Full Sail University opens video gaming competition arena

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INDUSTRIAL

• Lake County commissioners rejected plans to allow a sand-hauling operation in a 3,600-acre conservation area near Eustis.

PHILANTHROPY

• Orlando hotel magnate Harris Rosen donated $12 million to a brain cancer research initiative at the University of Florida.

RETAIL

• Winter Park-based Ruth’s Chris Hospitality Group says same-restaurant sales at company-owned locations rose 1.4%. The average check size grew 1.7% in 2018.

TECHNOLOGY

• The Seminole County Tax Collector’s Office hired a blockchain director who will serve as a liaison between the county and the state as the Legislature studies using the technology for government transactions.
• Website developer Solodev plans to expand its Orlando headquarters and add another 10 to 15 employees to the current 25.

AEROSPACE

• Firefly Aerospace, a Texas-based rocket-building startup, plans to spend $52 million to build a manufacturing facility and launching operation on the Space Coast. The company says it will employ more than 200.

REAL ESTATE

• Illinois-based developer Banner Real Estate Group has begun construction of Radius Apartments, a 13-story, 389- unit building overlooking Lake Eola in downtown Orlando.
• In a rarely used maneuver in local government, the mayor of Winter Springs in Seminole County vetoed a city council ordinance that would have imposed a three-month moratorium on apartment construction and most new commercial development.
• An Orange County Circuit Court judge blocked a local developer’s bid to build homes on the now-closed Windermere Country Club golf course.

Read more in Florida Trend's May issue.

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Tags: Central, Feature