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Apopka-based Amco Development is looking to deliver a 144-bed, four-story independent living facility to lake-front land along S.R. 434 in Winter Springs.
But ahead of a June 1st meeting of the Planning & Zoning Board, city staff is recommending denial of the senior housing project — much to the surprise of the development team that’s been working on this effort since 2020.
“This project has been ongoing for almost three and a half to four years; we’ve gone through several submittal processes,” Aaron Hakim, the land developer with Amco told GrowthSpotter. “Things that were not an issue have suddenly become an issue. I don’t get it. It doesn’t make sense.”
According to plans submitted to the city, Amco wants to build a four-story structure for residents 55 and over totaling 180,348 square feet on an 8-acre piece of property near the intersection of S.R. 17-92 and SR 434.
But in order for the development to move forward as proposed, the city has to grant a conditional use permit to allow for buildings as high as four stories on the subject property. Under city code, buildings along S.R. 434 can only be as tall as three stories.
With the project scheduled to go before the city’s P&Z Board on June 1, city staff is recommending denial based on building height and Amco’s streetscaping plans.
City code requires projects along S.R. 434 to set aside 27 feet of streetscaping. The code requires a 16-foot landscape area for planting canopy trees lining the right-of-way; the applicant is proposing three feet for that purpose. The code requires a six-foot sidewalk; the applicant is proposing to maintain the existing 5-foot sidewalk, according to the staff report.
“It is staff’s opinion that the proposed density, scale, and intensity of the site are not appropriate to accommodate the necessary design amenities to mitigate against potential adverse impacts,” the city staff report reads, later adding, “A three-story building would not require a Conditional Use and therefore would likely allow the applicant to adhere to the requirements of the code, which would, in turn, allow staff to recommend approval.”
Amco is requesting a waiver to reduce the required streetscape to 14 feet in some areas.
Hakim said that some of the project site would designate as much as 40 feet for streetscaping.
He also said that the proposed four-story building height would have no impact on the parking configuration, streetscaping, or setbacks.
“We’ve talked about this years ago and have never had a derogatory response until just two months ago,” Hakim told GrowthSpotter. “We are trying to be as cordial and amenable as we can and trying to find creative ways to meet the intent of the vision plan, but there’s a reason that waivers are allowed under their code. And we believe that our site and the site-specific constraints that we have, as well as amenities and landscaping and overall aesthetics to the area, are going to be a vast improvement to the area as you come into Winter Springs.”
He said the project would also be supplying much-needed senior housing to the area. The fact the city is recommending denial of the entire project based on the waiver is “head-scratching,” Hakim said.
“We are not understanding the whole picture,” he said, adding that the company’s land-use attorney will be present at the planning and zoning meeting.
He’s hopeful the board goes against the city’s recommendation and approves the project.
The city of Winter Springs is in the midst of a temporary growth moratorium through late July. The city adopted the original moratorium in January to halt new development projects while improvements were made to its stormwater infrastructure following flooding that occurred as a result of Hurricane Ian. The commission voted on March 27 to prolong the moratorium by another 90 days to allow more time for new stormwater standards to take effect.
But the development moratorium isn’t intended to keep projects from moving through the preliminary review process and the staff report recommending denial of the Amco project doesn’t mention the moratorium.
It does, however, mention concerns over density, intensity, and compatibility.
The project’s design by Orlando-based architecture firm Eleven18 includes a two-story clubhouse in the middle of the building with two four-story residential wings on each side totaling 157,918 square feet. A surface parking lot with 158 spaces would wrap around the front of the independent living facility. The back of the building would face Lake Talmo, which encompasses the northern part of the property. Greenspace would separate the lake from the facility.
Source: GrowthSpotter
Osceola County is seeing a wave of new retail construction along its growth corridors despite high interest rates and rising construction costs.
Poinciana Lakes Plaza is the largest new build underway right now.
TCII Capital, which broke ground earlier this year on the 34-acre Poinciana Lakes Plaza in Solivita Marketplace, just closed a $46.23 million construction loan from Longline Financial.
TCII acquired the shopping center site for $6.6 million in 2022 from Taylor Morrison, which is actively developing the Stepping Stone community nearby.
