Harry Kelsey interview for anniversary edition -7-29-13T
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<NO>Har-J-.y Kelsey interview for anniversary edit ion' -R0>
141hile others procrastinated, Earry Kelsey acted.. `today he is or'le of
Florida's wealthiest and largest landowners.
Founder of the Fast Coast Finance Corp., the dynamic entrepreneur now oT- is
more. than 100,000 acres here, most of it located- in Palm Beach County including
his model city*" development known as Kelsey City.
C6ns id.er for a moment this man s success story Twenty years ago he was
the head waiter at a hartford, Con -no, hotel, earning '10 a weed.
To da -v he is chairman of the board of directors of :*'al Lunc'n System, a
r;ulti—million—dollar corporation and. one o-1.1' the ccuntry'orz larg-est restaurant`
rCha-ins, in addition to being owner and developer of 11E50 square miles of
Florida, land he bought for under an ac -,re and now valued at -'-200 to $"A,150 an
acre*
""God made Harry Kelsey with the brain
Someone once said of this man,
Napoleon and a soul of honor %I%VD and then broke the mold-e'f
In an exclusive interview with tree <ITAimes <.RO>'n'ere last week, Kelsey 'ah
at that description, err-ohasizirg that his success was a combin.c.tion of hard
work and luck.
• Sorre people would cons er poor e U e For me
1G X _yesig'l he c --id..
it was lucky. I was going to be a printer'-,,.. I had workea as -a typesetter for
e y e s.
sevr,-ara- 1 years but I had. to g1 up that trade because o -AP' 7r, y poor r i -c��h t Z) o
L 7)
took a job as a we -Liter in a restaurant
Kelsey had taken his first step toward success This mer of sr,al i stature
with steel rimmed glasses, soon. quit his ob as a wa iter and opened, , i1i s 0 W, ri
h e founded 8L
restaurant. From, his initial lunchroom it h olyoke s, I -`as , 1, chain )f
restaurants that soon branched out to locations in Boston, Springfield
Providence and Buffalo,
%% J farmers w�ic ;---av1-= ftis )n
Mv father was one of those good old.. New England fcl Dave
the ful 1 rmeasu.re of long hours and hard work ,'O'f he-, said.. ""Eut I soon I e a rn 11z- d
there was more. money to be made in the city than in tilling the soil. r'
'bout four years ago, Kelsey becarre interested in Je"lcrid.a whey 0-- 'Ariend,
Harry Bond of Hartford, persuaded him to buy a lot here in Palm Bead. Countf.
I carie down or. a vacat ion and thovo-ht I'd have a look at i t s a i d.
Kelsey. wo days leter. I meet TFarry Greene, a real estate broker, and that,
ce
n i o r n 1 n r, I b o v e) h t 44,000 acre, a tract that was known as the Old 30-rr Istate
a r spurchased.
That was dust the beginning. Within a tlew Y,- 7elsey had.
to 10
additional tracts, totalling 1'0,000 acres and in1cluding 141 miles of
o c. e a n f r o n t
after accuiring, the Florida land_, Kelsey turree. the day—to—day detail of
his restaurant business over to others and moved. dere to su-pervise t h. e
devellopment plans of East Coast Finance Corp,
1A
F l or i is sure t o grow rapid, -1y in t h e future, „ p r e- d. i c t e Ke 1 s ey If`s
vou are sick of shoveling snow, paying doctor bills, carrying coal a n d n o t
-cre t t ink, ahead, we wi 11 show you & way to forever get away from al 1 this and d 0 r,:,)
our best to introduce you to real prosperity, sunshine and happiness.
Kelsey said. that in additicn to homesites o -.r,-, Lake Wcrth ana Palm Beach
Ha-,rbor,, Kkel,-sey City will have indlustries which will be located in an area west
of the 'Florida East Coast Railway tracks,
We want almost every industry under the sur, to be re--pressented in Kele
City he said. "'These industries will give erriployment to rano hundreds of'
people, in all walks of life, Preference will be giver of �-,--ourse to
stockholders. Kelsev Cit is to be a real city teeming, with life and
el
industry, 10 7
URE }
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Kelsey said a brick plant and saw mill are already *in operd-tion and. vv -
is Under way on an automobile tire-- plant to open next year in his new rcitv.
Other industries will i.-.qk--.lude cattle ranches, dairy farms, stock farms, trudr*�--
f a r rt) s a n dt c i t r u. s groves
The po, tent i al for care sugar and syrup mi '11 S. here is particularly
Promising-, helsey said .
"Sugar, r which wa s formerly a luxury, is now recognized as a rec, es s i t V
he said I *"'Florida is the world's -salvation on sugar. It has the soil and
climat8 necessar.-v to raise the largest crops of the best granulated sugar.
rl:) -
ta',-,es 16 times as many men to raise 1,0e0 ions of beet sugar as i t
doec, to
produce 1,,000 tons of cane sugar. Growing cane and- making done S u g %- -1
the corporation ar will to qo by
The new brick plant is also a pro--."itable enter-,orise.
"'The plant cost us 'L110,000, but i t i s orae of the f i nes,' t in the
country," he said. Cost of produc tion is about $7 per thousand. and. the
..Linished brick sell for $2 to per thouc5and so you can see why I r1i
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enthused about it.
He said the construction- of a 6eep water r i r lo t connecting; nnec t i ng th e A t 1 nt i,-
%.., Ci %--
Ccean and Lake Worth will enable ocean commerce to be loaded. and unloaded just
two rriles south of Kelsey city. This will becorre a -;neat shipping centerID
fringing ships that will carry the flags of every nation, he predicted.
iris plans also irclude a bridge from Kelsey Citv across the lake to ',---'Pive
automnobiles access to Singer The best 1 o,- ati on for the
-,er Island's ocean beacries
11rid-,--.)e, he points out, is from his city to ('Iunyor, Island, a populGr tovris.,t
picnic area.
Although Kelsey is an advocate of hard work, he believes, that residents of
Anis new r city re, -% a
a.1cc must have recreation. 'olf, polo, tennis, boatinL,, hc-rseba-'-
$ k -o .4.
riding, trap, shooting, bathing and_ fishing are includs..z-d, in -plans for the r,.;ew
n C> -
city. irchitect Donald Ross will design three golf courses for his city, ,'I
said.
Th e i r- 1 a n.
`Lake"'
Worth r t h i s a fisherman's s he r ma n. *s -n a r ad i s h e pointed i n t e a' o u t CL
steauis stock.ed with all manner of fish., "
71orid.a 'c, climate seems to seduced_ Kelsav and g)ivelrl him added corf idnnc
<
alout his ambitious Palm Beach Courrity projects.
YcEilsey City has everytIling that mak.es f or success Ml,', 1 o a ti on beau t i f
roads, both rail and water transportation, miles of ocean, and- lake water
frontage, adjoining the greatest resort i r. the world. Pall Reach, •sal" d. the
dapp,er developer. A -n d above a 1 a n d s u r r o u rd. i n. r7 11 w have thi= best God
iven climate on earth
Looking out over the blue Atlantic he inhaled deepl T, savoring tne f'r e S "ri,
ocean breeze,
Ly
`%'his will be the w o r 10 's f in e s- t p I ay r o i i, n d. e- S a, id N' a t u r e be c k o'
to her children to carne here to work and play in the open air, where blue skie-S,
arca warm sura shine give promise of health and vigor ."'
GFend.>
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