Friday, September 23, 2011

Dave Brewer Starts Construction of Five Luxury Homes, Four Large Additions in Central Florida

SANFORD, Fla. --- Dave Brewer, Inc. has started construction of five new luxury homes in Central Florida valued at more than $1 million each, since January.

Matt Trask, vice president of Dave Brewer, Inc. said all five new homes have been pre-sold and are underway.

The luxury homes are located in Seminole and Volusia Counties and range in design from Tuscan to Transitional.

Trask said all of the homes will be ready for occupancy early next year.

Trask added that the company’s remodel division has also seen an uptick with four new additions planned to start in October. The additions range in price from $150,000 to $350,000.

Ryland Homes unveils new Houseworks Energy Efficient Home Building Standards

TAMPA, Fla. --- Ryland Homes has unveiled its new Houseworks standards for energy efficient home construction that will save home buyers hundreds of dollars each month in energy costs.

Joe Fontana, division president of Ryland Homes in the Tampa Bay region, said Ryland’s new Houseworks includes many additional features, such as Tech-shield Radiant Barrier Roofing, low-E windows, and high energy-efficient Houseworks standards in most of the new homes we build. Ryland Homes is an ENERGY STAR Partner

Fontana said independent parties will determine the HERS Index rating for new homes Ryland builds.

“Ryland Homes is determined to be one of the leaders for home buyers who want to be energy efficient,” Fontana explained.

About Ryland Homes
With headquarters in Southern California, Ryland is one of the nation’s largest homebuilders and a leading mortgage-finance company. The company currently operates in 28 markets across the country and has built more than 285,000 homes and financed more than 235,000 mortgages since its founding in 1967. Ryland is listed on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol “RYL.”

MATTAMY HOMES OPENS SECOND PHASE AT CORNERSTONE AT WATERMILL IN DUVAL COUNTY

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Mattamy Homes U.S. Group, the U.S. division of Canada’s largest home builder, has opened Phase 2 at Cornerstone at Watermill located off Argyle Forest Blvd. at Oakleaf Village Parkway in Duval County.

Kerry Soltis, marketing manager for Mattamy Homes in the north Florida region, said the homebuilder is building 33 town homes in the new phase called “Watermill South,” and six have already been sold.

Two town home buildings with four units each were completed and, according to Soltis, three sold in each building at prices in the low $100s.

The three-bedroom townhomes range in size from 1,500 square feet of living space to 1,700 square feet with one and two-car garages.

Soltis said the next town home building will get underway in September and will be completed by the end of the year.

About Mattamy Homes
Mattamy Homes expanded into the U.S. in 2003 and has divisions in Jacksonville, Orlando, Charlotte, Phoenix and Minneapolis. The homebuilder is the largest and most active in Canada with annual revenues exceeding $1.3 billion.

Pulte Homes Closes on First New Home Sale at Forest Hammock at OakLeaf Plantation in Orange Park

ORANGE PARK, Fla. --- Pulte Homes has closed on the sale of the first new home at Forest Hammock at OakLeaf Plantation.

Sean Strickler, Pulte’s vice president of sales for North Florida, said the 1,875 square foot home is the homebuilder’s Gordon model – a three-bedroom, two-and-a-half bath design, base priced at $184,990.

“One of the most popular attractions at Forest Hammock at OakLeaf Plantation is the Community Development District (CDD) fees — we don’t have any,” Strickler said.

Pulte offers five distinctive floor plans at Forest Hammock at Oakleaf Plantation that range in size from 1,266 square feet of living space to 2,371 square feet, starting from the $150s.

“We have several new homes under contract now that we expect to close before the end of the year,” Strickler added.

About Pulte Homes
Award-winning Pulte Homes communities are designed to deliver the best quality of life for home owners. By combining innovative life-enhancing designs, an unwavering commitment to quality and attention to detail, Pulte Homes is the nation’s premier home brand for upwardly mobile home buyers in 26 states and the District of Columbia. As the most awarded homebuilder in customer satisfaction, Pulte Homes has ranked tops in the annual JD Power and Associates® New-Home Builder Customer Satisfaction Studysm more than 75 times since 2000. For more information about Pulte Homes, visit www.pultehomes.com.

NAI Realvest Negotiates Lease Renewal for Engineering Consultants at the American Building in Maitland

MAITLAND, Fla. – NAI Realvest recently negotiated a lease renewal for 3,795 square feet of office space at 1051 Winderley Place in Maitland.

Jack W. Lynch, senior associate at NAI Realvest negotiated the transaction representing the tenant, CHP & Associates Consulting Engineers, Inc. who renewed its lease in Suite 101 of the American Building for another 44 months.

The landlord, MPM Holdings, Inc. of Maitland was represented by Paul Reynolds of Coldwell Banker.

