(Not sure how many of you read the Press Releases, so thought I'd cross post this one here too!)
Mansion builder to share success tips at Leaders in Luxury event
August 12, 2008 -- Frank McKinney, “the Maverick Daredevil Real Estate Artist,” has been chosen as a keynote speaker for Leaders in Luxury
(LIL), an invitation-only special event for 100 of the nation’s leading
real estate professionals who work in the upper-tier market. Hosted by
The Institute for Luxury Home Marketing (ILHM), this year’s LIL event
will be held in South Beach (Miami) at the luxurious new Gansevoort
South Hotel and Spa
“Frank McKinney’s personality is as big as the 60,000+ square foot
mansions he builds,” said The Institute’s Founder Laurie Moore-Moore.
“The story of his life is inspiring and he has many ideas to share
about how to maximize one’s success, despite today’s market
conditions. If anyone understands branding, promotion, and how to
succeed, McKinney does.”
At age 18, with $50 in his pocket and without the benefit of higher
education, McKinney left his native Indiana for Florida in search of
his profession. In his first Florida job he earned $180 a week, waking
at 4:00 a.m. and digging sand traps by hand on a Deerfield Beach golf
course. On May 19, 1986, at age 22, Mr. McKinney founded his first real
estate investment company and bought his first $50,000 fixer-upper,
selling it a few months later for a $7,000 profit.
Today, Frank McKinney is known around the globe as a real estate
"artist," and the creative building force behind some of the world's
unique mansions. A true maverick with a charming flair, he is a
daredevil in the risky world of speculative high-end real estate.
McKinney is nearing completion of "Acqua Liana," an opulent
eco-friendly "green" mansion priced at $29 million and "Crystalina," a
$30 million Polynesian green home.
http://www.frank-mckinney.com/estates_for_sale.aspx
Although McKinney builds new dream mansions, he lives with his
family in an historic 3000 square foot home, offices in a 150 sq. ft.
tree house, and is committed to his Caring House Project Foundation, a
non-profit organization dedicated to creating self-sufficiency by
providing housing, food, water, medical support and opportunity for the
desperately poor and homeless around the world.
Another current McKinney project is a $135 million spec home, The
Manalapan Residence. This three-story 67,670 square foot home includes
14 bedrooms, 24 bathrooms, an 18 car garage, a 6,140 sq. ft. master
bedroom suite, lavish Grand Rotunda room for entertaining, dual water
walls, aquarium ceilings and walls, movie theatre, casino and club room
with stunning aquarium wet bar, oceanfront gourmet family kitchen,
catering kitchen, outdoor summer kitchen, his/her offices, 10 wet bars,
two wine rooms (one for red, one for white), gymnasium with beauty
salon, two swimming pools (classical lap and grotto
waterfall/waterslide), shark tank, two elevators, bowling alley, tennis
court with pavilion, archery range, 1/4 mile jogging/go cart track,
butterfly gardens, Italian and Floridian gardens, sculpture gardens,
citrus orchard, guest house, staff house, back-up generator, full home
automation, and more.
“McKinney is a speaker who makes audiences smile, challenges them to
be more successful and leaves them wanting more. His presentation will
add excitement and spice to the Leaders in Luxury meeting,” predicts
Institute President Waco Moore. “As part of our agreement with Mr.
McKinney, The Institute is also pleased to fund the construction of two
houses in Haiti through his Caring House Project Foundation.”
As part of a new partnership agreement, we are offering all active Members a series of free 60-day online property listings on The Wall Street Journal website. 
