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Florida Realtors® recognized a dedicated CCIM, ALC, and member of CFCAR as recipient of their annual Commercial Realtor Achievement Award on Thursday, August 22nd during the state association’s annual Convention & Trade Expo at Rosen Shingle Creek in Orlando.
The Commercial Realtor Achievement Award honors a Realtor’s lifetime of contributions to commercial activities at the local, state, national and community levels. Benjamin Crosby, CCIM, ALC, a member of the East Polk County Association of Realtors, received the 2019 Commercial Realtor Achievement Award.
He also is a member of the Central Florida Commercial Association of Realtors and the Florida Gulf Coast Commercial Association of Realtors, as well as the Greater Lake and Sumter Counties, Osceola County and Tallahassee associations.
With 37 years in the real estate industry, Crosby has served his local association in numerous ways, from teaching courses to chairing its Commercial, RPAC and Professional Standards committees, and serving as a former president of the organization.
On the state level, he teaches for the Land Institute and developed several courses for continuing education (CE) credit used by various local associations. In 2010, he received the Realtors Land Institute’s Florida Land Realtor of the Year Award as well as its Excellence in Instruction Award. He served as president of the Florida CCIM (Certified Commercial Institute Member) Chapter in 2012 and has been a trustee for Florida Realtors Political Action Committee. He has been a respected member and teacher of the REALTORS® Land Institute since 2004 having earned the Accredited Land Consultant (ALC) designation.
A long-time and passionate supporter of RPAC (the Realtors Political Action Committee) on the local, state and national levels, Crosby’s name appears on the National Association of Realtors’ D.C. “RPAC Hall of Fame.”
It's a fair question!
Who has time for all this networking and business development stuff anyway?
“In my office, we barely have time to take care of our clients. My family thinks all I do is work -- and now you want me to go out and network? When did I last get to do something just for me, anyway -- 2003? “
That’s pretty much what one CRE agent said. Ouch!
It’s a fair question, why participate, why connect, why network? Why bother? Why indeed.
It’s true… some CRE pros want the designation but are simply not interested in being a local member of any group. We thank them for their contributions and respect their choices. For majority of the rest of us, Realtor-chartered organizations and memberships in designation-related associations connect us.
Being a member of these associations allows us to grow our talent, our voice and support our community’s economic strength – and being a member of CFCAR is no different.
Thanks to the friendships and business connections I have made through the many CRE focused groups and organizations in our area, my own small brokerage business is growing and thriving! As well-connected as I have become over the years in this industry, I truly don’t think this would have been the case if I wasn’t networking and active in these professional groups.
And along the way, I have learned tons -- about how friendships can carry you through dark days; how a fellow commercial agent can push you to get back on your feet and dig deep during tough times; and how getting out and spending time with fellow industry professionals can be the key to your success.
Network and you will learn best practices; have work referred to you; allow you to stay on top of changes in your market. You will be inspired, refreshed and uplifted. And when you start to share some of your own hard won wisdom with others you will feel something exceptional. Just try it this summer, you will see!
Who has time for all this networking business? Who doesn’t?
CRE pros have their choice of numerous great events all across Central Florida over the next several quarters:
I hope to see you soon at one of these upcoming opportunities to grow, learn and do business. And when I see you, please be sure to let me know what type of leads I can send your way!
Carol Tanner, CCIM
President, Convergent Commercial and
2019 President, Central Florida Commercial Association of Realtors (CFCAR)*
*CFCAR MISSION: The mission of the Central Florida Commercial Association of REALTORS® is to protect and promote the interests of its members, provide the education, business development and recognition opportunities that will drive their success, and to make a positive, lasting impact in the communities we serve.
The Central Florida Commercial Association of REALTORS® is the premier association for REALTORS® and professionals in all segments of the commercial real estate industry who ascribe to the highest standards of ethical conduct.
Through the growth and development of its members, the Central Florida Commercial Association of REALTORS® will advance the professional practice of commercial real estate and the prosperity of the community.
