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Coffee Talk (Sara/Mana)
Condoflip.com to roll out its online service in west Florida
It's no secret that "flippers" are driving much of the boom in condo development. Flippers are investors who buy condos at a discount during the preconstruction phase and then sell when the building is near completion.
But until now, condo resales have taken place in a haphazard way, with no central marketplace where buyers and sellers can meet. Enter Condoflip.com, a Web site launched by Mark Zilbert, president of Zilbert Realty Group in Miami Beach. Condoflip.com will list preconstruction sales and resales of condos throughout the state starting Oct. 1.
Zilbert says he's currently building the number of listings in Condoflip.com's database. So far he has about 1,000 listings, including 200 in condo towers stretching from Naples to Tampa. He estimates 60% to 70% of the new condos in west Florida will be resold. In South Florida, flippers account for 80% of the new units sold, Zilbert says.
Kleiber's in
It's official. Commercial real estate broker Jon Kleiber filed papers in Tallahassee to run as a Republican for the District 70 state representative seat. In Kleiber's first statement reporting his filing, he emphasized his former career as a teacher in the Venice pubic school system and his business experience in dealing with government.
Nancy Detert, R-Venice, who now holds the District 70 seat, previously announced her intent to run for U.S. Congress, District 13.
Kleiber, who works for the real estate firm of Richardson Kleiber Walter, previously ran as a write-in candidate for District 68 in Manatee County.
As the eagle flies
Was John Saputo so sick of traffic congestion he planned to commute by helicopter to his Gold Coast Eagle Distributing's Lakewood Ranch headquarters? Nope. That helicopter pad planned for the new headquarters is for emergency services.
"I offered our extra acreage to both counties as staging areas during emergencies," Saputo says "We are even going to add in additional infrastructure including the helicopter pad. Just like last year, we and Anheuser-Busch are committed to providing canned water to the two counties."
Gold Coast Eagle Distributing's facility will have its own electrical generator for refrigeration and emergency operations. Saputo and staff are considering adding even more infrastructure and environmental factors to the facility as the project is more fully designed.
Better to lease or to own?
Left out of the announcement that Buchanan Enterprises/Buchanan Automotive Group are buying the ninth floor of the Plaza at Five Points was the floor's former contracted buyer. Jim Abrams, president of Clockwork Home Services Inc. (formerly VenVest Inc.) was originally supposed to buy the entire 35,000-square-foot top commercial floor to house his company, but problems arose as the company prepares to go public.
According to Five Points officials, Abrams was told that his ownership of the office property could create a potential conflict of interest. In the end, Vern Buchanan bought out Abrams' contract and agreed to lease a portion of the top floor back to Clockwork Home Services.
'Shark Tank' goes after feds
Fishermen, from the Panhandle to Naples, are rallying against the rule that reduces the daily red grouper bag limit from two to one and calls for a complete ban of recreational fishing of all grouper in the Gulf of Mexico in November and December.
Two Gulf Coast recreational fishing groups, represented by volunteer lawyers, are suing the federal government over its interim ban on grouper fishing.
"The federal government is acting to protect commercial fishermen at the expense of the recreational fishermen," says Pinellas lawyer Craig Berman of the Fishing Rights Alliance's "Shark Tank," a group of lawyers that last month filed a federal lawsuit in Tampa to overturn the ban.
"To me, it's a national disgrace this could happen to protect the precious long-liner (commercial fishermen) who's killing whatever they catch, whether it's legal or not," Berman adds.
In Fort Myers, the Coastal Conservation Association filed a similar federal lawsuit against U.S. Department of Commerce Secretary Carlos Gutierrez, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the National Marine Fisheries Service.
The groups plan to overturn the rule that went into effect over the summer, Berman says, adding: "We think the Florida judges will see the agency has acted in a capricious and arbitrary manner."
The groups contend the government relied on faulty data in determining the grouper fishery, including 17 sub-species, is over-fished. And if it is over-fished, Berman says, why not place limits on the long-liners who bring in 81% of all grouper caught in the Gulf?
Florida officials don't support the ban because recreational fishing contributes greatly to Florida's tourism industry, Berman says. And by the way, the federal rule applies only to fishing outside of the state's nine-mile boundary.
Berman, a solo practitioner, and E. Colin Thompson and Lewis J. Conwell, both of DLA Piper Rudnick Gray Cary US LLP, represent FRA, while J. Matthew Belcastro and John A. Noland, both of Henderson, Franklin, Starnes & Holt PA, Fort Myers, represent CCA.
Developers shop for shoppers
With Westport, Conn.-based Paragon Realty Group LLC's purchase of the 259,000-square-foot Main Plaza, it is becoming quickly apparent that downtown Sarasota is gaining new recognition from developers as a retail destination.
The $40 million purchase price, equal to about $154 per square foot, is significantly more than the $13.5 million purchase paid by Benderson Development Co. in May for the 130,189-square-foot Ellis building down the street (about $103.7 per square foot). However, John Harshman, president of Harshman & Co. Inc., says the price is consistent with the market.
The possible retail conversion of Main Plaza joins an already growing list of new retail planned for the downtown, including the $100 million Premiere at Main Plaza behind the plaza and 133,000 square feet of additional retail from the Isaac brothers' Pineapple Square.
Can you say "critical mass?"
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