Florida East Coast Industries
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| Private | |
| Industry | Rail, commercial real estate, logistics |
| Founded | 1892 |
| Headquarters | Coral Gables, Florida |
| Owner | Fortress Investment Group |
| Website | www |
Florida East Coast Industries (FECI) is Florida’s oldest and largest commercial real estate, transportation, and infrastructure holding company. Based in Coral Gables, Florida, FECI is the direct lineal descendant of the various companies founded by pioneering American businessman Henry M. Flagler. FECI today is the parent company of three distinct businesses:
FECI was purchased in 2007 by equity funds managed by Fortress Investment Group, LLC. Although Florida East Coast Railway at one time fell under the FECI umbrella, it is now a completely separate corporate entity also owned by Fortress.
Although FECI did not exist as a corporate entity until 2006, the company’s origins date back to December 31, 1888 when Henry Flagler purchased the Jacksonville, St. Augustine and Halifax River Railway. in 1892, Flagler formally merged and incorporated that rail line and a number of additional small railway operations he had purchased, changing the name to the Jacksonville, St. Augustine and Indian River Railway Company. This name change also reflected the extension of rail system south along the east coast of Florida. Convinced of the region’s tourism potential, Flagler began laying a network of tracks and depots further and further south, which helped spur the development of the entire east coast of Florida. His rail empire would eventually stretch from Jacksonville to Key West.
On Sept. 7, 1895, Flagler changed his company’s name to the Florida East Coast Railway Company (FECR).
Flagler is credited with helping found West Palm Beach in 1894, and helping turn Miami, which in 1896 consisted of about 400 inhabitants, into a thriving city of more than 29,000 residents a generation later. In 1904, Flagler began construction on the Oversea Railway to Key West, which many people thought was an impossible undertaking. The 128 mile-extension was opened on Jan. 22, 1912, just 16 months before Flagler’s passing on May 20, 1913.
FECR declared bankruptcy and was placed into receivership in September 1931 following financial difficulties caused by the Stock Market Crash of 1929 and onset of the Great Depression. The company was further rocked by the Labor Day Hurricane of 1935, which partially destroyed the Overseas Railroad.
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Wikipedia