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Orlando bucks housing trend
As home values shrink nationally for a 2nd straight quarter, the local market sees gains.
Jerry W. Jackson
Sentinel Staff Writer
May 3, 2007
Homeowners nationwide saw their home values dip for a second straight quarter during the first part of this year, a private survey reported Wednesday, though homes in Metro Orlando posted a 6 percent year-over-year increase.
The report by Zillow.com uses the online company's database of more than 70 million homes and a proprietary system to estimate median values for all homes in 46 metro areas -- not just homes that recently sold. That gives the index a broader scope than the monthly and quarterly median prices reported by local, state and national Realtor groups, which are based on sales.
Nationally, the online company said, housing values in the first quarter slipped 0.83 percent compared with the first quarter of 2006 and 1.01 percent from the last quarter of last year.
But in the Orlando area, all four metro counties posted year-over-year gains in the first quarter, and Lake and Osceola even recorded small increases from the fourth quarter.
According to the Zillow index, or "Zindex," Lake County's median home value -- half were higher and half lower -- was $208,047, up 17.06 percent for the year and 2.52 percent from the last quarter of 2006.
Osceola's median rose 13.4 percent for the year to $242,848, up 1.73 percent for the quarter.
Seminole County's median of $260,832 was up 4.96 percent year-over-year and down 1.32 percent for the quarter. Orange County's median rose 3.62 percent for the year to $244,915 and was off by 0.48 percent from the previous quarter. The whole metro area had a median of $241,755, up 6.02 percent year-over-year and 0.14 percent from the previous quarter.
Volusia County, which is outside Metro Orlando, had a median of $204,652, down 2.02 percent from a year ago and down 0.32 percent from the previous quarter. Brevard County was not included in the survey.
Home sales in the Orlando area remain sluggish. Real-estate professionals say the double-digit gains of recent years are history, now that the market is resuming a more normal pace.
"Homes are selling; it's just that the numbers are not as strong. It takes more effort and more marketing," said David DeLoach, broker-owner of DeLoach Real Estate Inc. in St. Cloud.
DeLoach said he expects sales and housing prices to hold up better in Florida, particularly Central Florida, than in many other parts of the country, at least over the long term. "There are ups and downs in the market, but the things that make Florida attractive are not going to change," he said.
For now, though, certain parts of Florida are leading the nation in median-price declines, according to the Zillow estimates. The Sarasota-Bradenton area, for example, was first among the 46 metro areas examined, with a 15 percent year-over-year decline.
The median is a standard benchmark for measuring home value or price appreciation and, more rarely, depreciation, though industry specialists note that it has limitations. The median can be skewed by the mix of larger and smaller homes, or newer and older homes, sold during a given period, though it is not as susceptible to such problems as the average value or price.
Jerry W. Jackson can be reached at jwjackson@orlandosentinel.com or 407-420-5721.
Upscale hotel project unveiled
Buena Vista Corp.'s plans call for twin 30-story towers near Walt Disney World.
Christopher Boyd
Sentinel Staff Writer
November 17, 2006
An Orlando developer plans to break ground early next year on a 504-room condominium hotel near Walt Disney World that would be affiliated with the Wyndham Worldwide hotel group.
Buena Vista Corp. plans to open the hotel, with twin 30-story towers, in late 2009 on Turkey Lake Road, about a mile from Disney World. The company said the project would cost about $300 million and would contain 30,000 square feet of meeting space.
"Upscale hotel products remain in high demand," said Shamanand Maharaj, Buena Vista Corp.'s president. "Our site is close to the three major theme parks, and the hotel will cater to a mix of families and conventioneers."
The project would be the first condo hotel in the Wyndham group, occupying 11 acres in a larger mixed-use project that Buena Vista is developing.
Maharaj wouldn't say what the hotel units, which would range from 550 square feet to 1,400 square feet, would cost when they are marketed to buyers. He said Buena Vista has arranged financing for the project.
"I don't want to say what we are selling at," Maharaj said. "If someone is interested, we will be ready to talk to them."
Wyndham plans to manage the waterfront hotel, which would be its third in Central Florida.
"It's a very exciting project," said Peter Strebel, president of Wyndham Hotels and Resorts. "The large hotel rooms will offer great opportunities for families."
But Strebel said Wyndham would market the hotel as a business meeting destination.
