Developers
Lionshead Investment Group is a development concern, based in Gainesville, Florida, the home of the University of Florida, which primarily focuses its attention and resourceson urban infill projects. Lionshead subscribes to a New Urbanist development philosophy (see Mission below). Currently, all of its projects are within the city limits of Gainesville.
Management Team
Lionshead Investment Group is led by its managing members, Michael Conroy and Bryan Zeig. Michael has been an active professional in the construction industry for 34 years; twenty years in California, six in the Hawaiian Islands, and the last nine years in Florida. His breadth of experience includes a breadth of residential and multi-family residential projects. From 1998 to 2001, Michael was the Senior Project Manager for several large institutional projects in North Central Florida, several on the UF campus. Michael has been a licensed general contractor in Californian (1981), Hawaii (1993), and Florida (2001). For many years, as a forensic expert, Michael was called upon to testify in court cases involving construction defects, contractor’s negligence, and various third-party liability litigations, primarily in the realm of condominium construction. These experiences have given him an acute awareness of the importance of the construction and weatherproofing specific to condominium construction. From 20002 until 2005, Michael was the President and General Manager of University Corners. His work commenced with an innovative vision of a new urbanist, infill development, which would combine high-end urban living with upscale retail shops, dining, and recreation. University Corners, upon completion, will represent the largest private undertaking in Alachua County.
Bryan’s academic excellence and professional experience demonstrate his potential in the real estate industry. His integrity and managerial ability premise his professional status and his growing list of contributions to his firm and his community. His architectural education, (Bachelor of Design in Architecture at the University of Florida Summa cum Laude), as well an architectural internship, have afforded him a unique perspective of both the building construction and real estate industries. From 2003 until 2006, previous to his joining Lionshead, Bryan worked with Michael as a manager of the University Corners project, the previously mentioned mixed-use project that is considered to be a significant transformational project to not only the City of Gainesville but also to the North Central Florida regional. In the process, he has gained a working familiarity with the financial and political aspects of a large scale development, as well as demographics, marketing, and permitting procedures. This experience has forged his career in the day to day realities of a demanding business and civic environment and provided the skills necessary to successfully manage future development projects.
Mission
The development philosophy of Lionshead Investment Group is premised in the principles of New Urbanism, which seeks the revitalization and densification of our towns and cities into walkable communities. Communities where people live, work, shop, and play in the same neighborhood and transportation is largely satisfied by bicycles and walking. New Urbanist communities include the same features and address the same needs as conventional development; however, they do so in a more creative, compact, and integrated fashion. Alachua County and the City of Gainesville both incorporate this new urbanist ethos into their respective Comprehensive Plans and Land Development Regulations. Lionshead believes that as developers and redevelopers of the urban landscape we have an inherent, unspoken obligation to build communities which function largely within the existing built environment and infrastructure. Furthermore, we belive in utilizing sustainable construction materials and methodologies to construct ‘green’ buildings, which are safe not only for the people that use them but as well for the natural environment, which we all share.For Lionshead, each new project such as Lionsgate is an opportunity to give something to the community at large as well as to the residents who occupy the buildings we construct and own. We are committed to the creation of maximum safety, value, and comfort for our homeowners and renters without compromising the lives of our neighbors or the vitality of the natural environment.