By Chris Wilson

Tioga Town Center Breaks Ground On
New Buildings

Officials have broken ground on the next phase of the Tioga Town Center, which will features street-level retail and dining businesses and second and third story luxury apartments. While officials say they are talking to several businesses interested in moving to the new and existing buildings, they are not yet ready to announce any new future tenants. The construction of the new phases of the Town Center is expected to be completed by fall 2008 or winter 2009.

“After spending so much time over the years working with the prickly pears scratching all the way to actually building, this is extremely exciting for us,” says Tioga director of development Luis Diaz, who co-founded the development with his father Miguel Diaz. “The buildings will have great views and will be great for sidewalk cafés. It will be very pedestrian-friendly. The buildings also will be energy efficient, built according to the Florida Green Building Code.”

In addition, Diaz says the town square, which will be the centerpiece of the Town Center, will be completed before the new buildings. He says the town square should be ready by summer 2008.

The Tioga Town Center eventually will feature 300,000 square feet of retail, office and apartment space. The already-completed buildings that are open for business are 83,000 square feet. The next phase that currently is under construction will add 90,000 square feet.

According to Tioga Town Center director of marketing and leasing Grace Lambert, there will be a particular focus on attracting more dining, women’s apparel and accessory retail stores and other services to the new phase of the Town Center.

For more information, call 331-4000.

Jonesberry Books For Sale

In other Tioga-related news, Jonesberry Books LLC, an independently-owned bookstore located in the Tioga Town Center that has been open since September 2006, has been put up for sale. At our press time, Jonesberry Books was offering deep discounts on its current inventory. Jonesberry Books is owned by the mother-daughter team of Gillette and Catherine Tarbox.

For more information, call 333-2445.

Kelsey Earns Manual Therapy Certification

Suwannee Bend Services’ Jonesville physical therapist Jason Kelsey recently earned his Manual Therapy Certification?(MTC).

To earn the certification, Kelsey attended seven courses over the past two years, went through an additional 30-hour week of training, took seven written exams, seven practical exams and had to defend his technique for all seven courses.

After becoming certified, Kelsey is able to perform advanced evaluation and treatments of cervical spine disorders, thoracic lumbar spine disorders, pelvis and hip disorders and myofascial release (or massage). Kelsey says, in layman’s terms, he now can provide Suwannee Bend patients with a “back clinic,”?for treatment of neck pain, some headaches, stenosis of the spine, disc herniation and problems from motor vehicle accidents, such as whiplash. In addition, Kelsey says his myofascial release or massage is especially effective for post-surgery patients, such as breast cancer patients, to minimize a loss of mobility.

According to Kelsey, only 1,500 therapists in the United States have this certification.

Suwannee Bend Services is located at 105 SW 140th Terrace, Suite 3 in Jonesville, just east of C.R. 241. For more information, call 333-3995. You can reach the Chiefland office, which is located on N. Main St., at 490-7500. The Newberry office, which is located in a historic downtown house, can be contacted by calling 474-6111.

Exit Realty Producers Hosts Record-Setting PPIR Event

Exit Realty Producers, located in the Willow Walk Business Center in Jonesville, recently celebrated its one year anniversary by hosting a huge Professional People In Real Estate (PPIR) networking event at its new 4,000-plus square-foot office. In addition, Community Title, which also is located in the Willow Walk Business Center, and Countrywide Home Loans, which has a Jonesville location, also were event sponsors.

According to Bill Mauffray, the founder of PPIR and a Countrywide agent, the event attendance was impressive.

Exit Realty Producers broker Rhonda Leschanz says her office has broken PPIR attendance records for two consecutive years. “Last year, we beat the previous record and we had about 275 people at the event,” says Leschanz. “This year, we had 425 people (at the event). It was the largest (attendance) ever in the history of PPIR. There were so many people there that I couldn’t even find members of my own family.”

PPIR hosts monthly networking events for real estate professionals and companies that provide services to real estate professionals. All events are sponsored and catered and there also are door prizes for those in attendance.

The next PPIR event will be held at Gainesville Volvo on Wednesday, January 9, 5:30 p.m. You must RSVP to attend.

For more information about PPIR, visit www.ppir.org.

For more information about Exit Realty Producers, call 505-5700 or visit www.exitrealtyproducers.com . Exit Realty Producers is located at 285 NW 138th Terrace, Suite 200 in the Willow Walk Business Center off Newberry Rd.  in Jonesville.

For information about Community Title, visit www.communitytitlefl.com or call 331-0817.