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Coffee Talk
+ Minimize taxes
on new construction
Builders dread the taxes on new construction because they're so high on the Gulf Coast that many projects now don't make financial sense.
But David Wilkison, vice president with engineering firm WilsonMiller and managing principal of the firm's Fort Myers office, says there may be a way to pay less on the road portion of the tax, otherwise known as "impact fees."
For example, his firm is helping a hotel figure out exactly how much traffic the property will generate because the county's estimate is exaggerated. "What it takes is surveying a similar use," Wilkison says.
Then, you've got to persuade county staff that your calculations are more valid than their estimates. That's when the art of persuasion comes into play. Not surprisingly, it's easier to pull off in pro-growth Lee than in Collier County, Wilkison says.
+ Westshore hotels
continue to lure investors
Westshore, the Gulf Coast's biggest business district, has seen another hotel change hands - the Sheraton Suites on Cypress Street in Tampa.
That is good news for two reasons: It will go through an extensive renovation in the next 12 to 18 months and it will be managed by Davidson Hotels of Memphis, which is highly regarded and is familiar with this market.
Square Mile Capital of Connecticut bought the property from Host Marriott which includes 263 rooms and 8,000 square feet of meeting space.
"I think it's going to be an extremely competitive property," said Dennis Reed, senior vice president-Southeast Region for The Plasencia Group Inc., a hotel brokerage in Tampa.
"The Westshore market will continue to do well," Reed says. "There's an international airport, two malls and your close to downtown and the cruise lines."
A number of hotel properties have changed hands in Westshore in the last 12 to 18 months. Reed called it a cycle where new owners see revenue potential and outgoing owners want to move on.
Despite the tighter economy, people still want to travel for business and leisure activity, so hotels should benefit from that.
"People didn't want to travel after 9-11, but today, it's different," Reed says.
+ Sarasota college
student shines
Executives and entrepreneurs searching for employees who 'get it' have long complained that the Sarasota-Bradenton area is lacking in colleges and universities that can produce those types of job candidates.
They probably haven't met Josh Abbott.
Abbott is a third-year math student at New College of Florida, a Sarasota-based college known nationally for its honors programs and its liberal education policies, such as how students are judged on their overall work as opposed to receiving actual grades.
Abbott was recently awarded a Barry M. Goldwater Scholarship, one of the country's most prestigious prizes in mathematics, engineering and the natural sciences.
Abbott, a member of American Mensa, was awarded the scholarship partially due to his work with a New College professor on developing the code for a genetic algorithm to help solve inverse problems related to networks.
Abbott has also co-authored two papers, both of which appeared in the mathematics journal Congressus Numerantium.
The Barry M. Goldwater Scholarship was designed to honor the late senator by encouraging outstanding students to pursue careers in math and engineering.
No word yet on an academic report on the irony of a New College student winning a scholarship named after one of the country's most respected political conservatives.
+ Sneaky, er, creative way
to get new business
Here's one sign that it's a rough time for mortgage brokers.
Consider what one broker handwrote on a crude piece of cardboard and tied to a sign on heavily traveled Daniels Parkway in Fort Myers: "Sneaky ways to lower your mortgage payments. Free recorded message."
Coffee Talk called the number listed and, frankly, we were disappointed. It was just another struggling mortgage broker trying to find homeowners to persuade them to refinance their existing mortgages. No sneaky tricks were revealed.
Hats off to the broker, though. He got us to call.
+ Downtown Tampa grows,
still lacks residents' needs
Downtown Tampa is maturing as a residential location and urban destination for residents and workers, but those people are asking for more restaurants, stores, parking and better transportation options, according to the latest study of the area released by the Tampa Downtown Partnership.
More than 60% of the respondents were interested in seeing some of these things downtown: waterfront dining, indoor urban shopping mall, downtown market, outdoor art park, outdoor movie night and a free electric vehicle shuttle.
Of the 50,000 downtown workers, more than 12% have a strong desire to live downtown.
This means that the current inventory of residential units available would not meet this demand.
+ Fort Myers fundraising
maestro is back
Bill Merwin is back and he'll help you shake some money out of those trees.
Merwin, who resigned last year as president of Florida Gulf Coast University after he acknowledged an extramarital affair with a faculty member, will be the featured speaker at a May 22 function at the Naples Grande Resort sponsored by the Public Relations, Marketing and Advertising Professionals of Collier County.
The topic of the workshop: "Tapping into the money tree to maximize your fundraising efforts."
Merwin, who has been doing some consulting work in the last year, is well known in Fort Myers and Naples for his fundraising prowess.
He helped FGCU in Fort Myers raise $250 million over the eight-year period he was president. Ultimately, in his last year at FGCU, Merwin was leading a $35-million annual campaign.
Merwin says the slowing economy is hampering efforts to obtain large gifts, but says nonprofits should have a good year with smaller gifts.
"There are people out there who are relatively unaffected," Merwin says.
