Ryland Homes, USAA Federal Savings Bank Offers Veterans up to $4,000 Towards Closing Costs with Mortgage

Charleston / Myrtle Beach, S.C. --- Ryland Homes offers military families and veterans up to $4,000 towards closing costs or upgrades when purchasing a Ryland home through the USAA Federal Savings Bank or RMC Mortgage. Founded in 1922, USAA is a financial services company that offers insurance, banking and lending services to more than 10.2 million services members or veterans. Don McDonough, division president of Ryland Homes in the Charleston and Myrtle Beach regions, said Ryland has always offered incentives to veterans and services personnel who finance their homes through RMC Mortgage, a Ryland affiliate. The partnership with USAA and the USAA Federal Savings Bank extends Ryland’s offer to thousands of active and veteran personnel who rely on USAA for a wide range of banking and insurance services. “We are proud that so many military veterans and their families choose Ryland Homes and we’re happy to help them with mortgage services through USAA Federal Savings Bank or RMC Mortgage,” McDonough said. Ryland Homes builds single-family homes in more than 20 communities in the Charleston-Myrtle Beach area.

Berkadia Southeast opens office in Chattanooga, Names New VP / Managing Broker

Chattanooga, Tenn./Orlando, Fla. - Berkadia, which ranks as one of the nation’s leading brokers of multi-family properties and development sites and one of the nation’s largest and most active multifamily investment banking and research companies, has opened its 90th U.S. office in Chattanooga, Tenn. Berkadia Southeast Partner Cole Whitaker, based in Orlando, said the new 2,500 square foot Chattanooga office will serve apartment owners and investors in the Chattanooga, Knoxville, Murfreesboro and southern Kentucky market areas. At the same time Berkadia named Marcus Lyons Vice President of Investment Sales and Managing Broker in Tennessee, Whitaker said. Lyons is the former owner and CEO of Lyons Group, Inc., which marketed and brokered multi-family and investment real estate assets throughout Tennessee. Previously Berkadia Partner David Oakley who head’s the firm’s Birmingham, Ala. office, represented Berkadia for brokerage in the Tennessee market, Whitaker said. Lyons has participated in sales and brokerage of properties valued at more than $75 Million during his career with both Hendricks & Partners and Berkadia. Lyons attended the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga College of Business. Berkadia, a joint venture of Berkshire Hathaway and Leucadia National Corporation, is an industry leading commercial real estate company providing comprehensive capital solutions and investment sales advisory and research services for multifamily and commercial properties. Berkadia is amongst the largest, highest rated and most respected primary, master and special servicers in the industry.

