A Rehoboth, Delaware man who has a love for his community and the people who live there

1. On a late spring afternoon while sipping iced tea at the Rehobeth Country Club overlooking the Rehobeth Bay, sat Gene Lankford, a self-made real estate mogul, entrepreneur. The ‘ole saying goes, to whom much is given, much is expected. In Gene’s case it is safe to say that throughout his career as a collector of real estate he has used his talents to make his community a better place and to help found friends along the way. As the owner of the Atlantic Sands Hotel and The Breakers Hotel in Rehobeth Beach and various other properties, Gene has met success and then some.<br />As a graduate of Goldey- Beacom and Wharton at U Penn in the 1950s, he spent his early career in the corporate world at Dupont and also at General Foods where he worked in Labor Relations, a position that incidentally would give him great background in negotiating required in Real Estate. Even for a time he sat in the cabinet for Governor Tribbetts as State Director of personnel over seeing state employees. It was clear that Lankford was the kind of man to whom great success would be afforded, but the corporate world was missing something for him. During these years, he dabbled in real estate and found success in the investment in an apartment building. In 1980, he purchased The Breakers Hotel and in 1984 to purchase Atlantic Sands Hotel. Lankford said about Real Estate, “I dabbled in Real Estate for years and kept coming back to it because I realized that, while the paycheck in the corporate world was regular, it just wasn’t going to take care of me. Purchasing and owning Real Estate helped me achieve independence and freedom that I wanted.” Then he laughed a little about independence when he added, “As it turns out, now I just answer to banks, customers, and politicians.”<br />In 1997, a golfing buddy introduced him to some young up and coming brothers named Preston and Christopher Schell. Lankford commented that it was their energy and enthusiasm that got him more deeply involved in investing and developing real estate. Lankford said that he was disappointed when the two took off to Harvard Graduate School because as he put it, “I thought they would never come back.” As it turns out the Schell brothers did return to the Rehobeth area a year and a half later and they, along with Lankford started a company which is now called Ocean Atlantic Sotheby’s. The Schell brothers have become quite a presence in Rehobeth. Lankford and the Schells have joined together in such developments such as: The Vineyards, Paynters’Mill<br />