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Coffee Talk (Sara/Mana edition)
Frequent developer benefits
Fly a few times for business and you are bound to get a free flight. Buy a couple big-ticket items with the right credit card and you get rewarded with cash back or a free gift. But build a 16-story skyscraper and what do you get?
Not usually a trip to Cancun or a large-screen TV. But Beaverton, Ore.-based Pacific Security Capital is rectifying that.
The company, a commercial real estate investment banking firm that specializes in deals of more than $3 million, has introduced what it says is the first preferred borrower program for the commercial real estate industry.
The PacificElite program uses the popular point system and is broken into four different memberships based on closed transaction volume starting at $20 million.
"This is really designed to reward our tier-one repeat borrowers," says Mike Myatt, executive managing director. "There is such an excess flow of capital on the market. There's a lot of money chasing too few quality projects. So instead of conceding on fees we decided to take a little bit of a hit on our margin and give people real value back."
Even at its lowest membership level, the rewards are upscale: resort vacations, big-screen TVs, living-room sets, home-theater systems and jewelry. For the top level members, more than $100 million in transaction volume, the program offers a trip to Germany to pick up a new Mercedes Benz, a private jet charter membership and a private motoryacht charter.
Myatt says the program, which made its debut a few weeks ago, has been extremely successful.
"It's been pretty phenomenal," he says. "More than a million people have looked at our Web site on the program."
Sarasota-Manatee developer Wayne Ruben, who had not heard the specifics of the program, says, "I think the more sophisticated developers are still going to be rate and terms driven."
Built-in safety
The Sarasota-Manatee market is feeling the lingering effects of last year's hurricane threats, Michael Saunders says, and this time the response would make the Boy Scouts happy.
"Just about every meeting I have about a new development involves how we can incorporate safe rooms into the development," says Saunders, president of Michael Saunders & Co. "Developers are being much more proactive about integrating these areas into the design."
Saunders, who compared the new hurricane-design decisions to the bomb shelters of the early '60s Cuban Missile Crisis, says property owners would much rather ride out a major storm in a fortified room than a shelter.
Wind-resistant windows, generators, extra bathrooms and other storm-related accoutrements are being integrated into both single-family and multifamily projects, she says.
"For example, on waterfront properties, developers are creating community rooms on the second, third or fourth floors," she says. "If you are going to develop a community room, why not go through the steps to make it qualify as a place people can go during a storm? This is even being done on the more modestly priced properties, it just requires a little extra attention to reinforcing a space within a residence."
Viva Las Homewood
Principals from Merca Real Estate/Saravista Hotel Development have a good excuse to gamble. Recently, the developer of the Homewood Suites by Hilton Hotel, at 3470 Fruitville Road, Sarasota, were told that the hotel was the recipient of the Hilton's Best Conversion of the Year for 2004. The development, lead by French developer Enzo Gagliardi, was a gut and complete renovation of the derelict half-built The Gardens assisted-living facility.
Before Gagliardi stepped in to redevelop the property, the never-completed The Gardens, was set to be demolished by the city because of zoning and code violations. The new 100-unit renaissance-style hotel is expected to receive its certificate of occupancy next month.
In explaining Hilton's selection, Brian Fry, director of franchise development for Hilton Hotel, wrote in an e-mail: "Everyone at Hilton associated with your project has been impressed by not only your vision of a resuscitated development, but also the execution of that vision."
The Hilton award ceremony will be Feb 16 in Las Vegas during the Hilton conference.
Next up, Merca Real Estate plans to develop Alligator Place, a 98-townhome project on U.S. 41 in Venice. Additionally, the developer is considering a hotel project on the North Trail.
"It would by a tear down," says Eric Collin, operations manager for Saravista Hotel Development. "We would probably build an upscale Hilton product there. But we are still investigating what the city would allow."
Kellogg & Kimsey, GCBE volunteer honored
When the Subcontractors Council of the Gulf Coast Builders Exchange narrowed the field of finalists for its first General Contractor of the Year Award, the top three contenders made the choice difficult, according to council Chairman Mark Anderson, president of Cortez Heating and Air Conditioning.
Kellogg & Kimsey Inc., Willis A. Smith Construction Co. and W.G. Mills Inc. each have been among the region's largest and fastest-growing construction companies. But that's not what the award was all about.
The winner was judged from a subcontractor's perspective: on its proficiency in scheduling subcontractors, supervising and managing a project and on the proficiency and timeliness in paying its subcontractors.
The winner? Kellogg & Kimsey. The Sarasota-based firm, ranked 33rd in GCBR's Gulf Coast 250, is headed by principals, Philip Kellogg, president, and Charles Kimsey, executive vice president. Last year, the company generated $45 million in total revenues.
Anderson presented the award to Kellogg and Kimsey at the Gulf Coast Builders Exchange 2004-05 annual meeting and installation banquet Jan. 27 at the Lakewood Ranch Country Club.
Also honored at the banquet: the late Ron Kaufman, a longtime volunteer and photographer for the builders exchange. He died last year. GCBE members Ron Foxworthy and William Franklin presented Kaufman's widow, Rosemary, with a posthumous honorary membership award.
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