Demand for Industrial Space to Increase Thanks to E-commerce, New Distribution Intermodal Systems, Says Expert

ORLANDO, Fla. -- Demand for industrial space will increase by an estimated 250 million square feet in 2014 thanks largely to ecommerce expansion and new intermodal distribution systems, says an industrial development expert. There are and will be such new changes in this logistics sphere. George Livingston, longtime real estate investment developer and broker and chairman of NAI Realvest in Orlando also said third-party logistics is playing a greater role in ecommerce and the industry sector was more profitable last year than other logistics service providers. “Home Depot online sales increased fifty percent year over year for the past two quarters,” Livingston said. That points to the ways sticks-and-bricks stores are reaching out to consumers with online gateways. The key is faster, more efficient delivery, Livingston said. The cost of delivery is 50 percent of the cost of the logistics system. Experts estimate that ecommerce will create about 40 percent of the demand for new warehouse and distribution space in the region. “Domestic intermodal traffic is growing two to three times faster than America’s Gross Domestic Product, or GDP,” Livingston said. “That indicates significant planning and execution on the part of store retailers to tame the online beast,” he said. “Quick delivery really matters.” Intermodal deliveries offer a five to 20 percent price advantage over traditional long-haul trucking, Livingston said, and it will be used more and more to reduce costs, he explained. More rail intermodal facilities are likely to be built, given their cost advantage. Wide span cranes that increase intermodal efficiency are now part of the CSX Winter Haven facility and are examples of new technology being used to cut time and cost.

M/I HOMES NAMES VETERAN HOMEBUILDER KEVIN CLARK VICE PRESIDENT OF OPERATIONS

ORLANDO, Fla. – M/I Homes has named Kevin Clark, a seasoned home building executive with more than 25 years of experience in the industry, as vice president of operations. David Byrnes, area president of M/I Homes in the Orlando region, made the announcement about Clark who has served as division president of several homebuilding companies. Clark, a graduate of Purdue University and a certified building contractor, was most recently executive vice president of operations for Rausch Coleman Homes in Fayetteville, Ark. He formerly served as division president of Ashton Woods Homes, Colonial Homes and Beazer Homes in Orlando. Clark started his real estate career with Ryland Homes in the Tampa and Orlando divisions in the early 1980s. He was also project manager for Taylor Woodrow’s Alaqua Lakes – its first exclusive golf development in the Orlando area.

MERITAGE HOMES BREAKS GROUND AT BALDWIN COVE NEAR BALDWIN PARK

ORLANDO, Fla. --- Meritage Homes recently started site construction at its newest community Baldwin Cove located on Beach Blvd. overlooking Lake Baldwin near Baldwin Park. Brian Kittle, division vice president of Meritage Homes in the Orlando region, said the homebuilder plans to build new three, four and five-bedroom single-family homes priced from the $200s at Baldwin Cove. Sales of the new homes is expected to get underway in May.

Meritage Homes will open New Parkside Community at Dr. Phillips

ORLANDO, Fla. – Meritage Homes will host a grand opening for its community of Parkside at Dr. Phillips on Apopka-Vineland Road and Buenavista Woods Blvd. on Saturday May 3. Brian Kittle, vice president in the Orlando division, said Meritage has 198 homesites available in the first phase of Parkside, priced from the high $400s. New homes with four to seven bedrooms will range from approximately 3,306 square feet of living area to 5,260 square feet. One model, the Granada, will be ready for viewing at the grand opening, and the Cordoba model still under construction will be completed and ready in June. The Granada will offer seven bedrooms and five-and-a-half baths in 5,260 square feet of living area, priced at $706,990. The Cordoba model will offer 3,306 square feet of living area and is priced at $572,000, Kittle said. Meritage Homes builds single-family homes priced from the $200s in 17 Florida communities. Grand opening hours on May 3 will be noon to 4 p.m.

