Central Florida Real Estate Developer Wastes No Time When Making Deals

APOPKA – As the owner of numerous real estate development and sales companies, Jerome Henin, who heads Winter Park-based Henin Group, is accustomed to making things happen quickly, but one particular transaction last month surprised even him.

After viewing a 28-acre parcel on Votaw Road near the Wekiva Reserve in Apopka, Henin made an offer on a Friday, signed a contract on Tuesday and closed the deal the following Friday.

The one-week purchase was possible, he says, because he is an independent developer.

“The advantage of landowners selling to independent developers versus selling to the nationals can be huge,” Henin said. “The large national homebuilders just can’t do this without going through their corporate process. They’ll keep land under contract usually no less than 90 days – sometimes more – while they analyze and get extensions.”

The biggest difference, according to Henin, is that independents such as Henin Group have cash readily available to move forward quickly.  

That Sept. 1^st Apopka purchase was the beginning of what he said is planned as a 95-lot, single-family subdivision worth an estimated $40 million at buildout. Still in its infancy the community has yet to be named, but Henin said it will be designed by Gary Beverly with CDS Engineering of Maitland and will offer three- and four-bedroom homes on 50- by 120-foot lots.

In addition to Henin Homes building in the new community, Henin said he is considering more than half a dozen offers from other interested homebuilders.

“It will take a year or more to complete the various studies and then we’ll start developing,” he said.

In the meantime, it will be business as usual, which includes shopping for the next one-week purchase.

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Dream Finders Homes to Start Development in Late October at Newly Acquired Hartwood Marsh Road Subdivision in Clermont

CLERMONT – Dream Finders Homes will start land development the end of October on its newly acquired Hartwood Marsh Road Subdivision located on the southwest corner of Hartwood Marsh Road and the future Hancock Road Extension.   The 116-acre subdivision with 321 single-family homesites is the homebuilder’s first community in Clermont. 

 

Dream Finders Homes will offer three product lines at the Hartwood Marsh – a PUD approved for 86 lots with 40-foot widths, 135 lots with 50-foot widths and 100 lots measuring 60-feet wide.   New homes will likely range from the high $200s to the low $500s, according to Gerry Boeneman, President of Dream Finders Homes’ Central Florida division.

 

“We’re very excited about offering some new, innovative home designs at Hartwood Marsh, along with some of our current popular Orlando division floor plans,” Boeneman said. 

 

Hartwood Marsh will be divided into two phases with the first comprising 174 lots and the second with 147.  Construction of models and sales are expected to launch in the first phase by next summer. 

 

Homebuyers can look forward to community amenities that include a swimming pool with cabana along with the convenient location that offers an easy commute to downtown Orlando, Disney and other popular Orlando attractions and employment centers.

“We’ve been waiting for the right opportunity in Clermont.  The demographic of homebuyers moving into this area is well-suited for the products we’re offering,” Boeneman said.

For more information, visit www.dreamfindershomes.com.

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Hold-Thyssen Negotiates Multi-Year Lease Agreement with a Global Luxury Brand Real Estate Firm at Phillips Place

Orlando / Winter Park, Fla. -- Hold-Thyssen, Inc. – a full service commercial real estate services firm headquartered in Winter Park – negotiated a multi-year lease agreement with Premier Sotheby’s International Realty.      The global luxury real estate firm that recently expanded its presence in the area leased a 1,000 square foot suite at 7575 Dr. Phillips Blvd.   Darby Hold, Senior Director for Hold-Thyssen, Inc. brokered the transactions on behalf of the landlord Financial Way Realty, Inc.    Hold-Thyssen, Inc. is the leasing and management representative for the 56,000 square foot Phillips Place office building.

 

Crossman Career Builders Establishes Endowed Scholarship Fund at Florida State

Scholarship Fund to Honor Life of the Late High School Teacher and Mentor Dr. Les Kozlow

 

ORLANDO/ TALLAHASSEE -- Influential business leader John Crossman CCIM, CRX, founder of the Orlando-based career development organization Crossman Career Builders, along with Barb Kozlow, wife of the late Dr. Les Kozlow, has established a leadership scholarship at Florida State University.

