Only six home sites remain for sale at Gated Breckenridge in Apopka as Royal Oak Homes nears close-out

APOPKA, Fla. -- Six 70-foot home sites remain for sale at Breckenridge, the gated community of single-family homes Royal Oak Homes is building in Apopka off Boy Scout Rd. and Galway Blvd. Matt Orosz, co-president of Royal Oak Homes, said new three, four, five, six and seven-bedroom single-family homes at Breckenridge range in size from 2,200 square feet of living space to 4,700 square feet. New homes at Breckenridge are priced from the $230s. Royal Oak Homes reported it sold 309 new homes in seven communities in Central Florida in 2013.

www.sportstropolis.com launches beta version of unique online community for aspiring athletes, sports enthusiasts

Orlando, Fla. --- Sportstropolis.com, a startup company in East Orlando has launched a Beta version of its unique online community for aspiring athletes, coaches, college and pro recruiters and sports enthusiasts. Adam Clarke, chief executive officer of Sportstropolis.com, said the new online community will combine many of the functions of Facebook, LinkedIn, and other online directory services with a feature-rich environment designed to enable users to post a record of their athletic achievements from youth to adult level sports. At this time, the site is set up to target individual amateur and recreational athletes of all ages and allows them to track and record their games and events. Stat tracking is currently available only in baseball and softball. The functionality is also great for parents who can begin to essentially create a scrapbook of the games their children play. Future features will allow those users to add training techniques, practice cycles, game schedules, tournament competitions and everything in between. Team, league, and tournament functionality from all sports will also be added soon to increase the overall scope and purpose of the site. Clarke said he expects to incorporate user feedback in designing and adding new features to the Beta version of the site. “The goal of Sportstropolis.com is to allow users to freely share their stats, images, and game summaries with friends, teammates, coaches, and recruiters,” Clarke said. “Sportstropolis.com will make it easier for individual users and parents to gather and track information about their performance over time,” Clarke added. Sportstropolis.com is a member of the University of Central Florida Business Incubation Program in the Central Florida Research Park in East Orange County.

No One Talks About the Celebration Golf Experience---Except Celebration Golfers

CELEBRATION, Fla. --- Now that the season is under way, golfers at Celebration Golf Club near Walt Disney World in Osceola County are already praising what club staffers privately call the Celebration Golf Experience. But John Bixler, general manager at Celebration Golf Club, said the Celebration Golf Experience is an under-the-radar term. “It’s not something we advertise,” Bixler said. “It’s something our golfers remember when they leave, it’s why they come back again and again, but no one talks about the Celebration Golf Experience,” he said. Before the season began, Bixler put his entire staff through a rigorous customer service training program developed by the XFactor Institute, a Division of Learning Journey, Inc. Celebration Golf Club is the best golf course in Central Florida. We have groomed it to perfection and you won’t find better play anywhere,” Bixler said. “But I know 15 other golf courses here who can all say the same thing,” he explained. What sets Celebration Golf apart is the thing no one talks about. “The Celebration Golf Experience is what makes us unique,” Bixler said, “and it’s unique for every golfer. The one way we distinguish ourselves from every other golf course in Florida is the Celebration Golf Experience,” he said. It’s not supposed to overpower golfers, Bixler said. “The Celebration Golf Experience is a feeling of satisfaction. It’s the same feeling you get after a really good meal with really good company. And in a few days, it turns into a feeling of anticipation for the next Experience,” he said. Bixler said programs like his are creating what he calls the Experience Economy. “The service industry is evolving into the experience industry,” Bixler said. “It’s the next step. The age of cookie-cutter service is over. The Celebration Golf Experience requires personal, interactive and enthusiastic sets of skills that will generate an overall experience that can only be found here,” he explained. Staffers groom specific skills and follow rules to create the Celebration Experience, but Bixler won’t say what they are. “No one talks about the Celebration Golf Experience at Celebration,” Bixler said, tongue in cheek. “But our golfers talk about it. That’s when we know we’re succeeding,” he said.

Ashton Woods Homes releases last 15 home sites at Champions Forest in Tampa's Westchase area

TAMPA, Fla. --- Ashton Woods Homes has released the last 15 home sites at its Champions Forest community, located off Memorial Highway and Montague Street in Tampa’s Westchase area. Michael Roche, vice president of sales and marketing, said Ashton Woods Homes is building three and four bedroom homes at Champions Forest with two, two-and-a-half and three baths that range from approximately 1,556 to 3,205 square feet of living area. One and two-story floor plans by Ashton Woods Homes are priced from $278,990 to $383,990, Roche said. Champions Forest has a total of 91 homesites.

Ashton Woods Homes completes new model home at Palma Vista in Bradenton

TAMPA, Fla. --- Ashton Woods Homes has a new completed and decorated model home at its Palma Vista community located off Palma Sola Blvd. and Cortez Avenue in Bradenton. Michael Roche, vice president of sales and marketing at Ashton Woods Homes, said the new Floridian model offers approximately 3,544 square feet of living area with four bedrooms, three full and one half-bath, a media room plus a three-car garage, and double front porches with a breathtaking view of Palma Sola Bay. The home is priced from $484,990, Roche said. For more information, visit ashtonwoodshomes.com and search new homes for sale.

