CASSIA, FL-The telecommunications firm has the green light from Lake County commissioners to build a 200-foot tower 900 feet from the Cassia Community Club, about 28 miles from Downtown Orlando. But there's a catch. The proposed tower site belongs to an indicted marijuana trafficker who must prove to the county he legally owns the land. If he can't, the deal is in limbo.

ORLANDO-Winter Construction wants to buy the 85-year-old Brahman Hotel in Downtown Kissimmee and replace it with a 10-story, 140-room hotel; build a three-story parking garage; and put $2 million into restoring the Arcade Theater, another 85-year-old property that would be used by the Osceola Center for the Arts. The celebrated cattle ranching city, with a current population of 41,248, is five miles from Walt Disney World and 20 miles south of Downtown Orlando.

Orl 8-24cxBy Alex Finkelsteinx Looking at a $200 million oceanfront development investment, Atlanta-based American Safety Insurance Group Ltd. is forming…

PONCE INLET, FL-Atlanta-based American Safety Insurance Group Ltd., which is constructing a $200 million, 811-unit luxury oceanfront condominium community 50 miles northeast of Downtown Orlando, has decided it will be more cost-effective to form its own construction company instead of subcontracting the work.

ORLANDO-M&K Investments will plow at least $22 million into an eight-story, 178-unit condominium/retail venture in revitalizing Downtown Sanford if the city will donate a 2.6-acre, non-revenue generating parcel for the project. The proposed undertaking is the first of its kind in the Seminole County city 30 miles north of Downtown Orlando.

ORLANDO-A Minneapolis-based real estate firm and the National Basketball Association jointly plan to use the 350-seat, 17,000-sf asset as a prototype for a worldwide chain. The acquisition price was not disclosed. Hard Rock Cafe International of Orlando launched NBA City last September but later sold or transferred its interest to the NBA to shore up company finances.

ORLANDO-For the first time since the mid-1990s, supply is outpacing demand in metro Orlando's multi-housing market. Six-month vacancies in the 117,000-unit market are at 6.5%, up from 4.7% at yearend 1999. Monthly rents average $693 per unit, up 2.7% from $675 per unit.

ORLANDO-Don S. Finkelstein, former executive vice president of Heitman Financial in Minneapolis, is the new senior vice president in the Orlando office of Colliers Arnold Commercial Real Estate Services Inc.