TAMPA, Fla. --- Ashton Woods Homes will open a new home design center off Lumscen Road in Brandon in September.
Michael Roche, vice president of sales and marketing at Ashton Woods Homes, said the state-of-the-art facility will provide new home buyers an opportunity to study a wide range of new home features, upgrades and options including kitchen appliances, counters and faucets, and windows, wall and floor treatments as well as lanais, patios, swimming pools and spas
Ashton Woods Homes builds single family and town homes in eight communities in the Tampa Bay region.
Ashton Woods Homes, headquartered in Atlanta, is one of the nation’s largest private homebuilding companies with operations in growth communities in Atlanta, Austin, Dallas, Houston, Killeen, Orlando, Phoenix, San Antonio, Raleigh and Tampa. For more information, visit http://www.ashtonwoods.com .
Wednesday, July 25, 2012
Solodev Launches New Film Orlando Website
ORLANDO, Fla. – Solodev, a leading Internet software development company, recently launched a redesigned website for the Metro Orlando Film Commission, a division of the Metro Orlando Economic Development Commission (EDC). Powered by Solodev’s enterprise content management system, the filmorlando.com site features a crisp design, streamlined navigation and many enhancements to the front end and back end.
Filmorlando.com is the authoritative source for Orlando filmmakers, producers and other film industry professionals. It contains the latest film news from the area as well as information about local film schools and permitting regulations.
“We have completely streamlined the process of finding the information needed for producers to find the crew, locations and permits they need to film in our region,” said Sheena Fowler, Orlando Film Commissioner.
The biggest upgrades to the site were made to Filmbook Online, a comprehensive database for local and visiting industry professionals that lists more than 1,600 skilled crew and qualified companies that offer production support. The “Filmbook” is now exclusively an online publication and gives members the ability to upload their contact information and a 300-character description of their services for free.
Members can pay for an enhanced profile and include options such as a longer description, a resume and a headshot or company logo. The profile can also include links to the member’s social media profile, website and demo reel. The new site accepts the uploading of large video files that are then compressed and optimized for inclusion. Another improvement in the member database is the incorporation of search-engine friendly URLs to increase the visibility of profiles.
Other site features include searchable talent database, casting notices feed, optimization for mobile devices, and video and photo galleries.
“The Metro Orlando Film Commission is a tremendous resource for the Orlando film community and the improvements we made to the website should help all parties involved,” said Solodev founder and chief technology officer, Shawn Moore. “We put a lot of work into the upgrades for the database and are pleased with the feedback we have received as a result.”
Solodev is a member of the University of Central Florida Business Incubation Program in the Central Florida Research Park in East Orlando.
About Solodev
Solodev is a leading provider of content management software that enables enterprises to easily build native mobile applications and interactive websites and manage content across a growing list of online channels, including social media, e-commerce and B2B. The Solodev content management platform allows organizations to streamline their operations and more effectively control their external communications. It runs in the cloud or on premise to provide secure and scalable content delivery solutions.
Headquartered in Orlando, Florida, Solodev’s growing list of clients includes Fortune 500 companies and mid-to-large-sized organizations in the fields of healthcare, retail, transportation, non-profit, government, economic development and associations. For more information about Solodev, please visit www.solodev.com.
About the Metro Orlando EDC
The Metro Orlando Economic Development Commission (EDC) is a not-for-profit, private/public partnership. The EDC serves Orange, Seminole, Lake and Osceola counties and the City of Orlando in Florida. Since its start in 1977, the EDC, with the support of its community partners, has assisted thousands of companies relocate, expand and grow in the four-county Metro Orlando (Florida) region. This has led to the creation of more than 169,000 jobs; $9.2 billion in capital investment; and 77 million square feet of office and industrial space leased or constructed. For more information, visit www.OrlandoEDC.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 134 current clients) create over $363 million in annual total economic output and more than 3,120 new jobs (taking direct and indirect and induced impact into account) with an average salary of $59,000. With ten facilities across the Greater Orlando community, the Business Incubation Program is a collaboration in economic development among the University of Central Florida, Orange County, the City of Orlando, Seminole County, the City of Apopka, 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. For more information about the Program and its clients and graduates, please visit www.incubator.ucf.edu and UCFBIP on Facebook, on www.facebook.com/ucf4bip.
Filmorlando.com is the authoritative source for Orlando filmmakers, producers and other film industry professionals. It contains the latest film news from the area as well as information about local film schools and permitting regulations.
