October is officially a Breast Cancer Awareness Month, an annual campaign to increase awareness of this widespread disease.
Courtelis Company joins the cause to help women to fight against breast cancer today by participating in the 5K Run organized by the American Cancer Society Florida next Saturday, October 26th.
Follow the link below to make a difference in someone’s life and help NOW!
https://secure.acsevents.org/site/STR?pg=entry&fr_id=94477
C is for CALIENTE.
Today, we are proud to feature EduVillage Learning Center as a successful Hispanic business and a longtime tenant at Kendall Professional Village located on Kendall Drive and SW 97 Avenue.
The learning center shares the same building with the University of Miami Health Center and CVS drug store and is owned and operated by Carlos and Gretta Martinez.
Carlos is President and CEO of an 800 employee non-profit organization serving disabled and older adults in South Florida, and Gretta is the day-to-day operator and director of the learning center that primarily serves the doctors, nurses, and employees of its neighbor U Health and nearby Baptist Health Hospital Main Campus.
The center serves 98 children and their families. “ Gretta is a teacher and psychologist,” says her husband Carlos. “She is passionate about the care and safety of the children under the care of the professional teaching staff, but you can’t be effective raising resilient children without the input of everyone involved in the child’s life”. The school was inspired and modeled after the book “ It takes a village to raise a child” written by former first lady Hillary Clinton, which emphasis on the need to have multiple influencers such as parents, grandparents, siblings, physicians, coaches and people involved in a child’s life working in tandem to increase the chance of the child’s success.
Education runs in Gretta’s DNA starting with her grandmother, Stella Carty, who owned and operated schools in their native Peru. Gretta started her version of the school in the U.S. in 2005 and has operated various schools since then. The key to the couple’s success goes beyond education. “ You must be in-tune with the needs of each family that you serve in order to be successful in preparing children to be resilient and provide them with the fundamentals to succeed in early learning”.
C is for Caliente!
Courtelis Company is proud to celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month by showcasing Hispanic businesses that are tenants in our shopping center management portfolio throughout the next 30 days, as well as celebrating the diverse Hispanic heritages of our team members. We embrace the many cultures of Florida and can truly feel the heat of the season.
Fort Myers, FL, 09/12/2019 – It was announced on July 19, 2019, that PNC Bank has approved a $41.59 million loan to Murano At Three Oaks Associates LLC to finance the construction of a 318-unit apartment project in Fort Myers, Florida, according to a recent public record filing.
Courtelis Co., a diversified real estate investment and development firm based in Miami, has begun construction on the new project located on Three Oaks Parkway, just south of Alico Road and near Florida Gulf Coast University and Gulf Coast Town Center.
Plans for the new multifamily project call for the construction of two, four-story buildings, each surrounding a central courtyard, according to design renderings for the project. The project architect is Forum Architecture based in Altamonte Springs, Florida.
Murano At Three Oaks Associates LLC is a Florida limited liability company which is an equal partnership between Courtelis Company, the developer, and The Kislak Organization, Barron Collier Cos. and HMG/Courtland Properties, based in Coconut Grove, Florida.
Total development costs for the project are estimated at $56 million. The loan agreement requires that the new apartments be completed no later than 30 months from loan closing, January 2022 at the latest.
Courtelis Company has broken ground on the development of Murano at Three Oaks, a 318 Unit Class A Luxury Apartment project on Three Oaks Pkwy, just south of Alico Road in Lee County, Florida near the Florida Gulf Coast University and Gulf Coast Town Center.
We are excited to announce that Oxxo Care Cleaners is now open at Pines City Center right next to Sport Clips Haircuts. Located in Suite B104, OXXO has a 24- hour Drop-Off window. Stop by at any time to drop off your clothes and pick it up fresh and clean later!
C is for CHARACTER. “In life, we all must decide whether to lead or follow. If you choose to be a leader, you must be prepared to dedicate yourself to the principles of creativity, hard work, persistence and honesty. And, if you practice these principles, success surely will follow… This philosophy when applied to real estate development, will produce a strong pride of ownership and major appreciation in real estate values. ” – Alec P. Courtelis, the founder of Courtelis Company and a man of great CHARACTER.
Another successful ICSC RECON conference! We had an opportunity to establish new connections and relationships with the industry professionals and also to catch up with old friends and colleagues. The outcome of the conference was a huge success! Thank you, ICSC!
C is for CONNECTIONS. Let’s connect and get deals done at this year’s ICSC Recon. Stop by our booth S328 S Street. We’ll see you in Vegas!
C is for CONSERVATION.
We would like to celebrate this year’s Earth Day by introducing you to Audubon – one of the most influential conservation organizations in Florida. Audubon has encouraged people for many years to take care and to protect the Everglades and coastal bird habitats.
Courtelis Company’s very own Doug Pitts Jr. is a long-time board member of the Audubon. Following his father’s footsteps, our CEO Doug Pitts Sr., Doug participates in special development projects of the organization because of his construction background. He recently coordinated completed renovations in the Audubon’s Center for Birds and Prey in Orlando after it was damaged by Hurricane Irma the last year. Mr. Pitts Jr. is also working on the construction of the new building for the employees of Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary that is now in for permitting.
Earlier this year, Doug Pitts Jr. was honored to release a Bald Eagle who was rehabbed at Audubon and could finally be back to his natural habitat. Watch the Video
Adapting creative design and management practices. Finding new creative concepts that highlight how retail and restaurants are evolving. Creating new ways to fill and market our shopping centers. This is how we are creatively viewing March 2019.
Creative environmental design such as best practices we implemented while managing the 5th Ave South portfolio in Naples. Through the Fifth Avenue Business Improvement District and our client Hoffman Commercial Real Estate, Courtelis was involved in the transformation of 5th Avenue South into one of the great pedestrian high streets in Florida. By effectively using landscaping, artwork, events, and lighting, we helped elevate the quality of tenancy and traffic on the street. 5th Ave has evolved into an award-winning destination with a tremendous sense of place.
Courtelis is continually researching creative concepts like b8ta. We met with Vibhu Norby, the founder and CEO of b8ta at the ICSC Open Air Conference last week. B8ta gives us a glimpse of how retail is adapting and embracing e-commerce. They have beautiful stores in strategic locations, but they do not own the inventory. They rather connect the brands with the customers and allow customers to experience the products they see online. Most of their products are electronics such as Google Home, Boosted Skateboards and Root robots. They are in “shop in shop” environments such as Macy’s Herald Square or in 17 flagship locations around the country, growing 15 units per year in approximately 3,000sf spaces. Vibhu is a former software exec behind the brand Nest, who believes that “stores are tools for brands”. We hope to see b8ta in our market soon, and we’ll spend this month examining creative ideas in design, retailing and management such as 5th Avenue and b8ta.
Creatively yours,
Rod L. Castan, CRX, CLS
President, Leasing and Management Services
