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News

  • For Subscribers Only
    By
  • Business Observer Staff
  • June 25, 2007
Commercial Real Estate Briefs

Investment company buys Sarasota Commerce CenterPublix Super Markets closes on Charlotte distribution siteManatee County buys Perico land for preservationTriton Cos. plans Hyattfractional on Siesta KeyLowe's home improvement store headed to Palmer RanchCore buildsin West PalmTimberstone Group buys, redevelops Avenue ShopsGarden Street Iron & Metal buys adjacent land, plans expansion, new grinderNorthStar buys funeral homeDeveloper plans Wesley Chapel centerFifth Third Bank buys land for Pasco branchLargo investors buy Clearwater office building

  • Manatee-Sarasota
  • For Subscribers Only
    By
  • Business Observer Staff
  • June 25, 2007
Coffee Talk

Ray Jay in play? Nay, they say: Shares of regional retail brokers shot up earlier this month in response to Wachovia Corp.'s announced deal to buy A.G. Edwards for $6.8 billion, creating the nation's No. 2 regional broker.Gulf Coast bank deal nearly complete: The sale of one Sarasota's most successful community banks is one step closer to being complete, as federal regulators have approved the $77 million deal between People's Community Bank and Birmingham, Ala.-based Superior Bancorp.Allen to the rescue, and make it quick: In its biggest acquisition to date, Naples-based software company Allen Systems Group completed the purchase of Mobius Management Systems for $211 million.Hip restaurant chain still might hit Sarasota: Coffee Talk hears that P.F. Chang's, the trendy Chinese bistro chain, will be coming to the Sarasota market after all - only not to Pineapple SquareMotley Fool takes aim at Jabil Circuit: The financial performance at Jabil Circuit, the St. Petersburg-based electronic products solutions company, drew the attention of one of the writers for the Motley Fool personal finance website recently.NCH Healthcare sells lab company: Naples-based NCH Healthcare, responding to competitive pressures on hospital services, sold off DSI Laboratories to LabCorp, the laboratory testing giant.Go ahead, befriend your colleagues: It turns out executives are comfortable with employees becoming friends with co-workers while on the job

  • News
  • For Subscribers Only
    By
  • Business Observer Staff
  • June 15, 2007
Commercial Real Estate Briefs

Enterprise Associates brings Marquee to BradentonMurdock Village proposals near important deadlineWarm Mineral Springs developer adds town center conceptEncore Bank buys offices to remodel and leaseDevelopers buy land for Partners CoveFort Myers' Dupree family acquires two office buildingsRyan Cos. US buys 380 acres for corporate parkKenyon & Partners moving to Sabal Industrial ParkBarfield Bay buys Brookside

  • Manatee-Sarasota
  • For Subscribers Only
    By
  • Business Observer Staff
  • June 15, 2007
Coffee Talk

Six months ago, Sarasota Coastal Credit Union president and CEO Tom Randle told the Review his institution was like a gnat when compared to the Gulf Coast's community and regional banks.Make that more of a growing swarm of gnats. It turns out PGT, the recently turned public Venice-based manufacturer, makes more than impact-resistant windows and doors.It also produces MBAs. It's latest output was 13 employees, all of whom graduated earlier this month from the MBA program at the Sarasota/Manatee campus of Webster University. Ever improving and expanding our coverage, the Gulf Coast Business Review has hired Dave Szymanksi as Tampa Bay Editor. WCI Communities, the Bonita Springs-based homebuilder, postponed its annual meeting after corporate raider Carl Icahn urged fellow shareholders to stay away.Although CFOs in the Tampa/St. Petersburg area predict a decrease in the hiring of accounting and finance professionals in the third quarter of 2007, hiring in the market is the same as the national average according to survey results released by Robert Half International. Katie Rickert is carving up the old axiom that teenagers and college students are lazy, lackadaisical and longing for direction. And she's doing it one knife at a time. The Sunshine State has topped yet another list of good places to do business.

  • News
  • For Subscribers Only
    By
  • Business Observer Staff
  • June 8, 2007
Commerical Real Estate Briefs

NY groups pay $14.7 million for Oaks PlazaCritical Path Development planning flex buildingProscenium developer signs deal with NederlanderRE/MAX Gulfstream leases 2nd downtown officeLandMark Bank to take three floorsTarget buys land for super storeFort Myers investors plan University Drive office Harbor Development Corp. invests in N. Fort Myers CVSInland acquires Brandon Centre SouthClearwater investor acquires Starlight PlazaTrail America Tire & Wheel moves to Plant City

  • Manatee-Sarasota
  • For Subscribers Only
    By
  • Business Observer Staff
  • June 8, 2007
Coffee Talk

