Far East Import: Dr. Wen Y. Chung
The low-profile, high-success story of developer Wen Y. Chung.
BY Scott D Cannon
If you saw it in a movie you might call it a cliche: Oriental boy, son of poor farmers, comes to America, studies hard, works harder and after years of labor, thrift, and virtuous living becomes wealthy and successful. A cliche, maybe, but it sure tells the story of Siesta Keys Wen Y. Chung.
Chung may be Sarasota’s least-known developer, but the people who do know him are glad they do: happy bankers, whose loans to the 53-year-old engineer- contractor-developer have been fully repaid, often ahead of schedule; contented subcontractors, who keep busy working on Chung’s growing string of meticulously planned projects; satisfied tenants, who reap the fruits of his attention to detail and strict budgeting.
And the Wen Y. Chung they know does indeed seem to fit the Oriental-in America stereotype: in business, industrious and indefatigable, in person, shy, smiling, and yes, even a little inscrutable.
For the past 10 years, Chung has been quietly developing properties in Sarasota County. His projects include the 240-acre Pinebrook Park subdivision in Venice, shopping centers in Venice and Sarasota, a warehouse complex on Clark Road, a 64- unit Venice condominium; and he’s planning an ambitious mid-rise office complex for Fruitville Road.
Chung came to the United States in the 1960s, leaving behind the back-breaking labor of his parents’ farm in Taiwan and what he admits was “a pretty hard childhood.” He earned a master’s degree in engineering at the University of Florida. “Engineering was a good field even then to find a job and make a living,” he said.
From Gainesville, Chung went to Columbia for a doctorate in civil engineering, where he researched non-metallic composite materials like those used to build Stealth bombers and fighters–aircraft that are “invisible” to radar detection. He worked for Boeing in Philadelphia for two years, but when the military cut spending he moved to Orlando in 1973 with his wife and three children to work for Boyle Engineering.
Before he left Philadelphia, though, Chung had done the structural design of a new high-rise there. While in Orlando, he engineered and contracted his first Florida projects–a shopping center and a residential subdivision.
In 1977, Chung made the transition from engineer to developer, coming to Venice to build the 240-acre Pinebrook South subdivision. He saw “lots of opportunity,” he said, “and I figured if I could design it, I could do the rest. The design is the hard part. I did small projects to build my reputation. I built my business from the ground up with the help of the local banks.” Chung followed his commercial centers all the way through construction and leasing, but he sold the residential projects back to the builders once the streets and utilities were in. “Subdivisions are not as involved as shopping centers,” he said. He prefers the “continuous involvement” of commercial buildings.
By the early 1980s he was building $2.5 million projects like the Regency Shopping Center on the U.S. 41 Bypass in Venice, where his own modest office is still located. And his approval rating was climbing with area bankers.
“The banks love him,” said Russel Lux. a broker at Merrill Lynch/Boomhower who worked with Chung on the site of his planned Fruitville project. “He pays off his loans, sometimes early.”
Bob Koson, vice president of First National Bank of Venice, one of the first to finance Chung, used words like “extremely honest,” “hardworking” and “tireless” to describe him. He also appreciates Chung’s ability to present a complete package: “He can build, design and survey it.” Eventually, said Koson, Chung outgrew his bank, needing more money than First National could lend.
His reputation had preceded him at C&S National Bank, which is financing some of Chung’s most recent projects. “I’ve known him for about a year-and-a-half but I’ve known of him for 10 years,” said vice president Bob Byrne. “He doesn’t over-borrow and that makes his projects viable. He is one of the sharpest, shrewdest investor-developers I’ve met. He takes the time to think it through and builds the right thing in the right place.”
He is also tirelessly devoted to details, said Koson. “Wen Chung is not a lazy American like the rest of us. That’s the key. He watches all his operations himself.”
Chung agrees that his business edge comes from his technical background and policy of personally overseeing all subcontractors. “I get involved with every detail to make sure it is done properly,” Chung said. “Very careful management is important.”
At the Fiddler’s Green condominium project near Englewood, Chung handled all engineering, utility system set-up and site plans, said Rob Spade, president of the 225-unit development. “He came out when we were chasing the snakes out and made it work,” Spade said. “He’s a borderline genius. And he’s one of the most pleasant people in the world to work with, very cordial. Some people mistake it for weakness, but it’s just his upbringing. His only fault might be that he’s hard-headed. It’s got to be done his way, but that’s because he’s usually right.”
Chung is currently building a $2 million, 30,000-square-foot shopping center on Fruitville Road, scheduled to open in early 1988. He’s completing a $1 million, 26,000-square-foot warehouse on Clark Road and looking into a commercial site on Old Highway 301. His 64-unit Golf View condominium project in Venice is nearing completion.
‘The main accomplishment is seeing it done according to plan, financially and technically,” he said of his projects, but that also describes his own business growth. Now in his 10th year of property development, he said the first five years were times of slow growth, establishing his name and credit. Business grew much faster in the past five years, and he predicts even faster growth in the next five.
One project slated for the future is a mid-rise campus-style office complex on nine acres on Fruitville near the interstate. Construction is several years away, but Chung saw the potential and recently bought the property. “The price is right, but two years from now it might not be,” he said. He watches growth carefully to estimate rising land values.
“Fruitville Road will be six lanes in the next couple of years. As an engineer you know how to calculate. If you can solve complicated math problems you should be able to predict what the property values will be in the future,” said Chung.
Asked who his friends are, Chung named his business associates, but most of them say they don’t know him very well. They describe him as “family-oriented,” “private,” even “shy.” “I’ve known him eight or nine years,” said Bob Koson. “He’s been in my office and I’ve had lunch with him, but I don’t really know him. He’s a very private person.”
“I grew up in a different background,” Chung admitted, “not a busy social life as most people.”
He looks like a man who takes it easy, much younger than his 53 years. He walks on the beach now and then, attends performances at Van Wezel and travels to New York or Washington, D.C., to visit his three grown children. His wife, who worked very closely with him in the business, died two years ago.
One son and his daughter study engineering at Columbia University and the oldest son, a Harvard graduate in engineering, is a Washington consultant.
Chung said he held up Muhammad Ali and Sugar Ray Leonard as examples to his children. “Competition in business is very tough, just like in boxing. You have to train and work hard, like professional athletes.”
But he’s not complaining about the work. “In Taiwan, people work hard for a much lower standard of living’” he explained. ‘This is a rich country and lots of things come without effort.” So for those willing to make an effort, the rewards are rich indeed. The formula is simple: “For success, you have to be able to work with people, have the technical skills and honesty. Pay the bills on time.”
From New Business/July/August/1987