Plans for a number of large, high-end condominium hotels, including the Blue Rose on Universal Boulevard and Palazzo del Lago on International Drive, have been announced this year. Last summer, Lodging Econometrics, which monitors hotel real estate trends, said in its latest forecast that demand for condo-hotel units in Orlando and other resort markets will soon soften.
Maharaj agreed that the market is fickle, but he said his project will be built. He said he has doubts about some others.
"The market is very trendy," Maharaj said. "If everything that is planned is built, we will all be very lucky."
Christopher Boyd can be reached at cboyd@orlandosentinel.com or 407-420-5723. Published Thursday, November 16, 2006
Posner Progress Promised
Developer tells Four Corners executives that stores at the former Baseball City complex will open in March 2008.
By MIKE GROGAN
The Reporter
FOUR CORNERS - For anyone driving past the Posner Park construction site at U.S. 27 and Interstate 4 in recent months, the view has been one of bare dirt and seemingly little progress.
That's about to change, according to Andrew Hawkins, senior vice president of Trammell Crow Co., developers of the commercial portion of the huge mixed use project.
"We're turning that earth in preparation for a grand opening in March of 2008," Hawkins said at the Nov. 8 Four Corners Update Luncheon held at The Radisson WorldGate.
It's been more than two years since the old Baseball City complex with its I-Max theater and other long-abandoned venues were demolished to make way for the project that has been characterized as being a cornerstone for future Four Corners and Polk County devel- opment once it's been completed.
The initial phase of what will eventually be a community of homes, shopping areas, movie theaters, a luxury hotel and its own downtown area, will be the retail section that Hawkins said will boast three anchor stores.
"It will be a Class A regional shopping area as good as anything in Orlando," he said. Hawkins added that he was not ready to announce the names of any of the national chain stores coming to Posner because of contractual considerations. Hawkins did say, however, that the demand from national retail outlets has been so great that there will be only a limited amount of space for locally owned stores.
And, he noted, while the grand opening for the first stores will be in March 2008, Posner Commons, the primary shopping area, will be open later that year in September, just in time for the holiday shopping season.
Hawkins presented pictures of how many of the stores will probably look, making those drawings public for the first time.
"You are the first to see them - except for the county, of course,'' he said.
The crowd Hawkins addressed was there for the Four Corners Area Council's annual fall luncheon to provide its members with an update of what's going on in the region. Formed less than two years ago, the council is a part of the Kissimmee-Osceola County Chamber of Commerce.
Also on the program was a panel discussion in which Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd, Osceola County School Superintendent Blaine Muse and Noranne Downs, the Florida Department of Transportation District Five secretary, participated.
Judd took the opportunity to announce that his plans for a sheriff's substation in Four Corners are progressing.
"We have four acres that have been donated, and the station is in the design phase," he told the crowd of more than 100 people.
The property is part of what is to be the Four Corners Town Center, a shopping mall planned for U.S. 27 and County Road 54, but not yet under construction. Judd said the current hope is that the station will open in 2009.
The sheriff also made it a point to mention that while crime in the county is at its lowest level since 1971, Four Corners has some unique problems because of the number of vacation rental homes in the area.
"Short-term rentals are very hard to police," he noted, adding that construction theft and burglaries to vacant homes are among the most common crimes in the area.
Many of those thefts, Judd said, are committed by construction workers and vacation-home management employees such as yard maintenance workers and house cleaners. He strongly urged that property managers conduct background checks on their employees.
"Sometimes our vacation managers want to ignore problems rather than solve problems," Judd said.
David Leather and Michael Eckersley, both owners of management companies, took exception to the sheriff's remarks.
"If it weren't for vacation homes, there wouldn't be a Four Corners," said Leather, owner of Hayes Vacation Homes and president of the Central Florida Property Managers Association.
"This is the first time we've heard there's a problem," Eckersley of Sunsplash Vacation Homes, added. "We will cooperate."
Both invited Judd or his representative to attend meetings of the group's professional association so they can work more closely together.
Concerning the lack of schools in Four Corners, Muse said that is an issue that has to be addressed in Osceola County in the very near future.
There is only one school in the area, the Four Corners Charter School, which draws elementary and middle school students from each of the counties that make up the region.
"We're going to be looking at three elementary schools, a middle school and a high school in the area," Muse said.
No commitment of funds has been made to get those facilities built. But Muse noted that growth in the area is such that all of those new schools will clearly be needed very soon.
