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Business Observer | Business Observer

    By
  • Business Observer Staff
  • November 6, 2008
Coffee Talk

+ Riverside Bank feels regulator's pressureNow we know why a group of Brazilian investors is buying Riverside Bank of the Gulf Coast for $1.+ The sweetscent of victoryWinning baseball dramatically helped the Tampa Bay Rays this year, but so did atmosphere.+ Something old, something new: Homebuilder survivesA combination of old land deals and new pricing strategies has resulted in an odd occurrence for Lakewood Ranch-based Neal Communities, one of the leading homebuilders in Sarasota and Manatee counties: The company has increased year-to-date sales over 2007. Even more surprising, it plans on making a profit this year. + Economy-based humorlingers, even as bank expandsGrim jokes about the struggling financial-service industry were flying fast and furious recently as Northern Trust broke ground on a new two-story building in Fort Myers. + Franchise company hits YouTube for marketing pushAttention plumbers, electricians and air conditioning repairmen - or fans of anyone in those hard-labor professions: Get ready to tap into your inner Steven Spielberg.+ Another familyfeud at Alico?It was only a few years ago that the heirs of Ben Hill Griffin Jr. settled their feud over the future of LaBelle-based agribusiness giant Alico.+ Capital runs short for a second bank turnaroundFederal and state regulators have shut down another effort to save a troubled Bradenton-based bank.Going green goes the world o

  • News
    By
  • Business Observer Staff
  • November 6, 2008
Commercial Real Estate Briefs

Massachusetts investor buys Charleston SquareRyals Citrus, Cattle Ranchdoubles ranch landInvestor group buys,rezoning Daniels landDairy Queen franchise company buys storeThe Adler Group Inc. buys 15 buildingsin Breckenridge ParkBoynton Beach company buys Jackson Heights ApartmentsKimco Realty Corp.buysDale Mabry Albertsons store

  • Charlotte–Lee–Collier
    By
  • Business Observer Staff
  • October 30, 2008
Commercial Real Estate Briefs

Fort Myers physician buys buildingRegent Properties buys land,betting on residential recoveryPort Charlotte buyers acquire Courtyard Retirement CentreGora/McGahey Associatesdesigns Coronado High SchoolIrish group buys Citrus Falls CommonsCapital Realty Investorsbuy Selmon's Plaza in LargoCapital Realty Investorsbuy Selmon's Plaza in LargoW.S. Badcock Corp.buys Ruskin store, franchiseMobile Home Depot owner buys Antique MallBenderson Developmentfiles revised BofA plansAfter reorganization,Patrick regains Tropic IsleMedical Education Technologiesplans Bee Ridge expansionSam Rodgers Homesstart work on 'Gran' clubhouse

  • Charlotte–Lee–Collier
    By
  • Business Observer Staff
  • October 30, 2008
Coffee Talk

+ How lowcan Chico's go?The stock of Chico's FAS, the Fort Myers-based women's apparel retailer, hasn't sunk this low since December 2000.+ Economic fallout:additional lawsuitsSo much for a decline in lawsuits filed against businesses. + Simple advicefor selling propertyReal estate has taken a big hit in today's economy, but there is still buying, selling and construction on the Gulf Coast.+ Brazilians buyRiverside BankA group of Brazilian investors plans to buy Cape Coral-based Riverside Bank of the Gulf Coast with promises to put $23 million in new capital into the struggling bank, according to an application filed with the Florida Office of Financial Regulation.+ Technology company scores with new advisersA little known Bradenton-based solar energy company has hit the big time with its roster of senior advisers by successfully recruiting a pair of former high-level federal officials from the Bush Administration. + Commercial real estatesales move alongWhile not yet reaching trend status, the news squeaking out of some commercial real estate pockets of the Gulf Coast is surprisingly good.+ Urban Studio Architectsheads to the MidwestMickey Jacob's Tampa firm, Urban Studio Architects, has done work outside of Florida before. + CorrectionIn the Review's Oct. 17-23, 2008 issue a real estate brief listed a wrong acreage. GULF COAST UNEMPLOYMENTWhat the data shows: Local area une