A study published in March by Tillinghast Towers Perrin shows the average homeowner would have to pay an assessment of $13,971 to cover a $15 billion storm. Even a $2 billion storm would cost the average homeowner $1,726.The vindication train engineered by Tampa-based commercial real estate broker Steve Kossoff continues to roll. First, in a deal signed last month, Bradenton-based retailer Beall's agreed to lease 200,000 square feet in the former Winn Dixie warehouse in Sarasota - the same 950,000-square-foot complex surrounding 60 acres on Palmer Ranch in Sarasota County that Kossoff and his Meridian Development Group bought for $30 million last year.Sarasota based valve manufacturer Sun Hydraulics is a hot company once again in Business Week magazine's annual Hot Growth list.Garrett Richter, the Republican state representative from Collier County, says he wishes he could have voted "maybe" when confronted with the property insurance bill earlier this year.Agriculture is a huge business in Florida, especially in inland counties.But does agriculture business have a future? The answer is a qualified yes, according to Howard Finch and Stuart Van Auken, two professors at Florida Gulf Coast University's Lutgert College of Business in Fort Myers.

  • News
  • For Subscribers Only
    By
  • Business Observer Staff
  • June 1, 2007
Real Estate Briefs

Big Island Excavating prepares to open Fort Myers mineClearwater's Victor Distributing planning Fort Myers officeIndianapolis investors buy Tiki on the Beach motelSpirit Finance buys Bradenton 84 LumberDermatology at Lakewood Ranch buys nearby buildingRetailer Home Depot acquires land on GulfstreamFairway Investments buys Main Street at Hampton LakesBarfield Bay Properties acquiresBrentwood Place ApartmentsNaidip buys Landrys, Carrollwood center

  • Charlotte–Lee–Collier
  • For Subscribers Only
    By
  • Business Observer Staff
  • June 1, 2007
Coffee Talk

Company, family leaves little time for politics: Turns out Laura Benson won't be in for a primary fight after all in the race to be the Republican nominee for the District 69 State House seat in 2008.Chamber bill dies, then resurrected: A bill to make it a crime for a for-profit business to use the words "chamber of commerce" died in the Florida House of Representatives' economic development committee back on May 4.Get ready for some good eats: Hungry entrepreneurs interested in owning a fast food restaurant with an old Southern feel - all-day breakfast including country ham and buttermilk biscuits anyone? - will have their chance when Bojangles' Restaurants returns to Florida.Medicare payments threaten radiation company: Medicare, the government's health-insurance system for older people, is examining how it reimburses for the use of equipment and that could hurt Fort Myers-based Radiation Therapy Services, the country's largest publicly traded operator of radiation treatment centers.Lennar staying put in Southwest Florida: As homebuilders flee Southwest Florida's moribund homebuilding market, one national builder plans to be here for at least another five years.Suffolk plan for the long haul: Michael Beaumier just smiles patiently as the question is asked. He's heard it dozens of times.Gulf Coast airport traffic rises: Passenger traffic at airports along Florida's Gulf Coast registered healthy increases this spring over last y

  • News
  • For Subscribers Only
    By
  • Business Observer Staff
  • May 25, 2007
Coffee Talk

Do I hear more auctions? Going once...: Realtors at Sarasota-based SKY Sotheby's involved in a traditional tent-held auction of 20 multimillion-dollar homes May 18 considered the event a massive success.Still waiting on SevenShores: When the Review profiled the SevenShores condo and mixed-use development project June 9, it was a story about persistence and perseverance.Ave Maria University sells old campus: Ave Maria University will sell its campus near Vanderbilt Beach Road and Interstate 75 to a group of undisclosed Tampa investors who will redevelop it as a retirement community, says Nicholas Healy Jr., the university's president.Tampa firm finds interest in its latest discovery: Diving crews working for Tampa-based Odyssey Marine Exploration found much more than $500 million in water-buried treasure earlier this month in the Atlantic Ocean.Medical firm seeks to alleviate debt with IPO: Executives at Clearwater-based medical supply firm CCS Medical Holdings are seeking to cash in on the firm's recent revenue growth spurt by announcing plans to go public.Motivate from within: Everyone needs a little motivation now and then, even the best of the best employees.

  • News
  • For Subscribers Only
    By
  • Business Observer Staff
  • May 25, 2007
Commercial Real Estate Briefs

Dealership buys Naples property, moving to Pine Ridge RoadFifth Third Bank planning third Cape Coral branchLand & Sea invests in Tamiami buildingSivertsen Commercial Real Estate developing plans for Tamiami parcelLion's Gate Development announces The ProsceniumWashington Crossing to start in '08 Simply Self Storage acquires Osprey self-storage sitePinellas EDC pitching Toytown to developersKorman Residential Properties buys River Chase for $69 millionWoolbright Development buys Bloomingdale PlazaThe Rosen Group invests in Tampa BJ's

  • Charlotte–Lee–Collier
  • For Subscribers Only
    By
  • Business Observer Staff
  • May 21, 2007
Commercial Real Estate Briefs

