News

• Liberty Property Trust offloads $23.4M office portfolio in Lee Vista submarket

  Liberty Property Trust just sold a $23.4 milion office portfolio in Orange County's Lee Vista submarket to a fund that invests on behalf of Tony James - the vice chairman of one of the world's largest private equity firms, Blackstone Group.  According to a deed recorded today in Orange County,...

• IMT Residential expands Orlando portfolio with $73M apartment buy in Horizon West

  A California-based apartment operator just expanded its Greater Orlando portfolio with a $73 million purchase of a new apartment complex in Winter Garden. This is the company’s second major acquisition in Central Florida. IMT Residential entered the market about a year ago with its $76.6 million...

• Local builder partners with Chilean firm for trio of townhouse developments

  Bellavista Building Group has formed a partnership with a Chilean investment firm FFB Properties to launch three new townhome communities in the Orlando market this year. Bellavista CEO Aldo Martin told GrowthSpotter the partnership almost didn't happen. The investors debated whether to take the...

• CBRE Global and Fairbourne Properties buy Sanford shopping center for $55.7 M

  A partnership of CBRE Global Investors and Chicago-based Fairbourne Properties recently purchased the Marketplace at Seminole Towne Center for $55.7 million, according to a deed recorded Jan. 3 in Seminole County. The 14-building, 482,520-square-foot power center is located on 45.9 acres at 1771...

• Warehouse property in Orlando's Packing District sells for $5.8M

  A South Florida investor paid $5.8 million last week for a vintage industrial warehouse complex bordering of The Packing District. Located on Diversified Way and southwest of the N. Orange Blossom Trail-Princeton Avenue intersection, the three-building complex is one of the few properties in the...

• FDOT allows tenants at Disney-built Crossroads center to stay until at least August 2021

  Stores and restaurants at the Disney-built Crossroads of Lake Buena Vista will have more than two and a half years to operate before the property is taken for an I-4 improvement project. Tenants initially were told they would have to vacate by the end of the year, but they won a reprieve and extra...

• Celebration golf course estate sells for $3.55 million after full renovation

  A Greenwich-based firm that specializes in estate home flips sold a mansion across from the Celebration Golf Club for $3.55 million after just 19 days on the market. “That’s the highest price sold in Celebration in the last five years,” said seller’s agent Jeffrey Eddowes, with Century 21 Blue...

• Tampa homebuilder wants to ditch plans for timeshare near Ruby Lake for multifamily

  A Tampa-based homebuilder wants to do away with plans to build timeshare units near Ruby Lake, and instead build up to 400 multifamily units along with additional commercial space. The change is being sought by Bering Homes, which recently reactivated the shelved Tierra Del Sol resort development...

• Seattle-based investor expands holdings in Orlando with UCF-area apartments

  A Seattle-based real estate firm that specializes in the student housing sector paid $64.75 million on Monday for its second multifamily asset near the University of Central Florida. Horizon Realty Advisors acquired The Glenn apartments on University Boulevard, about 1.3 miles west of the UCF main...

• Developer pays $3.5 million for 300 acres of lakefront land in Polk

  Orlando broker and land developer Mike Noonan paid $3.5 million this month to buy nearly 300 acres he had owned and entitled in Polk County before the 2008 housing crash. The property consists of 7 parcels on Lake Gum in the city of Lake Alfred, north of Winter Haven, on State Road 557. The neighborhood...

More GrowthSpotter News

• Ocoee planning board approves new phase of city's largest subdivision

  City planners have given the thumbs up to another phase of construction in the Arden Park North subdivision, bringing 90 more homes to the largest residential development in Ocoee. Lennar Homes will continue construction clockwise around Lake Sims on a parcel on the north side of Clarcona-Ocoee...

• Buyer JV pays $4.9 million for hotel pads at Buena Vista Park

  Kissimmee-based  Carter Hospitality Group has sold two of its three entitled hotel parcels in Buena Vista Park for a combined $4.9 million and has the third lot under contract to another developer. The buyer for the two southernmost lots on Ravallo Resort Drive is a joint venture between two hotel...

• New charter school in St. Cloud promises a private-school education without the high price tag

  The former owners of a private pre-school in Winter Springs are bringing that school’s highly touted educational philosophy to a new charter elementary school in St. Cloud. Construction of the Creative Inspiration Journey School of St. Cloud will begin this week with a formal opening set for August,...

