Harkins Development and Harkins Realty Stay Busy in Tough Economic Times

LEESBURG, FL – Sanford-based Harkins Realty, Inc., the commercial brokerage, leasing and property management division of Sanford-based Harkins Companies, was awarded a three-year continuing contract with the City of Leesburg to provide Real Estate Consulting and Listing Services according to Harkins Realty managing director Mark Harkins. (top left photo)



“Harkins Realty, Inc. is pleased to have been selected to provide comprehensive services to the City of Leesburg, one of Central Florida’s fastest-growing communities,” added Harkins.

(Scenic Venetian Gardens Park, Leesburg, middle left photo)

Harkins Development Wins $775,000 Contract to Build Dental Office in Ocoee, FL

OCOEE, FL – Harkins Development Corporation, the full-service development and general contracting division of Sanford-based Harkins Companies, was awarded a $775,000 contract to construct a new 6,000-square-foot medical office building containing the 3,000-square-foot dental office of Paul F. Hettinger, DMD, at 3490 Old Winter Garden Road, Ocoee, FL.

Construction is slated to commence on November 1 and completion is slated for April 2009, according to Harkins Development president Matt Harkins. The project was designed by DSI Architecture, Lake Mary, FL. The remaining 3,000 square feet of office space is available for sale or lease according to Mark Harkins, managing director of Harkins Realty, Inc.

Harkins Finishing $2.4M Bright Horizons Facility at Temple Palms, FL

ORLANDO, FL – Harkins Development Corporation, the full-service development and general contracting division of Sanford-based Harkins Companies, is wrapping up work on the new $2.4 million, three-building, 12,000-square-foot Bright Horizons Family Solutions child care and early education center located at 5171 Cypress Preserve Drive in Tampa Palms.

The project, which includes three 4,000-square-foot buildings as well as site improvements and a swimming pool, will be completed on schedule later this month according to Harkins Development president Matt Harkins. (top right photo)

The project was designed by Rojo Architects, Tampa. Based in Watertown, Massachusetts, Bright Horizons Family Solutions is the world’s leading provider of employer-sponsored child care and early education programs, serving more than 600 clients including ninety Fortune 500 companies.

Harkins Working on Lennar Homes' $6M Clubhouse at Heritage Hills in Clermont, FL

CLERMONT, FL – Harkins Development Corporation, the full-service design-build development and general contracting division of Sanford-based Harkins Companies, is under way on Lennar Homes’ new upscale $6 million, 16,000-square-foot clubhouse and related amenities at Heritage Hills in Clermont, FL. (Site map, bottom right)

Harkins’ scope of work also includes a swimming pool, gazebos, monument signs and site work, as well as basketball, bocce ball and tennis courts. Company president Matt Harkins said the 8-acre complex was designed by Tisch and Associates, Fort Myers, FL, and is slated for completion in August 2009.

Harkins Development also recently completed the community’s guardhouse and has constructed numerous residential amenity projects for Lennar Homes and other national homebuilders.

For more information, visit http://www.harkinscompanies.com/ or phone 407-323-9310.

Contact: Kenneth H. Cristol 407-774-2515

GVA Advantis Presents Third-Quarter Office and Industrial Market Reports

ORLANDO, FL--The Orlando office of GVA Advantis presents its third-quarter reports on metro's office and industrial markets.

For complete copies of the reports, please contact Shelli H. Browning, Director of Research and Marketing, GVA Advantis, Orlando, at SBrowning@gvaadvantis.com.

Industrial Market Highlights

· $6.42 Overall average asking lease rate on vacant industrial space in Orlando

· 739,093 Total square feet of 20,000sf+ industrial space currently under construction

· 1,146,570 Total square footage available for subleasing in all 11 submarkets, approximately 45% of which is located in the Airport/Southeast Orlando submarket

· 1,232 Number of industrial buildings at 20,000sf+ being tracked in Orlando’s 11 submarkets

· $66.83 Average price per square foot paid for seven Orlando area industrial properties sold during 3Q08, down from $89.32 in 2Q08

(Atlas Commerce Center, 11176 Boggy Creek Road, South Orlando, top left photo)

Investment Summary

Sales activity was extremely light in the third quarter for the industrial sector. Industrial property sales totaled $26,640,000 and averaging around $67 per square foot. This is down significantly from the second quarter’s $40 million in transactions that averaged approximately $89 per square foot, and represents a little over 50 percent of first-quarter sales transactions. The total sales represent approximately 92 percent of the original collective asking price of the six properties.