  • News
    By
  • Business Observer Staff
  • October 23, 2008
Coffee Talk

+ Economic incentives:Be careful what you getAs is the case with just about every daily newspaper in the country, the Sarasota Herald-Tribune, owned by the New York Times Co., is struggling to survive the economic downturn.+ Ellert leavesFifth Third BankAfter just nine months as president and chief executive officer of Fifth Third Bank South Florida, Kent Ellert has left the bank.+ ForeclosuresDaily falters,but will continueIt is somewhat counterintuitive that a company focused on foreclosures should be in desperate financial straights.+ Gulf Coast entrepreneurto run for local officeAlan Zirkelbach, one of the more accomplished entrepreneurs on the Gulf Coast, is making a run in the political arena.+ Early Halloween scare:Economist's predictionsIt's not even Halloween yet and Robert Allsbrook, the chief economist for Regions Bank, is already scaring the wits out of business owners on the Gulf Coast. + Africa is calling.Is the Gulf Coast answering?What area is rich in natural resources, has a good workforce and is looking for Gulf Coast industries to partner and do business with?+ Homebuilders groupstake out the 'homebuilders'Apparently, there's a lot in a name. Just ask Jane Goodwin, executive vice president of the organization formerly known as the Home Builders Association of Sarasota County.

  • News
    By
  • Business Observer Staff
  • October 23, 2008
Commercial Real Estate Briefs

Juniper Communities buys Naples ALFFort Myers hoteliersbuy Naples Super 8 MotelBelleair Development Groupplans Skyline Boulevard 7-ElevenJBM Realty Advisorslisting River Reach ApartmentsHealth Care REIT funding Windsor facility in VeniceHide-Away Storage Servicesplanning Fruitville facilitySpec Building Materialsbuys Bradenton warehouseStarwood Land Venturesinks N.C.-acquisition dealKennedy Investments buys Hanna warehouseProBuild Holdingsbuys Plant City warehouseDEV Hospitalitybuys Clearwater Wingate Road, Shops at Wiregrass,set to open in October

  • Charlotte–Lee–Collier
    By
  • Business Observer Staff
  • October 16, 2008
Commercial Real Estate Briefs

Technical high school construction completeLandmark Residential buys Colony At El ConquistadorU.S. Postal Servicesbuys land for McIntosh annex Myakka City cattle rancherbuys additional 220 acresCounty micro surfacingeight-neighborhood roadsCharles & Chase Groupstarts Regency House phase twoPunta Gorda Lodging buys Hilton landBrookwood Value Partnersbuys Bella Vida home lotsNaples investor buysJPMorgan Chase building Rollin' Oats owners buy Nature's Harvest storeSchool District of Pasco Countybuys Handcart property Kissimmee area Patel familybuys Tarpon Springs innTower Realty Partners Inc.to lease Tampa office building

  • Manatee-Sarasota
    By
  • Business Observer Staff
  • October 16, 2008
Coffee Talk

Economy rainson home paradeThe economic downturn is raining on the fall parade of homes.un Hydraulics founder,plant innovator, diesRobert Koski, the co-founder of Sarasota-based Sun Hydraulics who pioneered flat corporate hierarchies long before the idea became corporate dogma, died Oct. 11. He was 79.Super visiting time,just in timeThe Gulf Coast is getting ready to host the Super Bowl in February and just in time for the game and its visitors, the new 255-room, 16-story Westin Hotel will open its doors on Tampa's Courtney Campbell Causeway, just west of the Hyatt.Sarasota group aimsfor elected in mayorA plan to create an elected mayor system of government, albeit in a watered down plan, is coming back to Sarasota.dvertising firmsupset with EDCsShould economic development groups hire local marketing firms?Dear Joy:Gendusa gives adviceYou can't fault Joy Gendusa for not taking the personal approach.Fort Myers airportgets more destinationsAirlines keep trimming service at airports around the country, but Southwest Florida International Airport in Fort Myers is getting three new airline destinations this winter, according to Bob Ball, the airport's director.