• Bluerock pays $65M for apartments in ChampionsGate Village

  New York-based Bluerock Real Estate paid $65 million this week to buy The Gate apartments in downtown ChampionsGate village. The Class-A, 308-unit complex was built in 2017 by Investors Realty. Chris Fiscelli, Bluerock's director of investment research, told GrowthSpotter the 5-story, urban-style...

• Landmark plans off-campus student housing near UCF

  The nation's largest developer of student housing has filed a Land Use Plan with Orange County to redevelop the Burlington Coat Factory property near the University of Central Florida main campus. Athens, Georgia-based Landmark Properties is seeking to rezone the 12.3-acre parcel at 12151 E. Colonial...

• Pulte kicks off 2019 with a pair of major land deals for $19M

  Pulte Homes is confirmed as the first production homebuilder in Tavistock Development Company's Poitras master-planned community in south Orlando. Pulte paid $12 million in late December for 500 homesites in Phase 1 of Poitras, which is approved for 2,734 residential units across its nearly 1,150...

• Park Square Homes firms up plans for new hotel construction in Seminole County

  Park Square Homes, led by father-and-son team Suresh and Vishaal Gupta, is in the approval process to build a WoodSpring Suites Hotel on Hickman Drive near Sanford. Vishaal Gupta told GrowthSpotter Park Square is awaiting building permits to construct the 123-room, extended stay hotel at 133 Hickman...

• Osceola County selling land at Vineland interchange, softball complex

  Osceola County is seeking bids for a 5.9-acre site on Vineland Road at the Osceola Parkway interchange. County Commissioners voted in 2017 to declare the land surplus, but the county has not actively marketed it for sale. The minimum bid is $2,823,555, according to the solicitation documents available...

• Disney buys another 1,500+ acres in Osceola County for $11 million

  It may have taken 50 years, but Disney finally convinced one of Osceola County's pioneer ranching families to sell their land holdings. Decendents of legendary cattle rancher Oren Brown -- notorious for refusing to sell his land to Disney for the original theme park -- agreed to sell most of their...

• Gladstone Commercial pays $18.5M for Lake Mary office building

  Gladstone Commercial, a McLean, Virginia-based REIT, purchased a three-story office building on Lake Mary’s International Business Center Drive for $18.5 million, according to a deed signed Dec. 27 and recorded Thursday in Seminole County. The 87,080-square-foot building is 100 percent leased to...

• New York real estate firm getting in the Reunion vacation rental business

  New York-based GMF Capital has invested nearly $11 million over the last few months to enter the luxury vacation rental market in Reunion Resort near Disney. The firm bought five vacation homes in December -- including three in a single week -- and three vacant lots in the fall. The most expensive...

• Developer plans to demo Universal Boulevard shopping center for apartments

  A California-based multifamily housing developer has filed plans to convert a largely dormant shopping plaza in southwest Orlando into the 399-unit Republic Square Apartments. Legacy Partners Residential has applied with the city’s planning division to construct five buildings of four stories each...

• New developer takes over $50M apartment project on Lake Ivanhoe

  Orlando-based design-build company FINFROCK and developer One Eleven Residential will break ground in March on the $50 million luxury apartment building in Ivanhoe Village now simply known as the Lake House Apartments. The 9-story tower across from Lake Ivanhoe will feature 252 units above 34,900...

• Dr. Phillips unveils development plan for NE quarter of Packing District

  Dr. Phillips Charities is prepping for construction to start this year on multiple projects within the 202-acre mixed-use Packing District in west Orlando, with delivery of the first residential and commercial spaces in 2020. Dr. Phillips President Ken Robinson shared the latest conceptual renderings...

• UPDATED: FDOT pays $70M to settle eminent domain case for interchange at Daryl Carter Parkway

  The Florida Department of Transportation paid an estimated $70 million in December to settle an eminent domain action for the taking of 39 acres along Palm Parkway and Interstate 4. The land at the future Daryl Carter interchange was needed for stormwater ponds to accommodate the I-4 widening,...

• Ohio hotelier pays $3.5M for I-Drive hotel pads next to SeaWorld

  Toledo-based Key Hotel and Property Management paid $3.5 million on Dec. 27 for a 6.2-acre site on International Drive that's within walking distance to SeaWorld and Discovery Cove.  Orange County approved a development plan in September for a pair of hotels on the site. With full access to I-Drive...

