JACKSONVILLE, Fla.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–KB Home (NYSE: KBH) today announced the grand opening of Beach Park Village, its latest new-home community in Flagler Beach. These new homes are designed for the way people live today, with popular interior features like modern kitchens overlooking large great rooms, expansive bedroom suites with walk-in closets, and lofts. The community’s one- and two-story floor plans feature up to five bedrooms and three baths, and the community offers homesites with peaceful water and wooded views.

“Families will appreciate the community’s desirable coastal location near local parks, which feature sports fields, playgrounds, picnic pavilions and hiking trails. At KB Home, we’re here to help you achieve your dream with a personalized new home built uniquely for you and your life.”

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What sets KB Home apart is the company’s focus on building strong, personal relationships with every customer, so they have a real partner in the homebuying process. Every KB home is uniquely built for each customer, so no two KB homes are the same. Homebuyers have the ability to personalize their new home, from floor plans to exterior styles to where they live in the community. Their home comes to life in the KB Home Design Studio, a one-of-a-kind experience where customers get both expert advice and the opportunity to select from a wide range of design choices that fit their style and their budget. Reflecting the company’s commitment to creating an exceptional homebuying experience, KB Home is the #1 customer-ranked national homebuilder based on homebuyer satisfaction surveys from a leading third-party review site.

“We are pleased to offer homebuyers in Flagler County spacious new one- and two-story homes just minutes to local beaches,” said Todd Holder, President of KB Home’s Jacksonville division. “Families will appreciate the community’s desirable coastal location near local parks, which feature sports fields, playgrounds, picnic pavilions and hiking trails. At KB Home, we’re here to help you achieve your dream with a personalized new home built uniquely for you and your life.”

Innovative design plays an essential role in every home KB builds. The company’s floor plans inspire contemporary living, with a focus on roomy, light-filled spaces that have easy indoor/outdoor flow. KB homes are engineered to be highly energy and water efficient and include features that support healthier indoor environments. Our homes are designed to be ENERGY STAR® certified — a standard that fewer than 10% of new homes nationwide meet — offering greater comfort, well-being and utility cost savings than new homes without certification.

Beach Park Village is situated in a convenient location that offers homebuyers an exceptional coastal lifestyle. Located off Moody Blvd., the community provides easy access to Interstate 95 and is less than two miles away from AdventHealth Palm Coast and Flagler Beach. Residents will also enjoy the community’s proximity to Palm Coast Landing for shopping and dining and Wadsworth Park and Washington Oaks Gardens State Park for a variety of outdoor recreation.

The Beach Park Village sales office and model homes are open for walk-in visits and private in-person tours by appointment. Homebuyers also have the flexibility to arrange a live video tour with a sales counselor. Pricing begins from the mid $300,000s.

For more information on KB Home, call 888-KB-HOMES or visit kbhome.com.

ORLANDO, Fla. (FNN NEWS) – Nearly 1,000 attendees filled Orange County Property Appraiser (OCPA) Rick Singh’s 2019 State of Orange County Real Estate (SOCRE) event at the Wyndham Orlando Resort Thursday. The annual report was unique and interactive as usual, but this year’s presentation leaned into OCPA’s technology focus with three key updates, including drones.

Orange County Property Appraiser Rick Singh presents the 2019 State of Orange County Real Estate at Wyndham Orlando Resort on International Drive. Photo: Willie David/Florida National News.

Appraiser Singh opened his presentation with a video of him talking to Alexa, which was pre-programmed with the travel time to arrive at the Wyndham on I-Drive from his downtown Orlando office, wishing him a safe trip to speak at the 2019 SOCRE. Unbeknownst to the audience, this introduction demonstrated what Singh later shared in his annual report with the audience about the forthcoming inclusion of artificial intelligence (AI) in OCPA’s operations, in this case, conversational intelligence.

Photo: Willie David/Florida National News.

The second major announcement was the addition of two field property appraisers who are licensed drone operators (below). Much like for realtors, the drones will help appraisers survey properties in a less invasive way and more quickly. Thirdly, OCPA’s long-term tech plans include adding autonomous vehicles to their fleet (above).

Photo: Willie David/Florida National News.

Photo: Willie David/Florida National News.

