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Central Business Briefs - Aug. 2004
Daytona Beach -- Kitson & Partners of West Palm Beach has agreed to pay $17 million to Consolidated-Tomoka Land Co. for 1,150 acres at the LPGA International golf community. The sale is a continuation of a previous deal in which Kitson bought 261 acres at LPGA for residential development.
Bill Geary and a group of investors have agreed to buy the closed Adventure Landing water park, renovate the property and reopen it. Built six years ago for $15 million, the park sold after a public auction at which there were no bidders at the minimum bid of $850,000. Geary later agreed to pay $850,000 but got Volusia County to drop its demand for $350,000 in unpaid back rent.
Deland -- BP International purchased a fabric factory in Mexico to support its netting products fabrication business. The company says it has no plans to move any fabrication from DeLand to the 25,000-sq.-ft. plant in Morelos.
Kissimmee -- Osceola County will spend $5 million to renovate the Osceola County Stadium to accommodate the national headquarters for the U.S. Specialty Sports Association. The association will lease the space for $76,000 a year, but the county will pay the group $3 for each room-night booked in Osceola hotels by participants in the group's events.
Lake Mary -- Leisure Bay Industries, a pool and spa maker, has signed a five-year lease for the 570,000-sq.-ft. former Recoton Corp. building. The company, which operates Recreational Factory Warehouse, will occupy 400,000 square feet. It has already subleased 40,000 square feet to Soule Inc., a container company based in Lutz.
Melbourne -- AirNet Communications Corp. (Nasdaq-ANCC) received $3 million in orders for its mobile communications base stations. The units will be resold to an undisclosed operator in North America.
Orlando -- Connextions Inc. has signed deals to provide technical support to users of Napster, the music download service, and to provide call-in health advice for Florida Hospital. Together, the deals led Connextions to hire an additional 40 call center employees, bringing its total employment to more than 600, and to begin construction on a second call center operation that will house Connextions Health, a facility designed to field questions for hospitals, insurance plans and healthcare organizations.
Pest-control company Truly Nolen plans to launch franchises in China, El Salvador, France, Jordan, Pakistan, the Philippines and Spain. The company will also expand in Argentina. The new operations will increase the company's presence outside the U.S. to 78 branches in 40 countries.
PainCare Holdings has acquired Dynamic Rehabilitation Centers, a Michigan spinal rehabilitation practice with four locations, for $9 million.
Hughes Supply Co. (NYSE-HUG) has signed a deal that will have Trammell Crow manage its 486 construction supply wholesale outlets in 38 states, including 144 locations in Florida. The companies did not disclose the value of the deal, which will be administered from Trammell Crow's Maitland office.
City officials have decided to stop taking reservations at the city-owned Expo Centre adjacent to the T.D. Waterhouse Center and Bob Carr Performing Arts Center. The city has decided it wants to get out of the meeting business, although it may decide in September to allow bookings in the first quarter of 2005. The facility needs to be renovated, and city officials are looking at other uses for the site.
Osecola County -- Frankly Golf and Frankly Consulting are moving from New Jersey to ChampionsGate. Founder Frank Thomas, who invented the graphite golf shaft, served as technical director to the U.S. Golf Association for 26 years.
Education
ADDING COORDINATES
ORLANDO -- Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University has opened a campus in south Orlando, one of 10 it plans to open over the next three to four years.
The Metro Center will offer bachelor of science degrees in professional aeronautics, technical management and management. It will also offer a master's of science degree and a master's of business administration. The university is also planning schools in Atlanta; Long Beach, Calif.; and Washington, D.C.
