Lakeland’s two biggest architectural firms didn’t consider themselves rivals because they had different specialties; so when the Lunz Group and WMB-ROI merged recently, it was looked at as a pooling of resources into a company with a footprint across the I-4 corridor. Source: Business Observer
Category: Business
Posted inCity Hall / Local Gov't
City: Broadband Survey Is Legitimate
People receiving emailed links to an online survey about high-speed Internet have raised questions about whether it’s legitimate, City Manager Tony Delgado says. He confirms that the survey is authorized; it was sent randomly to 38,000 Lakeland residents by a consultant hired to create a business plan for a possible city broadband service. Source: The […]
Posted inBusiness
TBBJ Names Core Wealth Advisors a Cool Office Space
Tampa Bay Business Journal is featuring Core Wealth Advisors as one of the region’s coolest office spaces. The space on the top floor of the Regions Bank Building, 124 S. Florida Ave., combines a large open area with getaway rooms and a gym. It was designed by The Lunz Group and built by Strickland Construction. […]
Posted inBusiness
Flower Nursery Transforms Into Marijuana Cultivator
Sunshine Growers sold its 32-acre nursery just west of the Carillon Lakes neighborhood (map) to Surterra Wellness for $3.3 million in February. It will be Lakeland’s first state-licensed facility for growing medical marijuana. Source: The Ledger
Posted inBusiness
Driverless Car Test Track Moving Into Next Phase
With construction of its Florida Poly-area oval track to test autonomous vehicles nearly complete, Florida Turnpike Enterprise is looking at next steps: hire a contractor to operate SunTrax by summer, start building the infield in August, and attract major companies to test driverless vehicles there by 2021. Source: Business Observer
Posted inBusiness
Company Eyes Oak Street Parking Lot for Apartments
Adding to the growing number of rentals downtown, Broadway Realty Services wants to turn a city-owned block just north of its NoBay project (photo) from 125 parking spaces into 100 apartments. The company wanted a quick sales process, but the Community Redevelopment Agency advisory board opted for the lengthier procedure of seeking qualifications from all […]
Posted inArts & Culture
West Elm Offers Bump Galletta’s Fanciful Florida Art
After somebody from West Elm saw Bump Galletta’s display at a pop-up market, the home decor retailer offered to sell caps, shirts and coffee mugs with the Lakeland artist’s fanciful drawings at all eight of its Florida stores. Source: Bay News 9
Posted inBusiness
High-Rise Office Seen for Lot at Main and Massachusetts
What’s going to be built on the gravel parking lot between Lake Mirror and Massachusetts Avenue? Ledger reporter/editor Allison Guinn attempts to peer behind the misty gauze of persistent chatter about negotiations for the future of the city-owned “million-dollar parcel” that once housed a fire station. Nobody is going on the record, but the narrative […]
Posted inBusiness
Architecture Merger: Lunz Group and WMB-ROI
A collaboration to design LEDC’s Catapult 3.0 business incubator led to the merger of two large Lakeland architecture firms: The Lunz Group and WMB-ROI Inc. The firm, operating under the name The Lunz Group, is headed by Brad Lunz and now includes WMB-ROI’s Steve Boyington and Mike Murphey as shareholders. It has nine architects and […]
Posted inCity Hall / Local Gov't
CarMax Eyes a Lakeland Site Near I-4 and U.S. 98
CarMax, a nationwide retailer of late-model used cars with a no-haggle approach, may open its first Polk County dealership on a now-vacant lot on U.S. 98 just south of Interstate 4. To accommodate a car dealership, the 6.13-acre parcel at 3223 N. U.S. 98 would need to be rezoned from commercial highway use to planned unit […]