Gate Petroleum is a privately held diversified corporation headquartered in Jacksonville, Florida, the 11th largest in Florida in 2022. In FY 2022, the company ranked No. 338 on the Forbes list of America's Largest Private Companies and had sales of $1.44 billion and employment of 3,500.
History Herbert Hill Peyton started the company in 1960 with a single gas station on Jacksonville's Northside. The company grew during the 1960s with additional stations in Jacksonville and then the southeast United States. The name "Gate" comes from the city of Jacksonville's slogan at that time, "The Gateway to Florida". In response to the 1973 oil crisis, the company began to diversify and added convenience items to their filling station shelves.
Filling stations and convenience stores are still the core business of the company, which operates from a corporate headquarters in Sunbeam. Elkins Constructors built the facility in 1999. The Peyton family owns 80% of the company, and the rest belongs to "Brothers": long-term employees (both male and female).Finotti, John: "Gate tycoon reveals self, business secrets" Florida Times-Union, July 20, 1997
John Peyton, the oldest son of company founder Herb Peyton, took an eight-year leave from Gate to serve two terms as Jacksonville's mayor from 2003 to 2011. John returned to the family business and was named company President when his father, Herb retired on January 3, 2012. Herb remained chairman and Mitchell Rhodes was promoted to chief operating officer. Hill Peyton became Vice President of Marketing.Bull, Roger: "Herb Peyton retires as president of Gate Petroleum" Florida Times-Union, January 3, 2012 In Jacksonville, Gate is Northeast Florida's 16th-largest private sector employer.
Investments and acquisitions The first alternative investment was a farm in nearby Hastings, Florida that grew potatoes. Overall, it was a profitable investment, but the asset was eventually sold.Newboy: the Autobiography of Herbert Hill Peyton, page 142, Herbert Hill Peyton, ISBN 0-9658277-0-4 Gate Roofing Company was created during 1978 in Green Cove Springs, Florida to manufacture asphalt felt. The business was successful and the plant was expanded and operated 24/7 before being sold to Tamko Building Products in 1994."914 HALL PARK DR, GCS" Clay County Florida Property AppraiserNewboy: the Autobiography of Herbert Hill Peyton, page 144-145, Herbert Hill Peyton, ISBN 0-9658277-0-4 In the early 1980s, Peyton transformed the company from a petroleum retailer to a diversified conglomerate. He bought the Florida real estate holdings of Stockton, Whatley, Davin & Co. (SWD), which was then owned by Phillips Petroleum Company for $60 million. The 1983 purchase contained more than of land in northeast Florida including the Ponte Vedra Inn and Club, parcels at Ponte Vedra Beach, Deerwood Country Club, Southpoint and the Guana tract.Newboy: the Autobiography of Herbert Hill Peyton, page 163-181, Herbert Hill Peyton, ISBN 0-9658277-0-4 The first property to be sold was the of primitive woodlands on the Guana River. The Florida Department of Environmental Protection purchased the property for $49 million that became the Guana River State ParkNewboy: the Autobiography of Herbert Hill Peyton, page 186-189, Herbert Hill Peyton, ISBN 0-9658277-0-4 now part of Guana Tolomato Matanzas National Estuarine Research Reserve. The initial segment of J. Turner Butler Boulevard (State Road 202) was completed in 1979 and access to that geographical area was improved, facilitating development of the area east of Interstate 95. Gate partnered with the Bryant Skinner Company in 1980 to create the Southpoint office parkNewboy: the Autobiography of Herbert Hill Peyton, page 145, Herbert Hill Peyton, ISBN 0-9658277-0-4 and the area northeast of the intersection became Southpoint (Jacksonville). When manufacturer Houdaille-Duval decided to eliminate their Florida construction division in 1980, Gate purchased a Jacksonville prestressed concrete plant and five asphalt plants for $10 million. The asphalt plants were resold a year later and Gate offered $1 million for Houdaille-Duval's prestressed concrete plant in Houston, which was worth twice that amount. H-D accepted the offer, and both concrete plants are still Gate Concrete assets.Newboy: the Autobiography of Herbert Hill Peyton, page 148-150, Herbert Hill Peyton, ISBN 0-9658277-0-4 Epping Forest, the former estate of Alfred I. du Pont, was acquired from Raymond K. Mason in 1984 for $8 million. At the time, Mason was Chairman of the Charter Company, which was facing bankruptcy.Newboy: the Autobiography of Herbert Hill Peyton, page 154, Herbert Hill Peyton, ISBN 0-9658277-0-4 Westinghouse Electric Company, who jointly developed the east side of Blount Island with Tenneco in the early 1970s at a cost of $125 million in the failed Offshore Power Systems venture, sold the property to Gate for $17 million in 1985.Newboy: the Autobiography of Herbert Hill Peyton, page 158, Herbert Hill Peyton, ISBN 0-9658277-0-4 In November 1990, the property's 20-year-old crane, once the world's largest, was sold to the China State Shipbuilding Corporation for $3 million. It was dismantled and shipped overseas."Across the State" Orlando Sentinel, November 3, 1990 Gate purchased 28 7-Eleven convenience stores in Jacksonville and Alachua county in 1990, along with a noncompete agreement for 20 years.Conte, Christian: "7-Eleven re-enters Northeast Florida" Jacksonville Business Journal, October 14, 2011 The Gulf Life Tower, one of