Park Avenue in Winter Park, FL Has a "Sweet" New Shop

Edwin and Katherine Jablonskas 

 

 WINTER PARK, FL – A new jewel has taken its place in the crown that is Winter Park’s Park Avenue. But what you will find at 552 S. Park Ave. isn’t a posh clothing boutique or an upscale jeweler. AJ Chocolate House is much, much richer than that.

In more than 2,200 square feet at the corner of Park Avenue and Fairbanks, Lithuanian owners Edwin and Katherine Jablonskas offer every kind of Belgian chocolate imaginable from dreamy chocolate and raspberry truffles to velvety chocolate European cheese cups and decadent cakes and desserts to smooth solid chocolate bars wrapped in edible gold. 

Algimantas “A.J.” Jablonskas 

To complement the more than 150 varieties of delectable confections priced at $2.50 each, the shop also offers fine European wines, hot chocolate, and Italian coffee.

“A family in Italy roasts this coffee specifically for us,” Jablonskas explained “ and you can ask to have our coffee prepared any way you want it: regular, latte or cappuccino and you will see its perfection served in a real cup and saucer.”

 AJ Chocolate House interior

The first of its kind in the U.S., AJ Chocolate House opened in Winter Park August 3 to crowds every weekend. Initially with a staff of 15, the steady stream of patrons led them to hire four more in mid-September. 

“The only advertising we did was just to be here and we have been completely packed every weekend,” said Edwin Jablonskas.  

The company began in 2002 in Lithuania. Edwin and his father – Algimantas “A.J.” Jablonskas –opened the first AJ Chocolate Houses in Vilnius, Lithuania. 

Since the flagship location opened in Lithuania’s capitol, 25 other AJ Chocolate Houses have opened across Lithuania and Latvia, and one is opening in Norway in October.

Jablonskas said his goal is to open a second and third location in Florida, with one large enough – perhaps 5,000 square feet – to also include a chocolate museum and enough space for the make-your-own-chocolate parties that are popular in Europe.  

With pleasing music, cozy chairs and couches with soft pillows, AJ Chocolate House offers a peaceful place to come for coffee and a chocolate or a Brussels waffle with chocolate sauce to boost your metabolism before starting the day, or a relaxing dessert and wine stop after dining at one of Park Avenue’s eateries.

 Some conduct business meetings in the soothing atmosphere, while others bring a date for fun chocolate fondue.

Patrons can peruse what seems like miles of custom-made European mahogany cabinetry that offers sparkling climate-controlled glass cases brimming with endless displays of chocolates. Shelves on one wall show off their selection of chocolate gifts, which AJ Chocolate House is known for internationally. 

A large part of AJ Chocolate House’s business is corporate gifts, which can have company logos placed on boxes and or the individual chocolates.  

 “We have been doing this in Europe for years, but it’s just beginning in the U.S.,” Jablonskas said.

Lithuanian Parliament building

“The Lithuanian Parliament alone orders 50,000 boxes of our chocolates and they go to all heads of state and delegations around the world.” Special orders usually take six to eight weeks.

Throughout Europe AJ Chocolates can be found in restaurants and hotel gift shops, and some hotels put the chocolates on guests’ pillows, he said.

The Winter Park location was abandoned for several years, having been home to a jeweler and later a coffee shop for a few weeks. When he found the space it was quite bare. Jablonskas said he invested more than he expected to achieve its elegant look today.”

Markus Lorscher

Markus Lorscher, general manager of the Peruvian restaurant a few doors down, “Mares Real Peruvian Cuisine,” agrees, “The new chocolate house is the cherry on top of Park Avenue.”

"When someone needs a gift they always think chocolate because, when you give a box of chocolates, they are happy to get it and they remember who gave it to them.”  

AJ Chocolate House is open from 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. Sunday through Wednesday, and 8 a.m. to 11 p.m. Thursday through Saturday. For more information, please  visit https://.AJChocolate.com.

 

 

CONTACT:

 

Beth Payan

Larry Vershel Communications, Inc.

2433 Lee Road

Winter Park, FL 32789

407-461-3781

Repricing in the real estate capital markets expected by next year, RECI predicts

 

John Oharenko

Chicago, IL – The Real Estate Capital Institute® reports rates in the real  estate capital markets remain at the peak levels of recent history.  

 

Investors on all sides of the real estate capital stack continue to look to policymakers for interest rate guidance, as the Fed kept rates unchanged in September. 

  While few experts expect dramatic changes in mortgage market conditions soon, many are still baffled by current investment conditions that defy conventional wisdom, including the following: 

 

Robust Housing Market:  Interest rates for homebuyers have more than doubled since the beginning of 2022, starting in the higher-six-percent range.  Yet housing prices hardly reflect any distress, as a shortage of for-sale dwellings plagues numerous markets.  Under such conditions, more buyers are squeezed out of the affordable housing market, forced to stay as long-term renters vs. homeowners.  As a result, multifamily properties continue enjoying healthy single-digit rent growth.

 New Construction Dilemma:  High construction costs and expensive financing force developers to continuously reprice deals.  During high-interest rate cycles, land values are one of the most impacted components of new construction ventures.  Few landowners holding desirable parcels will drop prices even as soft and hard costs rise.  In some cases, land costs approach as much as half the total project costs, far out of line with the more typical 15%-to-20% ratio that many developers consider more "normal."

 Negative Leverage:  Among the more controversial funding strategies in today's volatile market is negative leverage.  Yield spreads of as much as 500 basis points between debt costs and equity returns indicate that some investors believe rent growth, blended with dropping interest rates, will justify such funding strategies over the projected holding periods.

Inverted Yield Curve:  Over the past two years, the inverted yield curve confused pricing over benchmark yields.  The 10-year treasury long serves as the investment denominator for determining risk and reward tolerance priced above this safe rate.  However, the five-year treasury now acts as the new benchmark.  As a result, many lenders favor shorter-term funding opportunities in contrast to longer-term permanent debt investments.

 

Director of the Real Estate Capital Institute®, John Oharenko, believes "The real estate capital markets, in many ways, seem to be functioning upside-down.  Repricing is the real answer.  This phenomenon is expected to occur next year when more properties are refinanced or sold based on trades reflecting true debt costs. 

 

 The Real Estate Capital Institute® is a volunteer-based research organization that tracks realty rates data for debt and equity yields.  The Institute posts daily and historical benchmark rates, including treasuries and bank prime.  

 

^The   Real Estate Capital Institute^®

Chicago, Illinois USA 60622

 

CONTACT:

 

John Oharenko, Executive Director

director@reci.com / www.reci.com