All right anti-growth folks, you have a new villain.
U.S. News & World Report has ranked the Daytona Beach metro area (read Volusia and Flagler counties) as the eighth best place to retire in the United States.
And get this, affordability was most heavily weighted out of the six factors in the 2024 Best Places to Retire methodology, including happiness, healthcare quality, retiree taxes, desirability and job market ratings. Daytona Beach also took the top spot in Florida.
U.S. News analyzed data for the 150 largest metropolitan areas in the U.S. to assess how well they meet Americans’ retirement needs.
The magazine noted the Daytona Beach area also is popular with tourists, which is what makes it desirable to retirees.
The magazine pointed out opportunities for golf and fishing are high and as home to Daytona International Speedway, the area regularly welcomes NASCAR fans from around the country. It also stated the area has museums, theaters, performing arts centers, antique markets, restaurants, malls and colleges that combine to make it one of Florida’s most well-rounded metro areas.
U.S. News did acknowledge that while the cost of living in Daytona Beach is lower than the national average (lower utility costs and no state income tax), area residents tend to earn less than the average American.
So it’s easy to understand why Minto Communities has sold 2,875 residences in the age 55-plus Latitude Margaritaville as of Nov. 10 and probably will be built out sometime in 2024.
But don’t worry retirees wanting to move here and anti-growth folks looking for something to complain about. There are still lots of other residential developments coming. Have you checked out Avalon Park at Daytona?
***
So now we know the holdup on the Rushhh Daytona, Tapestry Collection by Hilton. There apparently was a bankruptcy reorganization. HPS Investment Partners of New York bought the hotel at 2323 S. Atlantic Ave. in Daytona Beach Shores and an additional property at 2306 S. Atlantic Ave. for $10.5 million. Still don’t know when it will open. Reservations through Hilton Hotels online service don’t work and the phone service was disconnected.
***
Commercial real estate remains hot, including a new home builder entering Volusia County. Daiwa House Group-owned Stanley Martin Homes bought a batch of lots in the Beresford Woods neighborhood in DeLand for about $1.3 million.
Real estate developer Richard Maugeri bought the land for Ridgehaven, which is permitted for a mix of 286 duplexes and single-family houses on a 103.45 acre site on N. U.S. 1 in Ormond Beach, for $3.23 million. ZKS, an Orlando law firm, bought the mobile home park at 1250 Lakeview Drive in DeLand on the north shore of Lake Beresford, either for itself or a client, for $2.346 million. A local couple bought the storage facility at 1311 N. Dixie Freeway in New Smyrna Beach for $1.925 million.
D.R. Horton bought a batch of lots for townhouses in the new Rivers Edge community off Airpark Road in Edgewater for $1.792 million. The owners of Sudz Up Car Wash in New Smyrna Beach bought a vacant commercial property at 4227 S. Ridgewood Ave. in Edgewater for $1.195 million. Justin Speegle bought the property he was using for his Speegle’s Automotive & Truck Repair at 2381 East International Speedway Blvd. in DeLand for $800,000.
***
A couple of construction starts of note are vertical construction starting on Ashley Furniture store at LPGA Blvd. and I-95, which is expected to replace store on West ISB in Daytona Beach. Construction starting on the Cici & Hyatt Brown Center for Aerospace Technology at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University.
Managing Editor Cecil G. Brumley has been tracking business and the economy in Volusia County for more than 26 years. Contact him at [email protected] (no hyphens) or follow him on Twitter @cecilbrumley.
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