+ Largo dentist develops tool
to help athletes excel
If you're tired of hearing about steroids, a Largo dentist has developed a natural way to help athletes and non-athletes improve performance: the Pure Power Mouthguard.
Dr. Carl T. Panzarella of Largo, has fitted a soccer coach and major league baseball players from the Boston Red Sox, Toronto Blue Jays and Detroit Tigers.
There are no drugs. By using neuromuscular machinery and computers, Panzarella puts each individual's jaw in the most comfortable position to allow the rest of the body to do the work it was designed for.
Panzarella then fits an amateur or professional athlete with a clear plastic mouthguard which keeps the lower jaw in a relaxed position. In that position, strength and balance is enhanced. PPM staff also state that the appliance also improves oxygen flow to the lungs.
"I would recommend to anyone who is serious about their athletic competition to come in and try the PPM out," Panzarella says. "Everyone has different goals they want to reach, for an athlete that wants to jump higher, run faster, lift more weight and have an all-around improvement in flexibility and range of motion – this appliance will create the edge."
The inventor of the mouthguard is Dr. Anil Makkar, a neuromuscular dentist in Canada. Both Drs. Makkar and Panzarella are graduates of the Las Vegas Institute for Advanced Dentistry.
Worrisome Gulf Coast banks being watched
Gulf Coast financial institutions have a starring role on an updated 'watch' list of Florida banks complied by a national banking analyst for financial Web site thestreet.com.
Philip W. van Doorn, who previously worked as a loan officer for Riverside National Bank in Fort Pierce, gave 13 banks in the state a grade of 'D' or lower, including five based on the Gulf Coast. The report, using data from either 2007 year-end reports or March 31 call reports, was published online May 5.
The list is essentially a statewide who's who of banks with underperforming assets, a growing problem in the industry the Review highlighted in an April 4 special issue on banking.
The van Doorn report zeroed in on banks with a nonperforming assets ratio that was greater than 5%; nonperforming assets are loans that are more than 90 days past due.
Bradenton-based First Priority Bank was one of three banks to earn an 'E' grade. The van Doorn list cited the bank's "very bad first quarter" of 2008, when nonperforming assets rose to 15.65% of total assets and the bank reported its sixth straight quarterly loss. The Bank of Bonifay also received an E, while Sanford-based Federal Trust Bank earned an E-.
In the no-surprise department, the majority of First Priority's non-current assets stem from construction and commercial real estate loans. Ditto for most of the other banks on the list, such as Immokalee-based Florida Community Bank and Synovus Bank of Tampa Bay, which closed on a deal to buy Naples-based First Florida Bank April 28.
First Priority is also one of several banks that have been active in dealing with the situation. Its co-founder and president, George Najmy, resigned last year and was replaced by Kevin Hale, a veteran banker with experience in turnaround jobs. More recently, First Priority executives have begun exploring new avenues to raise capital.
The other Gulf Coast banks on the list, which include both Tampa and Naples-area institutions, can take solace in receiving only a 'D' grade. Here's a snapshot of the grades of the Gulf Coast-based banks on the list.
Grading gulf coast banks
Risk-based
Bank Location Total Assets % NPA Capital Ratio Grade
First Priority Bank Bradenton $261 million 15.65% 5.87 E
Florida Community Bank Immokalee $935 million 15.10% 15.72 D-
Marco Community Bank Marco Island $159 million 6.99% 16.42 D-
Synovus Bank of Tampa Bay Tampa Bay $1.704 billion 5.31% 10.52 N/A
Partners Bank Naples $56 million 5.26 21.03 D
Source: TheStreet.com
NPA represents the percentage of total nonperforming assets as of March 31, except for Partners Bank, which is of Dec. 31, 2007.
Synovus Bank figures include assets and ratios of Naples-based First Florida Bank, which merged with Synovus April 28.
TOURISM AND RECREATION
What the data shows: Taxable sales in this category include those from hotels, motels, bars, restaurants, liquor stores, photo and art stores, gift shops, admissions, sporting goods, rentals and jewelry stores.
What it means: Thank goodness for tourists. With real estate in the doldrums, tourism and recreation has offset some of the pain. Most areas of the Gulf Coast showed growth in tourism and recreation-related sales. Sarasota and Punta Gorda's growth exceeded the state's on a percentage basis.
Forecast: The rising price of oil and the health of the economy are two big concerns for the tourism industry. Hoteliers are hoping summer months will help boost annual profits, especially from foreign visitors with stronger currencies. They'll be watching airport traffic carefully as an indicator of future business. So far, only Southwest Florida International Airport in Fort Myers shows any signs of weak year-over-year traffic.
february TOURISM taxable sales
($ in millions)
Area February tourism sales Annual change
Fort Myers $236 -0.4%
Naples $188 0.9%
Punta Gorda $37 4.5%
Sarasota $214 4.6%
Tampa $658 2%
Florida $5,961 4.3%
Source: Florida Legislature Office of Economic & Demographic Research
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