Business Observer 10.14.10

+ Neal Communities posts third-quarter boom
Third-quarter data by Neal Communities shows the company has posted well more than 100 home sales in just the last two months, with 100 contracts signed in August and another 24 signed in September.

“We are seeing buyers enthusiastically return to the market,” the company’s President Pat Neal said. “They represent a broad cross-section of the market.

In September, homebuyers signed 12 contracts in Central Park, four in Forest Creek, two in Edenmore in the Lakewood Ranch Country Club and one each in River Sound, Valderrama, Silverwood, Sawgrass, Wisteria Park and Mandalay.

Almost half of the contracts were orchestrated through Realtors.

The company’s newest community, Central Park, is the first residential development north of State Road 70 in Lakewood Ranch. More than 50 contracts have been signed for the gated community since its opening.

+ Purvis, Gray and Co. relocates to Lakewood
Purvis, Gray and Co., a regional CPA firm with 80 employees, recently moved its Sarasota office to the Willis A. Smith building in Lakewood Ranch Corporate Park.

The move was made to accommodate recent growth within that office and to help the company’s visibility in the area. The office previously had been located in the Cattlemen Road area.

“We are a diverse CPA firm and provide a variety of accounting, auditing, tax compliance and technology services for individuals, businesses, non-profit organizations, as well as governmental clients,” said Ryan Patton, general business manager of the Sarasota office.

Joe Welch, the partner-in-charge of the Sarasota office, will supervise the location’s 10 employees.
Purvis, Gray and Co. also has offices in Gainesville, Ocala and Tallahassee.

+ Honor Sanctuary names new president
Change is under way for Honor Sanctuary Animal Rescue.

With Lakewood Ranch resident Rob Oglesby at the helm as the organization’s new president, Honor Sanctuary soon will be moving its operations to a 7.68-acre parcel at 4951 Lorraine Road.

Two buildings on the property are being retrofitted to house the sanctuary’s dogs and cats. Oglesby said he hoped to move animals from the rescue’s existing Ranch location on Lorraine Road to the new site by Oct. 31, and all the animals from Nate’s Place to the new location by the end of 2010 or early 2011.

Additionally, the new Petco opened Oct. 9 in University Town Center, and the business has named Honor Sanctuary as its rescue of choice. Petco will provide cages for cats, and the facility will become Honor Sanctuary’s storefront once Nate’s Place closes, Oglesby said.

For more info about Honor Sanctuary, visit www.honorsanctuary.org or call 302-0933.