New owner optimistic on Trails Shopping Center

Ormond Beach Observer
Business

The Trails Shopping Center has been purchased by a company that is planning a bright future for the Mediterranean-style plaza at 254 N. Nova Road, Ormond Beach.

ShopOne Centers REIT Inc., a real estate investment trust based in New York, recently paid about $22 million for the complex. The company owns and operates 49 retail centers, according to its website, shopone.com.

CEO Michael Carroll, in a phone interview, called The Trails the top shopping and dining destination in the Ormond Beach. He said the center has been in a transition state without long-term ownership, and ShopOne will change that.

“We saw that as an opportunity,” he said. “We will have focused ownership. We’ll keep investing capital and keep the property relevant.”

He said the center has several vacancies, but also a dynamic mix of tenants. Two new restaurants, BurgerIM and Wine Not? have opened recently and a pizza restaurant is coming soon, he said.

The center has seen the closing of women’s apparel shops, and Carroll said they are focusing on getting new tenants, especially for the locations that face Nova Road. The Trails has an upscale image for its clothing stores, and Carroll said this will continue because Ormond Beach has the demographics to support it.

He said they would also be interested in a fast-casual restaurant or a bakery/café.

Also, the company will complete façade work at the center, he said.

The large space on the east side of the Publix, formerly the site of a CVS drugstore, is available for rent. Carroll said there are no plans for Publix to expand into the space.

Carroll said they were attracted to the center because of the high-performing retailers and the anchor Publix. Also, the Ormond Beach market has a good permanent population plus seasonal visitors.

Lohman offers flag disposal

Lohman Funeral Homes has launched its “Stars & Stripes Flag Retirement Program.” Residents who are looking for proper flag disposal can bring their flags to any one of their Volusia County locations during normal business hours.

Flags will be disposed of as outlined by the United States Flag Code. Flag donors will have the opportunity to attend an official Flag Retirement Ceremony to be conducted by the Boy Scouts of America. Call 673-1100.

Advertising promotion

Benedict Advertising and Marketing has announced the promotion of Hollee Palot to director of Subway Account Services. Palot, a Florida State University graduate, started three years ago as Client Service Associate. Benedict is the agency for more than 1,300 Subway locations.

Happy Dollars spent

Rotary Club of Downtown Ormond Beach recently donated $300 to Project WARM from their quarterly Happy Dollars. Rotary members contribute Happy Dollars at club meetings, and a different charity is chosen to receive the donation each quarter. Members contribute a dollar or more for things that have made them happy.

WARM (Women Assisting Recovering Mothers) is a long-term residential treatment facility for women exhibiting symptoms of drug and alcohol dependence.

Find rotaryofdowntownormondbeach on Facebook.

Homes sales and prices rise; condos sales down

Single family home sales and median prices rose around the greater Daytona Beach area in May, according to an analysis of MLS data by Realtor Ron Wysocarski, broker and CEO of Wyse Home Team Realty in Port Orange.

For May, 513 single-family homes were sold with a median price of $227,500. That amounts to a 6.2 percent increase in sales and a 5.8 percent rise in median sales prices, compared to the same month last year. In month-over-month comparisons, home sales were up by 12.7 percent and median prices remained flat. Year to date, home sales are up by 3 percent and median sales prices are up nearly 11 percent compared to the first five months of 2017.

Inventory levels crept higher. Buyers in May had 232 more homes to choose from than were available to buyers in the same month of 2017.

Meanwhile, condo sales took a hard hit in May while inventory rose. An analysis by Wyse showed there were just 128 condo units sold. During the same month last year, 175 condo units were sold. In April, 2018, 143 condo units were sold.

“The numbers are down dramatically, but our hope is that this is an anomaly and not a forecast of the future,” Wysocarski said.

Median sales prices for condos were up. The median condo sales price in May was $214,000, which is 3 percent higher than median prices were the month prior and 15 percent higher than in May 2017.

Condo inventory levels continued to improve. Reports show there were 1,084 units that were made active on the MLS at some point during the month. That’s up notably from 1,036 units listed on the MLS in April and it’s a strong comeback from the 993 condo units that were active on the MLS during May 2017.