Ashton Woods Homes completes two new models at Whitaker Park in Sarasota

Sarasota, Fla. --- Ashton Woods Homes has completed two new model homes at its Whitaker Park community located off Richardson Road in Sarasota County. Michael Roche, vice president of sales and marketing for Ashton Woods Homes, said one model – the Gaspar – offers approximately 2,066 square feet of living area, three bedrooms, two full baths an oversized kitchen and family room and is priced from $280,990. The other model – the Sheffield – with approximately 3,050 square feet, four bedrooms, two-and-a-half baths, a game room and loft - is priced from $317,990. Roche said there are 82 home sites in Whitaker Park for homes ranging from approximately 1,710 to 3,050 square feet of living area, priced from $267,990 to $317,990.

Ashton Woods Homes has two ready to move in homes available at Waterset in the Tampa Bay region

TAMPA, Fla. --- Ashton Woods Homes has two move-in-ready homes available at its Waterset community located off Big Bend Road in Apollo Beach. Michael Roche, vice president of sales and marketing for Ashton Woods Homes in the Tampa Bay region, said one of the move-in ready homes offers four bedrooms, three baths with a three car garage in approximately 2,307 square feet of living area and is priced at $299,990. The other move-in-ready home at Waterset offers four bedrooms, two-and-a-half baths with a wrap around porch and approximately 2,397 square feet of living area priced at $314,990.

imediaReach® Earns Chance to “Pitch A Billionaire” Investor

ORLANDO, Fla. --- imediaReach®, the Orlando company that develops unique and innovative mobile marketing services for advertisers and national brands, has earned the chance to “Pitch a Billionaire” who might fund the company’s latest development---HDTV closed circuit broadcast of sports events to fans in the stands with mobile devices. imediaReach® co-founder and chief marketing officer, Gary Bonner, who launched the company in 2009 with his wife and partner Leslie Bonner, said a capital investor could enable imediaReach to accelerate its effort to expand nationwide. The Bonners will have two minutes on Jan. 20 to pitch their newest product---imediaReachTV™ and the imediaCast™ network---to Kanwal Rekhi of Inventus Capital Partners at Santa Fe College in Gainesville. The “Pitch a Billionaire” event, http://gainnet.org/events/so-you-think-you-can-pitch-a-billionaire, was organized by the Gainesville Area Innovation Network (GAIN) and TiE Tampa. To qualify, imediaReach developed a short YouTube film to showcase their idea. GAIN Executive Director Lee May said the pitch videos from Florida were so abundant and persuasive that Rekhi changed his travel plans to arrive early enough to meet with 15 inventors, rather than 10 as originally projected. imediaReach may have an advantage, Bonner said. “We have already developed and tested imediaReach TV and the imediaCast network at Florida sporting events,” Bonner said. “We have the product in hand and we are already moving forward with our nationwide marketing campaign directed at professional, college and high school sports leagues,” he said. Bonner said advertising revenues from in-stadium broadcasts could generate substantial additional income from sports producers who contract with television broadcasters. “imediaReachTV is a win-win-win idea and we are very excited to roll it out to a national audience,” Bonner said. imediaReach is a client company of the University of Central Florida Business Incubation Program.

NAI Realvest Negotiates Four Leases at South Park Business Center totaling 8,377 Square feet

ORLANDO, Fla. – NAI Realvest recently negotiated four new leases – two new ones and two renewals -- totaling 8,377 square feet at South Park Business Center, a flex, office and warehouse center located at 8600 Commodity Circle in Orlando. Tom R. Kelley II, CCIM, principal at NAI Realvest, brokered all four transactions on behalf of the Miami-based Landlord South Park, LLC. The tenants include: Mat Life LLC, signed a new lease for Unit 115 with 2,307 square feet; PPT Strength & Conditioning renewed its lease of Unit 116 with 2,146 square feet; Vacation Innovations LLC renewed the lease of Unit 119 with 2,094 square feet and Ding Bikes LLC, is a new tenant in unit 124 with 1,830 square feet. The 57,000 square foot business center was built in 2008.

NAI Realvest negotiates three new leases totaling 5,300 square feet in Altamonte, Maitland and Baldwin Park

ORLANDO, Fla. --- NAI Realvest recently negotiated three new lease agreements totaling 5,300 square feet at office and retail facilities in Altamonte, Maitland and Baldwin Park. Jeff Bloom, senior director at NAI Realvest, brokered all three transactions representing landlords and tenants. David’s Animal Clinic leased 3,000 square feet of retail space at 498 North S.R. 434 in Altamonte Springs from landlord Wallpaper Now, Inc. Bencor, Inc., a retirement planning firm, leased 1,027 square feet of office space in the Keewin Lexington Office Park at 175 Lookout Place off Maitland Ave. and Maitland Blvd. The landlord is Maitland Law Centre, Inc. Landlord T. Baldwin Center FL, LLC based in Dallas leased 1,272 square feet of retail space at 4832 New Broad St. in Orlando’s Baldwin Park to East Coast Floats. The Orlando-based tenant will use the premises for a flotation therapy center.