And when asked if regional schools with more than one county involved in planning and funding is being considered, the superintended agreed that it's an idea the school district will have to explore.
As to road projects, Downs did not speak to any specific highway work in the area. Instead, she talked about the growing cost of road construction and how it is affecting planning.
"Of 100 projects planned across the state, 10 have been rejected as being too high (in cost)," she said.
There is a lack of available workers, she noted, which sends hiring costs up. And materials are getting more and more expensive.
"Steel, asphalt and dirt are quite high," Downs said, adding that FDOT is trying to control costs by better coordinating projects from district to district.
Orlando rated 4th best in U.S. for rental investing
Condo conversions, multifamily housing spurring growth, study finds. Orlando Business Journal - September 29, 2006
by Jenna Gough
Contributing Writer
The Orlando area is he nation's fourth best market for income growth from residential rental properties, a new study suggests.
The study by Irvine, Calif.-based Sperry Van Ness, titled "Top 10 Markets To Watch," says the Orlando area is expected to see strong population and rental growth in the next year, which will contribute to an increase in income potential for investors.
Condo conversions and multifamily housing units have been a source of attraction for investors, says Marnie Connor, senior adviser at Sperry Van Ness. "The economic fundamentals are very strong. I think they see that potential profit."
One aspect creating a bit of a headache for investors and developers, though, is the lack of properly zoned land.
"It's getting tougher and tougher for apartment developers to find sites that are in a desirable location and zoned for multifamily," says Shelton Granade, director of operations for CB Richard Ellis-Central Florida Multi-Housing Group. "There's a high demand for housing -- the supply is pretty modest."
Rents up, production down
The availability of new apartment complexes also is affecting Orlando renters.
The Orlando market's gross occupancy was 97.5 percent as of June 30, according to a MarketView Orlando Multi-Housing summary by CB Richard Ellis. The summary also shows that despite the high demand for rental housing, only 2,378 new units will be completed in 2006.
Monthly rents also are on the rise. In the last year, rents have gone up 7.7 percent, Granade says.
At the beginning of 2004, the average rent in Orlando was $747 a month. Most recently, it was $845.
Granade predicts this pattern will continue next year, too. "We have so much growth here. The demand is going to be really strong. I can see a 6-10 percent gross rent increase."
Condo conversions
The conversion of former rental properties to condominiums for sale also has contributed to the high demand for rental units, real estate observers say.
Condo converters bought 19,000 units in 2005, according to the CB Richard Ellis summary. These conversions have caused a 13 percent decrease in rental supply since 2004.
Some of these units have been brought back onto the market as rentals, but the impact has been minimal. "Some of that has happened, but not a lot of it," Granade says Orlando's ability to attract investors in rental properties is a positive step for the city's future, says John Lee, regional vice president of Seefried Properties Inc.
"My thought would be that it could only mean good things for Orlando," he says. "The more investors we have, the greater it is for the overall economy."
Lee says the interest of investors will continue to grow in Orlando, as long as the city continues to grow as well.
"It's all tied to the growth in Orlando," he says. "And I don't see the growth rate in Orlando changing anytime soon."
I-Drive: Set To Boom
By Jim Leusner
Sentinel Staff Writer
June 14, 2005
Standing in a field between the Lockheed Martin Co. plant and Orange County's new convention center annex, developer Marc Watson is laying out his vision for the 1,800 acres around him.
He sees 5,400 hotel rooms, 6,200 condos and time-shares, 2.2 million square feet of upscale shopping and a water resort, all in a setting ringed by horse pastures, a citrus grove, lakes and cypress-tree wetlands. Its name: Universal Boulevard Orlando.
To Watson, the future of the International Drive corridor lies on Universal Boulevard.
"We will clearly raise the bar on lifestyle experiences in this district," he says. "Once we raise that bar, any surrounding area [including I-Drive] will have to look at how it's going to compete . . . I think that is absolutely the best thing that could happen to this community."
County Mayor Rich Crotty cited the recent $748 million addition to the county's convention center -- now the second largest in the country -- and projections that Central Florida will attract a record 51 million tourists this year and 55 million by 2007 as reasons why he's so bullish.
"We've kind of set the stage for success," Crotty said. "And it will only get better when [Watson's] project unfolds."