 

The Dr. Les Kozlow Leadership Scholarship at FSU will honor the renowned educator’s impact as a teacher and mentor throughout his career. 

 

Dr. Kozlow of Palm Beach Gardens died tragically last summer in a traffic accident. He taught and inspired Crossman as a student in Forest Hills High School’s class of 1989, a turning point in Crossman’s education and career. 

 

“I decided to create this endowed scholarship not only because it’s what I am passionate about, but I would not be in the FSU Hall of Fame without the inspiration and mentoring of Dr. Kozlow, who saw something in me I couldn’t see myself.  He changed my life forever and he only wanted to be remembered for the positive influence he had on his students.”  

 

Successful North Carolina Attorney Andrew Fine who was one of Dr. Kozlow’s debate students says: “His impact on my life is immeasurable. I still use today things I learned from him over 30 years ago.” 

 

Crossman Career Builders focuses on mentoring and coaching college students and young professionals.  The organization has endowed scholarships at FSU, FAMU, B-CU, UCF and Valencia College.  Crossman plans to continue to help fund scholarships for promising students, especially diverse students.

 

For more information about the Dr. Les Kozlow Leadership Scholarship fund go to: https://one.fsu.edu/foundation/donate/college/business/dr-les-kozlow-leadership-scholarship-fund 

 

Crossman, who wrote a best-selling book: Career Killers / Career Builders, was named CEO of the Year 2018 by the Orlando Business Journal and one of Florida’s top 500 Most Influential Business Leaders by Florida Trend in both 2018 and 2019. 

Dream Finders Homes Offers New Phase with 70-Foot Lots at St. Augustine’s Shearwater Community

ST. AUGUSTINE – Dream Finders Homes recently started building on 70-foot wide lots at Shearwater, a premiere master-planned community off State Road 210 in St. Johns County.

Dream Finders’ homebuyers may choose from 40 lots in a brand new phase of Shearwater and select from seven different floor plans to create their dream home, according to Brad Muston, the company’s division president.

“We’re excited to be building seven of our most popular plans at this beautiful resort-like community,” he said, adding that two professionally decorated models – Boca II and Montauk II – should be ready by early 2021.

Dream Finders Homes’ one- and two-story floor plans at Shearwater are priced from the $400,000s and range in size from 2,754 to 3,688 square feet of living space. The homes there will offer three to five bedrooms, three to five bathrooms plus two- or three-car garages, with some of the latter being tandem parking garages.

Muston said Dream Finders Homes’ professional interior designers work with homebuyers to customize their new homes with state-of-the-art upgrades and options that range from coffered ceilings, bay windows and hidden sliding glass doors to fireplace niches, wet bars and butler’s pantries.

Social and recreational happenings are the hallmark at Shearwater with a spacious clubhouse and café, a high-tech fitness lodge, kids’ playroom, and many other healthy living amenities, he said. The countless outdoor activities take center stage with a trail system and preserved habitat, Har-Tru clay tennis courts, spacious playgrounds and picnic areas.

But, according to Muston, the best of Shearwater’s outdoor activities is the four distinct water features that should meet everyone’s needs: a relaxing resort-style lagoon, a multi-lane lap pool, a winding lazy river and a three-story water slide tower.

For more information, please visit www.dreamfindershomes.com or call 888-214-1164.

Orlando Real Estate Entrepreneur Establishes Scholarship at Valencia College Preference Given to Hispanic Students

ORLANDO – Central Florida real estate entrepreneur and career coach John Crossman has donated $25,000 to the Valencia Foundation to establish an endowed scholarship at Valencia College. Crossman, a former trustee at Valencia College, has requested that preference be given to a Hispanic student preparing for a career related to real estate.

The first scholarship will be awarded to a student in fall 2021.

