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Central Florida Business Briefs - March 2007
DAYTONA BEACH --
? Work is set to start in June on a $23-million, three-story police department headquarters at Mason Avenue and Williamson Boulevard. It will replace the Nova Road police station, which opened in 1960.
? Herbert "Tippen" Davidson Jr., president, CEO and co-editor of the Daytona Beach News-Journal, ["Paper Profits," February 2006, FloridaTrend.com] died in January at age 81 after being ill for several months.
? Volusia Properties has started construction on Islamorada, a $16-million, 12-story oceanfront condominium in Daytona Beach Shores with 54 units ranging from the $500,000s to more than $1 million.
KISSIMMEE --
? About $3.5 million in renovations will be completed this year on Americas Best Value Inn, formerly the Hawaiian Maingate Inn near Walt Disney World.
MAITLAND --
? An old Texaco station at Lake and Orlando avenues has been demolished to make way for The Village at Lake Lily, Morgan Group's planned mixed-use development with 200 condominiums, 250 apartments and 40,000 square feet of retail, office and restaurant space.
? Heathrow-based developer Wescar plans to break ground this summer on Solis, a $20-million, seven-story luxury condominium community on Keller Road along Lake Shadow. The 47 units will range from the $300,000s to $800,000s.
NEW SMYRNA BEACH --
? Bert Fish Medical Center has opened a new progress care unit that includes 12 private patient suites designed with furnishings to make patients feel at home while they're receiving critical care.
ORLANDO --
? Baker Barrios Architects has completed the design for Plus One, a mixed-use building on north Orange Avenue downtown. The 26-story building by the Weintraub Cos. and G&D Developers will include 128 condominiums as well as space for retail, offices and a 500-car garage. Construction is set to start in May and be completed by April 2009.
? The M.D. Anderson Cancer Center is renaming its thoracic center after late Orlando attorney Rod Taylor, who died of lung cancer last August after practicing law in central Florida for more than 30 years. Taylor's family donated $1 million to the center, and a golf tournament and contributions from friends raised another $30,000. The M.D. Anderson facility is part of Orlando Regional Healthcare.
? More than 2,100 students have signed up for DirectConnect, a new program that will guarantee them admission to University of Central Florida after they earn associate degrees at Brevard, Lake-Sumter, Seminole and Valencia community colleges. Traditionally, about three-fourths of graduates from the four community colleges choose UCF when they're transferring to a public university in Florida.
? The Sheraton Orlando Downtown Hotel has opened under its new brand, replacing the former Radisson on south Ivanhoe Boulevard after a $12.4-million renovation. The hotel includes 341 rooms and 20,000 square feet of meeting space and will cater to business travelers.
? Marriott Vacation Club International has opened the Marriott St. Kitts Beach Club, the Orlando-based company's first resort in the West Indies.
? MCZ/Centrum Development is selling units at Mirabella, a 304-unit gated community being converted to condominiums at International Drive near the Osceola Parkway and State Road 417. The company has handled other condo-conversion projects in south and central Florida.
? Avalon Park Associates has started construction on a $15-million, 50,000-sq.-ft. high-tech vocational education facility set to open this fall next to Timber Creek High School. Developer Beat Kahli's company is providing temporary funding until the Orange County school system can pay for the project.
ORMOND BEACH --
? Topic Motorsports Insurance, based in central Florida, has opened a Midwest sales office in the Chicago area to cater to racing tracks, teams and promoters.
OVIEDO --
? The city is surveying 150 historic buildings mostly around Lake Charm, where settlers built homes in the late 1800s before Oviedo was incorporated in 1925. The work is financed in part by a grant from the state Bureau of Historic Preservation and is expected to be completed by midyear.
SANFORD --
? Orlando Sanford International Airport will have its first on-site hotel in late 2008. Construction is expected to start this year on a five-story, 107-room Best Western on Airport Boulevard overlooking Don Knight Park at Lake Golden.
WINTER PARK --
? The Winter Park Memorial Hospital Auxiliary has established a $20,000 endowed scholarship fund that will help students of Florida Hospital's College of Health Sciences.