“We have completely streamlined the process of finding the information needed for producers to find the crew, locations and permits they need to film in our region,” said Sheena Fowler, Orlando Film Commissioner.
The biggest upgrades to the site were made to Filmbook Online, a comprehensive database for local and visiting industry professionals that lists more than 1,600 skilled crew and qualified companies that offer production support. The “Filmbook” is now exclusively an online publication and gives members the ability to upload their contact information and a 300-character description of their services for free.
Members can pay for an enhanced profile and include options such as a longer description, a resume and a headshot or company logo. The profile can also include links to the member’s social media profile, website and demo reel. The new site accepts the uploading of large video files that are then compressed and optimized for inclusion. Another improvement in the member database is the incorporation of search-engine friendly URLs to increase the visibility of profiles.
Other site features include searchable talent database, casting notices feed, optimization for mobile devices, and video and photo galleries.
“The Metro Orlando Film Commission is a tremendous resource for the Orlando film community and the improvements we made to the website should help all parties involved,” said Solodev founder and chief technology officer, Shawn Moore. “We put a lot of work into the upgrades for the database and are pleased with the feedback we have received as a result.”
Solodev is a member of the University of Central Florida Business Incubation Program in the Central Florida Research Park in East Orlando.
About Solodev
Solodev is a leading provider of content management software that enables enterprises to easily build native mobile applications and interactive websites and manage content across a growing list of online channels, including social media, e-commerce and B2B. The Solodev content management platform allows organizations to streamline their operations and more effectively control their external communications. It runs in the cloud or on premise to provide secure and scalable content delivery solutions.
Headquartered in Orlando, Florida, Solodev’s growing list of clients includes Fortune 500 companies and mid-to-large-sized organizations in the fields of healthcare, retail, transportation, non-profit, government, economic development and associations. For more information about Solodev, please visit www.solodev.com.
About the Metro Orlando EDC
The Metro Orlando Economic Development Commission (EDC) is a not-for-profit, private/public partnership. The EDC serves Orange, Seminole, Lake and Osceola counties and the City of Orlando in Florida. Since its start in 1977, the EDC, with the support of its community partners, has assisted thousands of companies relocate, expand and grow in the four-county Metro Orlando (Florida) region. This has led to the creation of more than 169,000 jobs; $9.2 billion in capital investment; and 77 million square feet of office and industrial space leased or constructed. For more information, visit www.OrlandoEDC.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 134 current clients) create over $363 million in annual total economic output and more than 3,120 new jobs (taking direct and indirect and induced impact into account) with an average salary of $59,000. With ten facilities across the Greater Orlando community, the Business Incubation Program is a collaboration in economic development among the University of Central Florida, Orange County, the City of Orlando, Seminole County, the City of Apopka, 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. For more information about the Program and its clients and graduates, please visit www.incubator.ucf.edu and UCFBIP on Facebook, on www.facebook.com/ucf4bip.
Two of the Best Economic Recovery Programs for Small Businesses in the U.S. set to expire unless Congress acts soon
ORLANDO, Fla. – Two of the most effective economic recovery programs for small businesses in the U.S. are set to expire in late September unless Congress ends its election-year deadlock and acts to extend them.
Christopher Hurn, chief executive officer of Mercantile Capital Corporation, one of the nation’s leading providers of U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) 504 loans for small business owners who want to acquire or develop their own facilities, said he’s worried that SBA 504 loans for small businesses are being overlooked as Congress grapples with more visible public policy issues.
Hurn said the two initiatives — the SBA 504 refinance program and the First Mortgage Lien Pooling (FMLP) program — significantly expand the benefits of SBA 504 financing for small businesses in the U.S. at a time when our economy needs those businesses to grow and create jobs.
“One of the most critical issues facing the small business sector in the U.S. today is the availability of capital. At a time when interest rates are at their lowest in a lifetime and the Federal Reserve is bending over backward to provide lending capital to major banks, traditional lenders are faced with significant regulatory pressure that’s made it difficult to impossible for many small businesses to obtain the financing they need to expand their businesses, refinance their commercial mortgages, create more jobs and do their part to restore the national economy,” Hurn said.
The SBA 504 Refinance Program enables SBA 504 lenders to offer below-market financing at very favorable terms to small business owners who need to refinance higher-interest conventional loans for their commercial property, according to Hurn.
Hurn also explained that the FMLP program created a secondary market for SBA 504 loans, thereby allowing lenders to generate liquidity and increase access to capital for more small businesses. “The FMLP program has become about the only viable financing source for assisted living facilities, daycares, auto repair shops, restaurants and hotels because conventional lenders generally won’t finance these types of properties,” he said.
