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From: Solitairea1
Date: Wednesday, March 14, 2007
Time: 06:59:04 PM
http://www.myrtlebeachonline.com/mld/myrtlebeachonline/2007/02/18/business/16726510.htm =================== Business Posted on Sun, Feb. 18, 2007 email this print this reprint or license this =============================== Anna Nicole link to MB well-liked By Jenny Burns and Emma Ritch The Sun News ============ Hairdresser remembers Smith's idiosyncrasies In the national media these days, his name is splashed around liberally as G. Ben Thompson. His real name? Gaither Benjamin Thompson, according to state and local records. He's a local developer of some note. And you may be living in a house or development he's had a hand in. Thompson, 59, was catapulted into the national spotlight because of his relationship with the late Anna Nicole Smith. He briefly dated her and was involved in a dispute with the celebrity over the ownership of a $900,000 home in The Bahamas that she claimed he had given her as a present. He has denied that claim. Thompson did not return several telephone calls from The Sun News for this article. Away from the Bahamas, he lives a much more quiet life and has an impressive resume as a developer. His most recent project here was the Queens Harbour commercial and residential area. But he was also involved in several other area projects, among them Arcadian Ridge, Charleston Place at Plantation Point and Steeplechase. He also was involved in Socastee neighborhoods Rosewood, Cimmeron Plantation, Stonebridge and Lawson's Landing. "He's built a lot of single-family houses," said Marvin Heyd, president of the Coastal Carolinas Association of Realtors. Heyd said Thompson also built other smaller townhome developments around the area. "He's a great customer of ours, been a developer for more than 30 years. He's done a lot of [development] work in Florida," said John Draughn, director of commercial sales and management at Coldwell Banker Chicora. Thompson also helped Tripp Nealy, president of Independent Builders Development and part-owner of Myrtle Beach Building Supply, when Nealy was trying to develop land for the Strand's small builders to compete with national builders moving into the area. Nealy was just starting out when he met Thompson in January 2003. "We bought an option on a piece of land with Ben. We did it on a handshake, never cashed a check. That's uncommon around here. I couldn't have done my part without him helping me like he did," Nealy said. That piece of land today is Lawson's Landing - the local builders first community. Thompson is also described as a good neighbor. In addition to the Horizons house in the Bahamas and his brick home along the Intracoastal Waterway in Plantation Point, he has a house in Marathon, Fla., where he grows key limes. "Ben makes one great key lime pie," said Diane Rogers, who lives two houses down from Thompson in Plantation Point with her husband and their pets. "He personally did it from scratch." Rogers' husband, a pilot who owns his own plane, flew to Marathon with Thompson for a weekend. Thompson returned with some of his key limes. "He is a great neighbor. The whole family [is]. The whole family - Gina and Ford and Ben - have been nothing but kind," she said. Mark Sichitano of Myrtle Beach, a family friend described Thompson as an outgoing family guy from Whiteville, N.C. "He loves the river. Had boats his whole life. He's taken us to the Bahamas, to the [Florida] Keys," Sichitano said. Boat registrations with the S.C. Department of Natural Resources show he's had at least three boats. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- G. Ben Thompson Full name | Gaither Benjamin Thompson Age | 59 Occupation: Builder, developer Where does he have homes | Plantation Point in Myrtle Beach; Marathon, Fla.; Nassau, The Bahamas G. Ben Thompson is the registered agent for the following companies and associations, according to the S.C. Secretary of State's office. Queen's Harbour Landing POA Inc. Diamond Aviation Group LLC Stones Edge Associates LLC 17 North Properties LLC Tap Properties LLC Queens Harbour Commercial POA Inc. Royals Landing LLC Royals Estates LLC Queens Harbour Estates POA Inc. Queens Harbour Professional Park POA Inc. Queens Harbour Inc. Murrells Inlet Golf Course LLC VFP LLC, Queens Harbour Associates LLC Murrells Inlet Golf Plantation LLC Seventieth Place Homeowners Association Inc. Stonebridge Developers Inc. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Contact JENNY BURNS at 626-0305 or jeburns@thesunnews.com.