Manufacturer of Specialty Weapons Accessories Wins $10,000 Prize in Rollins College Venture Plan Competition

WINTER SPRINGS, Fla. -- IROC Tactical, the Central Florida company that designs and manufacturers specialty weapons accessories, recently won a $10,000 prize for second place in the 2014 Venture Plan Competition at the Rollins College Center for Advanced Entrepreneurship in Winter Park. Sergie Albino, president and chief executive officer of IROC Tactical, said the firm was one of eight startup companies presenting new products and business strategies to a panel of judges at Rollins College. The CEOs of all four Venture Plan Competition finalists earned their MBA Degrees from the Crummer Graduate School of Business at Rollins, Albino in 2010. Cash awards were determined based on the startup companies’ innovative new products and business plans. “We formed IROC because we are avid shooters with ideas for products tailored for our market,” Albino said. IROC Tactical’s winning product is its IROC MD, the premier muzzle device for the AR-15 platform rifle. “IROC MD was designed for serious shooters with superior performance in a highly reliable package, priced at $299.95,” Albino said. Extensive law enforcement testing of the IROC MD shows it improves accuracy and precision and controls unwanted recoil and barrel climb. While not technically a sound suppressor device, the IROC MD significantly reduces the weapon’s aural signature and most importantly concussive effects; a silent variable in hearing loss with military and law enforcement personnel. Sixty percent of veterans returning from Iraq and Afghanistan are suffering from hearing loss. This amounted to $1.1 billion in disability payments in 2011. That same year, New York forced the retirement of police officers that wore hearing aids, many due to job-related hearing loss. IROC Tactical is a client company of the UCF Business Incubator in Winter Springs. For more details, specifications, videos, shooters reports and online ordering, visit iroctactical.com/or facebook.com/IrocMuzzleBrake.

CollegeStack.com Discount Coupon Book launches online App so students can reap savings with cell phones

ORLANDO, Fla. -- CollegeStack.com discount coupon books, seemingly ubiquitous on the sprawling campus of the nation’s largest university, are going paperless. Julien Meyer, founder and chief executive officer of CollegeTKTS LLC, which produces the discount coupon books, said CollegeStack.com discount offers are now available instantly to anyone with a cell phone. “With the CollegeStack App, student users have instant access to hundreds of discounts, special offers and giveaways at local retailers, from restaurants and bars to clothing and jewelry retailers, Meyer said. "CollegeStack has always helped me save money at UCF, but their new app now gives me a tool to go out more, and spend more time with my friends,” said UCF Senior Tony Cole. “I save money just about every day using the app," Cole says. “Merchants eager to court the university’s huge student body are very generous with introductory offers as well as standing price discounts, two-for-one offers and many other incentives that can significantly reduce a students’ entertainment and food expenses,” Meyer explained. Meyer said he has been working on the CollegeStack App for several months. “With a fully digital app, students can update their coupons more frequently and we can bring more discounts to more students more frequently at significantly less cost,” Meyer explained. "The CollegeStack app provides a way to make the most out of my time at UCF, said Paul Rauch, UCF Sophomore. “I spend a lot on books and school stuff and the College-Stack app gives me a way to spend money on myself and my friends,” he added. “This is a win-win-win-win solution,” Meyer said. “We win, the students win, the merchants win and the economy prospers,” he said. collegeTKTS LLC is a client company of the UCF Business Incubation Program in the Central Florida Research Park in east Orange County.