• Continental Properties eyes Posner Park for 302-unit apartment complex

  Wisconsin-based Continental Properties is eyeing Posner Park at the U.S. 27-Interstate 4 interchange for its second Springs apartment complex in the Orlando area. While the site isn't under contract, the developer is scheduled for a pre-application meeting with Polk County's Development Review...

• New apartment complexes planned in Four Corners, Alafaya

  A pair of developers have filed preliminary plans for new apartment complexes on opposite ends of Orange County.  Documents filed Dec. 17 with Orange County indicate plans are in the works for a new apartment complex with 250 units along the Stoneybrook East Golf Club east of Orlando. Eden Multifamily...

• D.R. Horton launches Palms at Serenoa 55+ community in Clermont

  D.R. Horton this week opened a preview center and launched pre-sales for its new 550-home active adult community, Palms at Serenoa, in Clermont. Horton is planning approximately 190 homes in Phase 1. Those include duplexes and single family homesites, which will be developed under the Freedom Homes...

• Miami investment firm pays $6.5M for Toys R Us store at The Florida Mall

  Miami-based Corbin Holdings paid $6.5 million earlier this month to buy the Toys R Us store just outside of The Florida Mall as part of a multi-state acquisition from the bankrupt retailer. Positioned at the main entrance to the 1.8-million-square-foot mall, the big-box is in one Orlando's strongest...

• Mattamy plans lay groundwork for Celebration Island Village

  Mattamy Homes has been tight-lipped about designs for Celebration Island Village, but plans filed with Osceola County provide new details about the community and the types of homes that will be built there. The Canada-based homebuilder will introduce new architectural styles, giving buyers more...

• Lennar expanding Storey Lake Resort with 570 more vacation homes

  Lennar Homes is prepping for a major expansion of its booming Storey Lake Resort community in Osceola County with a new section called "Shingle Creek." Lennar paid $16 million in June to buy 323 acres of vacant land between Storey Lake and Shingle Creek. The builder has rezoned it to Tourist Commercial...

• The year in review: GrowthSpotter’s top stories of 2018

  From lawsuits to long drives to Lay’s potato chips, GrowthSpotter readers gravitated toward all kinds of stories in 2018. Big in the mix, not surprisingly, was new construction – factories, shopping centers and entertainment venues among the most clicked. Did you miss any of our “biggest hits”...

• Michigan-based McKinley pays $45.5M for Winter Park apartment complex

  Sapphire Winter Park Apartments, a 348-unit garden apartment community, became the fourth Winter Park property to be acquired by Ann Arbor, Mich.-based McKinley Companies . Using affiliates Sapphire Apartments, I and II LLC, McKinley paid $45.5 million for the apartments located at 1743 Semoran...

• Ticket broker pays $33.85M for SouthPark office building

  Entertainment Benefits Group (EBG) paid $33.85 million earlier this month for a Class A office building that served as the longtime headquarters for CHET.  Based in Miami, EBG maintains offices in Orlando, New York, Las Vegas, Los Angeles and Connecticut. The company one of the largest privately...

• South Carolina firm planning spec industrial building on Southchase parcel

  A South Carolina firm that entered the Orlando market two years ago via its self-storage division is now looking to make a mark in the highly competitive industrial sector.  Johnson Development Associates (JDA) has completed five self-storage facilities here since 2017, has a purchase contract...

• Orlando staff to meet with six bidders for Clear Lake redevelopment site

  Orlando Economic Development Director Brooke Bonnett was right to be optimistic about the timing of the city's offering of a 4.7-acre redevelopment site near Camping World Stadium.  The city received six bids -- all from companies with a successful track record of building affordable and mixed-income...

• AD1 Global buys two more Orlando hotels as part of multi-state acquisition

  Fast-growing AD1 Global is ending its 2018 with a multi-state hotel portfolio buy that includes a pair of Marriott flags in Orlando for a combined $35.5 million. The Hollywood-based hotel owner-operator purchased the 170-room Fairfield Inn & Suites Orlando-Lake Buena Vista for $19.5 million and...

