AROUND FLORIDA
News and information about projects
and activities throughout the state
Williams Company Southeast
breaks ground for new 225,000 sq. ft.
St. Cloud Commons retail center
in Kissimmee
Orlando based Williams Company Southeast says it has
broken ground for St. Cloud Commons, a new 225,000 sq.
ft. retail center on a 33-acre site at the Florida Turnpike and
U.S. 192 in Kissimmee.
Pan American Group, Miami, is the developer, and com-
pletion is scheduled for October 2017.
Live Oak Contracting to build
$28 million Gainseville apartment
complex project
apartment community is adjacent to the site of Unicorp’s
announced Griffin Farms at Midtown, a town center with
150,000 sq. ft. of retail.
Slocum Platts Architects, Orlando, designed the apart-
ments which will also feature two clubhouses, and com-
pletion is slated for June 2018. Goldman Sachs Bank USA
provided financing.
This project will mark more than 1,000 apartment units
constructed in partnership between Roger B. Kennedy Con-
struction and Unicorp National Developments over the past
four years. Most recently, in December 2016, the firms
completed the Zen Luxury Living Apartments adjacent to
the Hyatt Regency Grand Cypress in Orlando.
Miami: Developer proposes 78-story
tower at Brickell Burger King site
Live Oak Contracting, based in Jacksonville, says it has
been awarded a $28 million apartment complex in
Gainesville. The Mayfair will consist of eight three-story apartment
buildings; nine garage buildings; a clubhouse and a fitness
center totalling 385,437 sq. ft. and 243 units. In addition,
the project will include dual zone wine coolers, a swimming
pool, clock tower, electric car hook ups in select garages,
LED backlit mirrors, elevators, air conditioned corridors,
and quartz countertops in kitchens.
Mayfair Apartments Gainesville, LLC owns the project
and the architect is Fugleberg Koch, based in Winter Park.
Roger B. Kennedy Construction breaks
ground for Unicorp’s $65 million Drake
Midtown Apartments in Orlando’s Lake
Mary submarket
Orlando based Roger B. Kennedy Construction has bro-
ken ground for the Drake Midtown Apartments in Orlando’s
Lake Mary submarket for Unicorp National Developments
Inc. Valued in excess of $65 million, the five-story, 263-unit
22 – SPRING 2017 — Florida Construction News
A proposal for a new 78-story tower in Brickell has been
approved by Miami’s Urban Development Review Board
for the Karem brothers’ City Centre Properties LLC. The de-
veloper purchased the land where the fast food restaurant
(and other businesses) are located in 2006 for $6.1 million.
Between entitlements, permitting and securing ap-
provals, the developer hopes to break ground during the
middle of next year, Simon Karam told The Real Deal (TRD).
The plans call for 392 residential condo units, 66,618 sq.
ft. of retail on four floors, 464 parking spaces and bicycle
parking. Nichols Brosch Wurst Wolfe & Associates is de-
signing the LEED Silver building.
Simon and his brother Antoine Karam develop through
their firm, the Karam Group.
“We try to buy in urban, high-intensity sites,” Karam told
TRD when he purchased the gas station at 720 Southwest
Second Ave. for $8 million. He also owns the CVS an-
chored shopping strip directly behind the gas station,
which brings his total on that block to 2.23 acres.
He also has FAA approvals for 960 ft. for the site
at 10 Southwest Eighth St. It’s also surrounded by the
Related Group’s Brickell Heights and SLS Lux, three
new high-rise towers. Brickell City Centre, which
opened its 500,000 sq. ft. shops in November, has
also added a hotel, two condo towers and office
space to the area.
Focus Development begins work
on Van Dyke Commons in Lutz
General contractor Focus Development Construc-
tion Company, with offices in Tampa and Orlando, has
begun construction on the new Van Dyke Commons
retail center in Lutz.
The new 8,400 sq. ft. retail center at 17461 N. Dale
Mabry Hwy. includes four retail spaces from 1,050 sq.
ft. to 3,500 sq. ft. The contractor has completed the
site pad, and construction will begin on the shell
space. The project is scheduled to be completed in April
2017. Lehman Pipe Supply breaks ground
on a new facility with $10 million
construction loan
Wells Fargo Bank has granted a $10 million loan
to Lehman Pipe & Plumbing Supply, Inc. to begin con-
struction of a new warehouse in Miami.
General contractor Grycon recently started site
work on the 84,811 sq. ft. warehouse at 3319 36th St.
The company is preparing to relocate its long time
business from the Wynwood neighborhood, where it
sold its warehouse to Thor Equities for $41.5 million
in 2015, South Florida Business Journal has reported.
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Florida Construction News — SPRING 2017 – 23