- December 16, 2025
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Grand Hyatt sold
The 445-room Grand Hyatt Tampa Bay hotel on Rocky Point has been sold for $58.5 million. An investor account advised by UBS Global Asset Management purchased the property from an affiliate of Chicago-based Hyatt Hotels Corp.
Hyatt will continue to manage the hotel while UBS will fund an extensive property renovation plan to be completed over the next two years. The sale is part of Hyatt's capital recycling strategy in order to expand its presence in markets where it is under-represented or does not have a hotel.
Grand Hyatt, which opened in 1986, is located within a 35-acre nature preserve on Old Tampa Bay near Courtney Campbell Causeway. The 14-story luxury hotel is next door to the Bayport Plaza office building.
Law named EDC chair
Rhea Law, chairwoman and CEO of Tampa-based law firm Fowler White Boggs, was named chairwoman of the Tampa Hillsborough Economic Development Corp. at its inaugural annual meeting Nov. 5.
Law previously chaired the University of South Florida Board of Trustees, the Tampa Bay Partnership and the Greater Tampa Chamber of Commerce. She currently serves as chairwoman of growth leadership for the Florida Council of 100.
The corporation is the lead economic development group uniting Tampa, Plant City, Temple Terrace and Hillsborough County with the private sector. It has set a goal to recruit 35 new companies over the next three years or create 6,000 jobs with salaries at least 15% above the state average.
AGC event at Vinoy
The Association for Corporate Growth will host its 2010 Florida Capital Connection on Nov. 16-17 at the Renaissance Vinoy Resort in St. Petersburg. The event will bring together 125 representatives of private equity groups, investment banks and financial intermediary firms representing more than $6 billion in available capital.
The theme for this year's meeting is “The Sport of Business.” Keynote speakers will be Claude Ruibal, co-founder of Universal Sports, and Art Laffer, a noted expert on supply-side economics.
Neogenomics lands grants
Cancer-testing laboratory company Neogenomics said it was awarded two research and development grants recently totaling $374,479 from the federal government.
The grants were part of the federal government's $1 billion program to boost therapeutic discoveries. Fort Myers-based Neogenomics will use the funds to develop new cancer-diagnostic tests.
Besides its headquarters in Fort Myers, Neogenomics also has facilities in Nashville, Tenn., and Irvine, Cal. The company's shares are publicly traded (symbol: NGNM; recent price: $1.15).
JRL wins Blue Chip
JRL Ventures/Marine Concepts won the Southwest Florida Blue Chip Community Business Award on Nov. 4, an annual award presented to a company that overcame adversity to achieve success.
The Cape Coral-based company designs molds for the manufacture of boat hulls and the company suffered through the downturn as many boat manufacturers closed their doors or trimmed their production.
Executives diversified the company's clients, finding work designing molds for theme-park operators, aerospace companies and government agencies. They also lowered expenses by trimming payrolls.
The annual award was launched 16 years ago by insurance brokerage Oswald Trippe & Co., now a part of BB&T Bank.
Hotel revenues stable
Revenues at Naples area hotels stabilized in September, typically one of the slowest months of the year for the hospitality business.
Revenue per available room was virtually unchanged in September, suggesting that the worst may have passed despite lingering effects from the BP oil spill, according to data from Research Data Services.
The measure of hotel financial health is a function of average occupancies and rates. In September, occupancies fell 1.9% to 41.1%, but average daily rates climbed 2.1% to $101.50.
County approves growth
Manatee County commissioners recently approved three development projects that could total more than 1,400 homes.
The largest approved project is a 993-acre development on the Hillsborough County line, over mostly agricultural land. That project, which potentially includes homes and commercial space, is a few miles from Port Manatee.
Commissioners also approved a project in north Manatee County, in Parrish, on a onetime dairy farm.
The 238-acre site was approved for up to 448 homes. Finally, commissioners granted local homebuilder Neal Communities' request to build an additional 132 homes in Forest Creek, also in Parrish.
City transfers funds
After a recent Florida Supreme Court ruling, Sarasota city commissioners turned over $1.6 million in grants to Sarasota County, funds to be used for the renovation project at Ed Smith Stadium.
The project is part of a deal the county reached with the Baltimore Orioles to entice the team to make Sarasota its spring training home. City officials, however, held off on a money transfer, citing a lawsuit against the county over its negotiations with the team.
The county won that lawsuit in local district court. But the plaintiffs, citizen groups who accused the county of negotiating some of the deal in private, against open record laws, appealed to the Florida Supreme Court.
Bank receives order
Federal regulators ordered Birmingham, Ala.-based Superior Bank, with offices in Sarasota and Bradenton, to raise capital or sell the bank.
Superior also has seven offices in the Tampa market. Superior bought People's Community Bank of Sarasota in 2007.
The bank has until the end of 2010 to come up with an approved plan to raise more capital.