• Osceola native takes helm at W192 Development Authority

  In her new post as Executive Director of the W192 Development Authority, Christina Morris will have a new channel in which to direct her passion for helping people, a quality she discovered nearly 20 years ago when she began her tenure with Osceola County. “It’s a great opportunity,” Morris told...

• Institutional buyer scoops up 100-plus rental homes in greater Orlando

  A New York investment firm that has been sweeping up single-family rental homes nationwide has made another big push into central Florida. Cerberus Capital Management spent $20.5 million for 113 homes, according to deeds dated Nov. 27. The portfolio includes 39 homes in Osceola County that sold...

• South Florida couple buys W192 hotel in mid-renovation

  A South Florida couple who oversaw one of the most successful hotel rebrandings in the West Kissimmee submarket has purchased a second hotel asset on the W192 tourism corridor. Carina Radonich and Ariel Tomat, who own a high-end construction company in Sunny Isles Beach, bought a distressed motel...

• Seminole’s largest mixed-use project promises sustainability, transit options

  The developers of Parkside Place, a proposed 110-acre mixed-use development near Sanford, say they want to create a community with ample green space for healthy recreation and transit options that will reduce residents’ reliance on automobiles. Palmeira Holdings, the Toronto-based developer, envisions...

• Disney pays $23M for nearly 1,000 acres of ranch land next to Celebration

  Disney paid $23 million Thursday for a 965 acres of Osceola County ranchlands southeast of Celebration. The BK Ranch, located on Old Tampa Highway about a mile west of the Poinciana SunRail station, was envisioned for years a master-planned community to rival Celebration. It's entitled for 3,000...

• People to Know: Mick Night, Premier Sotheby’s International Realty

  Mick Night’s first top-salesman ribbon came long before he had his hands in the biggest residential real estate deals in Winter Park and Maitland. It was long before real estate, period. In fact, it came when the newly minted broker for Premier Sotheby’s International – he and partner John Pinel...

• City staff recommends approval for downtown apartments on Diocese land

  Orlando's planning staff is recommending conditional approval for a new 10-story downtown apartment tower after the developer agreed to add retail space on the ground floor. Tennessee-based Mid America Apartment Communities (MAA) is under contract for a 2-acre corner lot at 336 N. Orange Ave.,...

• Encore releases new details and images of SPECTRUM+ at Reunion Resort

  Encore Capital Management has released details and pricing information for SPECTRUM+, its new 296-unit resort condo community at Reunion Resort.  Encore, the master developer of Reunion, has increased the unit count from the original 288, first reported by GrowthSpotter in late 2017. The Boca Raton-developer...

• Apopka Council approves land use change for two new subdivisions near Wekiva interchange

  A pair of residential developments could bring more than 400 new homes to what is expected to become a bustling section of northwest Apopka. Large Scale Comprehensive Plan Amendments (CPA) for parcels on West Kelly Park Road and at 3845 and 4011 Golden Gem Road went before the Apopka City Council...

• New Goddard School to be built near Sanford; second franchise for Seminole County

  The Goddard School is eying a site near Sanford for its Central Florida expansion of the popular private pre-school/kindergarten franchise. The 10,910-square-foot school is to be built on 1.79 acres at the southeast corner of West State Road 46 and South Henderson Lane. The plans follow the September...

• D.R. Horton prepping townhouse project in airport market

  The owner of 99 acres on Wetherbee Road has applied for a mass grading permit to prep the first phase of D.R. Horton project that could add hundreds of townhomes and apartments to the airport submarket. The homebuilder is listed as the contract purchaser for the land, which is just west of Boggy...

• Pulte pays $3.3M for Westside land to expand vacation home resort

  Pulte Homes paid $3.3 million this week for 47 acres in the heart of Osceola's Westside corridor to expand its popular Windsor at Westside resort community. The homebuilder filed a Preliminary Subdivision Plan (PSP) and Site Development Plan (SDP) with Osceola County in May for the parcel at the...

• Mattamy files plans for townhomes, amenities at Meridian Parks

  Mattamy Homes has filed plans for the first amenity center for its 2,560-acre Meridian Parks master-planned community north of Lake Nona.  Orlando's Municipal Planning Board is expected to vote next week on the Specific Parcel Master Plan, which includes the fourth phase of residential development...