Orlando Health once again is picking up land in Osceola County.
The $3.8 billion nonprofit health care provider closed on the purchase of 6.3 acres next to its $32 million, 60,000-square-foot Orlando Health Emergency Department & Medical Pavilion – Osceola County at 1001 E. Osceola Parkway in Kissimmee.
Orlando Health bought the land for $5.2 million from Orlando-based Deerfield Land Corp. and Tupperware Services Inc., entities related to Kissimmee-based Tupperware Brands Corp. (NYSE: TUP)
“Osceola County’s response to the existing Orlando Health emergency room and medical pavilion has been tremendous," Orlando Health spokeswoman Kena Lewis told Orlando Business Journal. "Orlando Health will use this additional land acquisition to serve the future health care needs of the community."
Orlando Health did not reveal how it will use the land. Its Osceola emergency room and pavilion's future phase 2 eventually will include a second 60,000-square-foot medical pavilion, which typically includes medical office space. It's possible the land eventually may include a patient tower, although that hasn't been mentioned yet.
Tupperware Services previously sold Orlando Health 14.3 acres for the emergency department in 2017 for $5.42 million.
The health care company has been buying up other land in Osceola, as well, closing on the purchase of a 28-acre parcel at 8011 Osceola Polk Line Road in Davenport near the Polk County line in May for $14.4 million. That Orlando Health property will be part of a 108-acre, mixed-use development called Reunion Village. That project, owned by Encore Capital Management, currently is seeking hotels, shops, a grocery store and other concepts to be part of a 200,000-square-foot retail center, according to a LandQwest listing on the proposed development.
Meanwhile, Orlando Health has locked up several other Central Florida properties in the past year:
Orlando Health's eight Central Florida hospitals have a total of 3,300-plus beds. It has the area’s only Level One Trauma Centers for adults and children, and is a teaching hospital system. Its hospitals are: Orlando Regional Medical Center, Dr. P. Phillips Hospital, South Seminole Hospital, Health Central Hospital, the Arnold Palmer Hospital for Children, Winnie Palmer Hospital for Women & Babies, South Lake Hospital and St. Cloud Regional Medical Center. It also has a partnership with Care Spot with 11 urgent care centers in the region. Orlando Health has several cancer centers, freestanding ERs and other medical facilities. It is one of the region's largest employers, with 23,000 workers.
Source: OBJ
A growing number of coworking spaces in downtown Orlando has forced the closure of one of the city’s original places for budding entrepreneurs to set up low-cost offices.
The downtown coworking space Catalyst will shut down Wednesday after five years, bringing to a close one of the first startup-dedicated spaces in the region.
Founder Dennis Pape said he was “saddened and disappointed” but that the Catalyst’s closure was “not a total surprise,” as he said the city will see its coworking space grow from 40,000 square feet in 2017 to more than 240,000 square feet early next year.
Catalyst has served as a local meeting site for tech and entrepreneurial events like Orlando Tech and Beer, Florida Funders and Orlando Healthcare Innovators.
When Catalyst debuted, it was one of three locally run coworking spaces downtown, along with Colab and Canvs.
But in the past five years, spaces with ownership groups outside of Central Florida have been buying up empty space downtown.
New York City-based WeWork is expected to open a three-floor, 70,000-square-foot space at the SunTrust Center, 200 S. Orange Ave., early next year.
In addition, the entire 13-floor Angebilt Building was bought early this year by Chicago’s Novel Coworking.
Pape said his building’s owners have been accommodating as he decided to shut down Catalyst. Officials with the building’s broker said the lease for the space expires Wednesday.
“Catalyst opened to create a welcoming collaborative workspace community for Orlando entrepreneurs, scale ups, creatives, independent workers and others seeking to grow their careers and businesses by working in and taking advantage of serendipitous collisions and resources in our dynamic workspace,” Pape said in a release.
The space, on the fifth floor of 1 S. Orange Ave., has hosted more than 100 companies during its time.
