LENNAR BREAKS GROUND ON DEERFIELD LAKES IN PASCO COUNTY

TAMPA, Fla. – Lennar recently broke ground on its newest community of Deerfield Lakes located in Spring Hill off Suncoast Parkway and S.R. 52 in Pasco County. Mark Metheny, president of Lennar’s Central Florida Division, said there are 58 homesites in the first phase of Deerfield Village. New Lennar homes on 50- and 70-foot homesites will range from 1,721 square feet to 3,711 square feet of living area, priced from the upper $100s. Metheny said a new model home – the Simmitano – is now underway at Deerfield Village. The two-story Simmitano, with 2,562 square feet of living space debuts a new Lennar floor plan that offers four bedrooms, a loft and an upstairs bonus room, Metheny added. All Lennar homes at Deerfield Village will feature the homebuilder’s “Everything’s Included” pledge: a wide range of appliances, special features and upgrades at the one Lennar “everything’s included” price, Metheny said. Visit www.Lennar.com/Tampa

PulteGroup in South Florida Honors Top Salesperson for June

Bonita Springs, Fla. --- PulteGroup in South Florida has named Janise Turner its Top Sales Consultant for June, working out of the community of VillageWalk of Bonita Springs. Scott Mairn, vice president of sales and marketing for the South Florida Division of PulteGroup, said Turner sold the highest number of new homes among all PulteGroup communities and brands in the South Florida division which includes Pulte Homes, Centex Homes, DiVosta Homes and Del Webb brands. Turner, a Philadelphia native, has lived in South Florida 14 years and has been with PulteGroup for two years. She holds a bachelor’s degree in Business/Pre-law from Drexel University and has more than nine years of experience in the residential real estate industry. Turner currently sells new two and three-bedroom single-family homes by DiVosta Homes priced from the $190s in ten distinctive designs at VillageWalk of Bonita Springs located on Umiak Court off Bonita Beach Road S.E. east of I-75 in Bonita Springs. PulteGroup ranks as one of the nation’s largest home builders and community developers.

Ride Green Scooters in Winter Park adds electric scooters to its product lineup.

WINTER PARK, Fla. – Ride Green Scooters on West Fairbanks Ave. in Winter Park has announced the addition of Tao Tao’s ATE-501 electric scooter to the lineup of its gas-saving motor scooters. Ron Schwartz, a principal with Ride Green Scooters, says the Tao Tao electric scooter complies with Federal and Florida State statutes so that no driver’s license, registration or license plate is required. “This is great news for those who need transportation to work at a modest price, and do not have a driver’s license,” Schwartz said. Affectionately called a “DUI scooter,” the vehicle is fully automatic and goes 20 mph, requires 4-6 hours to charge its battery and goes 30 miles or more on a charge depending on the weight of the rider and the speed. The Tao Tao electric has a 500 watt electric engine, push button start, disc brakes on the front wheel and drum brakes on the rear, and it is fully ‘street legal.’ The Tao Tao electric is an exciting addition to the lineup of Ride Green’s showroom of models.

The Henin Group names Elizabeth Henin President of Henin Realty

WINTER PARK, Fla. – The Henin Group, with headquarters located in Winter Park and a luxury community in DeBary, has named Elizabeth Henin, president of its Henin Realty division. Jerome Henin, principal at The Henin Group, said Elizabeth Henin has more than 10 years of experience in real estate brokerage sales and management. Most recently she was the senior director of resale operations and brokerage services for Marriott Vacations Worldwide Corp., representing luxury brands including The Ritz-Carlton Club and Grand Residences by Marriott. Henin said she plans to expand the realty company, now located on Lee Road in Winter Park. The Henin Group also has offices in Miami and Paris.

Henin Homes Names New Sales Associate

WINTER PARK Fla. – Henin Homes has named 20-year veteran Lisa K. Lind sales associate at Riviera Bella, the luxury community Henin Homes is developing in DeBary overlooking the St. Johns River. Jerome Henin, president of Henin Homes, Inc. said Lind, who holds a degree in International Business from the University of Arizona, has more than 20 years of experience in real estate including sales and marketing. She most recently held executive positions with National Land Partners in Orlando.

Henin Homes has only one ready-to-move-in home available at Riviera Bella in DeBary

DEBARY, Fla. --- Henin Homes with headquarters in Winter Park, and developing the Riviera Bella in DeBary, has only one move-in ready home available at the luxury community. Jerome Henin, president of Henin Homes said the ready-to-move-in home – Henin Homes Darina floor plan – offers four bedrooms and two baths in a one-story design with 2,396 square feet of living area and a two-car garage priced at $329,900. Henin also said Henin Homes at Riviera Bella will close on sales of six new homes by the end of July, averaging about 2,800 square feet and priced in the $300,000 range. The award winning Riviera Bella community overlooks the St. Johns River off Fort Florida Road, west of the 17-92 / Highbanks Road intersection in DeBary. Amenities at the community include a clubhouse with pool, media and fitness centers along with a private boat ramp.

