ORLANDO-Carol Barfield, a commercial/residential real estate marketing professional for 10 years, is the new business development manager for the Houston-based construction company's Orlando division.

ORLANDO-The St. Johns River Water Management District Board, which carries a big stick in Central Florida development circles, is cutting a deal to save taxpayers $5.5 million on its planned $16 million purchase of 12,198 acres 10 miles west of Ormond Beach, FL from Rayonier Timberlands Operating Co. of Jacksonville, FL.

MIAMI-Four months from completion, the $50 million, 16-story, 174,307-sf office property in Downtown Coral Gables, FL has attracted a top Peru banking group which is taking a 10-year, 12,500-sf lease with an estimated aggregate value of $4.38 million.

ORLANDO-The New York-based developer and Metropolitan Life Insurance Co. are increasing total indoor meeting space to 329,000 sf from 250,000 sf in an obvious race with nearby Nashville, TN-owned Gaylord Palms.

ORLANDO-Martin W. Boelens Jr., who managed the secretive Orlando-based Evergreen Security Ltd.'s mortgage-backed investment fund for three years, denying any knowledge of his New York associates' alleged fraud scheme, faces 15 years of hard time.

ORLANDO-David H. Hughes, chairman/CEO, Hughes Supply Inc., becomes the ninth outside director at Darden Restaurants Inc. Hughes has run his 73-year-old family-founded construction materials company since 1972 when he inherited the leadership from his father, Harry and uncle, Russell Hughes.

MIAMI-Lani Kahn Drody, senior vice president of 15-year-old Lowell Homes, was recognized for her service to the Builders Association of South Florida and the building industry.

ORLANDO-Small business owners will no longer receive special treatment on bids for jobs under $100,000 because elected officials are afraid of being sued for showing pro-minority bias, a sweeping change since the bid rules were enacted in 1994.