Sturdivent Foods buys three buildingsMetro Parkway Realty buys Metro strip centerMiami builders plan Marco Island officeBrooks & Freund begins PaseoFinergy closes on Nokomis hotel siteSarasota Ophthalmology moves to Tamiami TrailRingling buys nine homes, one commercial buildingKeller Williams buys Channelside building for new officeAdvanced Developmentbuys Dixon Legal for condosGulfshore Bank headquarters planned

  • Charlotte–Lee–Collier
  • For Subscribers Only
    By
  • Business Observer Staff
  • May 21, 2007
Coffee Talk

Shareholders question Source Interlink acquisition: Shareholders didn't share the enthusiasm of Source Interlink's management when the Bonita Springs-based magazine distributor announced it was jumping into the publishing business.New construction company comes to town: Competition for Gulf Coast construction projects will be getting a little stiffer with the announcement that West Palm Beach-based Suffolk Construction will be opening an office in Lakewood Ranch.Florida nets four thrifts: Research firm SNL Financial recently released its annual list of the top 100 thrifts in the nation and only four Florida institutions made the 2006 rankings.Start off new employees well - or else: Coffee Talk readers are all too aware about the perils of making a bad call when hiring employees. But a new survey says that even good calls can turn bad - rather quickly - if there isn't a healthy amount of training and orientation given to the employee from the first day.Hodges boosts Naples university: International College, an independent four-year institution for working adults, received a $12 million gift from Naples funeral-business owner Earl Hodges and his wife Thelma Hodges.A new kind of letter to the editor: Time was, when you didn't like something you read in the newspaper or a magazine, you simply wrote a letter to the editor.Look for the blue, ValPak blue, that is: Largo-based ValPak Direct Marketing Systems, a pioneer in direct mail, w

  • News
  • For Subscribers Only
    By
  • Business Observer Staff
  • May 11, 2007
Coffee Talk

Pray we don't have a hurricane. That's the best thing we can count on now that the state has decided to compete with private insurance companies to write residential and commercial property insurance, says Florida Rep. Trudi Williams, the Republican who represents portions of Lee and Collier counties.ReadyAlert Services co-founder Happy Rideout told the Review last year he expected 2007 to be a defining year for the Largo-based emergency text messaging company.Now it looks like company revenue might pass the $1 million mark this year.Andrew Greenwell must have been absent the day they taught baby steps in infant school. Not yet 24 years old, the commercial real estate broker is leaving Corporate Realty Group, the Sarasota firm he co-founded with his aunt in 2004, to open his own shop. Sarasota-based electronics manufacturer Teltronics was recently recognized by a national magazine for its success in selling phone switches and circuits to government offices and agencies.If you want to know where the next category-3 hurricane is most likely to hit, ask the people who bet their money on such probabilities. At Intrade.com, speculators can bet on the chances of numerous events coming to pass. Sarasota Association of Realtors President Joe Hembree admits that numbers can be spun nearly any which way the spinner would like, and that's certainly true in monthly real estate sales figures released by countless local agencies throughout the Gul

  • News
  • For Subscribers Only
    By
  • Business Observer Staff
  • May 11, 2007
Commercial Real Estate Briefs

Cedar Hills plans first Florida hotelInvestors planning Cortez carwash to replace gas stationInvestment group buys Clark Center Albritton Fruit buildingInvestment firm buys Premier Corporate CentreBoston's TA Associates Realty acquires Massaro warehouseKimco Realty Corp. buys Westgate PlazaCalifornia REIT buys Naples' Commons VRoyal Shell Vacations, Realty shuffles offices, expandsMetro Storage buys A1 Shelters

  • Manatee-Sarasota
  • For Subscribers Only
    By
  • Business Observer Staff
  • May 4, 2007
Coffee Talk

The expensive advertising campaign put out by the Sarasota Association of Realtors to lure buyers in a slumping market has raised a question: The market is showing signs of awakening, but is it due to the ads themselves or the themes within those ads that would likely be occurring regardless of the ads?The campaign's slogan is Time 2 Buy. It promotes the idea that the slump has created a buying opportunity, as interest rates have dropped, prices have stabilized and the glut of available homes in several price ranges means buyers can be picky. Bob Graham, a former Florida governor and U.S. senator, joined the board of directors at Tampa-based WellCare Health Plans Inc., replacing another ex-politician.Clyde Nixon carried lots of titles in his business career. President and chief executive of several companies, chairman of the board, community fundraiser and regional economic cheerleader, to name just a few.But Nixon, who died April 29 at 72 years old after a yearlong bout with cancer, will also be remembered by legions of friends, colleagues and employees for carrying a bucket of water. Bond-fund managers tend to be a gloomy lot. But real estate and finance companies oon the Gulf Coast might want to heed what Bill Gross has to say about the relationship between home prices and interest rates.

  • News
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