Pape, who said market conditions forced Catalyst’s closure, did not reach out to renew his lease, which had initially been set to expire at the end of August.
“I think while Dennis was a front-runner in coworking in Orlando, other companies have come in and were more successful,” said Brian Wilson, manager of One South Orange’s management group. “We wish nothing but the best for Dennis."
Pape has been part of a local effort to rebuild Startup Weekend Orlando, a weekend-long business building competition that has sent startups on to win national competitions for two consecutive years.
Catalyst’s signature program, VentureScaleUp, was a three-month mentorship-based program that ran 40 startups through a sort of boot camp for entrepreneurs.
In a Facebook group dedicated to Orlando’s tech community, local advocate Josh Murdock said Pape “helped create this entrepreneur tech community and supported it when others questioned it.”
Aaron Gray, managing director of the commercial real estate firm JLL, which oversees the property, said coworking space continues to be a viable option for the site.
“On a macro scale, we are strong believers of flexible workspace and the role it will play in the macro office environment, not just in Orlando but around the globe,” he said.
Source: Orlando Sentinel
SVN Saunders Ralston Dantzler Real Estate hosted the 4th annual I-4 Commercial Corridor Conference earlier this month at Florida Polytechnic University. The event featured expert speakers in local, regional and state economics and development.
The brokerage also announced a new affiliation with the SVN Shared Value Network®, a globally recognized commercial real estate brand with over 200 offices worldwide, and its SVN Florida team with offices statewide. Additionally, the company has joined forces with Saunders Real Estate to become one brokerage, SVN Saunders Ralston Dantzler Real Estate.
The I-4 Corridor’s demographic and economic growth characteristics are among the leading in the nation. Gary M. Ralston, CCIM, SIOR, managing director and broker of SVN Saunders Ralston Dantzler Real Estate opened the event with an overview of the region’s demographic strength.
Ralston noted that:
The I-4 Corridor is the demographic center of Florida.
Over 250 real estate agents, investors, and business professionals attended to learn the latest news and trends associated with the I-4 Corridor, including insights and analysis from top market experts. Dr. Randy K. Avent, president of Florida Polytechnic University, was the featured luncheon keynote speaker. He spoke of the university’s role in creating the high-tech workforce needed to ensure the area’s economic future.
Taking advantage of the university’s classroom setting, the conference offered 10 interactive breakout sessions led by 37 panelist experts.
The sessions included specialized discussions on various topics including:
Dr. Randy K. Avent, president of Florida Polytechnic University, addressed conference attendees.
The panel experts included:
Airports & Economic Impact
Entertainment
I-4 Plans & Brightline
Bob O’Malley of Virgin Train USA/Brightline, provided updates about the company’s expansion to Orlando and Tampa.
Land Panel
Opportunity Zones
Commercial Lending
FDOT/Suntrax Update
Industrial
Power Companies
To learn more about the I-4 Commercial Corridor Conference visit i4commercial.com.
Source: SRD Commercial
Lennar Corp. — the largest homebuilder in the U.S. — wants to build a massive resort-style development south of a $500 million-plus project near I-Drive.
The Miami-based company (NYSE: LEN) plans to build 240 condos, 200 townhomes and 62 single-family homes on 68 of 77.3 acres south of the mixed-use Dezerland car museum and entertainment complex, according to records obtained from the city of Orlando. Orlando Business Journal previously reported an unnamed buyer was under contract for 68 acres for a “very large resort type of project."
Lennar couldn't be reached for comment. In addition, Miami-based Southern Hill Real Estate Inc. President Randall Hill, who represents the landowner, Coral Gables-based I Drive Investors LLC, declined to comment.
The Lennar project may include a park, several lakes, pools, a lazy river component and more. Lennar, along with its engineering team, held a meeting with the city of Orlando on June 5.