  • News
    By
  • Business Observer Staff
  • October 9, 2008
Commercial Real Estate Briefs

Origin Capital buys 14 Lee County homesSellstate Professional Realtyowners buy North Cape CentreSchool Board of Lee Countybuys 19-acre Buckingham ChaseBCBE renovatingVillage on Venetian BayColorado REIT UDR buys Vintage LoftsNiagara Falls, N.Y. firmbuys Fowler Pilot Bank branchBZ Properties buys, renovating Clearwater retail strip centerSovereign Investment buys Ruth's Chris buildingMosaic Fertilizer buys270 acres from G&D FarmsFDOT buys SR-64 land,for roadway expansionSovereign Investment Co.buys Ruth's Chris building

  • Charlotte–Lee–Collier
    By
  • Business Observer Staff
  • October 9, 2008
Coffee Talk

+ Lee development... in 2014?Investors betting on future residential land development in Lee County may have to wait a little longer than anticipated, if a recent deal there is any indication.+ Are you in?Ad campaign hopes soWhat do a police chief, a bombastic Hall of Fame TV sports personality and the president of an arts and design college have in common?+ Winning changes everything,on and off the fieldWhat a difference a year makes at the ol' ballgame.+ Ayn Randfor every studentEvery student at Florida Gulf Coast University who signs up for the new free-markets course that will be taught there will receive a copy of Atlas Shrugged, the pro-capitalist novel by Ayn Rand.+ + Incumbent congressmanbuilds big lead in one pollOne of the most contested congressional races in the country taking place in Sarasota and Manatee counties might not be much of a contest after all, if a new poll is accurate. + Florida businesshopes to attract neighborsThe Florida real estate market is really hot after all. + Goodbye, bulletin boards, Hello, eDeanThe days of posters and paper stapled and tacked to cork college bulletin boards outside of class buildings and in libraries and dining halls may be quickly coming to an end, thanks to a two-year-old Tampa technology company.+ Put away the Capeopolyuntil next yearCapeopoly, the annual Cape Coral confab that used to draw hundreds of real estate business executi

  • News
    By
  • Business Observer Staff
  • October 2, 2008
Commercial Real Estate Briefs

City approves Whitaker Yacht ClubChurch buys apartment,plans housing for mothersDeveloper planningPorter Industrial expansionPublix Super Marketsbuys 25 area AlbertsonsOne Liberty Propertiesbuys Naples OfficeMax BG Capital Group buys local Neptune Society building Arthur Hill buys Westshore office buildingStirling Sotheby's Internationalmarketing Sheik Island FarmAssisted-, senior-living facilitysponsored by USF St. PeteLandscape supply firmbuys location in TampaTampa area couple buys Captiva Club apartments, more

  • Manatee-Sarasota
    By
  • Business Observer Staff
  • October 2, 2008
Coffee Talk

+ Holland and Knightgoes to the Middle EastAt a time when many law firms are consolidating offices, freezing hiring, reorganizing or cutting pay, Holland & Knight LLP is expanding.+ Big cash paymentscome at the right timeGevity, the Lakewood Ranch-based publicly traded human resources outsourcing firm, is in the midst of a nine-month run of declining revenues and profits. But it recently received an early Christmas present in the form of a $47-million net gain in payments it had previously earmarked as collateral for worker's compensation claims. + Sell two restaurants,win a MercedesWe've all heard about incentives for brokers to sell more homes. Now that trend is beginning to appear in the slowing commercial real estate business.+ One percent of Forbes 400 on Gulf CoastFour of the 400 richest people in America call the Gulf Coast home, according to the latest ranking by Forbes magazine. The price of admission to the magazine's list this year was $1.3 billion.+ Wiregrass centerplows forwardDespite tight economic times that have forced the closure, shrinkage or stalled expansion of many retailers, the Shops at Wiregrass shopping center project in Wesley Chapel, in south central Pasco County, is still planning for an Oct. 30 grand opening.+ Florida businesshopes to attract neighborsThe Florida real estate market is really hot after all. Sarasota group aimsfor elected in mayorA plan to create an elect

