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Coffee Talk (Sara/Mana edition)
And the winner is¦
Michael Saunders, president of Sarasota-based Michael Saunders & Co., continues to gain name recognition well beyond the 'For Sale' signs on properties. On June 24, Saunders won a statewide Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year Award in the real estate and construction category.
Saunders is now eligible for Ernst & Young's national award, which will be announced Nov. 21 in Palm Springs. Saunders will be considered with 49 other regional real estate and construction winners for the honor.
Since Saunders founded the company in 1976, it has grown to include 17 offices and 500 sales agents. The company reported $2 billion in sales in 2003 - a 44% increase over 2002. Not too bad in the midst of a slight economic recession.
The awards ceremony, held in Orlando, honored 24 finalists in eight categories from all over Florida. More than 100 entrepreneurs were nominated.
Nick Generalovich, CEO of Bradenton-based Vanguard Advance Pharmacy Systems, and Jim Vett, COO, were finalists in the health-care category. Kenneth Pendery Jr., president of Sarasota-based First Watch Restaurants, was a finalist in the retail category.
Ernst & Young presented Wayne Huizenga, president of Miami-based Huizenga Holdings Inc., with a lifetime achievement award. Huizenga, former CEO of Blockbuster Entertainment, founder of AutoNation Inc. and owner of the Miami Dolphins, finally has something to put on the mantle space he has reserved for the NFL's Vince Lombardi Championship Trophy.
New hotel precedes arena
A new hotel designed for business travelers is set to go up on the east side of State Road 70 and Interstate 75. Two brothers, Mack and Porter Griffin, just bought land in Creekwood Estates to build a 100-room Wingate Inn.
The brothers are already building two other Wingate Inns in Alabama, near Porter Griffin's home in Dothan, Ala. Mack Griffin lives in Myakka City.
"The feasibility report for Sarasota-Bradenton was very, very good," Porter Griffin says. "It said we would probably get a very good occupancy rate there and that it would be very profitable, especially with a 7,400-seat arena on that road. There aren't any other hotels at that exit, and this is the only hotel site on the east side of the road."
The Griffins plan to start construction in November for an estimated completion in October of 2005. To date, the developers are still taking bids from potential general contractors. The estimated cost of construction is about $5.4 million.
The Wingate Inn concept is less than eight years old and designed to fit into the upper end of the mid-market (Hampton Inn or Hilton Garden Inn) primarily tailored to business travelers. The Wingate franchise model offers in-room high-speed Internet access, exercise rooms and a business center for no additional cost. Each hotel employs about 35 of which 28 are full-time jobs.
There are currently 140 Wingate Inns nationwide.
Absence makes the heart grow fonder
Like the impact of a low-calorie diet, the concrete and steel shortages are forcing local developers to focus on often-overlooked construction materials.
"We are still waiting on concrete," says Liz Breuer, president of Floria LLC developer of The Savoy on Palm condominium on South Orange Avenue. "We have been told that they will be doing the pilings on Tuesday (July 6). They tell me that once we get started they can guarantee the supply through the rest of the project. So we are hoping. I have to say though, I have never seen so many cement trucks on the road. Driving up to Tampa I probably saw 15 different trucks. I kept thinking, 'Now, why aren't you going to my project?' "
While the concrete/steel shortages didn't directly lead to a three-month delay in the Kanaya condominium project - that goes to permitting delays - the shortages are set to have their own significant impact.
"Our constructions costs have gone up about a $1 million from $20 million to $21 million," says Rod Phillips, a partner in Kanaya and the exclusive marketing agent. "I'm hoping (the shortages) are not going to have more of a factor. We had hoped to start in June, but now it is looking like August. But that's OK. It just gave us more time to sell."
Phillips reports that 20 of the 35 units in the Kanaya have been sold. Breuer says her sales team has sold 16 units in the 24-unit The Savoy.
BIFS, Masry appeals to Atlanta court
California trial attorney Ed Masry and Sarasota's BIFS Technologies Corp. have lost their securities fraud and racketeering case in federal court and are appealing to the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals in Atlanta.
GCBR reported in May of last year, that Masry, of Erin Brockovich fame, had suited a group of securities dealers, including M.H. Meyerson & Co. Inc., Hill Thompson & Magid Co. Inc., Charles Schwab & Co. Inc., BrokerageAmerica LLC, FleetBoston Financial Corp. Herzog Heine Geduld LLC and more, on behalf of BIFS. The suit alleged that the securities companies manipulated BIFS stock price downward in an attempt to make gains on shorts they had taken on the stock.
U.S. District Judge Richard Lazzara writes: "After careful consideration of the allegations of the Third Amended Complaint (DKT. 69) the argument of counsel, and the applicable law, the court concludes that the motion to dismiss should be granted as to all federal claims and denied as moot as to all state law claims." On June 25, the plaintiff filed a notice of the appeal.
Masry's office and Al Keyser, majority shareholder of BIFS, did not return calls to Coffee Talk before deadline.
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