By Amanda Rabines
Land deals typically require weeks or months to complete due to paperwork, mortgage approvals, and due diligence. However, Henin Group, a Winter Park-based developer, closed on a 28-acre infill site in Apopka in just over one week.
Jerome Henin, a principal at the firm, made an offer on Friday, signed a contract on Tuesday, and closed the following Friday on the property located at 1401 and 1433 Votaw Rd. The urgency stemmed from the seller’s declining health; Claude A. Etty Jr., known as Sonny, was in the end stages of terminal cancer and passed away the day after signing.
“The deal required that we react quickly, and that’s what we did,” Henin stated. His wife Elizabeth, an attorney, assisted with closing the $1.25 million all-cash transaction.
The property had been in the Etty family for decades. Henin had previously pursued the site but lost out to a national homebuilder whose deal stalled. Henin noted that “no one else would do this that quick.”
Henin Group plans to rezone the property for approximately 95 single-family home lots, projected to be worth $40 million upon completion. The subdivision will feature three- and four-bedroom homes on 50-by-120-foot lots and is being designed by CDS Engineering.
The developer is also advancing other projects, including a 20-acre townhome community in Sanford and the 240-acre Riviera Bella master-planned development in DeBary with over 700 homes.
