Two hope for good returns in Europe

Two Gulf Coast attorneys might be on to something in the latest potential cure for the region's economic blues: Think Eastern Europe.

At least that's solution presented by Alan Tannenbaum, an attorney with Sarasota-based Levin Tannenbaum. Tannenbaum and a business partner, Ivo Travnicek, plan to take a group of developers and businessman from the Gulf Coast to Prague and Slovakia later this year.

The idea is to connect locals with foreigners who are ready and willing to buy condos, vacant lots, commercial buildings and maybe even some non-real estate related businesses.

Tannenbaum and Travnicek vetted the potential investors through Florida Venture Partners, a firm they founded in 2008. Travnicek, a Czech Republic native who played volleyball at Indiana University before going to law school and moving to Sarasota, saw the possibilities in his homeland on a business trip there three years ago.

Since then, Tannenbaum, Travnicek and other local partners, including commercial real estate broker Ian Black, have built what they say is a stellar list of investors and buyers. Indeed, Tannenbaum paints a picture of wheelers and dealers in some former Eastern Bloc countries who have one distinct advantage over cash-strapped Floridians: These investors have money to burn.

“They are very wealthy and they love Florida,” Tannenbaum tells Coffee Talk. “We are constantly trying to get them motivated about buying real estate and businesses here.”

Tannenbaum, a real estate and construction law attorney, worked with Czech and Slovak businessmen in the early 1990s when he coordinated an immersion program run by the University of North Florida in Jacksonville. This is the first time he has planned a trip, scheduled for August, to take Americans directly to the source.

Tannenbaum and Travnicek, who don't provide legal services through Florida Venture Partners, will set up meetings and networking events for Floridians and their foreign partners. The rest of the trip, including airfare and hotel, is paid on an individual basis.

For more information go to www.floridaventurepartners.com.