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Coffee Talk (Sara/Mana)
Nokomis hotel scramble
While the residential real estate market has slowed, proposed hotel projects are certainly bucking that trend and particularly at one Nokomis intersection. Both sides of Albee Road, which leads to Nokomis Beach, and Tamiami Trail/U.S. 41 have been the subject of interest by at least two developers.
Last month, developer Henry Rodriguez, best-known for bringing a Wal-Mart Supercenter to Osprey, purchased five acres on the northwest corner - the former home of Tom's Albee Road Service Station and Nokomis Septic - with plans for a retail and high-end hotel property.
Meanwhile, Sarasota-based Finergy Development LLC is performing due diligence to purchase a 4.5-acre parcel at the southwest corner of the intersection. Although the name is new, Sarasotans know Finergy Development's officers as Saravista Hotel Development, the group that redeveloped a former assisted-living facility into the Homewood Suites by Hilton Hotel on Fruitville Road. Their plan follows along the same vein as that of Rodriguez with 10,000 to 15,000 square feet of commercial space and a hotel.
At the same time, a few miles down the road, hotelier/developer Dan Dragash has applied for permits to add 27 rooms and about 5,000 square feet of commercial space to his Nokomis Inn & Suites, which is currently the only hotel in Nokomis along U.S. 41.
Rocky mountains, why?
The Florida Bankers Association is out with a detailed schedule for the group's 2006 convention.
There will be horseback riding, trips to the zoo, and an ice cream social. But none of this activity will be taking place in Florida.
As Coffee Talk previously reported with some puzzlement, the bankers are taking their biggest annual gathering to Colorado Springs next year. True, there is nowhere in the Sunshine State where conventioneers and their families could climb 14,110 feet up the side of a mountain, as you can at Pikes Peak. But there are places to ride horses, look at exotic animals and lap ice cream in Florida.
Why the Broadmoor resort in Colorado and not, for example, the Breakers in Palm Beach?
We tried to find out from Sarasota's own Charlie Murphy, president and chief executive of the Bank of Commerce, who is serving as the convention chairman. We also attempted to contact Crissy Lee, assistant director of special projects at the bankers association. Both were out of the office and couldn't be reached before deadline.
The convention site sends a message to other groups looking at Florida.
After two straight busy hurricane seasons in the Caribbean, state tourism officials are afraid hoteliers will be stuck with many vacancies next summer.
Vanessa Welter, communications director for VisitFlorida, says her tourism bureau is working to keep local groups from moving their meeting elsewhere.
We passed along the name of the bankers association, so she can get to work keeping them here in 2007.
Charity raffle, Neapolitan style
The Naples Winter Wine Festival, the super-exclusive Bacchanalian hobnob held every January, is selling raffle tickets for $5,000 a piece.
The lucky winner will drive away in a custom-designed 2006 Rolls Royce Phantom. Color: Chardonnay, of course. The Rolls includes a wine cool box, a cabinet to store precious stemware and unique barrel oak veneer panels. List price for the 2005 model: $328,750.
To buy a ticket, you have to be one of the 550 invited guests who have already shelled out $7,500 per couple to attend the three-day event starting Jan. 27.
Still, anyone who buys a ticket can feel good about spending their money that weekend because the funds will benefit the Naples Children and Education Foundation.
Chery no more
Sarasota no longer has a choice connection in the battle to bring Chinese-made cars to the United States. Osprey-resident Bill Fisher has resigned his position as Southeast Division dealer development manager for Visionary Vehicles, one of the first companies trying to export the cars through an agreement with China's Chery Automobile Co. Fisher declined to comment on his future plans beyond saying that he "had aligned himself with several influential people in the industry" and that the new venture if it is successful would "at least be as big a story" as his work for Visionary Vehicles.
Representatives from Visionary Vehicles were unable to confirm Fisher's replacement prior to the Review's deadline.
In recent news, Chery Automobile and General Motors announced that the two companies had reached a settlement over a 3-year-old intellectual-rights case. GM had accused Chery of copying the design of Daewoo's Spark minicar for Cherry QQ. Terms of the settlement were not disclosed, but both companies have withdrawn their lawsuits.
At the same time, it appears that another legal issue between the two automakers has also been resolved. GM's legal department had threatened legal action if Chery and Visionary Vehicles used the Chery brand name in the United Stated because of its similarity to GM's Chevy brand. Coffee Talk has learned that Visionary Vehicles has dropped the "Chery" name and is studying other names. The company, the brainchild of New York City automobile industrialist Malcolm Bricklin, is also considering a name-the-car-line contest as part of its initial marketing efforts.
Basic school math
Proponents of developing a military academy similar to the Sarasota Military Academy in Manatee County have some fairly convincing business figures on their side. State Sen. Mike Bennett says that 92% of academy grads go on to two- or four-year colleges, a figure that he says is the best in Sarasota County, even greater than that of that of Pine View High School. "And Sarasota County only gives them $6,500 per student," Bennett says. The county school district however gives close to $12,000 per student on average to public schools.
"Sarasota Military Academy outperforms them in every area," Bennett says. "The kids want the discipline. The kids volunteer to go there and if you're a disciplinary problem they don't take you, which does give them an edge over the public schools. I want this in Manatee County and across the state."
Get more, pay less. Nice deal.
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