SPOTLIGHT
At its headquarters in Altamonte Springs, AdventHealth has launched one of the largest corporate solar energy projects in the state. The non-profit health system is installing 7,500 solar panels atop four buildings and two parking garages on its HQ campus. They’re expected to produce 4,200 megawatt hours of electricity annually, which AdventHealth expects will save more than $20 million over the next 20 years.
CONSTRUCTION
- A 690-unit apartment community called Tomoka Village South is under construction along LPGA Boulevard in Daytona Beach, near a shopping center called Ridgewood Park that’s also under construction. Orlando-based homebuilder Park Square Homes has begun construction on a community called Highfield at Twisted Oaks, which will add 130 homes to the Wildwood area just west of The Villages. Homes there will be priced in the low-$300,000s.
- The explosion of residential growth along I-4 between Orlando and Lakeland has led to heavy traffic congestion along that stretch of interstate. In response, the Florida Department of Transportation is speeding up a project to expand I-4 along 14 miles running from the tourism corridor in west Orange County through west Osceola and north Polk counties. Previously slated to be finished in roughly a quarter-century, the work on Central Florida’s busiest road will now be done in 10 years at a cost of $2.5 billion. The center median of the rebuilt interstate will include toll lanes and space for passenger rail tracks.
CONSERVATION
- Seminole County has unveiled plans to turn the old Deer Run golf course property that it owns near Casselberry into a public park featuring trails, boardwalks, wetlands and ponds. Estimated to cost about $14 million, work on the 135-acre property could begin as early as 2025. The county will hold community meetings this year to help draw up more detailed plans.
DEFENSE
- Orlando-based defense contractor JHT, which specializes in simulation training for the U.S. Navy, was acquired by a larger defense contractor, Precise Systems, which is headquartered in Maryland. The acquisition means fast-growing JHT, which employs 140 people, will be able to reach more clients with training solutions, JHT founder Jim Jardon says.
DEVELOPMENT
- Oviedo-based Sun Terra Communities has purchased roughly 1,100 acres in a growing area of Brevard County, intending to build thousands of homes and dozens of acres of commercial development. The site is on Babcock Street SE in Palm Bay, about two miles from I-95’s interchange with the St. Johns Heritage Parkway. Sunterra bought it with New York private equity firm JEN Partners for nearly $29 million. Any planned development there will still have to go through the government approval process.
HEALTH CARE
- Health First has broken ground on its Cape Canaveral Hospital and medical office building on Merritt Island. Expected to cost about $410 million, the 120-bed hospital is slated to open in early 2027. The 268,000-sq.-ft. hospital will have 25 ER treatment rooms and six operating rooms and will be built to withstand a Category 4 hurricane. The campus will be constructed 13 feet above sea level to withstand storm surge and will have an onsite power plant.
- The Veterans Administration has opened a 130,000-sq.-ft. clinic in Daytona Beach. Located east of I-95 in northern Daytona Beach, it replaced the old 62,000-sq.-ft. William V Chappell Jr. Veterans Outpatient Clinic that was located in central Daytona Beach. The clinic, which has 23 different departments, is expected to serve 21,000 veterans a year.
- Halifax Health is building a 9,000-sq.-ft. free-standing emergency department in Port Orange, along with a 7,000-sq.-ft. medical office building and a nearly 9,000-sq.-ft. multitenant commercial building. The complex, called Halifax Health at Oakwater, will be across from the Ashton Lakes subdivision. The emergency department is expected to open by the end of the year.
LOGISTICS
- Port Canaveral has deployed a huge German-built crane to help handle its increasing cargo volume. The crane weighs 696 tons and can lift up to 154 tons. It has 32 axles and 128 wheels and will stand 320 feet tall when assembled. Port Canaveral spent $7.4 million on the crane, part of which was a $2.8-million grant from the Florida Department of Transportation.
NONPROFITS
- Jay Galbraith, a longtime Central Florida leader who previously served as vice president for public affairs at Valencia College, has been named president of BRIDG, the not-for-profit, public-private partnership that’s building a semiconductor manufacturing cluster at Osceola County’s NeoCity. Galbraith’s background also includes stints at SeaWorld Entertainment, Lees-McRae College and the Pinellas Education Foundation. He succeeds John Allgair, who is transitioning back into his role as BRIDG’s chief technology officer.
REAL ESTATE
- Basis Industrial, a Boca Raton-based real estate owner that’s expanding into the Orlando market, purchased the 96,810-sq.-ft. Global Business Center, a multi-tenant industrial property near Orlando International Airport, for $19.5 million. Current tenants include Sherwin Williams, the U.S. Army, Micro- GenDX, Leak Testing, Innova, V12 Promotions and CreditMax.
RESTAURANTS
- The Great Southern Box Co. Food Hall is to open this summer in the historic Great Southern Box Co. building in Orlando's Packing District neighborhood. The building dates back to the 1930s. The food hall will have a microbrewery, 11 stalls for vendors, a raised outdoor patio and a 5,250-sq.-ft. event space. The first three vendors announced: Lo Cubano Kitchen, Poke Fin and Kayos Jamaican Grill.