Office Market Highlights

(SoDo mixed-use project in South Downtown Orlando, bottom right rendering)

· $24.76 Class A overall average asking lease rate on direct vacant space in Orlando

· 199,681 Total square feet space leased in the 3rd quarter comprising 15 transactions each of at least 5,000 SF

· 265,561 Fewer square feet of vacancy available for lease in the Lake Mary/Heathrow/Sanford submarket over 2Q08

· 543 Number of office buildings at 15,000 SF+ being tracked in Orlando’s 12 submarkets

· $178.50 Average price per square foot paid for eight Orlando area office properties sold during 3Q08

(Discovery Tech Center II, 2710 Discovery Drive, Orlando, top right photo)

Investment Summary

In yet another sign of economic paralysis, sales transactions for the third quarter totaled only $58.6 million for eight properties. Conversely, per square foot totals were higher at $178.50 versus $153.00 in the second quarter. Year to date, office property investment sales totaled approximately $238.3 million.

Total sales in 2007 reached $783 million, which fell short of the record years of 2004 and 2005, so overall investment activity has suffered significantly and fallen dramatically in a short period of time. Per square foot sales peaked in 2007 at $209.11, which earned Orlando the number 2 spot in the Southeast region.

Florida's Existing Home, Condo Sales Increase in September 2008, According to Florida Association of Realtors(R)

ORLANDO, FL /PRNewswire/ -- For the first time in almost three years, Florida's existing home sales rose in September, noting a 24 percent increase in activity in the year-to-year comparison.

(For a complete copy of FAR's news release, please contact Marla Martin, Communications Manager, +1-407-438-1400, Ext.2326, or Jeff Zipper, Vice President of Communications, +1-407-438-1400, Ext.2314, both of Florida Association of Realtors(R) Web site: http://media.living.net/)

Last month's sales of existing condos statewide increased 11 percent in the year-to-year comparison, according to the latest housing data released by the Florida Association of Realtors(R) (FAR).

A total of 10,817 existing homes sold statewide last month, up 24 percent over the 8,725 homes sold in September 2007, according to FAR.

The last time Florida Realtors reported higher statewide existing single-family home sales was for year-end 2005, FAR records found. In July of this year, six more homes sold statewide than in July 2007, but that increase was statistically insignificant.

Fourteen of Florida's metropolitan statistical areas (MSAs) reported increased sales of existing homes in September; nine MSAs also showed gains in condo sales, marking the third month in a row that a number of markets have noted higher sales activity.

"The September sales report from the Florida Association of Realtors shows a 24 percent increase in the sales of existing homes in the state; this represents the sixth month in a row that the sales figure has exceeded its 12-month moving average (average of the previous 12 months)," says Dr. Sean Snaith, (top right photo) economist and director of the University of Central Florida Institute for Economic Competitiveness.

"This is a clear sign that the significant price declines that have occurred across the state are leading to a more rapid absorption of the housing inventory."

Snaith noted that September 2007 was a volatile time for the housing industry. "The large percentage increase of sales this September versus September 2007 is inflated by the sharp decline in sales that took place in September 2007," he explained.

"That was the month following the initial wave of global fallout precipitated by the subprime mortgage meltdown that roiled markets in August 2007."

Florida's median sales price for existing homes last month was $175,100; a year ago, it was $224,700 for a 22 percent decrease. But, looking back to September 2003, the statewide median sales price for single-family homes was $158,800 -- an increase of 10.3 percent over the five-year-period, according to FAR records. The median is the midpoint; half the homes sold for more, half for less.

The national median sales price for existing single-family homes in August 2008 was $201,900, down 9.7 percent from a year earlier, according to the National Association of Realtors(R) (NAR). In California, the statewide median resales price was $350,140 in August; in Massachusetts, it was $325,000; in Maryland, it was $295,283; and in New York, it was $225,000.

The latest housing outlook from NAR points out the importance of available credit to the mortgage market.

"Home sales will be constrained without a freer flow of credit into the mortgage market," said NAR Chief Economist Lawrence Yun (top left photo). "The faster that happens, the sooner we'll see a broad stabilization in home prices that in turn will help the economy recover."

Among the state's large to medium-size markets, the Daytona Beach MSA reported a total of 536 homes sold in September compared to 478 homes a year ago for a 12 percent increase. The existing home median sales price was $160,000; a year ago, it was $193,200 for a 17 percent decrease.

In the year-to-year comparison for the existing condo market, a total of 74 units sold in the MSA last month, up 1 percent compared to 73 condos sold the previous September.

The market's existing condo median price was $237,500; a year ago, it was $277,100 for a 14 percent decrease.