Hendricks-Berkadia Negotiates Sale of Oaks at Springville Apartments in Birmingham for $5,100,000

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. --- Hendricks-Berkadia, one of the nation’s largest and most active multifamily investment banking and research companies, recently negotiated the sale of Oaks at Springville Apartments, a 232-unit apartment community located in Birmingham, for $5.1 million. David Etchison, senior associate and David Oakley, senior vice president of Hendricks-Berkadia Alabama office negotiated the sale representing the seller, Outland Investments, LLC, an Alabama limited liability company, based in Birmingham. Oaks at Springville, constructed in 1973, has a total of 203,230 square feet of rentable living space with one- and two-bedroom apartments. The buyer was The Oaks HLD, LLC, based in San Diego, Calif.

Cloud 3C Earns Top-Ranking Partnership with Leading Global Networking & Communications Provider

Oviedo, Fla. --- Cloud 3C, a best in class provider of telecommunications solutions for businesses and government agencies, has earned the coveted Triple Crown partnership designation from ADTRAN, one of the world’s leading providers of networking and equipment to such telecommunications giants as AT&T, Verizon, CenturyLink and L3. Chris Caffera, Vice President Business Development for Cloud 3C, said ADTRAN’s Triple Crown designation signifies that Cloud 3C services are fully integrated with ADTRAN’s IP telephony, switch, router and wireless solutions. “ADTRAN’s Triple Crown designation ranks as one of the most sought-after benchmarks in the telephony industry,” Caffera said. Only 10 percent of ADTRAN’s provider partners are designated Triple Crown Partners, Caffera said. “Triple Crown certifies that Cloud 3C is the “go to” solutions provider for expert assistance in IP telephony, switch, router and wireless,” Caffera said. “We are fully capable of providing our clients with the same level of products, protocols and technology as those deployed by the giants of the telephony industry. For a small business that wants a best in class communications network, we can offer the best in the industry,” he said. As a Triple Crown Partner, Cloud 3C can offer SMB/SME and Enterprise businesses through ADTRAN lower costs of ownership, industry-leading warranties, free firmware for the life of the products and unlimited toll-free technical support, Caffera added. Cloud 3C is a member the University of Central Florida Business Incubation Program.

President of Plasmonics Inc. in Orlando to Speak at Eighth Annual Night Vision Systems Conference in Arlington, Va.

ORLANDO, Fla. --- Dr. David Shelton, president of Plasmonics Inc., the Orlando technology firm that is developing unique infrared metamaterials for use in advanced optical devices, modulators, and sensors, has been invited to lecture at the Eighth Annual Night Vision Systems Conference in Arlington, Va. July 29-31. Dr. Shelton will join several distinguished lecturers at the conference including Dr. Nibir Dhar of DARPA, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, Bernd Gerhardt of the German Ministry of Defense and Dr. Michael Thomas of Johns Hopkins University. Participants at the Eighth Annual Night Vision Systems Conference include top photonics scientists along with representatives of the U.S. Department of Defense, major defense contractors, and leaders from around the world engaged in research, development and production of electro-optics, photonics and infrared systems. Dr. Shelton said he plans to discuss some of the cutting edge work underway at Plasmonics and to focus on Plasmonics’ work in identifying electro-optics for use in infrared systems. For more information about the conference visit www.nightvisionevent.com/. For more information about Plasmonics Inc. visit www.plasmonics-inc.com/. Plasmonics is developing tunable infrared metamaterials---engineered composites with unique refractive-index characteristics. Metamaterials with tunable resonances have wide ranging potential for optical devices, modulators, and sensors. Plasmonics is a member of the UCF Business Incubation Program’s Photonics UCF campus site.

FREE ANTI-TEXTING AND DRIVING PROGRAM ATTRACTS ENTHUSIASTIC STUDENTS AT FIVE HIGH SCHOOLS

Port Orange, Fla. -- Nearly 2,500 students from five area high schools recently entered a “text-free zone” as they participated in free hands-on anti-texting and driving lessons at their respective schools. The weeklong session – for the second time running the campaign - presented by the Port Orange-based law firm of Rue, Ziffra and Caldwell, and Gary Yeoman’s Ford Lincoln in Daytona Beach – was held April 29 through May 3 at five Volusia and Flagler county high schools. Students learned first-hand the dangers of texting while driving as they got behind the wheel of a Ford Mustang that was equipped with a state-of-the-art device that simulates what happens when the driver is distracted, according to Luis Gracia a partner in the personal-injury firm. A wrecked car positioned in front of each school during the sessions set the tone. “Each time we help bring the simulator to area schools the students seem more excited to participate,” Gracia said. “That enthusiasm is just what we need to get students to take the pledge against texting and driving.” Gracia or one of the other attorneys from the firm were on hand at each session to explain to students what they’ve learned first-hand by representing cases – many of which had tragic endings – that involved texting and driving. National statistics show that 50 percent of drivers between 18 and 24 say they text while driving, and data compiled from simulated sessions throughout the United States show that nearly all of those who got behind the wheel failed after speeding, swerving and sometimes even striking simulated pedestrians. Gracia said the firm plans to team up with Gary Yeoman’s and WESH 2 again to present another free texting and driving campaign in November 2013, as well as continuing to sponsor future teen safe-driving sessions that the two companies have collaborated on in the past.