K2 Urban Corp

[Skip Navigation]

Latest News

Sunday, August 14, 2005

K2 Urbancorp Unveils Carabelle Series

Leslie Roberts
From the Tallahassee Democrat

Dave Wamsley was looking for a little more than a Mount Everest-sized challenge when he decided to return to Tallahassee to start his own development company.

His plans to change the way the city looks and make K2 Urbancorp a household name while he was at it amount to a real estate rock climb of sorts, a fact he took into consideration when he named his company K2 - K2, also called Savage Mountain, is in the Himalayas and is Earth's second-highest peak. It s considered the hardest climb in the world.

Founded in December, 2002 by Wamsley, Fincher W. Smith and Dr. Timothy A. Jamieson, K2 Urbancorp has hit a few heights over the past three years:

The company took top honors at this year s Parade of Homes, winning for best home $215,000-$260,000, best home $500,000-$700,000 and Realtors Choice.

It has stirred interest in its 1920s Florida style bungalow homes and cottages and its 417 Park Avenue project, a 1930s Spanish-revival style luxury condominium.

Both illustrate the company s focus on New Urbanism, a national trend toward building smaller homes close to downtown areas and within walking distance of a variety of amenities. K2 s craftsmen cottages and North Florida bungalows represent a "resurrected passion in the home building industry not seen since the bungalow boom of the early 1900's," Wamsley said.

Before returning to Tallahassee, Wamsley, chief executive officer of K2 Urbancorp, worked in Silicon Valley, where he founded a 65-person high-tech business incubator and garnered over $25 million in venture financing. Wamsley moved to the San Francisco Bay area in 1995, where he worked as the business development manager for Sega of America and participated in the formation and management of several start-ups. He launched his own technology company in 1997. The company successfully raised more than $88 million in private financing and was acquired in March of 2001. He has also worked as a market analyst for the casino gaming division of the Hilton Hotel Development Group.

Smith, a Tallahassee native, has a number of business involvements, including owning and operating popular pubs and restaurants in Leon and Franklin counties like JV s North, Finnie s at St. George Island, and The Paradise Grill.

Jamieson is a partner in the Florida & Georgia Radiation Oncology Group. He and his wife, Michele, live in St. Simons Island, Ga., with their two sons.

K2 Urbancorp is currently building four homes on a cul-de-sac at East College Avenue. The two-story cottages will have wrap-around porches and North Florida names: Carrabelle Breeze, Carrabelle Beauty, Carrabelle Bayou I and Carrabelle Bayou II.

These homes feature two stories with wrap around porches that provide generous covered areas as protection against the intense Florida rain and sun, and outdoor living during most of the year. Tall ceilings and openings to floors above allow for heat to rise and escape.

At present, there are three models in the K2 Carrabelle series offering three styles of front porches and front elevations. Each model can be a larger manor (2,053 square feet) or the smaller (1,909 square feet) floor plan. All are, at a minimum, three bedrooms, 2-1/2 bath and with an upstairs family room that can be readily converted to a fourth bedroom. The larger model is a more spacious four-bedroom, although the 1,909 square foot model can also accommodate a 10-foot by 10-foot fourth bedroom with a modest closet.

All K2 Carrabelle Series homes have a foyer open to well-lit second floor above, window seats, living-dining great room with fireplace, main floor master bedrooms with unique vaulted ceilings, well-appointed kitchens with quality cabinets and finishes, laundry and powder rooms. Optional upgrades include detached single-car garage and connecting breezeways.