DEL WEBB PONTE VEDRA RESIDENT TO SWIM FIVE MILES FOR JUVENILE DIABETES RESEARCH FOUNDATION

Ponte Vedra, Fla. – When former college president Dr. Tim Lightfield turned 35 he swam five miles in a New Jersey university pool to celebrate the milestone. On May 24 – 35 years later – he will attempt the feat once again; but this time for a very different reason. “I’ll be turning 70 this month,” said the Chicago native who moved to the gated Del Webb Ponte Vedra community six months ago with his wife, Deborah Lightfield. “Because my nine-year-old grandson Jack has diabetes, I’m doing this swim as a fundraiser for the North Florida Chapter of the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation.” Jack Lotz, who was diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes at the age of three, is a very mature 9-year-old, his grandfather said. “He’s very active and he loves playing sports, especially baseball and basketball,” he said. “He also does extremely well at school and manages his tests, diet and medications with amazing courage.” Jack, who will be at home with his parents in Reston, Va., during his grandfather’s swim – made a sign that Lightfield said will be displayed at the pool to motivate him. “It says ‘Go Poppa; I love You!’ ” Lyndsey Patterson, marketing director for PulteGroup North Florida Division, said she wasn’t surprised when Lightfield made plans for the fundraiser. “The Lightfields are the ideal Del Webb residents,” she said. “In six short months, they’ve fit right into the active lifestyle that Del Webb Ponte Vedra offers its residents.” Living in North Carolina when they discovered Del Webb Ponte Vedra, Tim Lightfield said they knew they wanted to live in an active-adult community. “We did a lot of scouting around and found this was the best place in Florida with all of its amenities.” He said they were drawn to the master-planned community because of its convenient location and natural beauty along the Intracoastal Waterway, as well as the plethora of activities like aerobics, gardening, golf, bicycling and pickle ball and the 37,800 square-foot clubhouse with its abundance of clubs and other groups. “We’re between St. Augustine and Jacksonville and only three miles from the beach,” he said. “Our house is on water and we love to enjoy nature and the pond.” Dubbed the “5-Mile @ 70 Swim for Diabetes,” Lightfield’s swim should take about three hours starting at noon in the Del Webb Ponte Vedra 25-yard indoor pool. Swimming freestyle in the six-lane Olympic-style pool, he plans to swim 360 laps. His wife will keep track of each completed mile with a thermometer-type chart. Swimming four times a week, Lightfield has gradually increased his distance from one to more than three and one half miles in preparation for the swim. He said he plans to carb load before with oatmeal and pasta, and will take breaks at the end of the second, third and fourth miles with energy foods and warm showers. To kick start the May 24 fundraiser, the Del Webb Ponte Vedra Men’s Club contributed $500, Lightfield said, adding that he and his wife will match every dollar donated to the JDRF. “You can pledge $5 a mile, five cents a lap or make a direct gift to JDRF with a check or through their website at www2.jdrf.org/goto/swimforjack,” he said. “Or, you can just come by to cheer me on.” Lightfield, whose actual birthday is May 21, said he plans to spend his 70th at a place he hasn’t been for 35 years. “We’re going to Disney World!”

Nano Discovery to Showcase Newly Developed Early Cancer Test at TechConnect World Innovation Conference

Orlando, Fla. --- UCF researchers who discovered how to use gold nanoparticles to create an accurate, inexpensive early cancer test have been invited to showcase their invention at the TechConnect World Innovation Conference June 14-17 in Washington, D.C. Dr. Qun Huo, associate professor in the NanoScience Technology Center at the University of Central Florida and CEO of Nano Discovery, Inc., announced recently that her team of researchers had developed a gold nanoparticle-enabled test that can detect the body’s autoimmune activities in fighting off cancer. Dr. Huo’s test, which uses a single drop of blood and about $1 worth of gold nanoparticles and other biochemicals, is significantly more accurate than the Protein-Specific Antigen (PSA) test currently used by doctors today for prostate cancer detection. Dr. Huo’s UCF team discovered that tumor-fighting autoantibodies quickly attach to the surface of gold nanoparticles, where they can be detected quickly and unerringly with specialized equipment. While the UCF team’s new test doesn’t identify which type of cancer induces those autoantibodies, Dr. Huo believes the test could become a universal screening test to tell doctors that cancer is present and point to further tests to find and locate any tumors. TechConnect World is a global showcase of the latest innovations from industrial, government and academic laboratories. Participants include innovators, funding agencies, national and federal labs, international research organizations, universities, tech transfer offices and investment and corporate partners. TechConnect World combines the 2015 SBIR/STTR National Conference, the 2015 National Innovation Summit and Showcase, and Nanotech2015---the world’s largest nanotechnology event---into one conference, Dr. Huo explained. Only 15 percent of submissions to TechConnect are selected for presentations, Dr. Huo said. The conference is organized to help emerging technologies find the funding and technical support to commercialize quickly and effectively. “This is a great honor that may lead to further research and widespread adoption of our new process,” Dr. Huo explained. Nano Discovery, Inc. is a client company of the UCF Business Incubation Program located at Central Florida Research Park in East Orange County.