About NAI Realvest
NAI Realvest, serving all of Central Florida, is a fully integrated commercial real estate operating company specializing in brokerage, development, investment, leasing and management, consulting and research services in the U.S. and worldwide. NAI Global is an international commercial real estate network with over 350 offices spanning the globe. Since 1978, clients have built businesses on the power of NAI Global’s expanding network. Extensive services include multi-site acquisitions and dispositions, sublease, tenant representation, lease administration and audit, investment services, due diligence and related consulting and advisory services. To learn more, visit www.NAIRealvest.com.

Crossman & Company Negotiates Three New Long Term Leases at Retail Centers Pinellas and Collier Counties

Largo / Marco Island, Fla. --- Crossman & Company, the Orlando-based firm that ranks as one of the largest retail property management, leasing and development companies in the Southeast, recently negotiated three lease agreements for retail space at shopping centers in Largo and Marco Island.

Leasing Associate Tracy Harrison represented the landlord in all three transactions totaling 4,955 square feet.

Sage’s West Bay Bistro leased 2,023 square feet for five years at Pinellas Shopping Center, 857 W. Bay Drive in Largo.

At the West Bay Village Town Centre, 301 W. Bay Drive in Largo, La Chic Inc., a salon and spa, leased 1,632 square feet for three years.

At the same time, Harrison negotiated a new lease at the Shops of Marco, 137 S. Barfield Drive in Marco Island. Sapphire Dry Cleaners leased 1,300 square feet for five years at the retail center.

About Crossman & Company
Headquartered in Orlando, Florida, Crossman & Company is a commercial real estate brokerage firm that specializes in the retail industry. Currently their portfolio under leasing and/or management exceeds 150 shopping centers throughout the Southeast US. Founded in 1990, Crossman & Company focuses solely on landlord representation and serves clients including Publix, PREIT, and GE. Please visit www.crossmanco.com, or call 407-423-5400 for more information.

Team Volusia EDC Launches New Website Built by Solodev

ORLANDO, Fla. --- Solodev, a leading website design and software development company, has launched a new website for the Team Volusia Economic Development Corporation, www.TeamVolusiaEDC.com. Chartered to help expand Volusia County Florida’s economic base, Team Volusia plans to use the website to educate and influence business owners and site selectors regarding relocation to Volusia County.

“Our new website is designed to provide easy access to information about Volusia County and our cities,” said Helen Cauthen, president & chief executive officer of Team Volusia EDC.

“Solodev did a great job building a site that presents the many compelling reasons why Volusia County is an excellent business destination. It tells the story of why Business Shines Brighter Here and will be a valuable tool for us in our economic development efforts.”

The site’s features include:
• An interactive site and building database;
• Leadership highlighted with logos of investor partners who are working collaboratively to support economic development;
• Community pages highlighting investor cities and the county;
• Document downloads with detailed statistics on demographics, employment, and labor force.

Solodev was able to draw on its extensive economic development experience in the creation of the website and incorporated some of its latest technological elements into the site’s framework. Solodev has spent the past 10 years developing what has become one of the leading website software platforms for economic development agencies as well as governmental and public-private entities.

Solodev is a client of the University of Central Florida Business Incubation Program in the Central Florida Research Park in East Orlando.

About Solodev
Solodev is a website design and Internet software development company in Orlando, Florida with a satisfied client list that spans a variety of industries across the country. With its proprietary website content management system, Solodev empowers organizations to comprehensively and efficiently manage their online presence. Multiple websites, intranets, extranets, landing pages, various directories, social media feeds, event calendars and more can all be easily controlled through this single application. More information is available at www.solodev.com.

About the UCF Business Incubation Program
Since its founding in 1999, the UCF Business Incubation Program has helped more than 200 emerging companies (including more than 100 current clients) create over $200 million in annual total economic output and more than 1,600 new jobs with an average salary of $59,000. With nine facilities across the Greater Orlando community, the Business Incubation Program is a collaboration in economic development between the University of Central Florida, Orange County, the City of Orlando, Seminole County, the City of Winter Springs, The City of Sanford, Lake County, the City of Leesburg, Osceola County, the City of Kissimmee, City of St. Cloud, Volusia County and the Florida High Tech Corridor Council. Please visit www.incubator.ucf.edu and UCFBIP on Facebook.

More than 50 participants Attend University Club of Orlando’s 9-11 First Responders Dinner

ORLANDO, Fla. --- More than 50 participants attended the University Club of Orlando’s 9-11 First Responders Dinner recently.

Susan Greene, general manager of the University Club of Orlando, said noteworthy 9-11 first responders were in attendance including Keith Jeffries and master security trainer Paco Rios from the U.S. Dept. of Homeland Security, along with officials from the local and area police and fire departments.