M/I Homes starts construction of Corina model home at Lake Heiniger Estates in Apopka area

LAKE MARY, Fla. -- M/I Homes has started construction of the Corina model home at Lake Heiniger Estates, located off Orange Blossom Trail and Boy Scout Rd. at Pickford Circle and Lakeview Drive. The four-bedroom, two-and-a-half bath Corina model offers 2,971 square feet of family living area with a three-car garage. David Byrnes, area president of M/I Homes in the Orlando region, said the two-story Corina model is one of M/I Homes’ Eco Series of homes that feature unique energy-saving engineering, construction and appliances. The Corina is priced from $251,990. M/I Homes has 34 home sites at Lake Heiniger Estates including three with lake views. Homes at Lake Heiniger Estates range from 2,100 square feet of living area to 5,300 square feet and are priced from $218,000. The Corina model home will be completed and ready for viewing in early September, Byrnes said. At the same time, Byrnes said four move-in ready homes are underway with one being available in August and the three others will be ready for move in by the Fall.

Lennar Homes to Host Groundbreaking Ceremony July 24 to Mark Start of New Neighborhood at Lakewood Ranch

Bradenton, Fla. --- Lennar Homes will host a groundbreaking ceremony Wednesday, July 24, to mark the start of a new neighborhood at Lakewood Ranch, located off Lakewood Ranch Blvd. in Bradenton. Matt Devereaux, vice president of sales and marketing at Lennar Homes in Southwest Florida, said the event will be held from 10 to 11:30 a.m. and will include food and refreshments. Lennar plans to build 281 new homes at Lakewood Ranch from Lennar’s Manor Homes and Estate Homes collection. Lennar’s Manor Homes at Lakewood Ranch, priced from $299,990, range in size from the 2,245 square foot single-story Princeton floor plan with four bedrooms, two baths a three-car garage to the Oxford floor plan, a NextGenTM “home within a home” designed for families with multiple generations under one roof. Priced from $399,990, the two-story Oxford floor plan offers 3,828 square feet of living space with five bedrooms, three full baths and a half bath in the main family living area with a two-car garage. The one-bedroom, one-bath NextGen living area features its own kitchen and dining facilities, a private living room and a private one-car garage. Lennar plans to build Estate Homes at Lakewood Ranch in six distinctive designs that range from the Cambridge floor plan, priced from $369,990 with three bedrooms, two full baths and one half-bath in 2,394 square feet and a three-car garage, to the five-bedroom Chapel Hill floor plan that offers four full baths and a half-bath in 3,800 square feet. The two-story Chapel Hill floor plan has a 600 square foot bonus room and comes with a three-car garage.

NAI Realvest named exclusive leasing agent for 625,000 square foot Eagle Ridge Mall in Lake Wales

MAITLAND, Fla. --- NAI Realvest, which ranks as one of Central Florida’s most active commercial property brokers, was recently named exclusive leasing agent for the Eagle Ridge Mall in Lake Wales. The team of Paul P. Partyka, managing partner at NAI Realvest, and Sales Associate Juan Jimenez, will be handling the leasing of the mall for the new Dallas-based owner, the Tabani Group, Inc., who appointed NAI Realvest as listing agent for the Mall. The 625,000 square foot mall, located on U.S. 27 in Lake Wales, will offer aggressive lease rates for new tenants. “A key priority is to attract restaurant operations along with making Eagle Ridge the center for community activities,” Partyka said.

Hendricks-Berkadia Negotiates Portfolio Sale of Five Apartment Communities in Mobile, Ala for $98 million

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. --- Hendricks-Berkadia Apartment Real Estate Advisors, one of the nation’s largest and most active multifamily investment banking and research companies, recently participated in negotiating of the sale of five apartment communities in Mobile, Ala. for $98 million. David Oakley, senior vice president of Hendricks-Berkadia in Birmingham, said the buyer, Colony Hills Capital, an investment group based in Wilbraham, Mass. paid $98 million to acquire the portfolio of properties that includes 2,000 rental apartment units. Oakley negotiated the transaction along with Tom Hinton of Hinton Properties and Richard Weavil of The Weavil Company. “In recent months, several large corporations including France’s Airbus and Austal USA have announced plans for the investment of over $600 million into manufacturing facilities in Mobile,” Oakley said. “These announcements in connection with the already burgeoning Mobile economy point to strong demand fundamentals related to the multi-family sector,” he said. According to Hendricks-Berkadia research, positive apartment absorption trends continue in the Mobile Bay area. In 2012, the average vacancy rate for the metro area was 6.2 percent, compared to 8.6 percent a year prior. Vacancy rates are expected to hold steady well into 2013, with a 6.1 percent average for the metro area. Occupancy rates have increased 2.5 percent over the past 12 months, which should lead to significant rent growth going forward. The rental apartment properties sold include Cabana Apartments, located on Michael Blvd., Pathways Place on Pathway Place, Sandpiper on Government Blvd., Windsor Place on Airport Blvd. and Yester Oaks Townhouse Apartments on Yester Oaks Drive.

