Lennar Homes to Host Grand Opening Feb 9 to Showcase new Model Homes at ChampionsGate South of Orlando

ChampionsGate, Fla. --- Lennar will host a Grand Opening from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Saturday, Feb. 9 to showcase four new model homes at ChampionsGate, the master-planned golf community located on ChampionsGate Blvd. at I-4 Exit 58 (C.R. 532) south of Orlando. Lennar will host a Gala Realtor Preview and Reception from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Wednesday, Feb. 6 Mark Metheny, president of Lennar’s Central Florida Division, said plenty of activities are planned in addition to model home tours, Metheny added: legendary golf trick-shot artist Peter Jöhnke ---the Trick Shot Master---will perform from 3 p.m. to 4 p.m. and Lennar plans to give away an Alaskan cruise for two to one lucky family who participates. Food and refreshments will be provided by Orlando’s famous 4 Seasons Smokehouse. Admission is free and the public is invited to attend. Only adults may register to win the Alaska Cruise, Metheny added. Lennar plans to build 600-800 single-family homes priced from the $240s at The Country Club at ChampionsGate including The Hideaway, a single-family model home with four bedrooms and two baths in 2,246 square feet of living space and a two-car garage. The Sand Dollar model home at The Country Club at ChampionsGate offers four bedrooms and three baths in 2,460 square feet with a three-car garage. New homes at the Country Club at ChampionsGate range in size from 1,800 square feet of living space to 2,500 square feet. Metheny said Lennar plans to build 600-700 luxury vacation homes at The Retreat at ChampionsGate, including the Bali model with five bedrooms and four-and-a-half baths in 2,766 square feet of living space with a two-car garage. The Maui model home offers eight bedrooms and five baths in 3,826 square feet of living space with a two-car garage. Luxury vacation homes The Retreat at ChampionsGate will range from 2,200 square feet to 3,800 square feet, Metheny said. Metheny said grand opening visitors should park at 8390 ChampionsGate Blvd. Free shuttles will be provided to the model center and the main events. “ChampionsGate is such an incredible community we wanted to do something spectacular for our grand opening,” Metheny said.

Henin Homes Shows Big Increase in Home Sales in 2012 at Riviera Bella in DeBary

DeBary, Fla. --- Henin Homes, a division of the Henin Group, sold 29 luxury homes in 2012 at its community of Riviera Bella in DeBary. Matt Boltz, vice president of Henin Homes, Inc., said the 29 sales were valued at $9.5 million compared with nine sales valued at 2.5 million in 2011. Boltz said he projects 48 new home sales in 2013. At present, there are 23 home sites available at Riviera Bella which is located on the banks of the St. Johns River in DeBary. Homes at Riviera Bella start in the mid-$200s.

ASHTON WOODS HOMES MORE THAN DOUBLES HOME SALES IN ORLANDO IN 2012

ORLANDO, Fla. – Ashton Woods Homes Orlando division reports a major jump in home sales in 2012 more than doubling sales of the previous year. Michael Roche, vice president of sales and marketing for Ashton Woods Homes, said the homebuilder sold 318 homes last year in five communities in the Orlando region, which is 212 percent more than 2011 when 102 homes were sold. Roche said the average sale price of an Ashton Woods home sold in the Orlando region in 2012 was $264,924. 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. Visit www.ashtonwoodshomes.com.

ASHTON WOODS HOMES REPORTS 55 PERCENT INCREASE IN 2012 HOME SALES IN TAMPA REGION

TAMPA, Fla. – Ashton Woods Homes reports a 55 percent increase in new home sales throughout eight communities in the Tampa Bay region in 2012. Michael Roche, vice president of sales and marketing in Tampa, said Ashton Woods sold 177 homes last year compared to 2011 when 114 homes were sold. Roche added that the average sale price of an Ashton Woods home sold in 2012 in the Tampa Bay region was $255,255. 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 .

Ryland Homes Starts Construction of New Four-Bedroom Frost II Model Home at Connerton in Land O’Lakes

Tampa, Fla. --- Ryland Homes has started construction of a new four-bedroom Frost II model home at Connerton, a new gated community located on Savory Walk Drive off Connerton Blvd. in Land O’Lakes. Tony Crimi, vice president of sales and marketing for Ryland Homes in the Tampa Bay region, said the two-story Frost II model home with two-and-a-half baths and a two-car garage will open at Connerton in March. Ryland Homes plans to build 40 new single-family homes in the first phase at Connerton, Crimi said. New three and four-bedroom single-family homes at Connerton will range in size from 1,481 square feet of living space to 2,284 square feet with two or two-and-one-half baths and two-car garages. Connerton features top-rated schools, a community clubhouse, fitness center, swimming pool, tennis courts, a basketball court, a tot lot, volleyball court and amphitheater. Visit www.ryland.com/tampa.

