Meritage Homes Has 52 Ready-to-Move-In Homes Available in Central Florida Region

ORLANDO, Fla. -- Meritage Homes now has 52 ready-to-move-in homes available in the Central Florida region. Brian Kittle, vice president at Meritage Homes in the Orlando region, said the homes are located in the homebuilder’s 17 active communities. Kittle said the ready-to-move-in homes range in price from the low $200s to the mid $500s and range from 1,650 square feet of living area to 5,111 square feet. For more information, visit www.meritagehomes.com

NAI Realvest to make Habitat for Humanity Work an annual event

ORLANDO, Fla. – NAI Realvest, which ranks as one of the region’s leading commercial real estate operating companies, turned out in force to help Habitat for Humanity refurbish a home in Pine Hills recently and the company will make it an annual event. NAI Realvest principal Kevin O’Connor said eight staff members reported for work. Their assignment: laying sod. “That’s really labor-intensive,” O’Connor said. “All of us felt it for a day or two.” But, O’Connor said, NAI Realvest staff felt some other things too. “All of us agreed we want to do this again,” O’Connor said. “There’s a real feeling of self-satisfaction.”

NAI Realvest Negotiates Office Lease Agreement for 7-Eleven Regional Office in Maitland

ORLANDO, Fla. --- NAI Realvest recently completed a new long term lease agreement with 7-Eleven Corporation for a regional office in the 800 Trafalgar Court building in Maitland Center. Tom R. Kelley II, CCIM, a principal in the firm and Associate Chris Adams negotiated the transaction representing the landlord, Maitland-based FFVA/Florida Fruit & Vegetable Association. Kelley said 7-Eleven will be using the 2,185 square foot office facility for administration and training. Gina LeMaster of Avista Retail & Development was the cooperating broker.

ICI Homes starts construction of two new model homes at Chelsea Place in Ormond Beach

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. --- ICI Homes has started construction of two new luxury model homes at Chelsea Place located off Granada Blvd. just east of I-95 in Ormond Beach. Rosemary Messina, vice president of sales and marketing at ICI Homes, said the Amelia model home offers three bedrooms and two baths in 2,046 square feet of living space with a two-car garage priced from $257,900. The Portofino model home offers three bedrooms and two baths in 2,510 square feet of living space with a two-car garage priced from $290,900. The gated community has lake view and conservation home sites available. Amenities at Chelsea Place include pocket parks, a children’s playground, a beach entry swimming pool and a clubhouse with a personal fitness center.

Royal Oak Homes names Marketing and Internet Manager

ORLANDO, Fla. --- Royal Oak Homes, based in Orlando’s Baldwin Park, has appointed John Pantuso as Marketing and Internet Manager. Matt Orosz, co-president of Royal Oak Homes, said Pantuso has more than 15 years of marketing experience.

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.