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More News

    By
  • Business Observer Staff
  • March 30, 2007
Commercial RE Briefs

Kosene & Kosene buys portion of Coconut PointDevelopers Diversified Realty takes over Cypress TraceNorth American Properties planning The Forum retail center Bradenton investor/developer buys Palmetto buildingsFirst State Bank buys Venice office Bailes Family buys University ABC liquor storeTrump Group buys Koger office portfolioBresler & Reiner buys Westbury at Lake BrandonFaison planning commercial side of Centex's Magnolia ParkManchester, U.K. investors buy Pinebrooke office buildingTA Associates Realty buys Bermuda Lake ApartmentsSurgery Partners buys Tampa McNichols office building

  • Charlotte–Lee–Collier
    By
  • Business Observer Staff
  • March 30, 2007
A Palm Plan

The Leiter Group and John Buck Co. score high for lower density, parking plan, affordable housing units and promise to minimize construction impacts for a downtown Sarasota project.

  • Manatee-Sarasota
    By
  • Business Observer Staff
  • March 30, 2007
Coffee Talk

In Lee and Collier counties, there's talk of a tax on commercial builders to pay for affordable housing.That's despite the fact that Collier County commissioners voted the idea down recently. The county staff had proposed imposing a one-time tax on new construction of commercial buildings, but commissioners tabled the issue a few months ago. Still, Coffee Talk hears it might resurface.he good news is that the cost increases builders and developers were seeing from suppliers slowed considerably in the last half of 2006. The bad news, says Simonson: The decrease is a temporary quirk, adding that "by the end of 2007, materials costs could be rising again at a 6% to 8% rate, with wages rising at a 5% rate."Now, with the recent slowdown in residential activity, it appears that free or subsidized real estate trips might be making a comeback.Did Sarasota-based condo developer Don Bevins figure out the mystery of time travel?Coffee Talk thought he might have, especially after hearing the developer and his company recently closed on 37 condo contracts in just two months for the Grande Oaks Preserve, a 30-acre gated community with a projected 125 residences being built on DeSoto Road, two blocks south of University Parkway and two miles west of Interstate 75. Is the worst behind for Chico's FAS?Some analysts are starting to think the stock of the Fort Myers-based women's retailer could rebound.

  • News
    By
  • Business Observer Staff
  • March 23, 2007
Commercial RE Briefs

Burton-Katzman plans large flex buildingPelican Bay cleaning up Banana River MarinaContruction begins on Olympia ParkKing Brands buys Harvest Pak warehouseTuscano CDD buys land for water systemVengroff buys Bertel ManorSimona Jewelry buys St. Armands storeHonolulu businessman buys Seven OaksAllPro Printing, Direct Mail buys third buildingNew owner buys Temple Terrace Sleep Inn

  • Charlotte–Lee–Collier
    By
  • Business Observer Staff
  • March 23, 2007
Coffee Talk

Moe Wishkaei and two of his colleagues worked for a national restaurant chain in the Tampa Bay area, but they dreamed of owning their own business.Late last year, the three men, who had been friends for more than 10 years, took a leap of faith. Wishkaei, Ghyslain Lefebvre and Ted Steiner quit their jobs and bought three Atlanta Bread Co. locations.Optimism, plus a dose of realityDevelopers are traditionally an optimistic lot, and John Simon, CEO of Pineapple Square Properties, is normally as cheery and positive as they come. And for good reason: He's behind a $200 million mixed-use project with the potential to reshape downtown Sarasota with as many as 40 new stores over 130,000 square feet, 275 condos and 525 public parking spots. An unlicensed consumer loan company will cease operations in Florida and offer refunds to consumers after about 10 years in business, according to an agreement that Tampa Investment Services Inc. reached with the Florida Attorney General's Office.Florida's leading small-business advocacy group continues to grow: The National Federation of Independent Business recently hired Bill Herrle as its executive director, one of several leadership positions the group is filling as it strives to add more members while maintaining its pro-small business lobbying presence in Tallahassee.