The power center will have a 47,000-square-foot grocery anchor. Named tenants include Ross, TJ Maxx, Burlington, Petco, Ulta, Rack Room Shoes, Kiddie Academy, Five Below, America’s Best and Crunch Fitness, which is building a 35,000-square-foot gym. Several others have signed on for outparcels, including TD Bank, MD Now, Outback Steakhouse, Panda Express and Bojangles.
More retail centers are under construction in St. Cloud and along the Narcoossee Corridor. More stores and restaurants, including First Watch and Pollo Campero, are under construction in St. Cloud Commons.
In February, RRB Partners broke ground on the 10-acre St. Cloud Marketplace at U.S. 192 and Narcoossee Road. The neighborhood center is slated for 30,000 square feet of retail and commercial space. Tenants include a new HCA Florida free standing emergency room, as well as a 10,000-square-foot Learning Experience daycare center, a sit-down restaurant, a quick-service restaurant, a drive-thru coffee concept and a multi-tenant retail building. Marco’s Pizza and Jeremiah’s Italian Ice have already signed leases for the multi-tenant building.
The Narcoossee Commons shopping center added 30,500 square feet of new retail to the intersection of Narcoossee and Rummell roads. The strip center was built over 2021 and 2022 and is now almost leased up with tenants such as Cake Cottage, Papasan’s Vietnamese cuisine and Edward Jones Financial. St. Cloud builder/developer Lazaro Rodriguez of SPC Homes started planning the project in 2017 after selling the office building next door to focus on the new commercial center.
BluRock Commercial is also close to wrapping up construction on a 6,000-square-foot strip center at 2631 E Irlo Bronson Memorial Hwy. that will also have a new standalone La Brasa Grill restaurant.
In an unprecedented move, 38,848 acres are being preserved to protect Florida’s ecosystem, with 12 landowners behind the effort. These landowners are selling conservation easements to the State of Florida, which will place restrictions on future development.
Under these transactions, landowners retain ownership and agricultural use of land in exchange for selling the property’s development rights. This will ensure the land, wildlife and agriculture are protected forever. The State agreed to buy the conservation easements for more than $97 million.
Dean Saunders, the founder of SVN | Saunders Ralston Dantzler, brokered half of the conservation easements that were approved by the Board of Trustees of the Internal Improvement Trust Fund during the Governor & Cabinet meeting. Of the 38,848 acres sold to the State of Florida, Mr. Saunders brokered 18,427 acres totaling approximately $45 million.
“Florida is currently seeing a mass migration with over 1,100 people moving to the state each day. The state is facing pressures to balance the conservation of its natural and working agricultural land and the much-needed development to accommodate the newcomers,” said Saunders. “Conservation easements have proven to be a great tool to protect land from development and preserve critical habitats, wetlands and wildlife. I’m honored that my expertise has helped a number of landowners preserve Florida’s land for future generations.”
Saunders has been a leading force behind Florida’s conservation efforts. As a former state legislator in the 1990s, he introduced legislation that has now become known as the conservation easement program. For the last 25 years, he has been representing ranchers to secure conservation easements from the State on their land. Conservation easements allow the landowner to sell the developmental rights of their property to a qualified agency and keep the property in natural or working agricultural conditions while maintaining ownership of the land. The conservation easement guides the property’s use and protects it in perpetuity. Conservation easements are cost-effective for taxpayers because it costs less money to buy rights than the property and the state doesn’t have to pay to manage the land.
WS Development and PGIM Real Estate have acquired The Avenue Viera, a 550,000-square-foot, open-air retail center located directly off I-95 in Viera.
Massachusetts-based WS Development will assume management of the center and will share ownership with CP VENTURE FIVE – AV LLC, an entity managed by PGIM, which has owned Avenue Viera since 2006, when it purchased the retail asset from Cousins Properties, Inc. for $87.6 million.
The sales price was not disclosed.
The Avenue Viera marks WS’s third investment in the state of Florida, joining The Royal Poinciana Plaza in Palm Beach and Hyde Park Village in Tampa.
WS Development and PGIM plan to remerchandise the center, as well as host events and install public art.
