Real Estate Briefs: Cask & Larder

Design studio crafts Southern elegance

For Schmidt Design Studio, an interior design firm specializing in restaurants and bars, the challenge of creating the look and feel for Cask & Larder, a new restaurant set to open this month in Winter Park, was putting the owners' unique imprint on a landmark space. It was requested by the property owners that some of the interior elements be preserved in the 6,000-square-foot space, including a fireplace behind Cask & Larder's kitchen bar, antique bottles set atop a railroad-tie beam in the main dining room, and old cypress wall panels. The design of the 150-seat restaurant and brewery provides patrons with a sense of casual Southern elegance with white panes of weathered oak and whitewashed shutters. For more on Schmidt Design Studio, visit SchmidtDesignStudio.com

Median price, sales both hit the upswing in July

It’s another increase for the median price of existing homes sold in the Orlando area. Particularly noteworthy is that this month’s bigger median price is accompanied by an increase in sales, one of the few times this duo has appeared together in recent years.

The July 2012 median price of $125,750 is 8.87 percent higher than it was in July 2011, reports the Orlando Regional REALTOR Association (ORRA).

Steady monthly increases have driven Orlando’s median price up 16.44 percent since the beginning of the year, when it was $108,000. In addition, the median price has now posted positive year-to-year gains for 13 consecutive months.

All sales types experienced increases in median price in July. The median price of short sales increased 12.70 percent, while the median price of foreclosures increased 12.50 percent and normal sales increased 6.69 percent.

Members of ORRA participated in 2,355 home sales in July 2012, an increase of 2.66 percent compared to July 2011.

More than 48 percent of July 2012 sales were normal; short sales made up 28.20 percent and foreclosure sales made up 23.74 percent. By comparison, in July 2011 normal sales accounted for 42.41 percent, while short sales accounted for 29.42 percent and foreclosures accounted for 28.16 percent.

Homes of all types spent an average of 82 days on the market before coming under contract in July 2012, and the average home sold for 96.14 percent of its listing price. In July 2011 those numbers were 101 days and 95.07 percent, respectively.

The average interest rate paid by Orlando homebuyers in July was 3.78 percent, yet another monthly decrease, and again the lowest average interest rate since ORRA began tracking the statistic in 1989. A year ago, homebuyers paid an average interest rate of 4.53 percent.

Second Harvest to get new distribution center

On Aug. 30, a distinguished group of Second Harvest staffers and supporters witnessed the placement of a concrete foundation, which will support the food bank’s new $15 million, 100,000-square-foot distribution center. This is a significant milestone in the “Building Solutions to Hunger” capital campaign.

The Morgan & Morgan, P.A. Hunger Relief Center at Second Harvest Food Bank — to be built near the intersection of Mercy Drive and Old Winter Garden Road in Orlando — will provide hunger relief for 55,000 Central Floridians per week, including seniors, children, families and the underemployed. When the current warehouse opened in 1996, Second Harvest provided about 6 million pounds of food to the community. Last year, that figure topped nearly 36 million pounds.

New facility features will include:

• Increased warehouse space that will help provide an average of 1 million more meals for children each year

• 113 percent more dry storage capacity, doubling the ability to handle dry goods

• A 440 percent increase in refrigerated capacity to help us distribute more nutritious food

• A 330 percent increase in freezer capacity, accommodating 19 truckloads of food

• Nine in-bound dock doors, including three cool dock doors. A 450 percent increase in access that enhances food safety and allows for more donated product

• A dedicated volunteer area for groups of 100+ to sort food for families in need and school food packs for kids

• A large temperature controlled shopping area for our agency representatives

Local firms sign new leases

NAI Realvest recently negotiated a lease agreement for 5,290 square feet of retail space at 4321 Edgewater Drive in Orlando’s College Park area. Michael Heidrich, principal at NAI Realvest, negotiated the transaction representing the landlord, Stout Real Estate, LLC. The new tenant is College Park Antique Market, LLC.

Cuhaci & Peterson Architects, based in Orlando’s Baldwin Park, has been awarded a contract to design a Buffalo Wild Wings restaurant on Central Florida Parkway in south Orlando. Lonnie Peterson, chairman of Cuhaci & Peterson Architects, said the facility includes 6,000 square feet of space.

Emerson International recently negotiated a new long term lease and an expansion lease agreement with an existing tenant at Altamonte Lakeside Park on Cranes Roost Boulevard in Altamonte Springs totaling more than 4,800 square feet.

Integrity Home Loan of Central Florida, headquartered in Lake Mary, reports it saw a 30 percent increase in residential mortgage volume in July compared to July of 2011.