  • News
    By
  • Business Observer Staff
  • March 16, 2007
Coffee Talk

Late last month though, Roper Industries, an international engineering and manufacturing firm specializing in industrial imaging and software products, officially moved its headquarters from Duluth, Ga. to Sarasota. Whitney Holding Corp. of New Orleans completed its acquisition of St. Petersburg-based Signature Financial Holdings Inc., the parent of Signature Bank, in a cash and stock deal worth $61.7 million.Coffee Talk can boast with the best of them, and the latest bragging rights comes courtesy of Andrew Greenwell, the 23-year-old Sarasota based commercial real estate wunderkind. The Review introduced Greenwell to the business and real estate universe first in a Sept. 28 profile on his accomplishments, which include co-founding Sarasota-based Corporate Realty Group, a six-employee, $20 million firm. Top 10 lists, ubiquitous on late night TV and in all sorts of promotion and marketing materials are, at their core, supposed to have some shred of humor. Too bad laughter wasn't what Coffee Talk heard after reading Enterprise Florida's top 10 recommendations to the Florida Legislature for its upcoming 2007 session.Instead, the sound was more like a ca-ching of cash registers: Three of the first five recommendations include some form of the words "continue funding," for a total of $272.5 million in programs. And More...

  • News
    By
  • Business Observer Staff
  • March 16, 2007
Commercial RE Briefs

Opus South planning Market Place at the Preserve retail centerProia Motors buys former Auto World buildingFire service owner eyes new developmentCrowder Bros. Hardware develops Lakewood Ranch centerMississippi's York Developments plans Palmetto self-storage spaceKaplan, investors buy in Jackson Hewitt PlazaHonolulu businessman buys Seven OaksNew owner buys Temple Terrace Sleep InnAllPro Printing, Direct Mail buys third building

  • Charlotte–Lee–Collier
    By
  • Business Observer Staff
  • March 9, 2007
Commercial RE Briefs

Pinnacle, MGM Construction plan rackaminiums for Compass RoseLaw firm buys in Park CentralR&D Cos. starts first phase of Via VenetoWater's Edge developer starts apartmentsCharlotte Development Co. looks to sell North Port centerInvestors acquire Golden Coral buildingCitrus Square work to begin in late 2007Investor buys Northeast PlazaBarfield Bay Properties buys Palma CeiaSembler wins business awardAmerican Financial acquires Wachovia's Hyde Park branch

  • Charlotte–Lee–Collier
    By
  • Business Observer Staff
  • March 9, 2007
Coffee Talk

There are more than $1 billion in health care construction projects in the pipeline in the Tampa Bay area, according to Nashville-based HealthLeaders-InterStudy. While all those high-end services and equipment might mean better care for patients, it's also expected to spur hospitals to push aggressively for higher reimbursements from insurance companies to cover costs, says Margaret Dick, who authored the HealthLeaders-InterStudy report. And guess what? Health insurance companies are going to push back. Naples-based Health Management Associates was the only Gulf Coast firm to be named to Fortune magazine's annual list of America's most admired companies. The Speaking of Fortune magazine's most admired companies (see related item) Dallas, Texas-based national homebuilder Centex is number one in its industry, scoring top marks in seven categories, including quality of management, quality of product/services and use of corporate assets.On the Gulf Coast, though, specifically in the Sarasota-Manatee market, the company has recently been admired for something even more important to both shareholders and employees: Sales. When Hovnanian Enterprises bought Cape Coral-based First Home Builders of Florida in August 2005, the new-home market in Lee County was sizzling. First Home builds moderately priced homes for first-time homeowners and in 2005 was the county's largest locally owned homebuilder.

  • News
    By
  • Business Observer Staff
  • March 2, 2007
Coffee Talk

The Related Group, which has built two Trump towers in South Florida, signed a letter of intent to become managing partner on the downtown Trump Tower Tampa, waterfront project with Gulf Coast developer SimDag LLC and private-equity firm, Mirabilis Ventures, Orlando.The Lee County Chamber of Commerce, the for-profit chamber in Fort Myers, is fighting to keep its name.State legislators have filed a bill that would prevent any for-profit group from using the name "chamber of commerce" and violations would be punished as a first-degree misdemeanor. Traditionally, chambers of commerce have been not-for-profit organizations, but entrepreneurs have started using the "chamber of commerce" name.Coffee Talk has nothing against young guns taking prominent positions in business, law and politics - witness the Review's annual 40 under 40 issue - but there was some mild surprise when AARP, the national lobbying group for the mature population, recently named its new Florida director: She's 33 years old, a baby in AARP years. Development executives were buzzing at the Urban Land Institute conference in Naples Feb. 22 about a DiVosta Homes ad appearing in the local daily newspaper.The two-page, four-color ad touted a 48-hour sale during which homebuyers could get discounts of as much as $60,000 on a new home at one of three communities in Naples, Bonita Springs and Ave Maria.The stock of Chico's FAS, the Fort Myers-based women's retailer, was ranked as th

