Local vacancy rate rises for distribution centers

Local vacancy rate rises for distribution centers. Check it out:
(Orlando Sentinel, The (FL) (KRT) Via Thomson Dialog NewsEdge) Sep. 25--The local vacancy rate for bulk-distribution space in the second quarter was 7.88 percent, according to a survey by Greg Rebman of Rebman Properties Inc. in Winter Park.



That's was up from the end of last year, when the vacancy rate was a record-low 5.40 percent.

Rebman surveys 121 buildings totaling just less than 15 million square feet. He found no new construction during the quarter, but more than 800,000 square feet of new space has been added so far this year.

Rates for new space are being quoted in the range of $4.25 to $6.50 a square foot, according to Rebman. The largest lease deal during the period: American Hotel Register Co., an Illinois-based company, took 160,000 square feet in Cypress Park East V in south Orlando.

Levie joins TransLand

James Levie, a longtime Central Florida mortgage industry veteran, has hooked up with TransLand Financial Services Inc. as executive director of commercial lending.

Levie has his eyes on the "small balance" commercial-mortgage market. By small balance, we're generally talking loans of $5 million or less. The market for such loans last year exceeded $130 billion, surprising a lot of experts who were trying to gauge market depth, according to Levie, who is operating out of offices in Maitland.

TransLand is taking a flexible lending approach, perhaps forgoing tax returns for higher credit scores. Of course, the borrower pays an interest-rate premium, but Levie said the program provides capital to many businesses that otherwise would be shut out. "We see tremendous potential here," Levie said.

Deals

James K. Densmore and William C. Pellatt of Signature Realty Commercial recently completed deals totaling $1.99 million. The largest involved the sale of Woodie's Restaurant at 12348 W. Colonial Drive for $1.25 million. . . .

Metro Development Group has agreed to buy 1,000 acres of the 8,000-acre Clark Sherwood Ranch west of Lakeland. It's planning an 1,800-home community.

Construction

The townhome division of the Cornerstone Group plans to develop Solaris at Metro- West, a 10.8-acre urban village at 6007 Raleigh St. in Orlando. The project will include 216 homes priced from the $200,000s to the $300,000s. . . .

Brentwood Custom Homes of Altamonte Springs has 97 houses valued at more than $90 million under construction. President Mark Herring says all but five are already sold. . . .

R.L. Haines Construction did tenant build-out on a 30,000-square-foot building at 5442 Hoffner Road in southeast Orlando. Enterprise Rent-A-Car is using the building for its regional headquarters. . . .

McCree Designed and Built Right constructed the 8,000-square-foot Hughes Supply Kitchen & Bath Collection Showroom at 1155 N. Orange Ave. in Orlando. . . .

Pertree Constructors of Orlando and Jacksonville was tapped to handle $3 million in build-out work for Bank of New York at the 300 Colonial Parkway Building in Lake Mary. . . .

Madden Engineering of Maitland is providing civil engineering services for a subdivision at Marsh and Avalon roads in Orange County. . . .

ep3 Inc., a Winter Park environmental engineering company, evaluated a former gas-station site at U.S. Highways 17-92 and State Road 434 in Longwood for a bank branch.

Leasing

ConservCare Inc. of Orlando rented 6,718 square feet of office space at Lake Ellenor Business Center in south Orlando. Nick Poole and David Chapin of Grubb & Ellis/Commercial Florida represented the tenant. . . .

United Fasteners took 4,958 square feet of office/warehouse space at 9195 Boggy Creek Road in south Orange County. Robert Blackwell of NAI Realvest handled the deal. . . .

Brentwood Custom Homes leased 3,500 square feet of space in Uptown Altamonte for a home-design center. . . .

Sales

All of the residential market news isn't bad: Tarragon Corp. said it has sold out two of its Orlando-area condo communities -- Bordeaux in Ocoee and Central Park on Lee Vista in Orlando. The two projects totaled 495 units. And Fred Schaub, founder and president of Arlington Homes in Winter Park, said he sold three luxury homes totaling nearly $4.5 million in one month.

Design

Beasley & Henley Interior Design recently completed work for ABD Homes, Greater Homes and Pulte Homes. The firm also provided design services for the Westshore Yacht Club in Tampa. . . .

Burke, Hogue & Mills Architects of Lake Mary is working on the design of the Pavilion Office Park in Tampa. . . .

Cuhaci & Peterson Architects of Orlando is designing a 30,000-square-foot office/retail building at U.S. Highway 27 and Woodcrest Road in Lake County. . . .

Burke, Hogue & Mills Associates of Lake Mary is designing a softball stadium for Stetson University in DeLand. . . .

Rick Girard of Girard Environmental Services, a commercial landscaping company, has created a new division called Enhancement Services. The division targets spruce-up work for existing properties.

Finance

Thomas D. Wood and Co.'s Miami office arranged $10 million in acquisition financing for the Lucien Pointe office building in Maitland. . . .

Lake Nona, the 7,000-acre development in southeast Orlando, has opened a new information center at 9588 Narcoossee Road.

Jack Snyder can be reached at 407-420-5094 or [email protected].

Copyright (c) 2006, The Orlando Sentinel, Fla.
Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Business News.
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