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Central Florida Business Briefs - May 2007
DAYTONA BEACH --
» A $75.9-million project to more than double the size of the Ocean Center entertainment complex to 452,491 square feet is on schedule. County manager Jim Dineen and representatives from Ocorp Inc., which is overseeing construction, say 48% of the building contracts are with local companies. The facility is scheduled to open in mid-2008.
EUSTIS --
» Construction has started on one of the first major renovation projects in recent years in the historic downtown. The Lake Community Foundation is transforming the former Florida Hospital Waterman site into urban buildings that will house retail and office space on the ground floor with residences above. The project is expected to be built by the end of the year.
MAITLAND --
» Trevi Development plans to start construction next month on The Trevi, a luxury condominium and upscale retail and office building at north Orlando Avenue and Sybelia Avenue in downtown Maitland.
MELBOURNE --
» Harris Corp. (NYSE-HRS) has been awarded a commercial antenna contract by Alcatel Alenia Space to supply an unfurlable reflector antenna for the first European satellite, set to be in orbit by 2009. The satellite will broadcast video, radio and data to devices in France, Germany, Italy, Poland, Spain and the United Kingdom. Harris took orders for more than $100 million in unfurlable mesh antennas in 2006 from satellite manufacturers in the U.S. and Europe. The devices are stored like umbrellas for launch, deploying in orbit to create surface areas that enable communications. A local team of more than 200 engineers supports the program. Harris also has received a four-year, $33.5-million follow-on contract from ViaSat for hardware to be used in a military tactical communication system, bringing the total value of the Harris contract to $140 million.
» Aircraft manufacturer Liberty Aerospace recently passed two milestones for expanding its business globally. The company made its first shipment of a completed airplane to Australia, and it received certification for pilots to fly the planes in Indonesia.
ORLANDO --
» Morgan Stanley Real Estate is buying Orlando-based CNL Hotels & Resorts, one of the largest real estate investment trusts in the country, for $6.6 billion. The sale involves eight U.S. luxury properties, including the Ritz-Carlton and JW Marriott hotels at Grande Lakes Resort in Orlando.
» Darden Restaurants (NYSE-DRI) is building a $100-million corporate headquarters set to open in late 2009. The campus is expected to house at least 1,200 Darden employees.
» University of Central Florida professors Niels da Vitoria Lobo and Mubarak Shah have obtained a $210,600 grant from the Defense University Research Instrumentation Program to develop technology that will allow miniature unmanned spy planes to communicate with each other as part of military intelligence operations.
» The Cristal, a 24-story mixed-use development downtown, will feature a 240-room boutique hotel with a conference center, meeting space and a ballroom when it opens in 2009. Developer Concorde Eastridge and Baker Barrios Architects recently revised plans for the project, which also includes 55 condominiums, office space, retail-restaurant space
and parking.
» Royal Palm Homes has started construction on a 100-unit condominium complex on U.S. 441 north of Princeton Street near College Park. Fairview Grande has already started selling the units, which range from 1,635 to 2,120 square feet and start at $259,000, company President Albert Kodsi says.
PORT CANAVERAL --
»
The Canaveral Port Authority has opened its new headquarters, the Port Canaveral Maritime Center, in a three-story building that formerly housed Premier Cruise Lines.