  • News
    By
  • Business Observer Staff
  • March 2, 2007
Commercial RE Briefs

Carolina financier buys Tampa, Cape Coral, Plantation apartmentInvestors buy Paddle Creek CenterCape Coral buyer plans Littleton Road developmentSouthwest Capital Bank buys CreeksideHanover, Metlife buy land for apartmentsDeBartolo buys new headquarters, moving to Kennedy BoulevardGold Coast/Coke distribution facility soldOntario investor buys North Port landFifth Third plans new University bank center

  • Charlotte–Lee–Collier
    By
  • Business Observer Staff
  • February 23, 2007
Coffee Talk

Six weeks into an ambitious - and expensive - advertising campaign designed to get fence-sitters to plunk over down payments and actually buy homes, the Sarasota Association of Realtors is seeing some positive results. Or are last three months of statistical increases in sales and offers, not to mention the reduction in inventory, just a cyclical fact in a market that eventually would bounce back anyway?What a year for Network Liquidators. Revenue grew 80%. The company opened a London office. The chief financial officer left. Another executive was promoted. The company acquired another and it obtained $12.86 million in capital.And to top it all, the company, founded in 2001, is moving for the fifth time in five years.In a deal that exudes good timing, Michigan-based Burton-Katzman Development Co. bought Sarasota Commercial Management Inc., a property management and real estate firm with about 25 properties under leases totaling 500,000 square feet. Neither side disclosed the sale price for the deal, announced Feb. 15. At 24, Ryan Sampson, who works with land broker Bill Eshenbaugh, known as Tampa's Dirt Dog, might just be the youngest person ever to become an Accredited Land Consultant.Then again, he might not be.Politicians, lobbyists and parents of Florida State University college students can cheer new nonstop air service to Tallahassee from Naples.

  • News
    By
  • Business Observer Staff
  • February 23, 2007
Commercial RE Briefs

Baycorp plans office, retail development on U.S. 60Publix Super Market under development for RuskinRam, Myrtlewood buy Madeira CenterStreetside developers buy Dean Dairy, Eiland propertyDunkin Donut franchiser buys propertyForum at Fort Myers gives city land for parkLock Up Self Storage buys Sarasota's Waterworks buildingSunVest Communities, Cay Clubs buy Colonial GrandeOrion Bank assumes former G&T land in eastern SarasotaBurton-Katzman buy Sarasota Commercial Management

  • Tampa Bay-Lakeland
    By
  • Business Observer Staff
  • February 16, 2007
Commercial RE Briefs

Naples' Hovland Real Estate planning Seville SquareBenderson Development sells 133 acresTwo Investment groups buy Southwest Florida parcelsChicago real estate firm buys Centro YborFirst Industrial Realty Trust plans Bright House centerLake Worth investor buys Carrollwood OaksSarasota developer buys Sarasota Grand landCity buys land for police stationFP&L buys Palmetto land for electrical substation

  • Charlotte–Lee–Collier
    By
  • Business Observer Staff
  • February 16, 2007
Coffee Talk

A recent statewide survey from the National Federation of Independent Business reads as if it's coming out of Taxachusetts, not the Sunshine State. Almost nine out of every 10 business owners that responded to the survey said their commercial property taxes have increased over the last year. Bradenton is losing a company headquarters, as breakfast and lunch franchise operation Peach's is moving to a Columbus, Ohio suburb. As promised, Shutts & Bowen continues to add top-ranked litigators to its first Gulf Coast office, which opened in Tampa last March. The Review is seeking the best and brightest Gulf Coast entrepreneurs for the newspaper's 10th annual Entrepreneur Award. Charlie Kleman's surprise resignation as chief financial officer of Fort Myers-based women's retailer Chico's FAS has some investors scratching their heads as to who could possibly replace him.Florida is projected to become the third most populous state between 2015 and 2020, as the state hits the 21.8-million mark and passes New York to come in behind California and Texas, even though the state's annual growth rate has slowed to about 2%, according to economists.Bonita Springs-based homebuilder WCI Communities has hired Goldman Sachs to evaluate the possible sale of the company.

  • News
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