For a man who wanted to make law enforcement a career, David B. Harvey, president/broker of Harvey Jenkins Realty and Construction Inc., wound up in a profession far afield from chasing law breakers.
Instead of trying to put people in jail, he is trying to put people in houses. He is ably assisted by his brother-in-law, Wayne Wright, who is the company vice president and director of field operations.A native of Salt Lake City, Harvey wanted to make law enforcement a career and started in the Salt Lake County Sheriff's Office in 1968. His goal was to work for the U.S. Treasury Department, but when he found out that he had little chance of being stationed in Utah he abandoned that idea.
While he was working as a deputy sheriff he purchased a home from Midwest Realty, but when his wife got sick the hospital costs wiped out his savings. His uncle, Rulon Jenkins, suggested he sell real estate to get the down payment for the house.
Selling real estate in the day and working as a deputy sheriff at night, Harvey soon had the money to close on his house. The challenges of real estate and working with people excited him. Soon his sales increased and he was on his way in the real estate field.
After three years as a deputy (1968-71), Harvey resigned and concentrated on going to school, while remaining in the construction and real estate businesses. He had been majoring in sociology with a minor in criminology, and when he quit the deputy job he started taking more business classes.
He started at Brigham Young University but received a degree in business from the University of Utah in 1979, after taking many night classes while trying to work and support a family.
Jenkins asked Harvey if he wanted to be his partner, and not being quite certain if that was what he wanted, Harvey built three houses. Harvey and Jenkins formed a company in 1972 and incorporated it in 1974. Jenkins got sick and in 1982 sold his interest to a son-in-law, Steve Simmer. Harvey and Simmer were partners until 1987 when Simmer sold his interest to Wright.
At one time, Harvey Jenkins had 64 people on the payroll to build the houses, but now all of the work is done by subcontractors. Harvey Jenkins has seven full-time realtors and six other full-time employees.
Harvey, who has built dozens of houses in all parts of Salt Lake County, said his company offers a full line of services including real estate multiple listing with the Salt Lake Board of Realtors and Harvey Jenkins Property Management, which manages some homes the company has taken in trade for new homes.
Over the years Harvey Jenkins have been involved in commercial construction (pizza parlors, restaurants and nursing homes) along with houses, but Harvey said now the company forte is houses only.
Harvey Jenkins builds an average of 50 houses annually and currently has houses under construction in Park City, Stansbury Park, Draper, Sandy, West Valley City, Bennion, West Jordan, Salt Lake City and South Jordan. The company builds houses that cost from the mid-$60,000s to $270,000, but the specialty is between $90,000 and $120,000 that represent second houses for most of the buyers.
Some of the homes the company took in trade are the starter houses people outgrew.
Popular these days with Harvey Jenkins buyers are multilevel houses with family rooms, large master bathrooms and two-car garages. Losing some of the popularity in recent years are fireplaces, Harvey said.
Harvey attributes the company's success to finding a niche in the housing market several years ago, namely a house larger than starter houses and something less than the custom houses being built on the east side of Salt Lake Valley.
Recently installed as president of the Home Builders Association of Utah for 1992, Harvey was president of the Home Builders Association of Greater Salt Lake in 1989 and in 1990 was named builder of the year by the Salt Lake group. He always has been an advocate of the association, saying that people can have confidence when dealing with association members.
Harvey sees some problems on the building horizon including a lack of quality subcontractors and material shortages that will delay completion time and increase costs.
He said tenuous building code changes and manipulative government will continue to burden every building until builders become more united. "Builders unwilling to get involved in the homebuilders' association will help cause their industry and profit margins to be short-circuited," he said.