LOS ANGELES: More than two years after new ownership took over the Ocala Inn, the property is being leveled.

Ocala Investment One has secured a notice of commencement to demolish the property. Clearwater-based Zeal Development is doing the work.

Crews have established a fence perimeter around the building, which is at the northwest corner of Pine Avenue and Southwest 17th Street.

The hotel, built in 1964, was sold to Ocala Investment One and Ocala Investment Two for $1.25 million in April 2015. The Ocala-based companies have a small office not far from the inn. It has a “Quick King Food Stores” corporate office sign on the outside. Efforts to reach the owners by phone, email and at the office were unsuccessful.

There is no word yet on what will happen to the land.

Earlier this year, the Ocala Code Enforcement Board found the hotel owner in violation of city code concerning derelict vehicles and standard housing guidelines. It faced fines if it did not correct the problems or demolish the premises.

Meanwhile, near the southwest corner of that intersection, land has been cleared for a new Walgreens.

In other development and business news:

- A DeLand-based car dealer has paid $1.1 million for 7.7 vacant acres on North Pine Avenue north of Northwest 28th Street.

The land is on the east side of the road, across from Ford of Ocala.

The buyer, Ultra RE Holdings has the same mailing address as R.C. Hill Mitsubishi in DeLand. Efforts to reach Hill by phone and email were unsuccessful.

Two contiguous properties were purchased: $330,000 for 2.48 acres, sold by Tampa-based John Mary Enterprises Ltd.; and $779,000 for 5.24 acres, sold by Jacksonville-based Ocala Herlong.

- Hospice of Marion County has sold its 46-bed Summerfield Suites assisted living facility in Summerfield for $4 million. The buyer is Morningdew, which already has two ALFs in Florida. The broker was Colliers International.

Hospice CEO Mary Ellen Poe said her agency, under previous leadership, bought the ALF in 2002. It was operated under a separate business line and was not part of hospice’s care network.

Back then, there was a need for ALFs in the area near The Villages. Since then, the market has grown and so has the number of ALFs.

Hospice decided to sell and concentrate on its primary mission. The 2002 purchase was financed with bonds, and Poe said the sale to Morningdew eventually will make this a break-even proposition.

This does not affect the nearby Brandley Hospice House.

- It’s back: RaceTrac is, once again, seeking to put a service station in the 300 block of West Silver Springs Boulevard in downtown Ocala.

RaceTrac has filed an application with the City of Ocala seeking a special exception to operate a service station in a B-3 (Central Business) zone. The Ocala Board of Adjustment will consider the request at a meeting at 5:30 p.m. Dec. 18 in council chambers at City Hall, 110 SE Watula Ave.

The owner is CLD Properties. On March 20, the Ocala Board of Adjustment denied CLD Properties’ request for a special exception to allow for a station on that same land.

- Mediation went nowhere, so the land owner who wants to develop Ocala Ranch in Southwest Marion County has filed an amended lawsuit against the county.

The County Commission earlier this year rejected a proposed comprehensive plan amendment that would have cleared the way for Ocala Ranch, a massive development off State Road 200 and just south of the Florida Highlands. Developers seek homes, recreation areas and up to two golf courses on more than 3,000 acres.

Commissioners said the project was not in the public interest and was not compatible with surrounding land uses. Land owner AZ Ocala Ranch sued. The commission agreed to try mediation, but according to a notice filed on Nov. 14, that didn’t work.

- Bonnie Heath Farm in Reddick has been sold for $825,000.

The seller was Land Holding, a Pittsburgh company that had acquired the original loan on the property from PNC Bank, National Association, in July 2015. In September of that year, Bonnie Heath III signed over the property to Land Holding in lieu of foreclosure.

Land Holding had a lease arrangement that allowed Heath to continue operating the farm.

The buyer is James Shondel. Bob Hold of Hold-Thyssen, a Winter Park-based real estate firm, along with George DeBenedicty of Ocala Ranches, handled the sale of the 78-acre horse farm, 7145 NW 125th Street Road.

As the Star-Banner reported in 2015: “The Bonnie Heath name is synonymous with the thoroughbred industry in Marion County. Bonnie Heath II, Bonnie III’s father, established the original Bonnie Heath Farm in southwest Ocala in the 1950s. The elder Heath campaigned Needles, the first Florida-bred to win the Kentucky Derby. Largely on the strength of that achievement, the local industry grew from a few farms to hundreds.

“Heath’s decision to stand Needles at stud in Ocala further increased the area’s credibility as a thoroughbred centre. The original farm along State Road 200, together with Dudley and Tartan Farms, were sold in 1997 to a South Florida developer. The area is now the expansive Heathbrook development, which includes retail and residential properties.”

- A Houston company that builds jumps for the equestrian industry has bought an abandoned factory in Reddick.

CCI will do manufacturing and custom sales from the property, which is at 3951 W. County Road 329.

The company has extensive experience in Marion County and has worked at HITS. The Reddick location represents an expansion of services.

Bartow McDonald IV, managing director of SVN Commercial Real Estate, brokered the deal. The seller was North Bay Funding Co., based in Charles City, Virginia, and the purchase price was $415,000. North Bay received the property in 2014 in a bankruptcy action.

- Office Pride, a commercial cleaning service with more than 130 franchises nationwide, is looking to expand into the Ocala market.

The Palm Harbor-based company promises commercial cleaning “with no headaches attached.”

“We are a nationwide, faith-based franchise that equips our owners to build a successful business that honors God,” the company’s website says.

“It’s all about doing the right thing,” said Rich Helm, manager of franchise development, during an interview.

Tribune News Service