- March 27, 2024
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Stadium site?
A real estate investor with ties to stadium development in the Denver area purchased seven acres near the St. Pete Times Forum in downtown Tampa.
Greenwood Village, Colo.-based Gold Crown Management is part of a group that paid $9.2 million for the land across Channelside Drive from the arena. The site had been previously considered as a possible spot to build a new baseball stadium for the Tampa Bay Rays.
However, Gold Crown, which is loosely connected to the Colorado Rockies' stadium, said it has no plans to build anything sports related immediately. The land will be initially used as parking with the possibility of building multifamily housing later.
Bond Rating Reaffirmed
Standard & Poor's reaffirmed the A+ rating for the Hillsborough County Aviation Authority's $692 million worth of revenue bonds, giving them a “stable” outlook.
The rating reflects strong capacity to meet financial commitments without being too susceptible to adverse economic conditions. S&P pointed out credit strengths such as Tampa International Airport's relatively low cost structure for airline operations, manageable debt and a diverse revenue base.
Airport executives said they believe passenger traffic and related revenue at TIA will improve as the economy recovers. TIA also has AA ratings from Fitch and Moody's.
Lee-Collier
Permits pick up
Residential builders in Lee County pulled 52 single-family homebuilding permits in May, the highest monthly total since June 2008, according to the Lee County Department of Community Development.
The 52 May single-family homebuilding permits in May were 27% higher than the 41 permits builders pulled in May 2010.
By contrast, commercial construction continued to languish in Lee County in May. Commercial builders pulled permits worth $1 million in May, a 66% drop from the $2.9 million worth they pulled in May 2010.
Multi-family construction also remained weak. Builders pulled two permits for multi-family buildings in May, down from eight in the same month a year ago.
Rib City expands
Rib City, the Fort Myers-based chain of barbecue restaurants, recently opened the 29th restaurant off Corkscrew Road in Estero.
There are now 13 corporate-owned restaurants in Florida and another 16 franchise restaurants around the country, from Maryland to Colorado and Washington.
Longtime Fort Myers restaurateurs Paul and Craig Peden founded the Rib City chain and revenues reached $33 million in 2010, up 3%. The company employs 780 people.
Conservancy compensation
The Conservancy of Southwest Florida, a Naples-based environmental group, is launching a pilot program to compensate small-farm operators for free-range cattle killed by Florida panthers.
The Conservancy will compensate owners of farms with fewer than 100 head of cattle with $500 for livestock killed by panthers, which prey on calves.
In addition, the Conservancy plans to test a program to provide financial assistance to small farms to defray the cost of building protective pens for smaller livestock and domestic animals from panthers. This program will provide 50% reimbursement, up to $250, for the cost of materials for a protective pen if they've already experienced losses from panthers.
Company withdraws bid
Jackson Labs withdrew its bid to build an expansion facility in Sarasota County, which had been contingent on approval of $100 million in startup funds from the state.
The Bar Harbor, Maine-based nonprofit medical research facility says the decision was based on “the lack of funds in Florida's severely constrained state budget, which provides only limited funding for economic development activities.”
“We were invited to submit a much-reduced proposal to the Florida Innovation Fund,” Jackson Executive Vice President Charles Hewett says in the statement. “But the amount available in that fund now, and the uncertainty of future funding, made such a venture too speculative to undertake responsibly.”
Several local groups and officials wooed Jackson for months after it was rejected by Collier County.
Sports group launched
The Sarasota Convention & Visitors Bureau recently formed the Sarasota County Sports Commission.
Jason Puckett, the visitors bureau's current director of sports, will lead the new unit. Puckett will accept applications for appointees to the commission's advisory panel.
“With the county allocating bed tax funding for two major athletic facilities, Ed Smith Stadium and Nathan Benderson Park, we felt this was a natural progression that will help us continue to be competitive with other destinations,” Visitors Bureau President Virginia Haley says in a statement.
The bureau estimates that the 33 events it sponsored in its 2010 fiscal year generated an economic impact of $23 million.
Board members selected
Gov. Rick Scott appointed three area business leaders to the board of trustees at the State College of Florida, Manatee-Sarasota.
The appointees are subject to Florida Senate confirmation. They are Charlene Neal, owner of an interior design business connected with Lakewood Ranch homebuilder Neal Communities; Ann Moore, a Realtor with Michael Saunders & Co.; and Dr. Craig Trigueiro, a self-employed physician.