Creed's Scott Stapp a Real Estate Maven

Reuters April 19, 2004

Creed frontman Scott Stapp is embracing the red-hot real estate market with arms wide open.

Stapp became an active investor when he founded Lion's Share Holdings to pursue properties on the Hawaiian island of Maui -- where he resided for one year -- and other locales.

"We have about $15 million in properties right now," Stapp says. "We are actively pursuing real estate that we plan to let appreciate and then turn over in three years or so." Other cities that Stapp has his sights on include Orlando, Fla.; New York; and Los Angeles.

But it is South Beach, Fla., where Stapp recently decided to hang a personal shingle. Just before he started working on his upcoming solo CD, he moved into a sprawling estate that blends Mediterranean and Italian Gothic styles.

"I have to be by the water. It brings a calmness to me, which I need as a writer," he says. "The architecture of the house is just so beautiful, and I'm decorating the inside with everything that could inspire me. I want every inch of the house a place where you can sit and be inspired."

.Catherine Applefeld Olson