Volusia County Personal-Injury Law Firm to Help Sponsor Benefit Osceola County Motorcycle Run

PORT ORANGE – The Port Orange-based law offices of Rue, Ziffra & Caldwell – a philanthropic personal-injury firm that supports numerous local charity motorcycle rides each year – is extending its reach into Osceola County by helping to sponsor the inaugural Escorted Osceola Law Ride on Jan. 26. The 77-mile ride is being presented by the Blue Knights Motorcycle Club with assistance from the Osceola County Sheriff’s Office, City of St. Cloud, and the St. Cloud and Kissimmee police departments, according to Allan L. Ziffra, president of the longtime law firm. “We participate in a number of great biker events throughout the year,” Ziffra said. “This year, we’re starting off with a ride to help the families of officers who have been injured or lost their lives in the line of duty. This is a great cause and we’re hoping to see lots of motorcycle enthusiasts participate to show their support.” Registration for the ride is $20 for riders and $5 for passengers and starts at 8 a.m. at the St. Cloud Police Department, 4700 Neptune Road, St. Cloud. Included will be live music by “Continuum,” raffles, awards, silent auctions, goody bags, collectible enamel pins, and a barbecue lunch provided by Sonny’s Real Pit Bar-B-Q. The ride will begin with an invocation at 10 a.m. and kick stands will go up at 10:30 a.m. to signal the official start. The ride will end at the St. Cloud Marina, 1104 Lakeshore Blvd. For details or more information, contact ride coordinator Don Schaefer at 407-892-2591, or visit www.blueknightsfl29.com/osceola_law_ride_main.html or rueziffra.com/oceola-law-ride-20132128.

University Club of Orlando Names Three New Board Members

ORLANDO, Fla. --- The University Club of Orlando has named an attorney, a businessman and a college professor to its board of directors. Justin Wright, general manager of the University Club of Orlando, said new board members include Orlando Businessman Mike Jensen, Attorney Dennis O’Connor and Robert Smither, a professor at Rollins College in Winter Park.

NAI Realvest Negotiates Sale of Former Sears Service Center in Daytona Beach to National Distributor

MAITLAND, Fla. -- NAI Realvest recently negotiated the sale of the former Sears Service Center located at 840 Bill France Blvd. in Daytona Beach for $630,000. Paul P. Partyka, managing partner at NAI Realvest, who represented the seller Warmack-Muskogee, LP of Texarkana, Texas, said the property was purchased by Airgas USA. The 12,200 square foot facility built in 1991 and its 2.22+ acre site was purchased by Airgas to expand from its current nearby location. The buyer is a distributor of industrial, medical and specialty gases and related equipment and services based in Kennesaw, Ga.

Park Square Homes features Energy-Saving Nest Learning Thermostats in all new single-family homes

ORLANDO, Fla. – Park Square Homes, which builds homes priced from the $100s to the $400s in nine Orlando area communities, has introduced energy-saving Nest Learning Thermostats in all new residential single-family homes the company builds. Anthony Rouhana, marketing coordinator for Park Square Homes, said Nest Learning Thermostats are designed to learn a family’s habits and behaviors and imitate them by automating temperature controls when family members are away at work or school. Learning the home owner’s patterns help to save energy and energy costs, Rouhana explained. Nest Learning Thermostats also offer add-on features to make them even smarter, Rouhana said. “Additional controls like smart phone apps enable home owners to alert Nest if the day’s plan changes,” Rouhana said. Visit www.parksquarehomes.com

Co-Founder of Omega3 Innovations Says Today’s Fish Oil Industry is on the Wrong Track, Sets Up Blog to Help Consumers Understand Why

VENICE, FL – For 16 years, Dr. Bo Martinsen – co-founder of Venice-based Omega3 Innovations – has championed omega-3 fish oils by touting the fatty acids’ numerous health benefits at both national and international speaking engagements. “As a physician, I always tell my patients, if there is one simple thing you can do for your health, take a solid dose of omega-3 fish oil every day,” Martinsen says. But recently, Martinsen, who co-owns the biotech company with his wife, Dr. Anne-Marie Chalmers, witnessed a growing trend in the industry – the market shift toward highly-concentrated fish oil supplements – that convinced him to alter his advice. As the market for fish oil grows, concentrates are becoming increasingly popular both in prescription and over-the-counter form. A quick look around your local pharmacy shows the increasing presence of concentrated omega-3s, says Martinsen, who believes the industry’s market growth projections of eight percent a year through 2020. And, the growth spurt in products created by this type of manufacturing process has him worried. “I used to think that as long as we took an adequate dose of omega-3 every day, the type of oil didn’t matter,” he says. “But, the more I work with omega-3, the more I see that the quality and manufacturing process of the oil is crucial to consumer health.” Martinsen says that some manufacturers – in an effort to increase the essential fatty acids EPA and DHA in the fish oil – transform the acids into new chemical structures known as ethyl esters. He notes that ethyl esters exist neither in nature, nor in the human body. His research on chemically modified omega-3s versus natural fish oils has led him to create a blog titled “Seven Reasons the Omega-3 Industry is on the Wrong Track.” Omega-3 Industry is on the Wrong Track “When we start changing the chemical structure of the omega-3 molecules, the body responds differently to the modified oil than it does to natural fish oil,” he explains. “Just like with genetically modified organisms, these chemical modifications are troubling because we don’t know how the body will fully respond for years.” Martinsen says some other negative issues with concentrated omega-3s are rancidity, fewer fatty acids and natural vitamins, environmental waste, and the fact that they can be more expensive. “The fact is that people can get the same amount of EPA and DHA from natural sources as is advertised in the concentrated products,” he says. “I believe we would all benefit greatly if the industry focused instead on improving the technology for making liquid fish oil that is fresh and sustainable.”