KISSIMMEE, FL-Texas-based FaulknerUSA wants Osceola County to raise its hotel bed tax to 6% from 5% to shore up a future public revenue bond issue that would finance the construction phase.

ATLANTA-Developer Margaret Sapp of Kennesaw, GA wants the county to rezone 340 acres for 491 townhomes and single-family residences. Another developer, Tho Associates, wants the town of Ball Ground, GA to annex 158 acres for 227 homes.

CARTERSVILLE, GA-Atlanta's suburbs continue to expand as developers submit plans to state agencies for Cartergrove Plantation, a subdivision that would have 3,350 single-family and townhomes, 70 acres of commercial, 52 acres of public space and 700 acres of green space.

ATLANTA-The Georgia Properties Commission allowed two options to pass without purchasing the 1,500-acre tract in Morgan County from Jefferson Lamar Banks for an estimated $13 million, area industrial real estate brokers familiar with the deal tell GlobeSt.com.

WINTER HAVEN, FL-The Trust For Public Land, which has contracted to buy 142 acres of the 159-acre water sports attraction for $22 million by Feb. 24, has rejected one low re-purchase bid and is reviewing another it has received from a private developer for the prime property.

ORLANDO-New jobs and a drop in construction activity are expected to bolster the area's 140,000-unit inventory in occupancy, rents and sales, according to separate third-quarter studies by the local offices of Marcus & Millichap Real Estate Brokerage Services Inc. and CB Richard Ellis Inc.

ATLANTA-Coca-Cola Co. has retained a three-company group, Holder Manhattan Moody, to provide pre-construction services for the new World of Coca-Cola Museum. The adjacent $200 million Georgia Aquarium is scheduled to open in 2005.

ATLANTA-John M. Leonard, regional manager of the Encino, CA-based firm's local office, ranks the city 15th on a 38-city growth analysis scale for 2004. Business expansion and declining construction will buoy the market next year here, despite existing 20% vacancy rates in some submarkets, he says.