A mix of old and new
As envisioned by Watson and Georgia-based developer Stan Thomas, Universal Boulevard Orlando will offer visitors a look at "old Florida" and its natural past. It will feature horseback riding, canoeing, hiking and fishing, as well as upscale hotels, restaurants and shopping.
A former Universal Studios Florida executive who helped build the cutting-edge Spider-Man and Incredible Hulk thrill rides at Islands of Adventure, Watson, 50, is the point man on the billion-dollar project. Thomas, also 50, whose company builds mega-shopping centers all over the country, is the money man. This is his first resort venture.
Their 1,800-acre parcel was sold in 1998 to Universal Studios by Lockheed Martin. It was part of 7,300 acres its predecessor company had bought in 1956 to build a missile-production plant. Watson was put in charge of a joint $50 million project to clean up chemical groundwater contamination and six dump sites -- and develop a theme-park site.
But Universal's plans died when it was taken over by a French company. Vivendi Universal sold the tract to Thomas in 2003; he then partnered with Watson to design an "urban resort" on what he considers ideally located land, five minutes off of I-Drive.
"When you look at the theme parks and Orlando, this really is Main [Street] and Main [Street]," Thomas said. "It had huge cleanup issues and risk. But we thought the upside was far greater."
Watson said a Vivendi confidentiality agreement prevents him from disclosing the purchase price, but land records show Thomas took out a $64 million mortgage to buy the land in 2003 -- and has a $128 million line of credit. So far, they have sold 110 acres to time-share and condo developers for $94.5 million, land records show.
Up to now, the developers are best known for triggering a fight with the Orange County tax assessor over an agricultural tax exemption worth more than $1.4 million a year and for becoming the center of a fight between Crotty and Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer over whether the city could annex the property.
But that will change soon, when the first stages of the project come out of the ground.
Watson and Thomas say they are aiming at the "sophisticated business traveler," vacationing families looking for "luxury resort amenities," and Central Florida residents, who they say are "essential" to the success of restaurants and shops but who traditionally haven't frequented I-Drive.
Besides time-share and residential development, their plans call for five man-made springs and a water attraction. Designer-label merchants, posh restaurants and hotels with nightly rates from $150 to $500 also are planned, most by 2012.
Plans call for linking it all together with eight miles of bicycle and walking paths, six miles of equestrian trails and seven miles of vehicle paths that will go over or under surface roads to avoid traffic. Commuter carts or mini-buses will run to the convention center on a private road.
Orlando attorney John Morgan, a partner in several hotels across the country and two I-Drive attractions, said he thinks there is a need for upscale hotels to house conventioneers. But he questions whether outdoor eco-activities will succeed in Florida's intense summer heat.
"I don't know who in the hell wants to ride horses around I-Drive in the summer," Morgan said. "We do most of our business Memorial Day to Labor Day -- and it's hot."
Others question whether much of the project will even get built. "We'll see if he can pull it off," says one skeptical area developer.
Watson, an intense, affable man who graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy with an engineering degree, accepts the challenge. "There's no chance we won't succeed," he says. " . . . I had an army of people telling me that we would never make Spider-Man or Hulk work."
And Thomas insisted he's in for the long haul. "There ain't no rush," he said. "I don't care if it takes 10 years. We're going to do it right. . . We could have blown [sold] out and gone home already. But that's not our intention."
The Watson project reminds Luann Brooks -- executive director of the I-Drive special taxing district that oversees marketing, beautification and transportation issues -- of the mid-1980s hotel and retail expansion that followed the convention center's opening.
"It's going to get bigger and better," she said. "Someone new will always be moving in. There will be new attractions on South I-Drive. I think you'll see a massive explosion."
Time-shares, condos boom
Universal Boulevard Orlando's proposed 5,400 hotel rooms -- plus the 1,500 under construction at neighboring Rosen's Shingle Creek Resort -- are just a small piece of the tourist accommodations. There are 3,500 time-shares and condo-hotel units along I-Drive today. Another 3,600 are in the planning stages, in addition to 6,200 at Watson's project; and there is talk of thousands more.
Industry leader Marriott Vacation Club International now operates 1,500 units -- assessed at nearly $506 million -- along South I-Drive and is planning to build 800 more, according to Edward Kinney, a time-share vice president. Prices range from $8,200 to $30,000 for an annual one-week stay.