• Tampa builder planning vacation townhomes at Tierra del Sol on U.S. 27

  A Tampa homebuilder who is rebooting the stalled Tierra Del Sol resort near ChampionsGate got a key approval last week to add vacation rental townhomes to the development. The Polk County Planning Commission approved the request from Bering Homes for Major Modification to the Planned Development...

• Boyd updates development plan for next phase of Hamlin Town Center

  Boyd Development has added a new hotel to the mix of uses planned for construction next year at Hamlin Town Center in West Orange County, according to plans filed Monday with the county. "We are in conversations with a couple of different hotel groups," Boyd partner Ken Kupp told GrowthSpotter...

• Cassidy Homes planning new townhouse community on U.S. 27 corridor

  A Winter Haven developer is seeking county approval for 346-unit townhouse community on Polk County's U.S. 27 corridor, across from Heart of Florida Regional Medical Center. Cassidy Organization spent much of the last year and $1.36 million to assemble the 34.5 acres between Florida Development...

• Fast-growing tutoring company to enter Orlando market in 2019

  Seattle-based Best in Class Education Center is planning to expand into the Orlando area and is looking for retail space to accommodate the tutoring centers. “Next year our goal is to open 20-25 centers and at least three will be in the Orlando market,” said Sharon Peterson, Vice President, of...

• Developer pays $4.5M for entitled multifamily site next to NeoCity

  A local developer and its Boston-based financing partner paid $4.485 million this week for the 16-acre site entitled for a luxury apartment complex next to Osceola County's NeoCity tech district. Investors Realty teamed up with Panther Residential Management for the 292-unit Neo Square apartment...

• Millenia-area Walgreens store just sold at auction for $400. Yes, $400.

  In what may be the strangest real estate transaction of the year, an Orlando Walgreens store near the Mall of Millenia has sold for $400. Brian Capo, founding partner of FL Retail Advisors, explained how he went from having a $2.4 million contract to walking away with a $26 commission. "The owner...

• Tavistock planning its biggest apartment project to date in Lake Nona

  New documents filed in Orlando by the Tavistock Development Co. describe the firm’s latest multifamily housing project to be built within a 158-acre, mixed-use district in Lake Nona. The yet-to-be-named 11-story apartment building will contain 450 units in various configurations sized from 646...

• SunRail boosted property values around stations by $2.4B, study says

  A new study commissioned by the Florida Department of Transportation has confirmed what local transit enthusiasts have promised: SunRail is proving to be a good investment. Property values around the first 12 stations increased by $2.4 billion (63 percent) from 2011-2017, and FDOT estimates that...

• Avex Homes files plans for new 298-home subdivision in Narcoossee area

  Avex Homes' new 298-lot Narcoossee-area subdivision, which goes to the Board of County Commissioners next week for approval, is the first implement the new subdivision standards in Osceola County's updated Land Development Code. "This is our first development in Osceola County," President Eric...

• California real estate conglomerate scoops up 144 condos in Metrowest

  San Diego-based Pacifica Companies, a $3 billion real estate conglomerate, paid $15.1 million last week for 144 condo units in MetroWest's Palms Club Orlando. Located at the intersection of S. Kirkman Road and Arnold Palmer Drive, Palms Club is a luxury, gated community of 460 units. Pacifica's...

• Osceola buys land in tourism corridor for sheriff's command center, fire station

  Osceola County Commissioners on Monday agreed to pay $5.5 million for a former Publix grocery store on the tourism corridor to convert to a Westside Command Center for the sheriff. The grocery store at 2925 International Drive, just north of W192, had been vacant since since Publix opened its Celebration...

• Park Square Homes planning its second Neo mixed-use project in Four Corners

  Park Square Homes is prepping its second "Neo" branded mixed-use development on a 27-acre parcel in the heart of the Four Corners submarket. Senior Project Manager Robert Mick and his development team are scheduled to meet with Polk County's Development Review Committee this week to discuss preliminary...

• Local investors pay $5.2M for flex business park near Lee Road interchange

  A pair of brothers who own a local insurance company paid $5.2 million last week for approximately 50,000 square feet of flex office/warehouse space just blocks from the busy Lee Road - Interstate 4 interchange. Douglas and Stephen Foreman, CEO and President of Fringe Benefit Plans, Inc., formed...