The overall increase in SBA loan production in late 2011 and 2012 are due in large part to the SBA 504 refinance and FMLP programs, both of which include supplemental fees that make them budget-neutral. They’ve played a major role in Mercantile Capital and other SBA lenders reporting record loan volumes for the first six months of this year.
Since January, Mercantile Capital has closed 58 commercial loans to finance projects that total $220.7 million. That’s more than the company closed during all of 2011, and a 240% increase over the same time period last year. “Several of the small business owners we’ve worked with this year wouldn’t have been able to get funding for their projects without one or both of these programs,” Hurn said.
The SBA 504 refinance program and the FMLP program were established by the Small Business Jobs and Credit Act of September 2010 to be temporary — only 24 months each. Hurn explained that because of bureaucratic delays in Washington, D.C., these programs were hampered in their utilization and impact for the small business sector of our economy.
“Because of the delays in these programs — nearly 14 months for SBA 504 refinance and almost 19 months for FMLP — these programs need to be extended for at least one year each to allow us to continue to help more small businesses,” Hurn said. “The SBA 504 loan program is one of the most effective economic development and job creation programs the U.S. government has come up with,” Hurn said, “but a credit freeze will start again without these extensions,” he added.
For more information, visit www.504Experts.com and www.504Blog.com.
Christopher Hurn, chief executive officer of Mercantile Capital Corporation, one of the nation’s leading providers of U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) 504 loans for small business owners who want to acquire or develop their own facilities, said he’s worried that SBA 504 loans for small businesses are being overlooked as Congress grapples with more visible public policy issues.
Hurn said the two initiatives — the SBA 504 refinance program and the First Mortgage Lien Pooling (FMLP) program — significantly expand the benefits of SBA 504 financing for small businesses in the U.S. at a time when our economy needs those businesses to grow and create jobs.
“One of the most critical issues facing the small business sector in the U.S. today is the availability of capital. At a time when interest rates are at their lowest in a lifetime and the Federal Reserve is bending over backward to provide lending capital to major banks, traditional lenders are faced with significant regulatory pressure that’s made it difficult to impossible for many small businesses to obtain the financing they need to expand their businesses, refinance their commercial mortgages, create more jobs and do their part to restore the national economy,” Hurn said.
The SBA 504 Refinance Program enables SBA 504 lenders to offer below-market financing at very favorable terms to small business owners who need to refinance higher-interest conventional loans for their commercial property, according to Hurn.
Hurn also explained that the FMLP program created a secondary market for SBA 504 loans, thereby allowing lenders to generate liquidity and increase access to capital for more small businesses. “The FMLP program has become about the only viable financing source for assisted living facilities, daycares, auto repair shops, restaurants and hotels because conventional lenders generally won’t finance these types of properties,” he said.
The overall increase in SBA loan production in late 2011 and 2012 are due in large part to the SBA 504 refinance and FMLP programs, both of which include supplemental fees that make them budget-neutral. They’ve played a major role in Mercantile Capital and other SBA lenders reporting record loan volumes for the first six months of this year.
Since January, Mercantile Capital has closed 58 commercial loans to finance projects that total $220.7 million. That’s more than the company closed during all of 2011, and a 240% increase over the same time period last year. “Several of the small business owners we’ve worked with this year wouldn’t have been able to get funding for their projects without one or both of these programs,” Hurn said.
The SBA 504 refinance program and the FMLP program were established by the Small Business Jobs and Credit Act of September 2010 to be temporary — only 24 months each. Hurn explained that because of bureaucratic delays in Washington, D.C., these programs were hampered in their utilization and impact for the small business sector of our economy.
“Because of the delays in these programs — nearly 14 months for SBA 504 refinance and almost 19 months for FMLP — these programs need to be extended for at least one year each to allow us to continue to help more small businesses,” Hurn said. “The SBA 504 loan program is one of the most effective economic development and job creation programs the U.S. government has come up with,” Hurn said, “but a credit freeze will start again without these extensions,” he added.
For more information, visit www.504Experts.com and www.504Blog.com.
Hendricks & Partners Negotiates Note Sale of Five-Property Portfolio in Birmingham for $66,500,000
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. --- Hendricks & Partners, one of the nation’s largest and most active multifamily investment banking and research companies, recently negotiated the note sale of the Park Lane Portfolio, a 1,900 unit, five-property portfolio located in Birmingham for $66.5 million.