2019 OCPA Statistics

As usual in his report, Singh reported 2019’s numbers as well as cumulative stats for his tenure, which began in 2013 after his election in 2012:

• Historic market value of $208.2 billion for 2019 (10.3% increase over 2018 in total market value)
• $4.5 billion in new construction this year
• 6,555 new homes built (8.6% increase from 2018)
• All 13 Orange County municipalities experienced market value growth (more than half of which reported double-digit increases from 2018)
• Cumulatively, OCPA has appraised over $1.1 trillion in market value during Singh’s tenure

This Year’s Panel

The 2019 State of Orange County Real Estate (SOCRE) panel (l-r): Fred Kittinger, Dr. Alesia Scott-Ford, OCPA Rick Singh, Dr. Jason Eichenholz, Jeff Fagan. Fox 35’s Ryan Elijah moderated the discussion as the panel covered some hot topics and answered audience questions. Photo: Willie David/Florida National News.

Four other panelists joined Appraiser Singh onstage:

Dr. Alesia Scott-Ford
Jacksonville Field Office Director
U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development

Dr. Alesia Scott-Ford was appointed to the position of Jacksonville Field Office Director for the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development in April 2014. Dr. Scott-Ford is responsible for overseeing the delivery of HUD programs and services across North Florida as well as evaluating their efficiency and effectiveness to communities and individuals. Along with the Miami Field Office, she coordinates the department’s programs across the state. As the Field Office Director, she serves as HUD’s liaison to mayors, city managers, elected representatives, state and local officials, congressional delegations, nonprofit groups, private entities; faith-based groups, other stakeholders and individual Americans.

Dr. Jason Eichenholz
Co-Founder and Chief Technology Officer
Luminar Technologies

Dr. Jason Eichenholz is a serial entrepreneur and pioneer in laser and photonics product development and commercialization. Over the past twenty-five years, he has led the development of hundreds of millions of dollars of new photonics and photonic-enabled products. At Luminar Technologies, he is responsible for research and development, engineering of new products and bringing Luminar’s technology to market. Dr. Eichenholz is a fellow of SPIE – the international society for optics and photonics – and OSA – the optical society – and holds forty patents on lasers and photonic devices.

Fred Kittinger
Senior Associate Vice President for Government Relations
University of Central Florida

Fred Kittinger is known for bridging the gap between business and government. Currently the Senior Associate Vice President for Government Relations and Director of State and Local Government Affairs at the University of Central Florida, he represents Florida’s largest university to state and local officials. Throughout his career, he has diligently protected the interests of businesses, education, and city and state governments. Notably, Kittinger served on the ground floor team during the planning and approval phase of relocating UCF’s downtown campus to the site of the new Creative Village.

Jeff Fagan
2019 Orlando Regional REALTOR® Association (ORRA) President

Jeff Fagan is the 2019 president of the Orlando Regional REALTOR® Association, which represents more than 15,500 real estate professionals throughout Central Florida. ORRA is the 8th largest REALTOR® organization in the country. Fagan’s priorities during his term as president include affordable housing, articulating ORRA’s value to both members and the public; and expanding services to deliver additional high-quality member benefits. He transitioned into real estate after a 20-year career in poultry agribusiness and has held a Florida real estate license since 2001.

This year’s panel discussed a range of hot topics:

• Will affordable housing challenges impact our region’s ability to attract new business and new talent?
• How can autonomous vehicles help solve Central Florida’s traffic gridlock?
• With most of our workforce spending more than 50% of their income on housing, what real estate market changes are on the horizon?
• With the opening of Creative Village, how is UCF assisting the downtown students in securing housing?

On the point of technology, the audience could track the whole presentation and conversation from the new OCPA app after surrendering an email address and a password to set up an account. In the app, the audience answered several questions presented to them in phases based on the topic the panel was discussing at that moment. The big screens displayed the audience poll results in real time as the panelists talked.

Singh and his team always use innovation to distinguish him from other property appraisers–not only his predecessors, but others around the state–and this year’s tech-savvy approach was another leap for the OCPA team.

