Annie Davis recently opened
Palm Beach Travel.
INSET BELOW: Ron Reshefsky
Photos provided
By Christine Davis
Plaza del Mar in Manalapan is the new home for Palm Beach Travel and Allstate Insurance.
Annie Davis, owner of Palm Beach Travel, opened her travel agency afer seeing a need for a local agency. An American Express affiliate, her agency specializes in Platinum and Centurion travel as well as cruises, tours and family reunions.
Hillary Longo opened her Allstate franchise in September to fill what she saw as a void in the community. Her agency offers coverage for auto, life, residence and more, and her team includes four licensed producers with more than 80 years of combined insurance and financial services experience.
For information about Palm Beach Travel, call 585-5885. For information about Allstate in Plaza Del Mar, call 293-4277.
One tenant has been in the 1981-era, 12,000-square-foot office building at 4600 North Ocean, Boynton Beach, from the very start.
That would be attorney Erik Joh, whose firm Hinman, Howard and Kattell, was the first non-bank tenant in the building.
“We opened on April Fool’s Day 1981,” Joh said. “The primary tenant and the group that caused the building to be built was the old First National Bank in Palm Beach.”
He recalled other past tenants: Payne-Webber, Alan Bush Brokerage Company, Prudential Bache. “Also some retired gentlemen had offices here: the former owner of the Baltimore Colts, who had a major national beer distributorship, Becks Beer; and we also had one of the founders of Friendly Ice Cream in here.”
The second floor of the building was to be an executive office suite, Joh said, and he took over some of the space when he arrived from Binghamton, N.Y. (where his firm’s main office is located) to open a branch here.
In November, the building was bought by Ben Yomtob, a commercial landlord.
“It’s a fantastic location. Between Deerfield Beach and Palm Beach, there are only four commercial buildings this size in that stretch, so demand is high and the supply is low, and everybody wants to be a block from the beach,” Yomtob said.
He is currently focusing on bringing the building up to his standards “and not look like a 1980s flashback.”
The nonprofit Boca Raton Regional Hospital will establish its first facility in Broward County after recently breaking ground in Deerfield Beach. The 25,000-square-foot ambulatory care center will handle primary care, urgent care, radiology and breast health, and will have 25 to 30 employees.
Also, the hospital is building the Marcus Neuroscience Institute on its main campus, scheduled to be completed in spring 2014; and following that, it plans to break ground on the Christine E. Lynn Women’s Health and Wellness Institute.
The Greater Boca Raton Chamber of Commerce announced that Yvonne Boice, owner of The Shoppes at Village Pointe and Fugazy International Travel, will receive its 2014 Diamond Award. She will be honored at the sixth annual luncheon on Feb. 21 at Woodfield Country Club, Boca Raton. Approximately 200 guests are expected to attend.
For information on sponsorship opportunities, corporate tables and tickets, call Chasity Navarro at 395-4433, Ext. 233, email her at cnavarro@bocaratonchamber.com, or visit www.bocaratonchamber.com.
It can’t get any easier to enjoy a great meal at Caffe Luna Rosa, because the Delray Beach restaurant has partnered with SnappyEats.com to offer quick and easy online ordering and pickup. Visit www.caffelunarosa.com, place your order, and drive to the restaurant’s valet station, where you can park for free to pick up your lunch or dinner.
Offering a slightly modified menu (taking into account foods that travel well), items include selections of meat, poultry and seafood as well as homemade pasta, bread and desserts, even gelato. It’s simple and satisfying, says partner/founder Fran Marincola.
Caffe Luna Rosa offers online ordering 11:30 a.m.-3 p.m. for lunch, and 4:30-9 p.m. for dinner Monday through Thursday; and 4:30-6 p.m. Friday and Saturday. Caffe Luna Rosa is at 34 S. Ocean Blvd., Delray Beach.
Insurance brokerage veteran Ron Reshefsky has started a new risk management and insurance brokerage firm in Boca Raton, Century Risk Advisors. The firm provides businesses, public entities, professional service providers and individuals with insurance and risk management services. Reshefsky, who serves as chairman, has launched the new agency with his son, Gary Reshefsky.
To provide its clients with great services, Reshefsky has recruited key individuals from his previous company, Century Financial Services, along with professionals from other insurance companies. The firm also is hiring more top property and casualty sales executives. Qualified applicants can visit the website for more information.
Century Risk Advisors is at 2600 N. Military Trail, Suite 240, Boca Raton. For more information, call 409-2420 or visit www.centuryriskadvisors.com.
The senior living community Abbey Delray South in Delray Beach has completed a $6.5 million renovation that includes the creation of three dining venues.
“Dining is huge among today’s seniors and the aging baby boomer population,” said David Randazzo, executive director of Abbey Delray South. “They want it to be a culinary experience and they want options.”
The renovations, designed by c.c. hodgson architectural group, create a resort atmosphere with amenities. New dining venues include a bistro with attached bar and lounge, a formal dining room, and a garden dining setting. A new 5,000-square-foot gourmet kitchen also expands culinary choices for residents.
The Seagate Country Club unveiled a multimillion-dollar renovation of its 18-hole championship private golf course in November 2013.
“The Hamlet Golf Club was purchased and renamed The Seagate Country Club in November 2012, and was then fully renovated to create a world-class golf facility to complement the award-winning Seagate Hotel & Spa and Seagate Beach Club,” said E. Anthony Wilson, Seagate Hospitality Group CEO.
As the original home of the first Golf Digest School, the renovation preserved the original Joe Lee-designed course while enhancing the course with state-of-the-art grasses and technology that were not in existence when the course was designed in 1973.
The club features a practice facility that offers a fully outfitted driving range, putting green, short game pitching and bunker areas, as well as a staff of PGA professionals who are available for private lessons, including Darren Panks, Andy Anderson, Whitney Young and Craig Harmon.
Annual golf members and resort memberships are available. Contact Kate Park for additional information on memberships at Kpark@seagatedelray.com.
Black-tie galas have a long history in Palm Beach, but the Greater Boynton Beach Chamber of Commerce has a different color in mind. Its first eco-chic Green Gala will be held Jan. 25 at The Omphoy in Palm Beach.
Green living, sustainability, community and creative culture will be showcased, Omphoy Chef Michael Wurster is creating a special home-grown menu, and guests will bid at an environmentally conscious silent auction. Entertainment will feature fire dancers, garden fairies, belly dancers, stilt walkers, dancers from Groovolution Dance Studio and a DJ.
Jonathan T. Porges has been named the new president and CEO of the Boynton Chamber. Porges has served on the chamber’s board of directors since 2009 and as its chair for the past two years.
Ethel Isaacs Williams, regional manager of corporate external affairs at Florida Power & Light Co., has been named the 2014 chairman of the board of directors. Williams has been a board member since 2010.
Christine Davis is a freelance writer. Send business news to her at cdavis9797@comcast.net.
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