What do celebrity athletes, high profile politicians and everyday families have in common? They’re all happy homeowners of Issa Homes, the custom home builder founded by Francis Issa in 1972. While times and styles change over the years, the Issa Homes philosophy remains the same: build with the homeowner in mind.
Fast forward five decades to 2017 and Issa Homes is still building stronger than ever with its signature brand available in Lake Nona Golf and Country Club and Disney’s Golden Oak at Walt Disney World® Resort Community.
Issa Homes: The Journey to be Top Custom Home Builder
The company originally made a name for itself starting out in boutique residential communities located in Boca Raton, Florida. In the late 80’s and early 90’s Don Hempel and Jeff Marchell joined the company as a managing partners and together Issa Homes went on to build more than 600 luxury residences over a 13 year period in Arvida’s Weston community.
In 1998 Issa Homes was invited to be a builder in Celebration by The Celebration Company, a subsidiary of the Disney Development Company. Issa Homes moved its headquarters to Central Florida to build in Disney’s world renowned Celebration community.
Other commercial and luxury residential real estate projects include Abacoa, Celebration, Baldwin Park, Lake Nona and most recently Disney’s Golden Oak.
In 2007 Lake Nona invited Issa Homes to build in its golf and country club community and in 2010 Issa Homes broke ground on its first model home in Disney’s Golden Oak.
Issa Homes was recently named as one of the top custom home builders by the Orlando Business Journal 2016 list.
Issa Homes: The Partners
Francis Issa
Originally from Jamaica WI, Francis is a graduate of the College Holy Cross in Worcester, MA with a degree in Business Administration and Finance. Prior to starting Issa Homes and becoming a United States Citizen in 1973, he was the managing director of two hotel properties, working in his family’s businesses.
Don Hempel
Creating the best customer experience possible is Don Hempel’s mission when meeting with home buyers. Don’s leads product development, customer relations and marketing. He works together with architects and designers to assure Issa Homes delivers and meets each individual home buyer’s tailored needs and expectations.
Don joined Issa Homes in 1987 after successfully managing his own single-family building business, Hempel Homes. He is graduate of University of Miami with a degree in Business and is also a licensed general contractor.
Jeff Marchell
Jeff’s current focus is on construction management, quality control, land development and commercial projects. He is responsible for assuring projects are completed on time and within budget while also meeting the highest standards set forth by Issa Homes commitment to customer satisfaction. He joined the company in 1992 and became a partner in 1998.
Earning the respect and praise of hundreds of homeowners comes from attention to detail from design to delivery. Jeff’s award-winning building career started in Central New Jersey by turning farmland into successful single-family home communities. He is a licensed Building Contractor and a licensed pilot.
Issa Homes can be found in Central Florida’s best communities including Celebration, Baldwin Park, Lake Nona Golf and Country Club and, most recently, Disney’s newest community Golden Oak.