Palermo Vista Townhome Development in Longwood Wins Major International Design Award

Longwood, Fla. -- Palermo Vista, an intimate community of luxury townhomes with an eye-catching Italian villas theme located on Longwood Hills Road, won a major international award at the 2015 Logix ICF Awards held recently in Ontario. Roger Soderstrom, founder and owner of Stirling Sotheby’s International Realty, the firm that’s marketing the 16-unit multi-family development, said Palermo Vista won “Best in Design” and was recognized by the annual Logix ICF awards as the “Most Outstanding Multi-Family Project.” The Palermo Vista building design is not only infused with Italian countryside influences, but its exterior walls, partition walls and even the swimming pool are all constructed with Logix Insulated Concrete Forms (ICFs) – super-insulated, steel reinforced solid poured concrete walls that provide exceptional energy efficiency and structural peace of mind during hurricane season. The Logix Awards annually recognize creative and ground-breaking projects built with their product all across North America, Soderstrom said. The two-story Palermo Vista villas were also designed to LEED Platinum standards and is a top-tier Energy Star project. Priced from the mid-$300s, each villa offers 3,269 square feet of living area with three bedrooms, three full baths and a half-bath, a family room, large second-floor verandah patio and a den or optional fourth bedroom. “This is such a prestigious award and a tremendous honor,” Soderstrom said. “With half of the villa homes still available, we are excited about this testimonial of the premium product Palermo Vista offers.” The community’s furnished model is open daily. In addition there is a product design area in Stirling Sotheby’s International Realty’s Heathrow Marketing Center located at 115 International Parkway in nearby Lake Mary.

New Luxury Coach Homes at Bonita National Golf & Country Club Priced from the $270s with Golf, Water Views

Bonita Springs, Fla. --- Lennar Homes is nearing completion of new Coach Homes priced from the $270s overlooking the 12th and 13th fairways of the Gordon Lewis-designed championship golf course at Bonita National Golf and Country Club. David Meyers, director of sales and marketing for Lennar Homes in Southwest Florida, said every new Coach Home will feature golf and water views. Two three-bedroom floor plans are available, Meyers said, each with two full baths and a two-car attached garage. The Florence, with 1,741 square feet of living space, was designed as a split floor plan for master suite privacy. The open space design links the living room, dining room and lanai with a breakfast nook and gourmet kitchen to create a family living area that totals more than 750 square feet---ample space for social gatherings and family events. The Verona floor plan, with 2,110 square feet of living space, separates the luxurious master suite with his-and-her walk-in closets and a spa-like bath from the two bedrooms for family or guests. The Verona’s open space plan with living room, dining room, breakfast nook, island kitchen and lanai creates a masterful family living area that totals almost 1,000 square feet for social occasions. “I don’t know where you could find more value close to this price range anywhere in the Bonita Bay area,” Meyers said. All new homes at Bonita National Golf & Country Club come with Lennar’s Everything’s Included® pledge with upgraded appliances, finishes and touches included in one Lennar price. Homebuyers at the community are entitled to a free social membership in the country club. Bonita National Golf and Country Club is located east of Interstate 75 at the end of Bonita Beach Road East in Bonita Springs.

Berkadia negotiates $51,000+ per unit price in sale of 94-unit TimberChase Apartments in Birmingham’s Homewood area

Birmingham, Ala. --- Berkadia, one of the nation’s largest and most active multi-family investment sales companies, recently negotiated the sale of the 94-unit Timberchase Apartments in Birmingham’s Homewood area for $4,825,000, or $51,329 per unit. Josh Jacobs, investment sales advisor at Berkadia, along with David Oakley, partner in the firm, negotiated the transaction representing the California-based seller TimberChase Alabama Apartments, LLC. RJJ TimberChase, LLC based in Alabama, acquired the property, which sits nestled between Homewood and Southside and in close proximity to major arterial roadways and economic demand drivers. Jacobs said Arlington Properties will remain as the property’s on-site management firm. Berkadia, a joint venture of Berkshire Hathaway and Leucadia National Corporation, is an industry leading commercial real estate company providing comprehensive capital solutions and investment sales advisory and research services for multifamily and commercial properties.