CFCAR Members and Non Members gathered in the lounge at Citrus Club yesterday evening to hear from four professionals that earned a Hallmark Award this year. Not only was this a great learning event it was a networking dream - the best of the best met and discussed deals and found new deals to close. Join us in the coming months for more after work mixers and get more deals done.
A property with the longest private airplane runway in the country at 7,550 feet is on the market. Fly-in community Jumbolair is for sale for $10.5 million
“There’s a lot of history. I’m really excited to see what someone will do with this property and take it to the next level,” said Bartow McDonald IV, Managing Director of SVN Florida Commercial Real Estate. “Our client bought it, built a very large home personally, and has decided he wants to move on to the next chapter of his life and that’s why he’s selling.”
The area has had a bit of a turbulent past, having been sold to the current buyer at auction back in 2010 after court papers say previous owners stopped making payments the year before.
Located about an hour from Orlando in Marion County near Ocala, Jumbolair features 550 acres zoned for low density residential, M-1 industrial, and A1 and A3 agricultural use. In addition to the runway, there is more than 88 thousand feet of warehouse space, a mansion with a pool, a banquet hall with seating for 400, plane hangars, rental homes, apartment units, mobile homes, pastures, and more.
The 550-acre site near Ocala is adjacent to the Adena Country Club. It's home to the longest private runway in the U.S. (SVN)
“This property has more dynamics than I have ever worked on,” McDonald said. “There are 30 different assets that are income-producing.”
The runway is the property’s most unique feature and when it was first built, it cost $6 million. Runway 17FL currently has both a Visual Approach Slope Indicator System and a Precision Approach Path Indicator System. A huge 747 could land there.
“Somebody once said, putting an offer on a mile of road will get you to a few places, but a mile of runway will get you anywhere in the world,” McDonald said. “I think that’s one of the appeals of Jumbolair is not maybe the property, but what’s beyond the property and people’s ability to access anywhere in the world from their private estate. It’s just remarkable.”
Home lots with deeded runway access sold out in the first phase of Jumbolair. Actor John Travolta owns one of the original homes, often flying his since-retired Boeing 707 in and out of the neighborhood. Another 17 two to three acre estate lots with runway access are available for new residential construction.
The area of Jumbolair is very close to Adena, a multi-acre golf course and country club property which is also for sale. “I could very easily see a group having an interest in purchasing both, and doing some kind of a magnificent development,” McDonald told GrowthSpotter.
There is also potential in the former Muriel Vanderbilt Mansion and Conference Center. Once used for weddings and other events, the current owner closed it several years ago and it has been empty ever since. The conference center has a commercial kitchen and the mansion has five bedrooms, a pool, and six bathrooms and is 7,686 square feet. Two horse barns with enough stalls for at least 20 horses are nearby.
Muriel Vanderbilt was a thoroughbred horse owner and breeder and part of the well-known Vanderbilt family. She owned an 80-acre horse farm in part of what is now Jumbolair. Vanderbilt died in 1972. Arthur Jones, founder of Nautilus, also lived in the mansion. Various pieces of original Nautilus exercise machines are part of the sale.
With all of the different assets, the potential buyer could be just about anyone.
“Where’s the buyer going to come from we don’t know,” McDonald said, adding the purchaser could want a new home, a place for a plane, room for horses, development opportunities, or something else entirely. “It is a lot of it’s a lot of moving parts. It’s very dynamic. There’s lots of opportunity with it and I’m really excited. It will be fun to see where this ball bounces.”
Source: GrowthSpotter
A South Korean group — headed by global giant LG Corp. subsidiary LG Electronics Inc. — plans to build a major development in Osceola County.
The development, dubbed LG Smart Town Center, will spread over 25 to 30 acres and have up to a $500 million budget in the county’s NeoCity tech hub. The town center is part of a larger effort to bring South Korean companies to expand their U.S. presences in the 500-acre campus.
The future development will include smart homes, retail and other buildings along with innovation labs. The county and the South Korean group aim to ink a development contract by this fall, said Mark Miller chairman of NeoCity Links, an organization paid by Osceola County to recruit businesses to NeoCity.
