►The Heritage Plaza parking garage has opened to the public, providing 836 parking spaces, mostly reserved for use by the structure’s investors: the city of Lakeland, Lakeland Regional Health Systems, MidFlorida Credit Union and Aspyre Properties/BKP Five, but with 49 standard spaces and 10 spaces for disabled people to be available to members of the public during business hours.
► Marcus & Millichap (NYSE: MMI), a commercial real estate investment firm, has announced the sale of Bentley Pines Apartments, a 112-unit apartment property located in Lakeland, for $7.9 million.
► Polk County officials pushed forward on an $88 million widening of County Road 557, from two to four lanes, between Lake Alfred and Interstate 4.
►Andre Ripley, a graduate of Florida Polytechnic University, was awarded a $120,000 partnership deal for his company Virtualities, with Facebook and Oculus VR, to develop and run virtual reality gaming tournaments for the Pistol Whip VR game.
► Blackton, a Central Florida distributor of materials to homebuilders, was selected as the supplier of flooring products valued at an estimated $2.2 million at three D.R. Horton communities in east Polk County, including 100 homes at Orchid Terrace located off of Holly Hill Road and Davenport Boulevard, and 215 homes at Grace Ranch on Grace Avenue off of South 30th Street.
►Polk County Fire Rescue is adding radio-frequency identification technology to its fleet, which will assist in inventory tracking and is projected to save the department about $20,000 to $30,000 a month.
► Seven years after becoming principal of Harrison School for the Arts in Lakeland, Daryl Ward has left to join his predecessor, Craig Collins, at Southeastern University; Kevin LeVine, who has been Harrison’s assistant principal for seven years, will serve as interim principal.