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Mellissa Thomas is Editor for Florida National News. | mellissa.thomas@floridanationalnews.com

ORLANDO, Fla. – Orange County Property Appraiser Rick Singh, CFA, will deliver the 2019 State of Orange County Real Estate (#SOCRE2019) on Thursday, August 22, 2019.

Singh will share vital information and data on trends in Orange County’s complex real estate market. Afterward, a panel of industry experts will take a deeper look at how Orange County can meet current and future challenges.

Joining Singh on the panel this year are Dr. Alesia Scott-Ford, the Jacksonville Field Office Director for the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development; Jason Eichenholz, Co-Founder and Chief Technology Officer for Luminar Technologies; Fred Kittinger, Senior Associate Vice President for Government Relations for the University of Central Florida; and Jeff Fagan, the 2019 Orlando Regional REALTOR® Association (ORRA) President.

Following Singh’s presentation, the panel will explore such hot topics as:

• Will affordable housing challenges impact our region’s ability to attract new business and new talent?
• How can autonomous vehicles help solve Central Florida’s traffic gridlock?
• With most of our workforce spending more than 50% of their income on housing, what real estate market changes are on the horizon?
• With the opening of Creative Village, how is UCF assisting the downtown students in securing housing?

When: Thursday, August 22, 2019
Networking: 5 p.m.
Main Program: 6 p.m.

Where: Wyndham Orlando Resort International Drive
8001 International Drive, Orlando, FL 32819

Panelist Bios:

Dr. Alesia Scott-Ford
Jacksonville Field Office Director
U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development
Dr. Alesia Scott-Ford was appointed to the position of Jacksonville Field Office Director for the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development in April 2014. Dr. Scott-Ford is responsible for overseeing the delivery of HUD programs and services across North Florida as well as evaluating their efficiency and effectiveness to communities and individuals. Along with the Miami Field Office, she coordinates the department’s programs across the state. As the Field Office Director, she serves as HUD’s liaison to mayors, city managers, elected representatives, state and local officials, congressional delegations, nonprofit groups, private entities; faith-based groups, other stakeholders and individual Americans.

Jason Eichenholz
Co-Founder and Chief Technology Officer
Luminar Technologies
Jason Eichenholz is a serial entrepreneur and pioneer in laser and photonics product development and commercialization. Over the past twenty-five years, he has led the development of hundreds of millions of dollars of new photonics and photonic-enabled products. At Luminar Technologies, he is responsible for research and development, engineering of new products and bringing Luminar’s technology to market. Eichenholz is a fellow of SPIE – the international society for optics and photonics – and OSA – the optical society – and holds forty patents on lasers and photonic devices.

Fred Kittinger
Senior Associate Vice President for Government Relations
University of Central Florida
Fred Kittinger is known for bridging the gap between business and government. Currently the Senior Associate Vice President for Government Relations and Director of State and Local Government Affairs at the University of Central Florida, he represents Florida’s largest university to state and local officials. Throughout his career, he has diligently protected the interests of businesses, education, and city and state governments. Notably, Kittinger served on the ground floor team during the planning and approval phase of relocating UCF’s downtown campus to the site of the new Creative Village.

Jeff Fagan
2019 Orlando Regional REALTOR® Association (ORRA) President
Jeff Fagan is the 2019 president of the Orlando Regional REALTOR® Association, which represents more than 15,500 real estate professionals throughout Central Florida. ORRA is the 8th largest REALTOR® organization in the country. Fagan’s priorities during his term as president include affordable housing, articulating ORRA’s value to both members and the public; and expanding services to deliver additional high-quality member benefits. He transitioned into real estate after a 20-year career in poultry agribusiness and has held a Florida real estate license since 2001.

Rick Singh, CFA
Orange County Property Appraiser
Rick Singh is the first state-certified appraiser ever elected as Orange County Property Appraiser (OCPA). He was first voted into office in 2012 and subsequently re-elected in 2016. The hands-on experience he gained proved invaluable as he now oversees the operations and growth of this busy office. Rick’s vision to make OCPA more customer-focused and user-friendly through greater efficiency means better service delivered at lower costs to residents of Orange County. Not only does he lead an award-winning agency, he was personally recognized last year by the International Association of Assessing Officers with their highest individual honor, the Ian W. McClung International Award, for his dedication to advancing the appraisal profession on an international stage.