Blake Smith, Managing Partner, Somersett Development Company

FIFTEEN YEARS AGO, ON THE RUGGED HILLS WEST OF RENO where others had seen only sagebrush, thistle and SUV trails, Blake Smith saw opportunity. He “saw” Somersett, the 3,000-acre, master-planned community that will encompass about 3,300 homes at build-out. Today, as he looks on his creation from his offices on Somersett Parkway, with about 40 percent of the homes already sold, Smith speaks with wonder at his accomplishment.

“I have to stop every so often and just look at it,” he says, pointing to nearby homes and the development’s community clubhouse — an imposing stone building that includes a water park for the kids and tennis courts and fitness facilities for the adults. “You drive through and say, ‘Wow.’”

Smith started purchasing the land that makes up Somersett in 1991. It was quite a challenge, with 43 landowners holding parcels ranging from 40 to 80 acres. For the first four years, he used his own money, parlaying profits he’d made from his commercial mortgage company, a business he founded in 1987 when he was 27. By 1994, Smith had bought about half the land that would become Somersett, before bringing in some more financing partners.

Acquiring the land was just part of the puzzle. He also had to shepherd the process through some significant legal and political hurdles. Entitlement process “We didn’t have any entitlement,” Smith says. “We were buying land that could have one house per 40 acres. So we were literally purchasing property — not just optioning it — and then going to get the zoning on it.”

It was a hugely risky venture.

“I had a lot of sleepless nights going, ‘What did we get into, and how are we going to work through it?’” he says. “But, you know what, somehow it’s been successful.” It took about three years, but Smith was able to complete the approval process in 1998 with the annexation of the property by the City of Reno. As Somersett’s developer, Smith built the infrastructure — the roads, the parks, the amenities — but not the actual homes. He was successful in attracting major builders to build upscale communities within Somersett.

“It wasn’t by accident,” he says. “It was by design for us to be in this position, in this price point.” Smith’s entrepreneurial spirit was encouraged and nurtured by his father, also a successful businessman. Smith credits his parents for his tireless work ethic. He saw them toil at multiple jobs as they raised a young family in Reno in the 1950s.

“I’ve always said, ‘You work hard and you play hard,’” Smith says. “I tell my friends to try to get two lives out of one. In the entrepreneurial world it’s definitely not an eight-to-five job. It’s a lot of hours, and I think the most challenging thing is turning your brain off when you’re away from it.”

Doing that takes discipline, he says. With many other irons in the fire in addition to Somersett, Smith is careful to maintain time for his wife and three children, something he says gets beyond some entrepreneurs. “You really need to watch it, because you see business owners that are consumed 24/7, just trying to survive,” he says. “I don’t know if they necessarily got ahead doing that. They might have been better staying in the corporate environment with a salary and more time with family.”

Relishing the ride

Smith says he manages his many business responsibilities by hiring good people and keeping organized. He says the most important attribute he brings to any project is perseverance.

“I don’t like to lose,” he says. “So if I bump up against an issue, instead of stopping, I usually try to figure out how to go around it or take a different angle. An obstacle is a challenge.

“You have to enjoy it, otherwise you would lose your interest in it,” he adds. “A lot of people look at being an entrepreneur for the monetary rewards. I look at the self rewards of saying, ‘I did it,’ and hopefully there is a monetary reward, too. But, that isn’t always what drives it. It’s rewarding watching things grow, creating things.” Judges comments: “The history of Somersett’s land acquisition was a miracle. Smith has taken a vision, made it happen and stayed with it.”