Crossman, former president of Orlando-based Crossman & Co., one of the Southeast’s leading commercial real estate firms, is now CEO of Crossman Career Builders.

“My family has a deep love and appreciation for Valencia College and we are honored to be in the position to create this scholarship. We share a passion with Valencia College on seeing greatness in marginalized people in our community. The focus of this scholarship is real estate education in the Hispanic community as we believe that the ownership of property is key to the prosperity of all people,” said Crossman.

Leaders in the local Hispanic community applauded the announcement. "As a young college student paying my own way at Orlando Junior College, I had only lived in the U.S. for three years and my parents had not joined me here. I was out of money and about to drop out, but I had the help of a scholarship to see me through the most difficult time,” said Mel Martinez, former U.S. Senator and Secretary of the Department of Housing and Urban Development. “The Crossman family is doing the same thing today for another fortunate young Hispanic working their way through college. This is worthy of a big thank you from me and our entire community.”

“The Crossman Career Builders Scholarship creates educational accessibility opportunities that, in the long run, will fuel prosperity and economic development of our Hispanic community,” said Oscar Cristancho Mercado, Valencia’s assistant vice president for budgets and analysis, who also serves on the executive board of directors for the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce for Metro Orlando.

“Encouraging our Hispanic youth to continue their academic goals, this scholarship will help students achieve their career goals,” said Guillermo Hansen, publisher of the El Osceola Star newspaper, the founder of the Hispanic Heritage Scholarship Fund of Metro Orlando and a trustee at Valencia College. “We very much appreciate this generous contribution.”

"As someone with Cuban heritage, I am pleased to see John Crossman endowing a scholarship in real estate at Valencia College,” said Francisco Gonzalez, host of the “Agents of Innovation” podcast. “One of the main reasons my father and grandparents left Cuba was because private property rights were taken away from the people. Those rights are the foundation of liberty and self-reliance.  Part of the American dream is being able to freely own and operate private property here. The Crossman Career Builders scholarship will provide those of Hispanic heritage the opportunity to build their American dream by learning the foundations of real estate at Valencia College here in the greater Orlando area."

Crossman says his goal is to inspire, motivate and coach a new generation of entrepreneurs and leaders in one of the most challenging times in American history.

Son of the late pastor and noted civil rights advocate, Rev. Kenneth Crossman, Crossman and his family have created endowed scholarships at colleges and universities across Florida, including Crossman Career Builder Scholarships at Florida State University, University of Central Florida, Florida Agricultural & Mechanical University and Bethune-Cookman University.

For more information on the scholarship or the Valencia Foundation, please visit www.valencia.org

Dream Finders Homes Opens Seaside Vista, Its New Oceanside Community in St. Johns County

Vilano Beach, FL  –Dream Finders Homes started sales of homesites at its newest luxury residential community for new single-family home construction along the ocean, south of Guana State Park, and just north of Vilano Beach in St. Johns County.   

Division President Brad Muston says the homebuilder has only 26 available 70-foot homesites for two-story homes in the intimate community.  New homes ranging from 2,013 to 3,338 square feet of living area with three to six bedrooms and three to four bathrooms plus two-car garages, are priced from the low $500,000s.

 “We are excited to offer single-family homes with luxurious upgrades and personalized features at this highly desirable St. Johns County oceanfront location,” Muston said.

Residents of the quaint community with low HOA fees have their own private boardwalk to the beach, along with convenient access to Florida A1A providing quick access to Vilano Town Center, St. Augustine and Ponte Vedra beaches, shopping and dining in historic downtown St. Augustine, Nocatee and Jacksonville.  

Seaside Vista was developed without CDD bonds meaning there are no additional CDD expenses, and it is zoned for the top-rated St. Johns County Schools.

“This is the one of the last opportunities for new home construction along the beach in St. Johns County, with outstanding value and low interest financing available,” Muston said.

For more information about building your dream home at Seaside Vista please visit www.dreamfindershomes.com or call 888-214-1164.