If you need assistance, please call 407-603-9240

Behind the deal: Historic Mills 50 building lands new user

Tuesday, June 30, 2020   /   by Tom Nickley

Behind the deal: Historic Mills 50 building lands new user

cameo.jpg
By: Jack Witthaus - Staff Writer, Orlando Business Journal
Jun 29, 2020, 7:00pm EDT

Tom Nickley keeps waking up at 2 a.m. thinking about his company's new office space. 

 

That's because he can't stop envisioning the possibilities for his residential real estate firm The Nickley Group's future office in the Cameo Theater at 1013 E. Colonial Drive — the highly recognizable 80-year-old building in the budding Mills 50 district. He signed a deal June 26 to occupy the roughly 4,200-square-foot space later in the year for his 35 or so agents. The Nickley Group is affiliated with Austin-based real estate company Keller Williams Realty. 

 

Billy Rodriguez and Colette Santana represented the Orlando-based landlord, 1013 Colonial Ventures LLC, in the five-year deal, and Mark Arnold, with Keller Williams, represented The Nickley Group. Orlando-based landlord 1013 Colonial Ventures LLC purchased the building for $338,900 in February 2013, according to Orange County records. The space's market value was $522,448 in 2019, records showed. 

 

The space was on the market for less than a month as the Mills 50 area has buz

zed with real estate activity in recent weeks. For example, across the street, Anh Chau — owner of Orlando-based Asian Florida Investment Inc. — plans to demolish 723 N. Mills Ave. and build roughly 8,800 square feet of retail and commercial space there. 

 

“All the stars aligned for us," Nickley said. "I believe it was meant to be."

 

Nickley's firm started looking for a new space roughly a year ago as the company grew. The group's agents sell between 35-40 homes each annually — considered high in the industry — and enjoy being in a physical office environment. In fact, they role play scripts with each other some mornings before making calls. 

 

Nickley heard about the iconic space about three months ago after the then tenant, Snap! Orlando, was considering leaving. Snap! Orlando's founder and Chairman Patrick Kahn — and his wife, Holly, co-curator/exhibition coordinator — had bought a home from one of Nickley's agents. And Nickley had stayed in touch because he planned to do an event at the art gallery this year — and was familiar with the neighborhood's haunts. 

 

"We've been buying pizza from Lazy Moon forever," said Nickley, referencing a nearby restaurant. "That was our stomping ground already." 

The site's parking, its patio courtyard and proximity to downtown Orlando made it attractive, Rodriguez said. At least two other restaurant concepts had also expressed serious interest. "Mills 50 is just getting more and more popular by the day," Rodriguez said. 

 

Nickley plans to move his team into the new office later this year and wants to partner with Snap! Orlando for events. In addition, he aims to open the space up and do other company events there in the future. 

 

He hopes the space's future buildout will capture the building's history. Nickley doesn't want people to see a standard real estate office when they walk inside. 

 

"We want to be the exact opposite."

TNG KW.png

  orlando community, events

The Nickley Group
Tom Nickley
11 S. Bumby Ave, Suite 200
Orlando, FL 32803
407-603-9240
321-945-1152

mls logo© 2024 My Florida Regional MLS DBA Stellar MLS, Inc.. All rights reserved. The data relating to real estate displayed on this website comes in part from the Internet Data Exchange (IDX) Program of My Florida Regional MLS DBA Stellar MLS, Inc. All listing information is deemed reliable but not guaranteed and should be independently verified through personal inspection by appropriate professionals. Listings displayed on this website may be subject to prior sale or removal from sale; availability of any listing should always be independently verified. Listing information is provided for consumers' personal, non-commercial use, solely to identify potential properties for potential purchase; all other use is strictly prohibited and may violate relevant federal and state law.11/2/2024 8:19 PM CST
This site powered by CINC: www.cincpro.com