To orchestrate that effort, Stirling founder and owner Roger Soderstrom has recruited David L. Bass, a 20-year-commercial real estate professional to manage the firm's commercial division. Bass comes to Stirling from the Winter Park, FL office of New York-based Brown, Harris, Stevens where he negotiated sales of $30 million last year.

Soderstrom, who honed his talents under the wing of the legendary Heathrow developer-entrepreneur Jeno Paulucci in the 1980s and 1990s, has made Stirling International Realty one of Central Florida's leading showcase residential firms. Stirling has showcase centers at the company's headquarters site in Heathrow, 20 miles north of Downtown Orlando; Alaqua; Winter Park Village, Seminole Towne Center Mall, Downtown Orlando and in the Dr. Phillips area of south Orlando. The showcase centers take potential buyers through virtual property trips and are credited by Soderstrom for giving the firm a record production year in 2003 of $460 million on 1,500 transactions.

"We are projecting our commercial division will generate more than $125 million in property sales and leasing transactions in 2004," says Soderstrom. "We are focused on growing the division to the $250-million range before we expand statewide." He thinks that time frame could "as early as 2007.