A Message From TLCo President Raoul Rushin and TLCo’s Board

Dear Landings Community:

Ten years ago on March 24^th, I came to The Landings with high hopes of making an impact on The Landings Company as well as our community, its property values and indirectly on Club membership as it’s so closely tied with home sales.

I was welcomed by an encouraging, supportive board, a dedicated staff and committed team of agents made up of outstanding people who were anxious for new direction, growth and leadership that “had their backs”.

All told, I literally and figuratively found a home at The Landings on every level. I loved almost every minute of it and expected to finish my career here hoping to stay long afterward as a “civilian”.

However, our best laid plans are often not our own. After becoming engaged last year and making efforts to find another Landings house to make our home, we began to realize that despite every effort to alter our course, Lisa’s hometown of Statesboro, where her grown children and first grandson live, along with her business interests there, were significant enough that Statesboro needed to be considered for our home. Ironically, she has been in student housing and “starter home” development, construction, and property management business there for over 38 years. When you add it all together, that’s where we need to be, and my background can be a big help to her companies.

This has all led to the impossibly difficult decision to leave The Landings Company (June 14^th) and The Landings.

I  thank my team here for their support – know that everyone here makes every effort to do the right thing, perform at the highest level for their clients, and to correct our infrequent mistakes when we make them. I can’t express strongly enough how much I appreciate and will miss them.

I also want to thank the many residents who have served as board members, from whom I’ve learned so much, and many of those who have become friends. Also, everyone at The Landings Golf & Athletic Club and The Landings Association, my outstanding Strawberry Lane neighbors, and the many other lifelong friends I’ve made here.

I hope everyone at The Landings recognizes the meaningful and measurable benefit of all three organizations on our lifestyle here along with the resulting and prolific increases in property values that are well beyond any other neighborhood in Savannah.

I urge you to support all three. Each does an amazing job and although imperfect, they strive to be, and together create an unmatched lifestyle and a true community for us. Sometimes an issue like a Town of Skidaway proposal or a Grand Harbor decision becomes a distraction from the real reality – there’s no better place like this in which to live. Period.

Thank you for a wonderful 10 years!

Raoul Rushin
President, The Landings Company 

A Message from TLCo's Board

Dear Fellow Residents,

On behalf of The Landings Real Estate Company (TLCo) Board of Directors, we express our deep appreciation to Raoul for his leadership of TLCo over the last 10 years.  We send him with our best wishes for much happiness and future success and are most grateful for the time and talents that he has provided to our community. 

Raoul came at a time of significant challenges regarding the financial stability and operations of TLCo. Raoul’s accomplishments during his tenure were many; however, several of them are worthy of special mention to give all residents an understanding of the depth and breadth of TLCo’s success. 

Some select accomplishments include:

• Designing and executing a successful national marketing program which has had the downstream impact of improving the ratio of Discovery Visitors that purchase homes from 14% to 29% through improved marketing and communication. Furthermore, substantial efforts were made to enhance the Discovery Visit (DV) experience, including creating a Concierge position, improving DV housing requirements and adding amenities to the DVs which have improved the introduction of potential buyers to The Landings.
• Securing the expertise of the Falls Agency to innovate and execute our national marketing efforts.
• Bringing the lead tracking, communications, and contact management software up to a standard that has enabled substantial improvement in business operations.
• Enhanced collaboration with The Landings Athletic and Golf Club (TLGAC) including combining the Company and Club’s websites into one for a cohesive brand and image.
• Home sales of $1.9 billion, with 3,327 homes under contract and $1.6 billion in sales closed.
• Implemented ShowingTime to automate our home showings as the 1^st significant firm in Savannah to do so.
• Initiated systematic and consistent Agent training & updates including all areas of Club and TLA disciplines, social media, and other related areas of relevance.

As TLCo begins a period of transition in our leadership, the Board understands that change can bring anxiety. We believe that the following insight into our next steps will mitigate questions regarding strategic next steps to hire new executive leadership to sustain TLCo with innovative leadership as the industry moves through the expected changes in the coming years. 

Cliff Frohn will head a Search Committee. Cliff is a former Chair, TLCo Board of Directors and has held numerous leadership positions on the Board and Committees of The Landings Golf and Athletic Club (TLGAC). He will be joined on the Search Committee by Jim Morgan, Randy Hatch, Eric Larson and myself. Each of these individuals currently serve on the TLCo Board and have extensive experience on the boards and committees of TLA and TLGAC.

Three search firms were evaluated in our strategic search for a firm and after in-depth discussions and evaluation of proposals, Stanton Chase has been selected.  Executives from Stanton Chase will be on-site on Thursday, April 18^th, to meet with the search committee, the TLCo board, staff and agents of TLCo and our strategic partners.  The purpose of these meetings will be to get a feel for our community, gain a deeper understanding of our business operations and hear the thoughts of staff, agents, and stakeholders about the qualifications of the next TLCo executive.

While the accomplishments under Raoul’s leadership are substantial, a single individual does not an organization make. We have an incredible operations team at TLCo and successful agents. In a meeting with everyone this week, our board officers communicated to them that while we are in a transition period, each one of them plays an incredible role in sustaining our operations. Mitch Jacobs will take over the day-to-day operations after Raoul’s departure in June with tremendous support from key members of the Board of Directors. While the board has executed a strategic role in the past, we will transition ourselves to collaborate more closely with Mitch to support him during this interim period.

We appreciate the support of our community as we move through this transition. Thank you.

On behalf of TLCo's Board of Directors, 

Marguerite D. Baxter, Chair
TLCo Board of Directors