area. Scout instead formed a plan that would respect, celebrate and support the region by preserving much of the land for farmers. \u201cWhen you acquire a property, you don\u2019t know everything,\u201d Worden said. \u201cYou have limited time and limited due-diligence budgets, so project development is a process of twists and turns. It\u2019s never a straight line from Point A to Point B.\u201dThat sort of complexity appeals to Worden. \u201cIt\u2019s an amazing jigsaw puzzle,\u201d he said, citing the variety of issues\u2014such as design, permitting, construction, financing and local businesses and residents\u2014that factor into development. The youngest of five children, he had always wanted to demonstrate that he could do big things, the more complicated the better. When discussing the complexity of a particular transaction, his colleague once made the connection that if he and Worden liked such work, they must also enjoy root canals. Growing up near Cape Cod, Mass., Worden learned: \u201cBuildings can really speak to you beyond their physicality.\u201d The shingled-cottage architecture that typifies the area, for example, reminds Worden of summer, family and friends and clambakes. He graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree in architectural studies from Hobart College and then received a Master of Science degree in real estate development from Columbia University’s Graduate School of Architecture, Planning and Historic Preservation.With 12 years of experience in New York City\u201410 at Guggenheim Brothers and two at Wells Hill Partners Ltd.\u2014under his belt, he returned to Nantucket with his wife, Nicole, recognized opportunity in the area and launched an advisory and brokerage firm serving local home and summer-rental needs. He named the company Windwalker Real Estate after the boat that carried the couple to New Zealand. As that business proved successful, Worden started to concentrate on resort investment and development, and Scout Real Estate was born.He applies lessons from his younger sailing days to the business. \u201cWhen you learn to sail a small boat single-handedly as a young person, you can gain so much confidence,\u201d he said. Racing taught him team building\u2014that while each individual has a job, communication brings it together\u2014and that an ego onboard is a disaster. \u201cNo one wins or loses a race single-handedly, although the big-ego sailors think it\u2019s all about them,\u201d he said. \u201cAt Scout, we make it clear to everyone in the firm … that you have to leave your ego at the door. We never care who has the right idea. We always care what is the right idea.\u201dLehman Brothers senior vice president Masood Bhatti attended Columbia with Worden, sailed with him and backed Scout financially through his firm. \u201cI\u2019ve never seen Alan lose his cool, whether on the boat or in business,\u201d he said. \u201cHe allows people to make mistakes and empowers them to make decisions.\u201d Bhatti added that though Worden does harbor strong opinions, he is open-minded and he often overturns his own decisions when presented with better research.Worden sits at the helm of preparation and research according to those with whom he does business. Before developing or redeveloping assets, he talks to prospective resort guests or investors to find out what they want out. \u201cIt seems to me that a lot of real estate investment is backward looking,\u201d he stated. \u201cWhile we (on the other hand) certainly want to understand absorption in a market, we spend an enormous time researching the actual, individual guest or the buyer of a resort property.\u201d He aims to understand the habits and practices of affluent, leisure-focused Baby Boomers.Environmental, economic and social sustainability also factor into Scout\u2019s goals. By 2028, the company intends for each new development to feature LEED certification, reduced consumption of natural resources and waste, buy-local programs, employment practices that help families advance, green-education programs and community support through local oral history events, walking tours and favorable terms for local non-profits using the company\u2019s facilities.\u201cHe spends a fair amount of time interacting with people,\u201d reported Scout director of research Lou Ann Gleason. She recalled one night in Martha\u2019s Vineyard, sitting at the bar at Harbor View. It was 10 p.m., and the day had begun at 7:30 a.m. \u201cHe saw a couple sitting at the bar and said, \u2018I\u2019m going to go interview them.\u2019 And he talked to this couple who had been coming to the hotel for years. He can\u2019t get enough of talking to people. \u2026 He soaks it all in.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
In the year it took Alan Worden and his wife to sail from Nantucket, Mass., to New Zealand, plenty of unexpected events barraged the CEO of Scout Real Estate Capital L.L.C. The 2000 voyage navigated through multiple storms and a near collision with a freighter while anchored off the coast of the Galapagos Islands.Alongside their…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1314,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[37301],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1003836345","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n