Jacksonville's tallest buildings, was on the market for nearly three years with an asking price of $30 million. Gate purchased it from American General Insurance (now American International Group) in 1993 for $9 million, spent several million dollars to renovate it, and renamed it Riverplace Tower.Newboy: the Autobiography of Herbert Hill Peyton, page 159, Herbert Hill Peyton, ISBN 0-9658277-0-4 Gate Petroleum sold the building on October 31, 2014, to CFLC Replace LLC in Glen Allen, VA for $29.0 million Gate Ethanol and Hamilton County, Florida officials reached an agreement in early 2004 for Gate to build a $160 million ethanol plant on north of White Springs, Florida. The plant would have the capacity to produce 50 million gallons of ethanol annually and employ almost 50. In late 2006, the company announced that due to soaring costs of construction and the fluctuation in the price of ethanol, their original plan was no longer viable and would be scrapped. In October, 2007 Gate Biofuels announced plans to construct a terminal at the port in Jacksonville to receive and store Ethanol, which would be blended with gasoline before distribution to gas stations. Nationwide, ethanol production increased 33% from the prior year creating an oversupply because few distributors were prepared to perform the blending process. Another product under consideration was biodiesel, which is made from natural oils. The $90 million, 55 million gallon facility would have both rail and ship capabilities and was expected to be completed in 2010. However, the 2008 financial crisis caused plans to be put on hold, and the project was never resumed. In February 2008, Gate acquired 150 West Main Street, a 20-story office building in Norfolk, Virginia."CB Richard Ellis retains leasing and management of 150 W. Main in downtown Norfolk" CB Richard Ellis, February 8, 2008
Divisions Gate Construction Materials The Construction Materials division consists of two companies and operates throughout the eastern, southeastern, and midwestern United States. They are members of the AltusGroup national partnership of companies that provide precast concrete products and services.
Gate Precast manufactures architectural precast concrete at facilities in Kissimmee, Florida; Monroeville, Alabama; Oxford, North Carolina; Ashland City, Tennessee; Dallas, Texas; Winchester, Kentucky and until they closed due to lack of market demand, Little Rock, Arkansas and Sarasota, Florida.
Gate Concrete Products manufactures structural precast and hollow core concrete fabrication at facilities in Jacksonville, Florida and Pearland, Texas. Concrete Products, April 1, 2006, Gate Precast Surplus concrete is donated to non-profit organizations to build artificial reefs miles out in the Atlantic Ocean.
Gate Hospitality Group The company owns and operates four private clubs in the Jacksonville area. Management of the four resorts and clubs was consolidated in 2013 under the banner, Gate Hospitality Group. Nearly 900 employees work in the group: Epping Forest Yacht Club, originally the St. Johns riverfront estate of industrialist Alfred I. du Pont. River Club of Jacksonville, a members-only dining establishment located in the top 2 floors of the 37-story Wells Fargo Center was purchased in March, 2004.Geddes, Ryan: "Gate completes purchase of River Club" Jacksonville Business Journal, March 15, 2004 Ponte Vedra Inn and Club, recipient of the coveted Five Diamond Award, AAA's highest hospitality honor. There are only 6 Five Diamond resorts in Florida, and 30 Five Diamond resorts in the United States. The Lodge & Club, an American Automobile Association Four Diamond resort at Ponte Vedra Beach was acquired in late 1996. Club founders Jerome & Paul Fletcher retain minority ownership.
Deerwood Country Club was owned by Gate from 1983 to 1999, when it was purchased by the club membership.Trinidad, Alison: "Rift develops in Deerwood" Florida Times-Union, August 25, 2005
Real estate development Gate Lands is the commercial real estate division of Gate, created after the acquisition of SWD. Herb Peyton hired Ken Wilson in 1983 to work with the new real estate partly because Wilson had worked with Joe Davin and SWD properties. Epping Forest, the former estate of Alfred I. du Pont, was developed into the Epping Forest Yacht Club and the Epping Forest gated community, comprising 90 – $1 million homes and 80+ condominiums. Other real estate projects have included Deerwood Park, a office park on the south side of Jacksonville, the adjacent Southpoint Office Park, the Shops at Ponte Vedra, the Shops at Bartram Walk, Riverplace Tower, 150 West Main Street (in Norfolk, Virginia), the Cummer Trust Property in northern St. Johns CountyGeddes, Ryan: "Gate buys Cummer tract" Jacksonville Business Journal, January 16, 2004 and Kendall Town at Regency.
The Gate Outpost is a 100-acre parcel of land effectively surrounded by the Guana River Wildlife Management Area in St. Johns County, Florida. Gate's long-term plans were to create the Vista Tranquilla development of 66 homes in 2016. Opposition to the plan was voiced by hundreds of area residents who attended a zoning board meeting. Gate decided to withdraw their development plans from consideration by the county commission and resume at a later date.
Gate's most recent development is the Durbin Park in St. Johns, Florida. Plans for the large project included office, retail, 350 hotel rooms and 999 multi-family units. By late 2019 much of the retail space had been built and occupied.