Hilton Grand Vacations Club, another national brand, operates two I-Drive time-shares totaling 1,000 units, and has plans to expand. Starwood Vacation Ownership Inc., which like the Marriott and Hilton time-share divisions is headquartered in Orlando, operates 310 units in its Sheraton Vistana Villages and plans to open 1,090 more, said Vice President David Matheson.
Other developers are equally ambitious. Local time-share king David Siegel is spending $30 million to turn two failed 18-story hotel towers off North I-Drive into 408 units. And five parcels totaling 365 acres along South I-Drive are being purchased by U.S. and British groups for time-shares and condo hotels, said Susan Morris, vice president of investment sales with Colliers Arnold Commercial Real Estate Services in Orlando.
Longtime Orlando real-estate investor Maury L. Carter & Associates will buy 113 acres south of SeaWorld for a mixed-use development including more than 1,500 time-shares and condos, said Daryl Carter, the company's president. He and other brokers say investors are forsaking a stagnant stock market to buy land along all parts of I-Drive.
"If you talk to anyone in the world who is a real-estate investor and show them a map of the area, they'll recognize it," Carter said. " . . . It's irreplaceable real estate."
All this construction has potential implications for I-Drive hotels. Time-shares are being marketed to visitors who now are staying in hotels -- and some of those owners will choose to rent out their units rather than staying in them themselves. According to the Orlando/Orange County Convention & Visitors Bureau, time-shares already account for 12 percent of the room rentals in the region.
For families planning to spend a week in the area, a time-share resort can be an appealing alternative. Marriott's Grande Vista, for instance, has a professional golf school and nine-hole course, a lake with boats, four pools, tennis courts, restaurants, a convenience store, gift shops, game rooms, supervised childcare and dozens of activities for young and old, all spread over 162 acres.
"It's so much nicer [than a hotel]," said Margarette Stott, 29, an assistant lumberyard manager from Westwood, R.I., vacationing with her three children ages 18 months to 8 years. "For the kids, you can cook. With a washer and dryer, you can do wash instead of carrying 20 loads of clothes.
"It's more family-oriented. Hotels aren't like that."
Traffic woes worsening
All of this new development means more traffic. Congestion is already nightmarish at rush hour and during big-convention and tourist seasons, especially at I-Drive and Sand Lake Road. Now, traffic is becoming a problem even along the newer divided highway south of Sand Lake Road.
When nearly 105,000 homebuilders attended a four-day convention in January, there was gridlock along the two miles between the convention center and Sand Lake Road.
"It took an hour and a half to get from our [North I-Drive] hotel to the convention center," said Dee Maltese, a Virginia Beach, Va., real-estate executive, during the homebuilders show. "This area needs a monorail."
Most nights aren't nearly that bad, but traffic flow is still frustrating. North I-Drive -- much of it without turn lanes, so that left-turning drivers hold up everyone behind them -- carries 37,000 cars a day, 50 percent more than its designed capacity. The strip south of Sand Lake Road will exceed its 33,000-vehicle capacity in two years, according to a state Department of Transportation study.
"You get a congested road, you'd just as soon not be there," said DOT's Steve Homan.
Even Watson, who lives in the nearby Dr. Phillips area, drives north on Universal Boulevard and past Universal Studios to avoid Sand Lake Road traffic. "I can go home quicker through a resort than I can through Orange County streets," he said.
Watson said his project will build overpasses and underpasses to keep pedestrians from crossing roadways and causing traffic problems like the I-Drive "disasters" at the convention center, Sand Lake Road and Universal Boulevard intersections. Ultimately, he said, some kind of circulator bus or rail system will be needed to connect with his development's transport system.
But I-Drive hoteliers have rejected at least three mass-transit proposals during the past two decades. Their reasons: money to operate the system would come from the tourist tax, which hoteliers want to keep to promote tourism and the convention center, and the lengthy construction period could kill small businesses.
DOT, Orange County and two I-Drive-area government advisory boards are ranking which roads and intersections need to be widened and how to pay for them. But there is a long list -- totaling at least $160 million -- and little money. And that doesn't include a proposed extension of Kirkman Road to the Bee Line Expressway that Watson wants extended through his resort.
Better traffic management is also essential to lure more local residents to the area's restaurants and shopping. "It's hard to bring the locals to the tourist area a lot of times," said Marty Belz, whose family developed Belz outlets and still owns The Peabody Orlando hotel. "The road system [including I-4] is part of the difficulty. If it was easier, people might come from [the other] part of town."
