Amanda Rabines
Oct 18, 2020
Land deals are known to take time. Between the paperwork, mortgage approvals and due diligence, they can sometimes be prolonged for weeks, maybe months, but the sweet luxury of time for a particular site in Apopka was just not on the table.
To the surprise of Jerome Henin, a principal at Winter Park-based Henin Group, the company was able to close on a 28-acre infill development site at 1401 and 1433 Votaw Rd. in just a little over one week.
Henin made an offer on a Friday, signed a contract on Tuesday and closed the deal the following Friday.
The sense of urgency was linked to the declining health of the seller, who was in the end stages of terminal cancer, Henin explained.
Jerome Henin, a native of France, is the founder and owner of several companies involved in real estate development and sales in Europe, Florida and Virginia. His largest Central Florida development is Riviera Bella in DeBary.
The seller, Claude A. Etty Jr., who went by the name Sonny, died the day after the paperwork was signed.
Records show the property on Votaw Road, near the Wekiva Reserve, had been in the Etty family for decades.
Henin Group intends to rezone the property to allow for up to 95 lots for single-family development, worth an estimated $40 million at buildout.