• Virtual reality tech to bring construction efficiencies to Lake Nona Town Center

  You’re standing in an empty field. You put on a pair of glasses and all of sudden, you see buildings rise around you. Now you’re seeing both the land and the buildings. It’s the work of the HoloLens, hologram technology the professionals at Hoar Construction has used to visualize their designs...

• BlueScope seeks permit for mass grading at new Apopka logistics park

  A Kansas City-based developer expects to close a deal in the first quarter of 2019 on 178 acres in Apopka that will ultimately bring 2.4 million square feet of industrial space in five warehouses. Mid Florida Logistics Park, planned along the west side of the Western Expressway (State Road 429)...

• Starlight U.S. Multifamily pays $75.3M for Kissimmee apartment complex

  Toronto-based real estate investment firm Starlight U.S. Multifamily paid $75.3 million just before Thanksgiving for its fifth asset in the Greater Orlando market, buying the 356-unit Altis Shingle Creek apartments in Kissimmee. This is the firm's third acquisition of an "Altis" branded property....

• Texas developer files plans for first residential project in The Packing District

  San Antonio-based Embrey Partners has filed a proposed Master Plan with the City of Orlando to build a 310-unit urban midrise apartment building in the heart of The Packing District. Embrey has a long history in the Orlando market, having developed approximately 5,000 units here in past development...

• Shipping company pays $42M for IKEA distribution warehouse in Lakeland

  A pair of major Polk County industrial projects traded in the last few weeks, including Phase 1 of the Key Logistics Center, which landed a distribution center for Swedish home furnishings giant IKEA in August. Ohio-based Hyperion Properties, an affiliate of shipping company DHL, paid $42.46 million...

• Texan scouts and finds site for wedding venue in Minneola hill country

  A Texan from that state’s hill country has bought a property in Lake County’s hill country to add on to his growing list of event venues around the south. Larry Kruzie, owner of Texas Old Town, bought 22.7 acres and a three-bedroom house at 20524 County Road 455, a designated scenic highway in...

• SunTrust backs Creative Village apartments with $66M loan

  SunTrust Robinson Humphrey has backed the first Class A, market-rate apartment building in Creative Village to the tune of $66 million. Co-developers Ustler Development and The Allen Morris Company have already started construction on the 14-story, $108 million building at the corner of Amelia...

• Miami investors buy 50% share of shopping center on Orlando's ‘Restaurant Row’

  CORE Investment Properties Fund, a Miami-based real estate investment group, has purchased a 50 percent share in the Fountains at Bay Hill, an upscale retail and restaurant center on West Sand Lake Road. CORE paid $22.75 million for its share of the property, according to a deed signed Nov. 16....

• Texas investor expands Orlando portfolio with $78M apartment buy

  After entering the Orlando market in September, Texas-based S2 Capital expanded its multifamily portfolio this month with another 760 class B apartment units in the Millenia submarket. The two latest acquisitions bring the company close to the halfway point of its stated goal to own 5,000 units...

• Park Development files plan for office, retail at City Center West Orange

  With construction well underway at City Center West Orange in Ocoee, Park Development Corp. CEO David Townsend has filed plans for the project's fifth phase, to include a mixed-use building and future retail pad. The new building at 251 Maine St. replaces the planned Assisted Living Facility on...

• Dr. Phillips Charities to help fund new $12.1M YMCA building in Packing District

  Dr. Phillips Charities today announced approval of a key component to the 202-acre Packing District near the intersection of Princeton Street and John Young Parkway.  The Dr. Phillips Charities board voted to fund $8.9 million to the YMCA of Central Florida to build and equip a new YMCA Family...

• Orlando physician plans new mixed-use with hotel at NeoCity

  An Orlando gastroenterologist and real estate investor has filed plans with Osceola County for a mixed-use development on the E192 tech corridor in front of NeoCity. M. Asif Mohiuddin, who has a practice in St. Cloud, paid $1.2 million in 2016 the 3-acre lot with plans for a development to compliment...

• Local developer sells home on Winter Park's desirable Palmer Avenue for $1.58M

  A home on a desirable street in a great location just sold after about a year on and off the market. Brad and Sara Osleger’s new home on Palmer Avenue in Winter Park is 5,338 square feet and has five bedrooms, five bathrooms, and two half-baths. “It was built in 2007 and is Mediterranean style,”...