Source: RE Business
National Association of Realtors® Chief Economist Lawrence Yun presented an overview of U.S. commercial real estate Tuesday as part of the 2023 REALTORS® Legislative Meetings(link is external).
Yun emphasized challenges facing the commercial real estate market brought on by tightening lending policies among many small and regional banks, which have been a key source of commercial loans. Still, due to continuing U.S. job gains, net absorption has been mostly positive nationwide, Yun said, with the apartment, industrial and retail sectors helping to keep the industry relatively stable.
"The performance of commercial real estate markets will vary across the country," Yun projected during Tuesday's Commercial Economic Issues and Trends Forum(link is external). "Markets with strong job gains will naturally hold on much better, while those with weaker job conditions will struggle to raise net occupancy."
Yun said America's apartment sector recorded 116,000 net positive absorptions in the past year, while the industrial and retail sectors added 361 million square feet and 64 million square feet, respectively, over the last 12 months. Office markets, however, saw a reduction in net absorption by 29 million square feet over the same period.
"The national office market will continue to see rises in vacancy rates due to falling demand," Yun added. "The apartment sector will record a modest uptick in vacancy due to robust new supply."
With the impact of mortgage interest rates on the housing market in focus throughout the week at NAR's conference in D.C., Yun addressed the implications of Fed decisions on nationwide commercial markets.
"The Federal Reserve's aggressive rate hikes have damaged balance sheets for regional and local banks, an important source of commercial real estate loans," he said.
Yun estimated that continual rises in rates will in part cause commercial real estate transaction volume to decline by 27% overall in 2023.
"The lack of capital, higher costs of financing and refinancing, and the weakening economy will contribute to a lower overall valuation of commercial real estate prices," Yun said. "Weaker prices will mean opportunities for those with deeper pockets to get deals done in the months and years ahead."
Yun added that appraisal values have fallen by an average of 15% from peaks in early 2022.
The National Association of Realtors® is America's largest trade association, representing more than 1.5 million members involved in all aspects of the residential and commercial real estate industries. The term Realtor® is a registered collective membership mark that identifies a real estate professional who is a member of the National Association of Realtors® and subscribes to its strict Code of Ethics.
Source: NAR
Amy Calandrino, CCIM, owner and founder of Beyond Commercial, has earned the coveted SIOR Office Designation awarded by the Society of Industrial and Office Realtors® (SIOR).
Calandrino is one of just a few women in the Orlando market with this prestigious achievement. Only the industry’s top professionals qualify for the SIOR designation.
The stringent requirements required Calandrino to complete at least five years of creditable experience in her highly specialized field of office real estate. In accordance with SIOR’s strict professional code, she demonstrated professional ability, competency, personal integrity and completed a rigorous ethics course. All this was accomplished with two toddlers underfoot while running her independent boutique brokerage.
“Delivering value to my clients is of utmost importance to me,” said Calandrino. “Earning the SIOR designation affords me significantly more resources than my peers, which translates to creating more opportunities for my clients. I can’t wait to see what my SIOR journey holds for me.”
Of the hundreds of thousands in the field worldwide, only 3,600 have qualified for the prestigious SIOR designation.
Founded in 2010 by Amy Calandrino, Beyond Commercial’s team of expert commercial real estate advisors serves business owners and investors. Their one-size-fits-one approach emphasizes earning and keeping client trust. The team handles purchase and sale transactions and leasing matters in a broad range of industries. Asset classes include office, retail, multi-family, and industrial.
Award entries will be accepted until May 24th and and the new application GREATLY SIMPLIFIES the process and can be completed ONLINE!
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EML Realty Partners, based in Jupiter, announced the acquisition of two industrial buildings located at 721 Industrial Drive in Wildwood.
The main building is an SRS Distribution Center, with the smaller building leased by Patio Inspirations. The more than 65,000 square foot property sits on about 6 acres and was purchased for $5.7 million.
“EML Realty Partners remains extremely bullish on expanding into different areas of Florida to do bigger industrial deals,” said Eric M. Levitt, founder of EML Realty Partners. “We are excited about the purchase of this property in an up-and-coming area of Central Florida with a great credit tenant. The purchase was well below replacement cost and well below market rent, too. ”
EML Realty Partners specializes in the acquisition of opportunistic commercial real estate investments, with a diverse portfolio of industrial, flex, office, retail, and entertainment properties. Founded by Eric M. Levitt, EML Realty Partners specializes in creating value on these properties after they are acquired. Prior to moving to Florida, EML Realty Partners was a very active and well-respected real estate firm in the Mid-Atlantic region.
