In The News

Homebuilder DiPrima recalls early years in business; Sangiorgio joins team

By Ken Datzman

Builder Joseph “Joe” DiPrima has seen a few housing cycles during his years in business in Brevard County.
He started building here more than 60 years ago after moving to Brevard from Miami.
DiPrima has continuously operated his Satellite Beach company, DiPrima Homes, maneuvering it through some rough–and–tumble bear housing markets. An example is 1970, when NASA canceled future Apollo missions, citing the cost of sending astronauts to the moon.
That decision sent homebuilders scurrying to other areas of Florida to do business.
“In the early 1970s, a lot of builders left Brevard County and went to Dade County, Palm Beach County, and to other markets in the state because the rest of Florida was doing fine economically,” said DiPrima, in a telephone interview from his summer home in Linville, North Carolina. Linville, near Boone, North Carolina, is in the Blue Ridge Mountains.
While builders have come and gone over the past six decades in Brevard, DiPrima Homes has been a constant in this market known for its quality craftmanship.
“We have always kept tight control over our opera- tions. We have never extended ourselves through land purchases. And we have never been high–volume builders,” said DiPrima, who has an MBA degree in finance and accounting from the University of Miami.
His company has won a host of builder awards, statewide and locally. DiPrima was inducted into the Space Coast Home Builders and Contractors Association Hall of Fame in 2021.
In recent years, DiPrima has taken on an oversight role as company president. He has a veteran leadership team that runs the day–to–day operations of the business, some of whom have been with the company for 35 years and longer. “I keep in touch with them. In fact, I am getting ready to have a conference call with the staff. We have a staff meeting every week.”
DiPrima added that he is excited about the future of the company because his grandson — Evan McCluan — is joining the business this month. “Evan is a graduate of the University of Florida with a degree in construction management. We are looking forward to his coming aboard."
McCluan, who earned his bachelor’s degree from UF’s M.E. Rinker Sr. School of Construction Management, worked for DiPrima Homes during the summers. He is a 2023 graduate of UF, which is ranked among the top 10 construction management programs in the nation.
History is the collective memory of people and DiPrima has seen firsthand how the Space Coast has evolved, how communities have been developed, and how entrepreneurs have made things happen in this county because of their vision.
Like much of Florida in the 1950s, 1960s, and 1970s, Brevard County was undeveloped.
“When I came here, Indian Harbour Beach was just beginning to be developed,” said DiPrima. “Marty McGuire was developing there. And Percy Hedgecock and his brothers were developing Satellite Beach. Both Marty and Percy saw opportunity.” He continued, “Back then, the pickings were slim for housing and services. There was a grocery store in Indialantic and a grocery store in Cocoa Beach. In– between, there were no grocery stores and very few stores of any kind. Patrick Air Force Base was the big development in that area. That is where all the building was happening.”
In 1940, the government built Naval Air Station Banana River, which later transitioned to Patrick Air Force Base and now Patrick Space Force Base. This military installation was the first of many federal government investments in projects that aided the development of Brevard County.

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