  • News
    By
  • Business Observer Staff
  • September 25, 2008
Coffee Talk

+ Analyst claimsHMA selling overdoneDid investors overreact to the recent resignation of Health Management Associates Chief Executive Officer Burke Whitman?+ New home permitshit new all-time lowThe city of North Port, a onetime tiny retirement village in southern Sarasota County, has grown so fast it recently overtook Sarasota as the biggest city in the county in terms of total population.+ Where's the beef?Making the female pitchTampa-based family sports restaurant chain, Beef 'O' Brady's, is feeling the pinch like all restaurants these days. Bailout watch:Everyone wants a pieceGulf Coast real estate investors are watching the government's proposed bailout closely, wondering if that's going to stem foreclosures and home-price declines.+ Engel steps downafter long EDC tenureThe Manatee County Economic Development Council is adding a new twist to its mission to recruit and keep companies.+ Frozen markets thawed -enough to finish dealNot even one of the biggest collapses on Wall Street and in U.S. financial history could stop The Plasencia Group, a Tampa hotel brokerage, from closing a sale recently.+ Million-dollar problemsgo national in JournalSarasota and Bradenton were recently featured prominently in a long Wall Street Journal story. But it wasn't the type of clip the Chamber of Commerce will be framing anytime soon.

  • News
    By
  • Business Observer Staff
  • September 25, 2008
Commercial Real Estate Briefs

Publix Super Markets buys Longboat Key's Town Plaza IKolter Land Partnersbuys 104 Stillwater lotsFirst Industrial Realty Trustbuys Bradenton auction landPine Avenue Restorationpartners break groundBrookwood Financial companybuys Calusa Creek home lotsCorders Landscape Supply buys Production Circle propertS&O Inc. buys Ortiz,Ballard retail centerForge Capital, DeBartolo buy Fairway Oaks centerPatel family hoteliersBuy, rebrand USA InnThe Sembler Co. appointedAtlanta's top retail developerHills & Associatesjoins Atwell-HicksSt. Luke's Cataract, Laser Institutebuys Dale Mabry bank branch

  • Charlotte–Lee–Collier
    By
  • Business Observer Staff
  • September 18, 2008
Coffee Talk

+ Gulf Coast investorbets big on Applebee'sBurton "Skip" Sack must really have a thing for Applebee's, the casual dining restaurant chain.+ Local builder's groupclose to naming new leaderOne of the leading pro-development groups in Sarasota and Manatee Counties, the Gulf Coast Builders Exchange, is getting ready to name its new executive director.+ Jabil stays in St. Pete,Lear leaves TampaThe news of Jabil Circuit deciding to stay in St. Petersburg was welcome news to Pinellas County, which worked with the state to provide more than $20 million in incentives to keep the electronics assembly company, which employs 1,880.+ Quest followsbike path to new HQQuest Corp. of America Inc., an advertising, marketing and public relations firm in Tampa, recently broke ground on its new Pasco County headquarters in Land O' Lakes.+ Survey: Businesses mustwork to regain consumer trustBankers and Realtors are among the professions on the wrong end of a new nationwide survey from the Better Business Bureau on how much - or more to the point, how little - consumers trust American companies.+ Branching out fromupscale jewelry to deliSuzanne Perry has built Jewelry Hauture, a two-year-old custom-made and designer retail jewelry business in South Tampa, selling high-end jewelry to affluent clients.+ From Neilsen managementto herbal entrepreneurDeserie Valloreo, a former business information systems professional, g

  • News
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