LG couldn't be reached for comment.
“LG is by far the leading company in smart city technology in the world,” Miller said. “This has moved very quickly, and they’re very excited about doing it.”
The groundbreaking timeline isn’t known. Other details about the project will be revealed as part of the contract. Outside of LG, the South Korean group also includes Haeahn, which is South Korea’s largest architectural firm, and Pohang University of Science & Technology.
Osceola County officials — along with executives with Bridg, a Kissimmee-based tech company with a presence in NeoCity — for years have worked with South Korean firms in order to attract more investment in NeoCity.
Meanwhile, two construction projects continue at NeoCity:
Osceola County expects to bring dozens of manufacturing, technology and defense firms to NeoCity and aims to create 127,000 jobs at the site in the next 50 years. NeoCity currently has the 109,000-square-foot Center of Neovation, which is an advanced manufacturing center.
CLICK HERE TO VIEW A SLIDESHOW OF THE PROJECT
In April 2018, after 20 years of work, CFCAR Member Brad Parker realized the completion of the sale of 1,300 acres of land in Lake County. The broker-salesperson with Southern Realty Enterprises was able to close a $75 million dollar deal that will result in a heavy western expansion in Lake County.
The massive deal known as “The Hills of Mineola” closed and development of once agricultural land began a transformation that will go on for the next 10 to 15 years.
The buyer, JEN Partners, purchased the land and it was recorded April 17, 2018 under JEN FL 30 LLC, from a family whose patriarch had assembled the land decades earlier. The Legal Description covered 11 pages in the deed.
JEN Partners is now working on the construction plans for almost 400 new homes approved under phase I last year and a 297-unit apartment complex approved in 2017. Preliminary approval of another 1,700 homes is expected early this year. A developer is also working on plans for the first cluster of businesses in the project’s commercially-zoned area, which includes one large anchor store and four to five outparcels.
City planners said the actual development was approved by the county about 15 years ago, then by city officials after it was annexed into Minneola years later.
Since then, it remained dormant awaiting the completion of the Florida Turnpike Interchange, which opened in May of 2016.
“The land was mostly timber,” Parker explained, “and until the interchange opened, it was hard to get it across the finish line,”
Brad Parker explains that upon completion over the next 10 to 15 years, the Hills of Minneola will bring in up to 4,170 new residences, more than 900,000 square feet of retail or commercial services, 892,500 square feet of office space, 1,470,000 square feet of space for industrial, a hospital, a hotel, medical and research, about 520,000 square feet for a new school and other institutional development, a large park, loads of green space and a site for recreational uses still to be determined.
It has also spurred the construction of new roads, including Citrus Grove that will provide a direct connection between U.S. Highway 27 and Hancock Road. City Manager Mark Johnson said the project will provide a larger tax base for the city and a reduced tax burden for property owners, and it will boost property values of existing homes in the area while creating hundreds of high-wage jobs.
“I literally began working on this 20 years ago. I had so much time invested, I just wanted to finish the work,” Parker explained. “I love working with land, it’s the basis for all construction, the foundation of everything we do in the development side,” he added. “So, working on such a large parcel of land was fascinating and challenging.”
Parker shared that the land owner, F. Browne Gregg, died in late 2014, at the age of 92 and yet Parker continued the mission of selling the land while representing Gregg’s family.
But it wasn’t quite the same. Gregg was a World War II hero, who was promoted to Captain in 1945 after receiving the Silver Star, five additional air medals and accumulating over 37 missions. Later, Gregg’s love for engineering and construction lead him to become one of Lake County’s most recognized entrepreneurs. He built Florida Crushed Stone Company into a large corporation that included business segments in aggregates, cement, lime as well a power plant.
Recognizing that this transaction demonstrates the greatest degree of experience and dedication, complexity and/or perseverance, Brad Parker was selected as the recipient for CFCAR's Deal of the Year.
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