April 4, 2008
JEAN HSU HONORED FOR BROKERING “DEAL OF THE YEAR” IN 2007

Commercial real estate purchase involved 206 acres in south Orange County

ORLANDO, Fla. (April 4, 2008) – The Central Florida Commercial Association of Realtors (CFCAR) has presented Florida Crown Investment Company (FCIC) President Jean Hsu, MSRED, with its 2008 Deal of the Year Award for brokering the $50 million purchase of the largest remaining contiguous pieces of infill property in Orange County.  The presentation was part of the organization’s Hallmark Awards dinner on March 13 that annually honors the top commercial real estate producers in the 10-county Central Florida region.

Jean Hsu and her husband, architect C.T. Hsu, FAIA, have long believed Central Florida is overdue for a world-class design center.  For more than three years, Jean and her team at FCIC searched for the suitable site.  The complex deal, which closed in late December 2007, involved the purchase of 206 acres bordered by John Young Parkway, the Beachline (SR 528) and the Florida Turnpike.  It included the former Agere semiconductor plant facilities and 1.4 million square feet of existing buildings. 

Plans for the property call for development of a world-class design center that will have meaningful economic impact for the entire Central Florida region.  The deal also became the subject of Jean Hsu’s Master’s thesis for the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, titled “The Highest and Best Use Assessment of an Adaptive Reuse Development: The Former Agere Systems Campus Redevelopment Plan.”

The Central Florida Commercial Association of Realtors (www.CFCAR.net) provides commercial practitioners with opportunities to network and market listings, search properties or collaborate with other commercial practitioners regionally.  It serves the following ten counties: Alachua, Brevard, Flagler, Lake, Marion, Orange, Osceola, Seminole, Sumter and Volusia.