Richard Kessler, who owns two hotels on North I-Drive and one near the convention center, said the city and county should start work now on better mass-transit solutions -- as well as sidewalk and street improvements -- if the area is to flourish as a 21st-century vacation destination.
"In the future, we're not only going to be competing with New Orleans and Chicago," he said. "We're going to be competing . . . more with Paris, Budapest and Shanghai."
Much-needed makeover
On North I-Drive, problems go well beyond traffic.
Much of the original 1.5-mile strip of North I-Drive seems stuck in time. Small-business owners say they are hurting; some shopping centers north of Kirkman Road have been knocked down or remain vacant. Several large parcels just off the strip, south of the Belz outlets, remain undeveloped and serve no one except a few long-haul truckers who park there and sleep during the day.
Though the strip has been cleaned up and improved during the past few years, some joke the makeover will last "indefinitely." The recently completed first phase of sidewalk, landscaping and street improvements was 10 years behind schedule. Up next are improved pedestrian crossings and more "streetscape" renovations.
Orange County Code Enforcement officials have assigned a full-time inspector at the request of local businesses, said manager Robert Spivey. In the past three years, 131 warnings or citations have been issued -- mainly on North I-Drive -- telling owners to remove illegal signs, move ticket booths, maintain their landscaping and pick up their trash. Inspectors even helped deputies shut down a few homeless camps behind strip centers.
"In general, we're trying to avoid that carnival-type atmosphere," said Spivey. "We're here for the conventioneer and families . . . to make the area as nice as it can be."
With Disney and even some South I-Drive hotels offering more low-cost family rates, the smaller North I-Drive hotels are feeling a squeeze. Area officials and businessmen say several of these hotels need to be refurbished and a number of strip centers need to be razed and replaced with more appealing ventures such as restaurants to attract a better clientele.
"The thing killing this part of I-Drive is there are so many dollar stores," said Ben Hammou, a Dowdy Plaza gift-shop owner since the late 1990s who said he is considering selling his store because of stiff competition. "Their prices are very cheap. And they cut our profit margin."
The same is true with the electronics shops that dot the northern strip and flank Boaz Nitzachon's Foto Outlet south of Wet 'n Wild.
"We lost a ton of business from the hurricanes," said Nitzachon, an Israeli who opened his store early last summer. " . . . We hope things will be better during the [summer] season. If there is not a big change after the season, a lot of stores will be closing."
Nitzachon said his may be one of them.
"We need to modernize this area," said Ron Dowdy, a 30-year veteran of I-Drive who owns two strip centers and leases several restaurant sites. ". . . Are we going to be dueling with the big boys at the other end? Not in five or 10 years."
Still, Dowdy is confident low-cost hotels will survive. In a few years, he said, "I could knock down buildings when the leases expire. I could build a hotel."
For now, he is keeping his options open. He's also keeping open some of his vacant land on I-Drive's backside on Canada Avenue -- just in case a rail station is built in the area.
One possible bright spot is Belz Factory Outlet World, the 24-year-old icon at the top of North I-Drive. Last month, it was bought by the parent of Prime Retail, operators of 29 upscale Prime Outlets around the country.
Prime Retail President Bob Brvenik promises a drastic makeover in 2006 for the dated complex, which is dropping the Belz name. Belz took a "major hit" when the Orlando Premium Outlets opened in June 2000 off I-Drive near Lake Buena Vista, he said, but he likes the area's potential. "There is no other market in the world like Orlando," Brvenik said. "Who else can boast 50 million visitors a year?"
And those visitors spend a lot of money. In 2003, according to the Florida Department of Revenue, the I-Drive corridor -- including Universal Studios -- generated nearly $6 billion in sales and $300 million in sales tax.
Eventually, rising land values -- and lower profits at existing businesses such as gift shops -- will trigger redevelopment along the original roadway, said Abe Pizam, dean of the University of Central Florida's Rosen College of Hospitality Management.
"I know it won't look like it does 10 years from now," Pizam said. "The value of the land is too expensive for the [small] business on it. It's like an old lady sitting on a piece of property surrounded by high-rises. How long is she going to hold out sitting on valuable land?"
Dan Tracy of the Sentinel staff contributed to this story. Jim Leusner can be reached at jleusner@orlandosentinel.com or at 407-420-5411.
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