Unsatisfied with the prospect of owning Utah's next 500-employee company, the Florida native sold a portion of his thriving bank-software business, uSight, in June 2004 - the same year Inc. magazine named it America's No. 2 company.

Now, he is using some of that money to build a hotel-retail-residential development in Lehi, near the southern edge of Point of the Mountain. It's ambitious - the hotel could be the state's tallest building, at 450 feet high - and he's hired premier architect Frank Gehry to design the complex.

It's not like he didn't give it a lot of thought.

On the heels of freeing himself from the business he started at age 21, Andersen, now 29, decided to take six months off to focus on family, golfing and wake-boarding - a period he now refers to as "my sabbatical."

"It was either sell a part of the company - or just accept that's where I was going," Andersen said. "But I never felt like it allowed me to be as creative as I wanted to be."

Crisis averted. Andersen has avoided mediocrity.

The one-time BYU dropout went back to school and finished his bachelor's degree in communication.

Then he formed G Code Ventures, an investment company that's behind the Lehi development. His work space is a futuristic, glass-walled office in a nondescript Provo building. A model of his real-life Ferrari F430 Spyder sits in the corner of the average-sized room, a huge flat-screen TV is suspended from the ceiling. And hanging from the wall, just beside his desk, is a wake-board signed by one of the world's best boarders, Parks Bonifay.

On the move: Andersen moved around a lot in his high school years.

Father Neil was an LDS Church mission president in Bordeaux, France, where Brandt spent his freshman year. They moved back home to Tampa, Fla., where he was a sophomore, and then his father became a church general authority. That brought the family to Utah for his junior year at Holladay's Skyline High, and then to Switzerland for his senior year.

And although he was always into sports, he said he was only good enough to play high school basketball in Europe.

The business ventures mentioned above came and went, but as an avid Utah Jazz fan, Andersen always figured he wanted to get involved with professional basketball - and that it would have to be in ways other than shooting three-pointers. So, he has purchased a franchise in the National Basketball Association's Developmental League. He will announce the team's name next month, and the season begins in the Utah Valley State College gym in Orem this fall.

With nine months until tip-off, he said premium-seat season tickets are nearly sold out.

And the pros are praising his early efforts.

"He is ready to jump into an adventure that will be an unknown to him, but he's willing to put his heart and soul, and resources, into it," said Utah Jazz President Denny Haslam. "I believe he is the real deal."

But it's his Lehi project that has gained Andersen the most attention - that and the hiring of a world-renowned architect to create a distinct design at what Andersen calls the "gateway between Utah and Salt Lake counties."

Gehry, who designed the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao, Spain, and the Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles, also is working with rapper Jay-Z and the New Jersey Nets on a $400 million arena in Brooklyn.

At the Point of the Mountain project, the proposed hotel could be enclosed in glass. It is to be part of a complex that would include an arena for Andersen's NBA development team and for large-scale, extreme-sport events such as the X Games.

He also thinks there is potential for bringing in other professional sports, such as lacrosse and hockey.

Ignoring critics: Skeptics have criticized Andersen for being too inexperienced, idealistic and cash-short to go through with a project of this scale. And others have questioned if his world-famous designer might build something that clashes with the Lehi feel.

But Andersen doesn't mind.

"People see it as a bold move because something like this has never been done here," he said.

Although he is the sole financier of the multibillion-dollar project at this point, he has said he eventually will need other investors. Without saying who those might be, he warns that no one should expect downgrades.

"The hotel, which everyone thinks is such a long shot, is really one of the more sure things on the property," Anderson said. "And downgrading is not what I'm about. I've never brought things to a lower quality. I don't believe in scrimping. It's not me."

Attorney Wade Budge, who has worked with Andersen on several projects, has his own warning. Don't mistake this young man's confidence for arrogance.

"Some people might be a bit bashful or think they shouldn't be calling [NBA Commissioner] David Stern or different owners of teams, but he's not afraid or unwilling to contact people for help," Budge said. "He incorporates his own ideas and concepts and takes advice. He may not have decades of experience, but he doesn't let that deter him."

And Lehi Mayor Howard Johnson, one of the key players in getting the huge development approved, is on board. He sealed his dedication of the 80-acre property just east of Interstate 15 and north of State Route 92 in late January with a hug for the developer and told Andersen, "We'll get this done."

Judging by the support Andersen has received, both from Gehry and the NBA, Johnson said he trusts the Lehi project is in good hands.

"Those things tell me that he can do this," Johnson said. "I have no doubt."

Able to relax: Even with such a huge project on his plate, Andersen manages to muscle in free time.

He attended the NBA All-Star Game in Las Vegas last weekend, and he is gearing up for a March heli-boarding getaway in Canada and an eight-day April road rally, from Istanbul to London, in his Ferrari.

The globally minded Andersen also thinks locally. He volunteers with the Utah County Search and Rescue team, which he said is a way to give time back to the community.

That's easier, he said, than just giving cash.

Although he acknowledges he has "been blessed" financially - Andersen has gone from driving a Hyundai to cruising in his red Ferrari, Mercedes G55 or Ford F-150 truck - he said such activities help keep his life and those of his family in perspective.

"How do you make sure your kids aren't the stereotypical second-genera- tion money? How do you make sure they're hard workers?" Andersen asked rhetorically. "You want them to be better than you are. You want them to be more successful."

He said his children - he has two with a third on the way - are his No. 1 priority. If anything he was involved in didn't allow him to be with them, he said he would walk away. And those who work closest with Andersen see that, too.

"His main priority in life is family," said Joe Brown, a longtime friend and G Code co-president. "After that, it's being successful and providing for his family."

sgehrke@sltrib.com

Brandt Andersen

* Age: 29

* Birthplace: Tampa, Fla.

* Education: Bachelor's degree in communications, BYU

* Career highlights: Founded bank-software business uSight, 1999; founded investment company G Code Ventures, 2005