David Oakley, senior investment advisor of Hendricks & Partners’ Alabama office negotiated the sale representing the seller, Duesseldorfer Hypothekenbank AG and Deutsche Hypothekenbank (Actien-Gesellschaft) of Germany.
The Park Lane Portfolio consists of five properties:
The Overlook at Homewood – 742 Units
The Renaissance at Galleria – 244 Units
The Place at Galleria – 150 Units
The Park at Galleria – 431 Units
The Cliffs at Rock Ridge – 333 Units
The buyer was CLK Longview Acquisition based in New York.
David Oakley, senior investment advisor of Hendricks & Partners’ Alabama office negotiated the sale representing the seller, Duesseldorfer Hypothekenbank AG and Deutsche Hypothekenbank (Actien-Gesellschaft) of Germany.
The Park Lane Portfolio consists of five properties:
The Overlook at Homewood – 742 Units
The Renaissance at Galleria – 244 Units
The Place at Galleria – 150 Units
The Park at Galleria – 431 Units
The Cliffs at Rock Ridge – 333 Units
The buyer was CLK Longview Acquisition based in New York.
As NAI Realvest Grooms New Generation of Brokers, “Young Bloods” Take on Bigger Projects
ORLANDO, Fla. – When NAI Realvest in Maitland announced a mentoring program for young brokers in late 2011, Managing Partner Paul Partyka said he hoped the young bloods would inspire an energetic new approach to commercial real estate services.
He didn’t expect a portfolio of new business for the 30 year old company, which ranks as one of Central Florida’s largest and most active commercial real estate companies and one of the largest industrial development firms in the region.
“The young bloods are growing up fast, and they bring a very aggressive approach to the business,” said Partyka, himself a 30 year commercial real estate veteran.
Aron Harrison, who mentors with Mez Birdie, NAI Realvest’s director of retail and investment services, recently listed 23,000 square feet of commercial space in Casselberry.
Mitch Heidrich, who mentors with Matt Cichocki and Kevin O’Connor, both partners in NAI Realvest, helped secure a major listing by cold calling the owners of Church Street Station and eventually the team secured the listing.
Eric Parrs, who mentors with NAI Realvest Principal Tom Hankins pitched in with project, market and financial analyses and is currently working with Oviedo Town Center to market a 54-acre parcel that will accommodate 150,000 square feet of commercial space in the initial phase.
Michael Heidrich, Jr., who mentors with his father, a long time NAI Realvest partner and one of the region’s leading land and industrial property brokers, has already listed several land offerings and closed on transactions valued at more than $700,000, including industrial land and industrial space deals that total more than 6,000 square feet of space.
Partyka, who has followed the mentoring program, said he couldn’t be more pleased.
“These young bloods are out prospecting for new projects every day,” Partyka said. “They are developing their real estate sense, imagining appropriate uses when they see vacant properties and then looking up owners and potential end-users,” he said.
About NAI Realvest:
NAI Realvest in Orlando, covering 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.
He didn’t expect a portfolio of new business for the 30 year old company, which ranks as one of Central Florida’s largest and most active commercial real estate companies and one of the largest industrial development firms in the region.
“The young bloods are growing up fast, and they bring a very aggressive approach to the business,” said Partyka, himself a 30 year commercial real estate veteran.
Aron Harrison, who mentors with Mez Birdie, NAI Realvest’s director of retail and investment services, recently listed 23,000 square feet of commercial space in Casselberry.
Mitch Heidrich, who mentors with Matt Cichocki and Kevin O’Connor, both partners in NAI Realvest, helped secure a major listing by cold calling the owners of Church Street Station and eventually the team secured the listing.
Eric Parrs, who mentors with NAI Realvest Principal Tom Hankins pitched in with project, market and financial analyses and is currently working with Oviedo Town Center to market a 54-acre parcel that will accommodate 150,000 square feet of commercial space in the initial phase.
Michael Heidrich, Jr., who mentors with his father, a long time NAI Realvest partner and one of the region’s leading land and industrial property brokers, has already listed several land offerings and closed on transactions valued at more than $700,000, including industrial land and industrial space deals that total more than 6,000 square feet of space.
Partyka, who has followed the mentoring program, said he couldn’t be more pleased.
“These young bloods are out prospecting for new projects every day,” Partyka said. “They are developing their real estate sense, imagining appropriate uses when they see vacant properties and then looking up owners and potential end-users,” he said.
About NAI Realvest:
NAI Realvest in Orlando, covering 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.
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