ORLANDO-Florida may be saddled with unknowns in the areas ofproperty insurance, taxes and hometown democracy–the amendment thatcalls for all citizens to vote for any change to the comprehensiveland-use plan. But the Central Florida area is ripe for thecommercial real estate industry, according to experts at theRealShare Central Florida conference, held at the Gaylord Palms inOrlando.

More than 300 commercial practitioners attended the RealShareCentral Florida conference. The RealShare Series is produced byReal Estate Media, publisher of GlobeSt.com, Real EstateForum and Real Estate Florida.From the popularity andsuccess of mixed-use development and continued population growth tothe green building movement and low unemployment rates, commercialopportunities flourish. “The market will rise slowly, and we're notin as dire a situation as some have predicted,” said Sean Snaith,director of the Institute of Economic Competitiveness at theUniversity of Central Florida in Orlando. “Central Florida has jobgrowth and personal income growth,” he says.

In addition, Snaith says that net population will continue togrow, with Orlando being the top area in the state for job growthby 2010. “It's amazing the number of bioscience companies we'reseeing move to Florida,” says Larry Richey, senior managingdirector, Cushman & Wakefield, Orlando and Tampa.