Henin Homes names Bill Traback Sales Director

WINTER PARK, Fla. --- Henin Homes, based in Winter Park and developing the luxury Riviera Bella community on the St. Johns River in DeBary, has named veteran home building professional Bill Traback as sales director. Jerome Henin, president of Henin Homes, Inc. said Traback has more than 20 years of experience in new home sales and will be overseeing sales of Henin Homes at Riviera Bella. Traback, who is a former sales executive with Ashton Woods Homes and D.R. Horton in Orlando, is also the sales operations director for New Home Star, a sales and marketing company based in Chicago with offices in Orlando.

Lennar to start Selling in New Phase at Emerson Park in Apopka

ORLANDO, Fla. --- Lennar will start sales soon of new single-family homes and town homes in the next phase at Emerson Park off Ocoee-Apopka Road near the Western Beltway (SR 429) exit in Apopka. Mark Metheny, president of Lennar’s Central Florida Division, said the new phase will include 12 town homes and 83 single-family homes. Metheny said three and four-bedroom town homes in the new phase at Emerson Park will range in size from 1,600 square feet of living space to 2,100 square feet with a two-car garage, priced from the $150s New three, four, five and six-bedroom single-family homes on 55-foot and 75-foot home sites that will range in size from 1,500 square feet to 4,200 square feet will be priced from the $180s. Metheny added that all new Lennar built homes at Emerson Park come with Lennar’s “Everything’s Included” pledge: a wide range of appliances, special features and upgrades at the one Lennar price. Emerson Park features a private community clubhouse with kitchen for entertaining, billiards room, fitness center, a junior Olympic size swimming pool, children’s playground and nature preserve areas throughout its 200 acres of wooded rolling hills. Visit www.Lennar.com.

Geocove, the Orlando Technology Firm Featured in New Book to Teach Cities, Counties How to Prepare for Disasters

ORLANDO Fla., --- Geocove, Inc., the Orlando technology firm that developed the award-winning ARM360 GIS-based disaster assessment system for local, state and regional governments and NGOs worldwide, is featured in a new book that aims to teach cities and counties how to best prepare to manage local disasters. Geocove founder and Chief Executive Officer Karyn Tareen said the book, Enabling Comprehensive Situational Awareness, was published by California-based Esri Press and is available from book retailers worldwide. Esri produces software used in more than 300,000 organizations worldwide including each of the 200 largest cities in the United States, most national governments, more than two-thirds of Fortune 500 companies, and more than 7,000 colleges and universities to help agencies and officials plan for and react to significant events. Authors Susan L. Radke, founder and president of Berkeley Geo-Research Group, Russ Johnson, public safety and homeland security director for Esri, and Jeff Baranyi, Esri’s technical lead for the public safety market, wrote the book to help government, municipal and NGO officials use GIS resources to organize and plan mitigation, preparedness, response, and recovery efforts through data management, planning and analysis, and field operations. Geocove ranks as a leading U.S. provider of scalable assessment solutions using GIS resources for emergency management, building officials, public health and other government agencies as well as utilities and other private industries. Geocove is a member of the University of Central Florida Business Incubation Program in the Central Florida Research Park in East Orange County.

UCF Business Incubator to Launch Free “Co-Working Space” Program at Daytona Beach International Airport in July

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – The University of Central Florida Business Incubation Program will observe Volusia County Entrepreneur Month by introducing a new “co-working space” program and research library at its Daytona Beach International Airport location. The incubator – a partnership between UCF, Volusia County and the Florida High Tech Corridor Council – is designed to help start-up companies as well as established businesses. The new platform, according to the program’s Daytona Beach Site Manager Connie Bernal√, provides an environment where like-minded professionals can share office and research space to help grow their businesses. “After researching some home-based businesses, we discovered a need for temporary office space so that entrepreneurs can present themselves in a professional environment, attract more clients and have access to relevant research information,” she said. In addition to the two offices that are being used for co-working space, Bernal said the incubator also will designate another office for use as a resource library complete with a controlled catalog of books, free internet access and Wi-Fi, as well as access to online libraries and databases. “We are here to help not only incubator clients, but also the Volusia County business community at large,” she said. “In many cases, having such a space available could be a critical service for growth.”

Lennar to Start Sales in Newest Phase with 24 Single-Family Homes at Heritage Hills in Clermont

CLERMONT, Fla. --- Lennar plans to start sales of 24 new single-family homes in the next phase at Heritage Hills, the homebuilder’s award-winning, gated, active adult community located on Hartwood Marsh Road south of S.R. 50 in Clermont. Mark Metheny, president of Lennar’s Central Florida Division, said the new two, three and four-bedroom homes will range in size from 1,500 square feet of living space to 2,900 square feet with two-car garages. Metheny added that all new homes at Heritage Hills come with Lennar’s “Everything’s Included” pledge: a wide range of appliances, special features and upgrades at the one Lennar price. Heritage Hills features a community center with a 19,000 square foot clubhouse, state-of-the-art fitness center, aerobics studio, along with a swimming pool, tennis courts and a basketball court. Visit www.HeritageHillsLennar.com

NAI Realvest negotiates new lease with Glass Design of Orlando for 6,000 square feet at Fleet Financial Center in Longwood

MAITLAND, Fla. – NAI Realvest recently negotiated a new industrial lease agreement for 6,000 square feet at 747 Fleet Financial Court at the Fleet Financial Center in Longwood. Michael Heidrich, principal at NAI Realvest, brokered the transaction on behalf of the landlord Fleet Financial Center, Inc. The local tenant is Vitralum Glass Solutions, Inc. doing business as Glass Design of Orlando.