Avison Young’s Florida Capital Markets Group has been exclusively tapped to spearhead the court-ordered sale of Monarch Ranch, a unique ±3,400-acre industrial development opportunity in Sumter County.
One of the largest vacant land sites positioned within one hour from each of the Orlando and Tampa Central Business Districts, two of the fastest-growing metro areas in the United States, the property is ideal for distribution use. The buyer will have the opportunity to construct millions of square feet of industrial space – provided the zoning and development order is approved for such use – at the convergence point of Interstate 75 and Florida’s Turnpike, which sees more than 60% of all state highway truck traffic.
Avison Young Principals Jay Ziv, John K. Crotty, Michael T. Fay, David Duckworth, and Brian de la Fé will lead the marketing and sale of the property.
“By acquiring a footprint of Monarch Ranch’s scale and connectivity at the midpoint of Florida’s fastest-growing cities, a developer will be able to create an industrial node that defines distribution and warehousing activity for the state’s central corridor and Gulf Coast as it continues its massive wave of growth,” said Ziv.
Due to its unique combination of major roadway accessibility and multimodal systems, making it an ideal distribution hub for businesses, Sumter County has earned its title of Florida’s Center of Commerce. Monarch Ranch is located between two cities – Wildwood and Coleman – and the existing future land use map designation encourages industrial use. In addition to immediate access to Interstate 75, Florida’s Turnpike, and State Road 44, the property also directly borders CSX’s main eastern seaboard freight line, allowing for potential on-site connectivity to a ±20,000-mile rail network serving 23 states.
“Florida’s industrial market continues to boom,” said Crotty. “Investor-developer and tenant demand for industrial space with connectivity to population centers has increased significantly in the past three years as the trend of southward migration to the Sunbelt accelerated with no signs of slowing down.”
Florida attracted the most significant influx of residents compared to any other U.S. state in 2022, gaining an average of 1,217 new residents daily. As a result, demand has driven rents for industrial space across virtually all Florida markets to record highs. For example, rental rates within Monarch Ranch’s immediate vicinity rose 11.1% year over year as of first-quarter 2023.
CBRE has arranged the sale of a three-building industrial portfolio totaling 241,124 square feet in Orlando.
GID Industrial purchased the property from Boston-based institutional investor TA Realty LLC.
José Lobón, Trey Barry, Frank Fallon, Royce Rose, and Alain Bonvecchio of CBRE Capital Markets represented the seller in the transaction. The Capital Markets team was assisted by David Murphy and Monica Wonus with CBRE Industrial & Logistics.
The portfolio was fully occupied by 14 tenants, including anchor tenant USPS, at the time of sale.
The 130,400-square-foot building at 10425 S. Orange Avenue is located directly adjacent to Orlando International Airport. This fully fenced property features clearance heights ranging from 22 to 27 feet, 20 front-load dock doors, one drive-in door, a brand-new roof, a guard house, 58 car parking spaces and 20 trailer parking spaces.
The 62,210-square-foot building at 523 W. Grant Street features 18-foot clearance heights, 13 front-load dock doors, one drive-in door, a brand-new roof, and 52 car parking spaces.
The 48,514-square-foot building at 444 27th Street features 18-foot clearance heights, seven front-load dock doors, four drive-in doors, a brand-new roof, and 46 car parking spaces.
The buildings at 523 W. Grant Street and 444 27th Street are located minutes from Downtown Orlando and have frontage long Interstate 4.
“Each of these infill buildings sit in Orlando’s highly desirable Southeast Orange County submarket, providing distribution users with excellent transportation linkages to South Florida via the Florida Turnpike, to Tampa and Jacksonville via Interstate 4, and the east coast of Florida using the Beachline Expressway (SR 528). The buyer will be able to capitalize on the high tenant demand and rapid rent growth we are seeing in Southeast Orlando,” said CBRE Vice Chairman José Lobón.
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