Geocove Receives Innovative Technology Award from Virginia Emergency Management Agency

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, recently won a major state award for the design and implementation of a disaster damage assessment reporting tool in the City of Fairfax, Virginia. The Virginia Emergency Management Association presented its Innovative Technology Award to Geocove and the City of Fairfax for the system, which allows the public to report damage in real time following a storm or other disaster event using a smart phone or computer. Geocove founder and chief executive officer Karyn Tareen said City of Fairfax Emergency Coordinator Ken Rudnicki initiated the project and Geocove designed and built the regional system. “Ken worked with a number of computer software design companies on the concept and then submitted a grant request to Virginia Department of Emergency Management (VDEM) to proceed with the development for a smart phone app that would cover Northern Virginia, which is VDEM Region 7,” Tareen said. Damage and photo reports submitted by local residents who are already on the scene will be automatically directed to the local jurisdiction emergency management office, Tareen said. “We know that accurate damage assessment is the principal need following a major disaster,” Tareen said. “Emergency officials need to know how bad it is and which resources are most needed where, and the sooner they assess this information the sooner we can deliver aid to the victims,” she said. Geocove has been a world leader in the development of disaster assessment tools powered by local residents with their smart phones. “Smart phones and tablet devices are the most widespread communications devices we know and people at the scene have a tremendous opportunity to use their technology to help disaster relief agencies do their job,” Tareen said. “Our system enables residents at the scene to begin the reporting process so that the local jurisdictions can more quickly have a picture of the situation,” she explained. “This app will allow local jurisdictions working with limited resources the ability to focus those resources based on the reports by the disaster survivor’s input,” Ken Rudnicki stated. Geocove is a member of the University of Central Florida Business Incubation Program at Central Florida Research Park in East Orange County.

NAI Realvest Negotiates Sale of Maitland Office Building for new Law Office Headquarters

MAITLAND, Fla. – NAI Realvest recently negotiated the $500,000 sale price for a 5,014 square foot stand alone building at 150 Spartan Drive in Maitland. Thomas E. Hankins, CCIM, SIOR, principal at NAI Realvest, negotiated the transaction representing the sellers Ira and Mary Ehrlich of Evergreen, Colo. The Purchaser, Kane & Koltun, P.A. was represented by Jeff Gindi of Results Real Estate Partners, and plans to refurbish the building as new law office headquarters.

Kings Ridge Golf Club in Clermont Names Justin Bliss Golf Instructor

CLERMONT, Fla. --- Kings Ridge Golf Club in Clermont has named Justin Bliss golf instructor. Nick Hall, general manager at Kings Ridge Golf Club, said Bliss is a native of Boynton Beach who grew up in W. Knoxville, Tenn. where he has more than five years of experience instructing youth competitive baseball. A standout athlete in multiple sports all his life, Bliss graduated from the Golf Academy of America in Apopka, and has served the golf industry for more than 10 years, Hall said. “At Golf Academy of America, Justin finished as one of the top three golfers in eight out of 12 weekly tournaments that are part of the curriculum,” Hall said. Kings Ridge Golf Club is owned and operated by Celebration Golf Management.

DEL WEBB NAPLES STARTS CONSTRUCTION OF FOUR NEW MODEL HOMES

Ave Maria, Fla. --- Del Webb Naples, the legendary resort-style community of active adults located on Anthem Parkway off Ave Maria Blvd. has started construction of four new model homes that will open in June. Scott Mairn, vice president of sales and marketing for Del Webb’s South Florida division, said the new model homes are among nine new floor plans Del Webb Naples recently released. The new one to five bedroom homes range from the Hill Crest design with 1,133+ square feet of living space, priced from $159,990, to the 2,589+ square foot Tangerly Oak, with two to four bedrooms. Features include two- and three-car garages, Island Kitchens, tile roofs, and many options, including sunrooms and second floor lofts, Mairn added. Mairn said Del Webb Naples will host a community open house in June to showcase the new model homes as well as all the new floor plans. Each of the nine new home designs at Del Webb Naples offers five distinct exterior elevation options. Homeowners at Del Webb Naples will enjoy The Oasis Club with a resort-style swimming pool, dedicated lap pool, a spa, tennis courts, bocce ball courts, pickleball courts, an amphitheatre, state-of-the-art fitness center, a café, library, and a catering kitchen, along with an aerobics room, sauna and steam rooms, fire pit, and activity and craft rooms.