Ballpark Upgrades

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SPOTLIGHT

The Daytona Beach City Council agreed to spend $30 million on upgrades as part of a new 20-year lease with the Daytona Tortugas, the minor league class A affiliate of Major League Baseball’s Cincinnati Reds. The agreement includes a pair of five-year renewals.

Renovations will be done in two phases. The first phase, estimated at $17 million, is needed to keep the ballpark in line with Major League Baseball’s current standards, according to Deputy City Manager Dru Driscoll.

“It is not a cheap thing to do. But professional baseball and the legacy of Jackie Robinson has been a cornerstone of our community,” Driscoll said during a November council meeting.

Those renovations, which will include upgrades for security, the field and clubhouses, must be completed by December of 2025.

The second phase, estimated at nearly $12 million, will focus on restaurants and other amenities that will make the ballpark more attractive both to fans and organizations interested in using the facility for concerts and other events.

That second batch of renovations, Driscoll said, are critical for the stadium’s future as a fixture in the city.

“I believe those are things that we would take on as a city to preserve Jackie Robinson Ballpark for the next 50 or 100 years. Even if the Tortugas went away, we still need to program this facility, so it doesn’t deteriorate,” he said.

The ballpark is where Jackie Robinson played his first professional baseball game while breaking Major League Baseball’s color barrier. The city sees the park as an important piece of an ongoing downtown revitalization effort that recently saw the opening of a 22.5-acre esplanade on the Halifax River.

EDUCATION

• Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University launched a drone program at its Daytona Beach campus to train students to become drone flight instructors. The wide-ranging program focuses on achieving certifications through the Association for Uncrewed Vehicle Systems International along with other key aspects of drone technology. Students learn how to design, build and repair drones through coding and 3-D printing of aircraft parts.
• The University of Central Florida received a $1.5-million grant from the National Science Foundation to look for ways to improve the efficiency of wireless networks, which require large amounts of energy to connect with smart phones, tablets and other devices. Kenle Chen, assistant professor in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, will work with researchers in California and Indiana.

REAL ESTATE

• Palm Bay-based DFI and Beverly Hills, Calif.-based Strata Capital are partnering to build a luxury condominium in Satellite Beach, along A1A Beach Boulevard near Hightower Beach Park. Sales have started for Lumena, with plans for a first tower featuring 44 residences, in two- to five-bedroom configurations starting in the $900,000 range.
• Boca Raton-based Basis Industrial purchased a pair of Central Florida properties: Winter Garden Business Park for $24.95 million and North Lake Business Park $49.59 million. The real estate firm says it’s planning renovations and upgrades for both properties.

HEALTH CARE

• AdventHealth’s Neuroscience Institute is leading a national study examining whether moderate exercise can help Alzheimer’s patients. The $11-million project, funded by the National Institutes of Health, is reevaluating participants in a clinical exercise trial launched in 2016. Researchers will explore whether regular exercise has had an impact on age-related cognitive decline and dementia.
• HCA Florida Healthcare opened a freestanding emergency room near Orlando International Airport. The $12.7-million facility, HCA Florida Airport North Emergency, is part of the hospital’s ongoing expansion in the Orlando metro area.

FINANCE

• Orlando-based accounting firm Grennan Fender was acquired by Coral Gables-based H&CO. The South Florida accounting firm said the acquisition will strengthen its expertise in financial advisory, tax planning and business consulting.
• United Community named Evan Wyant as Central Florida president. Wyant, who previously served as the market president for Truist and BB&T, will lead the bank’s commercial operations in the Orlando area.

NON-PROFITS

• With a $115,150 grant from Aetna, Second Harvest Food Bank of Central Florida is expanding its School Partnerships Program, which helps 65 local schools stock their emergency pantries with nonperishable food items to provide students and their families with nutrition they need after school and on weekends.

TECHNOLOGY

• Osceola County received $17.5 million for its NeoCity tech hub through a state workforce initiative aimed at growing Florida’s semiconductor industry. The funds will support a fifth building — equipped with a multiuse lab — on the 500- acre campus. The county and its tech hub also secured a five-year contract though the U.S. Department of Defense to support the development and evolution of microchips. The contract offers initial funding of $3.65 million with a ceiling of $120 million. Melbourne-based L3Harris Technologies is selling its commercial aviation business to the New York-based private investment firm TJC in an $800-million deal.

DOWNTOWNS

• The city of Orlando is looking to revamp the Bob Carr Theater as part of its effort to bolster the 68-acre Creative Village District west of downtown.

IN MEMORIAM

“I dedicated my life to carrying on the great traditions and philosophies of Walt Disney, and I tried very hard to do that. I think when I meet him in heaven that he’ll say ‘Good job, young man.’”

— Dick Nunis, a longtime Disney executive, in an interview with filmmaker Anthony Cortese. Nunis began his career at Disneyland in 1955 training park employees. He worked his way up the theme park’s management ranks and in 1961 helped develop Walt Disney World Resort in Florida. He continued to play an integral role in Disney’s park development and operations over the subsequent 38 years until his retirement in 1999 as chairman of Walt Disney Attractions. The man known as “Walt’s apprentice” died in December at the age of 91 in Orlando.

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