• New Orange land code meant to streamline development approval

  Orange County’s land development code was written more than 60 years ago. At that time development was geared toward an automobile-centric society. Development decisions were based on strict separation of uses: residential, commercial, industrial and agricultural. That methodology worked well then,...

• New York multifamily firm pays $44 million to expand Orlando-area portfolio

  Affiliates of New York-based White Eagle Property Group paid $44 million this week for the 300-unit City West apartments on Kirkman Road near Universal Studios. The acquisition adds to White Eagle's already-substantial portfolio in greater Orlando. The firm, which targets Class A and B assets with...

• Hotel project kicks off Phase 1 of long-awaited Apopka City Center

  The long-anticipated Apopka City Center springs to life Thanksgiving week with groundbreaking on the Hilton Garden Inn hotel, the cornerstone of the 35-acre mixed-use development spanning the north and south sides of the interchange of State Road 436 and U.S. Highway 441. Taurus Southern Investments...

• Apartments on Casselberry’s Lake Howell to meet city’s need for ‘more rooftops’

  Casselberry leaders are hailing a proposed luxury apartment complex as a first step toward boosting the local tax base and attracting residents with more disposable income to the small Seminole County city. The complex, Azul at Lake Howell, will consist of 384 units on 29.6 acres south of Red Bug...

• City staff, board wowed by new design for Zoi House skyscraper in downtown Orlando

  Exciting. Gracious. Magnetic.  Those were just a few of the words members of Orlando's Appearance Review Board (ARB) and staff used to describe the latest design for the 41-story Zoi House, proposed to be the city's tallest skyscraper. Miami-based MEC Development Associates  and their team from ...

• UPDATED: National hotelier acquires Hilton flag near Sea World

  MCR, the nation's sixth-largest hotel operator, made its Orlando market entry this week with the $30.8 million purchase of the Hilton Garden Inn Orlando at SeaWorld. The 224-room hotel at is located at 6850 Westwood Boulevard, within walking distance to the theme park. The hotel offers free shuttle...

• Charlotte firm enters Orlando market via $26M I-Drive purchase

  A Charlotte-based CRE firm with commercial properties throughout Florida entered the Orlando market with the purchase of the International Drive Value Center. Collett paid $26 million for the shopping center, which abuts the Fun Spot amusement park on one side and Artegon Mall on the other. The...

• Making the Move From Big to Small CRE Firms

  Sometimes, the entrepreneurial bug bites. For three area commercial real estate brokers, the desire to leave their big firms to lead smaller ones was too strong to pass up. “I missed the entrepreneurship of owning my own company and setting its strategies. This gave me a lot or freedom to plan...

• New SunTrust Bank to anchor U.S. 17-92 project in near Casselberry’s Lake Concord

  A new SunTrust Bank is coming to Casselberry’s Lake Concord Park and two restaurants may be part of the package later, according to documents submitted to the city. The bank, with a drive-through teller, will be built on a vacant 2.8-acre parcel on the southeast corner of U.S. 17-92 and Triplet...

• New York investment firm pays $28M for SouthPark Center office portfolio

  Pacer Partners, a boutique real estate firm with offices in New York and Boston, paid $28 million this week for a pair of Class A office buildings in Orlando's SouthPark Center. Located at 700 and 800 SouthPark Center and totaling 151,479 square feet, the properties are fully leased to a diverse...

• Orlando seeking bids to redevelop Clear Lake multifamily site

  The City of Orlando is offering nearly 5 acres for sale just south of Camping World Stadium to the right developer who will build mixed-income housing in downtown's Clear Lake neighborhood. "I think the market is pretty ripe for moving development forward on this site," Orlando's Director of Economic...

• South Florida custom builder and broker team up for trio of estate communities

  A developer and a broker with deep roots in South Florida are making a move into Central Florida. RCR Homes and Howard Chase Real Estate are teaming up to build and sell up to 34 ultra-luxury homes about an hour northwest of Orlando. “These are like big monster mansions,” said Howard Chase, broker...

• Osceola seeks development team, project manager for new tax collector office

  Osceola County is seeking a development team for a new $4 million tax collector's office that will be the first phase of a planned government annex in south Kissimmee, a mile from the Poinciana SunRail Station. The county's procurement office this week issued two Requests for Proposals: one for...