GlobeSt.com UPDATE: Big Players Taking Strong Land Positions

ORLANDO-While land sales volume for office/flex, industrial, retail and multi-housing projects were down in 2001 compared to 2000, look for a spurt this year and next as the market rebounds from the recession, a new report by Grubb & Ellis Co. indicates.

Prices are expected to rise as major retail ventures such as the Taubman-Forbes’ 1.3 million-sf, 450-acre Mall at Millenia debuts at Interstate 4 and Conroy Road in south Orlando Oct. 28 and the 1.6 million-sf Florida Mall (Simon Property Co.) completes its expansion program by year end to bring it to 1.8 million sf.

Big development players already are taking strong land positions. For example, Palm Coast, FL-based Ginn Co., headed by Robert “Bobby” Ginn, has tied up 4,669 acres on three major mixed-use projects at Magnolia Creek in Osceola County, Orlando International Airport and Pine Island in Lake County.