Grow in Greater Daytona

Office space, entertainment destinations and lifestyle hubs are creating opportunity in Volusia County.

By Julie Young on December 4, 2019

Daytona Beach, FL: One Daytona
Daytona Beach / Jeff Adkins

By any measure, the Greater Daytona Region is growing.

The area has added more than 50,000 residents since 2010, an 11% increase, and its job growth has outpaced national averages over the last few years.

That growth is spawning a wave of new residential and commercial development that is reshaping communities across the region.

The region generated well over $1 billion in permit values in 2018, about two-thirds from residential development and one-third from commercial development.

Work, Stay and Play

A prime example: One Daytona, a $400 million development across the street from the iconic Daytona International Speedway, is the newest lifestyle and entertainment destination in the region.

With 300,000 square feet of retail, dining and entertainment, the center includes 20 tenants and is home to two 250-room Marriott hotels, including a AAA Four-Diamond Autograph Collection property known as The Daytona. In fall 2019, the first of 282 new luxury apartments will open at One Daytona, providing garden-style or mid-rise units.

One Daytona really gained momentum on the heels of Daytona Rising, the $400 million investment by International Speedway Corp., now a part of NASCAR, to redevelop its Daytona International Speedway property.

It was the vision of Lesa Kennedy, NASCAR executive vice chair, to create a retail, dining and entertainment destination that would complement the guest experience at the Daytona International Speedway and enhance the quality of life for local residents, says Jeff Boerger, a NASCAR executive who worked on the development.

“One Daytona provides that and more,†he says.

Affordability and Diverse Quality of Life Abound in Greater Daytona

Another major mixed-use project taking shape in Daytona Beach is Tomoka Town Center, a 170-acre development along the east side of Interstate 95 that is home to Tanger Outlets as well as a 400,000-square-foot lifestyle center that is not only a destination for visitors, but a popular place for locals to work and shop.

“In the past, we have had an economy that was primarily driven by tourism, and while we have not tried to eliminate (that market), we have tried to expand it by adding a number of businesses that create options and opportunity for a permanent workforce and a wider range of full-time residents,†says Carl Lentz IV, managing director of commercial real estate firm SVN Alliance in Ormond Beach.

Office Space

The growth in development is not restricted to retail. The office market is also heating up with the addition of several new office buildings. Brown & Brown Inc., an insurer and corporate mainstay in the region, is building an 11-story headquarters building in Daytona Beach that will overlook the Halifax River.

Home insurer Security First Insurance is also building a new headquarters. The company has broken ground on a 33,000-square-foot building in Ormond Crossings, a mixed-use development in Ormond Beach. The campus will include employee-centric features ranging from collaboration areas to an in-house dining facility, a yoga studio, a fitness center and an outdoor walking trail.

Top Businesses Invest in Greater Daytona Region

Also building new headquarters is high-end eyewear and accessories producer Costa Del Mar, which has a 44,000-square-foot complex in Daytona Beach under construction. The company employs 300 people in the region.

Synergy Billing has opened a new headquarters campus at Fountainhead at Holly Hill, which doubles the size of its office. Developers of Fountainhead at Holly Hill plan to expand to include additional office buildings, an 88-unit apartment complex, a business incubator and a fitness center in the development.

Daytona Beach
Latitude Margaritaville

Down in Margaritaville

The surge in new residents has also spurred new housing development.

Inspired by the music and lifestyle of Jimmy Buffet, Latitude Margaritaville is a development geared toward adults with active lifestyles. Winner of 17 National Association of Home Builders Awards, Latitude Margaritaville offers a town center that features restaurant, recreation and entertainment venues.

“We find that it begins with the residential and then the commercial properties follow,” says G.G. Galloway, a partner of real estate firm CBC Benchmark Daytona in Ormond Beach.

License to Chill: Jimmy Buffett Debuts Margaritaville Retirement Communities

A signature development in that area is Mosaic, which offers residents an abundance of social spaces for gathering and connecting and features a collection of open, energy-efficient smart homes.

Other residential projects include MAX Daytona, a planned 12-story, 72-unit luxury condo tower, and the $192 million Daytona Beach Convention Hotel & Condominiums project, which will include a 380-foot tower, making it the tallest building in the region.

“With 88 million people traveling I-95 each year, we hope they will stop and stay awhile,†Galloway says. “After all, there is an old saying that the visitors of today are the neighbors of tomorrow, and we can’t wait to get to know them.”

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