HEATHROW® Community Real Estate: The Heathrow Community area began primarily as a citrus-based agricultural community. In 1883, ex-President Ulysses S. Grant broke ground for the South Florida railroad, connecting Sanford and the towns of Heathrow, Longwood and Altamonte Springs with Jacksonville. The link was completed in 1884, the same year the area's first bank was opened. The area became the largest shipper of oranges in the world, and thousands of groves brought prosperity.

From 1900 to 1940, agriculture formed the base of Seminole County's economy and vegetables were transported by rail all over the country. However, between 1950 and 1985, agriculture declined because it was cheaper to grow crops in the more fertile soil of South Florida. With the decline of agricultural revenue, outstanding communities such as Heathrow began to spring up.

The arrival in Orange County of Martin Marietta Corporation's aerospace factory in the 1950s and Disney World in the 1970s caused rapid growth in industry and tourism, which spilled over into Seminole County. The construction of the Altamonte Mall in the 1970s made southern Seminole County a focal point of retail sales in Central Florida. Some of today's major employers in Seminole County include Siemens Stromberg-Carlson, United Telephone of Florida, American Automobile Association, K-Mart and Wal-Mart, ESCO, ABB Power Distribution, Sprague Electric, NCR and Southern Bell. Because both city and county governments offer a positive environment for development, there has been an influx of companies moving to Seminole County. Two of the more recent companies moving into Seminole County are Dixon Ticonderoga and Cincinnati Bell Information Systems. Today, Heathrow sits at the epicenter of burgeoning professional office centers, the proximity of Seminole Town Center Mall, is close to dozens of superb restaurants and ranks as one of the most prestigious addresses in the Southeast United States.