Company: Divine Outdoor Advertising
Markets: Florida
Headquarters: 11415 Harder Rd, Clermont, FL 34711
Phone: 352-394-4850
Email: ddivine@cfl.rr.com
Divine Outdoor Advertising is a privately held billboard company serving South Clermont and the Four Corners area of the Orlando, Florida MSA. The company was started in 2001. The company’s billboards are located a few miles west of the Walt Disney World Theme Parks. The company is owned by Dan Divine. Insider talked with Dan Divine earlier this week.
Dan, how did you enter the outdoor business?
I began in this fantastic business in 1986 as an Account Executive for a small startup outdoor company located here in Central Florida called Rite Media. From the very beginning, I cold called advertisers and agencies, from very rural areas like Leesburg FL. to very sophisticated areas like Coral Gables Fl. Things were very different in the business then. Beepers let you know you needed to find a pay phone to return a call and my first mobile phone was a big device the size of a 50 caliber ammo box mounted in the trunk of my car with a corded handset mounted to the floorboard. Fax machines and the internet were not at all widespread, and RFP’s was a term not yet coined. In those days, cold calls are what you did most every day, and most business owners and even agencies were receptive to meeting with you, even if you dropped in without an appointment. Most of the business you wrote was direct with the client, and you would hand carry the layouts your plant art department prepared and revised back and forth until it was signed by the client.
I did well in writing new business with that small startup company and that success created the opportunity to interview with, and join Peterson Outdoor Advertising in Orlando the following year. I served at that plant as an account executive, real estate representative and permanent bulletin manager under various owners from 1987 until when I retired in 2000, which turned out to be semi-retirement.
Tell us about your plant?
I have one of the most unique small plants in Central Florida. It all started, in 2001, about six months after I thought I retired. I was called by a former client, a developer that was closing out a large housing project that his father had started in the 70’s. Early on, his Dad built three wooden signs on three different parcels in the development and permitted them as billboards. He used these boards to advertise businesses his friends owned, as well as parts of his development that was located on property other than where the billboard was, so as to operate within the code for onsite signage. Being familiar with these wood structures, and already missing the business, when he called me and asked if I was interested in buying the structures, permits and sites, I immediately said yes. At that time, neither the seller nor I realized that as the structures, permits and land had been owned and operated together as a billboard company prior to the 1995 Bert Harris Private Property Rights Act, the groundwork had been laid for some far reaching entitlements for the future owner who owns all three.
Things hummed along very profitably until 2007 and I was very content just operating my wood structures. As no new billboards were allowed in my market area (and still aren’t), and the structure attrition was significant (and still is) due to development, I was naming my price for the space and staying fully booked. I was happy, fat and sassy, and just when I couldn’t imagine things getting better-they did.
One weekend in 2007 I was working with my contractor, setting new replacement poles on my structure that backs up to a county wastewater plant, and when we dropped the auger bit for the third pole “up from the ground came bubbling crude”. Unfortunately, it wasn’t crude oil-it was crude sewage, and the word bubbling needed to be quickly replaced with the word spewing- we had just hit a 10 inch fully charged sewage line.
Unfortunately, as the County had no idea where the valves were to turn off the line, 90,000 gallons of sewage spewed out and was pumped up and hauled off by tanker trucks before the pipe was sleeved while running at around 10 PM.I was told by the County foreman who was running the large contingent of workers that I could count on an inquiry from the EPA and a fine from them of $1000 per thousand gallons-a $90,000 fine!
Not only did I hit a large sewer line that day in June 2007, I had also hit an outdoor man’s Jackpot! It turned out the line that we hit was the County’s, and they didn’t have an easement on my property for that line. Immediately, the EPA inquiry and fine became the County’s problem and the County quickly realized that they had another problem that only I could resolve-they needed an easement for that pesky sewage line. With that, I proposed trading an easement for that line, for a building permit to rebuild the wood structure on that narrow parcel to steel, with significant “administrative” variances (permit walked through the Building Department) for front and rear property line setbacks.
Upon completion of my dandy new steel structure by the sewage plant, I requested that the County flag the line so I could have my surveyor do a description and drawing of the line location and my attorney draft an easement for them. They dragged their feet, but I doggedly kept after them, wanting to complete the circle on that wonderful deal.
I finally received the call that they had flagged the line, so I hopped in my truck and went down to this site, which has 660’ of highway frontage. When I arrived at the site I couldn’t believe my eyes-there had to be at least 100 flags over the 660’ run and they appeared to be placed almost randomly.
It became very obvious to me when looking at that gaggle of flags that just as the County had no idea exactly where the valves were, they were also without a clue as to where all the lines were on my property. A call to my contact at County Utilities confirmed that my suspicion was the case.
At that point, I realized I had hit a triple jackpot the day I hit the sewage line in June 2007! I knew then, what the County really needed then was a blanket easement for the entire parcel. Holding the high hand, in trade for the easement, I proposed and received permits with setback variances to rebuild my other two wood structures to steel, two structures that are located on two different parcels almost a mile away from the County sewage plant, and they agreed!
I had one more stroke of very good luck. At the time I had my structures rebuilt to steel, I calculated that in fairly short order these billboards were going to be the last billboards standing in the area, due to the area being closed for new billboards and ongoing big time structure attrition due to development. With that, I had the structures engineered for heavy embellishments and 150 mph wind loads to withstand most any storm. I had no idea then, how good that decision was, to have structures in place that meet the current building codes for digital displays, and also owning the only billboard locations in the area that have the entitlements for conversion to digital under the Bert Harris Act without trading in permits to do so.
As an aside, I was surprised by the amount of inquiries I received from people interested in buying my three structures last time my Company was featured in Billboard Insider, and want to thank all that called and wrote. For those interested, for various reasons, I’ve decided to keep one structure, and have a new package price on the other two, in line with the market feedback I received.
What’s the Florida outdoor market like?
It’s a very favorable environment for the existing operators as they have inventory that’s irreplaceable due to current regulations, but very difficult for new operators to get even a modest profitable toehold. Back in the late eighties, almost all Counties and municipalities in Central Florida allowed new billboards and modifications to existing billboards, but now, that’s truly becoming the exception. That of course has made it much more difficult to find new really good legal billboard locations, and to also convert existing ones to digital, without trading in numerous faces to get permits to do so under the auspice of the Bert Harris Private Property Rights Act .All of these factors have really benefited the existing operators, and have also nicely set the present and future stage for better rate integrity, higher occupancy and wider acceptance of digital displays. What I’m also seeing in some areas that are still open to new billboards, is overbuilding to the point of a glut, where the supply is more abundant than the demand.
Have you ever sustained damage from a storm or hurricane?
Prior to having my short wood structures rebuilt to steel that can handle 150 mph, I rented U Haul Box vans and parked them on either side of my wood structures when it was evident we would be going under a Hurricane watch. That strategy really saved me from a lot of costly damage during the back to back hurricanes of 2005 that pretty much leveled most all wood structures in the hurricanes path.
Have you considered solar power for any of your boards?
Yes, but I don’t believe the technology and cost is at the point where I could economically justify it, while still providing all night illumination for my advertisers without interruption, due to the extended cloudy conditions we often have here in Florida.
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