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More News

    By
  • Business Observer Staff
  • December 22, 2006
Strength in numbers

Throughout the Gulf Coast, a common refrain echoes about the area's political clout in Tallahassee: What clout? From the lack of road-building funds - probably the single largest issue - to lesser state-funded needs and desires, the Gulf Coast gets to feeling quite orphaned in Tallahassee.But the Tampa Bay area is trying to do something about it.Spearheaded by the Tampa Bay Partnership, it has created the Bay Area Legislative Delegation (or BALD) to act as a more cohesive unit to muscle its way to the table that has long been dominated by Southeast Florida.

  • News
    By
  • Business Observer Staff
  • December 22, 2006
Coffee Talk

Florida foreclosure numbers show big gainDon Ackerman will step down as chairman of WCI Communities at the company's next annual meeting, a sure sign that significant changes are in store for the struggling Bonita Springs-based homebuilder. Going into December, shares of PGT, the Venice-based impact-resistant window and door manufacturer, had been hovering in the $11-per-share range, and what's more, overall, the stock had decreased 15% since its June IPO and 33% since its all-time high of $18.84 Aug. 3.That was until SunTrust Robinson Humphrey analyst Keith Hughes upgraded his rating on the stock to buy from neutral.Coffee Talk is always a little weary when it hears about new products that come with a "change the entire dynamic" tag, be it small business banking or the latest stock craze. A little dose of skepticism can go a long way.But we perked up after talking to a few bankers about remote deposit capture, a federally approved system that equates digital check images with paper checks. It allows banks to provide a way for clients to scan paper checks and deposit them electronically. Coffee Talk usually takes the color-blind approach to judging businesses - or more to the point, if there's any color to be judged, the one with the most cache would be green. Hence, lists breaking down entrepreneurs by racial or gender categories are usually little more than window dressing.

  • News
    By
  • Business Observer Staff
  • December 22, 2006
Commercial RE Briefs

California apartment owner buys Twelve Oaks PlazaBank subsidiary buys SteeplechaseSarasota entrepreneur buys Stickney Point centerBuskirk, Summers & Gravely plan Synovus branch Barron Collier buys 4,200-acre SerenoaSand Castles Group expects headquarters start next year Land Solutions, Development Solutions buying new HQPhiladelphia real estate fund acquires five North Reo buildingsInvestment group buys, repositions Buccaneer PlazaPulte Homes breaks ground for largest new community

  • Manatee-Sarasota
    By
  • Business Observer Staff
  • December 14, 2006
Coffee Talk

What's the future for Source Interlink? Sarasota County is considering nearly tripling its impact-fee assessments on new developments, despite the sluggish housing market.MarineMax, left out of Boating Industry magazine's annual top 100 listCoffee Talk realizes, obviously, that no one who reads the Review can be categorized as a bad boss. Still, the results of a Florida State University study on the employee-employer relationship are telling, in terms of what it means for employee performance and retention.Here's another indication that Florida's growth is pushing inland: Naples-based TIB Financial is opening a TIB Bank branch in Sebring. Gary Hoyle expected to be busy when he announced plans earlier this year to take the Peach's Rise and Dine breakfast/lunch concept national on a franchising basis.

  • News
    By
  • Business Observer Staff
  • December 14, 2006
Commercial RE Briefs

North Port group expands Bobcat medical centerThe Wilder Cos. buys in Punta Gorda, plans developmentFirst new hotel since Charley under construction in CharlotteWaterford condo/retail development starting in 2007Florida's west coast hoteliers buy Bradenton Budget InnJeffrey Wogoman Tile, Marble relocating down the streetFirst Florida buys building for Lee County headquartersPointe Group Management buys 100 Carillon ParkwayCincinnati investors buy Goodyear storeRLJ Development closes on Palm River Road hotels

  • Manatee-Sarasota
    By
  • Business Observer Staff
  • December 8, 2006
Commercial RE Briefs

Fort Myers hoteliers buy Sun Tan Village MotelTarget buys land, constructing SuperTargetWaste Services buys landfill, disposal businessNDC head, McKay make plans for L.E.C.O.M. housingProcaccianti Group buys Bradenton Holiday Inn ExpressJon Kleiber leaves one family firm to start his ownDeveloper/hotelier, CPA building Lutz Residence InnTierra Verde project changes hands, development continuesCNL Income Properties buys Tampa's Grand Prix

  • Charlotte–Lee–Collier
    By
  • Business Observer Staff
  • December 8, 2006
Coffee Talk

Coffee Talk: Horizon Mortgage Co. president N. J. Olivieri spent most of his working days in the month leading up to Thanksgiving in a Sarasota courtroom, intently involved in the lengthy and complicated trial between various partners who built the Ritz-Carlton hotel in downtown Sarasota. And while a jury ultimately awarded Olivieri $1.85 million, the trial might as well have been a root canal. Cancel the call to the coroner: Pineapple Square is not dead. Tampa-area politicos and economic development officials were in full chest-thumping mode this week, claiming another victory in the ongoing effort to bring cutting-edge research and technology to the Sunshine State. The latest entry is SRI International, a Menlo Park, Calif.-based research firm that plans to open a marine science research facility in St. Petersburg.American Banker, the leading banking industry trade publication in the U.S., feted Orion Bancorp's Jerry Williams at a gala at the Pierre Hotel in New York City on Nov. 30.There weren't any surprises in the inaugural report on the ups and downs of the real estate market put together by the University of Florida's Center for Real Estate Studies.Ed Morton, the former chief executive officer of not-for-profit NCH Health Care System in Naples, lashed out at for-profit hospitals during an academic lecture at Florida Gulf Coast University recently.

  • News
    By
  • Business Observer Staff
  • December 1, 2006
Coffee Talk

Coffee Talk appreciates a good David slays Goliath story, especially during the holiday season, and the case of the Bellehumeurs versus St. Louis-based national brokerage firm A.G. Edwards definitely fits the bill.Median sale prices for existing single-family homes fell across the Gulf Coast of Florida in October versus the same month last year. A positive exception was the Tampa Bay area, which saw median prices level off, according to figures from the Florida Association of Realtors (FAR).Coffee Talk bets that Bruce Sherman and Gregg Powers at Naples-based Private Capital Management are celebrating the $300 million check they recently got from Baltimore-based Legg Mason.Take the folks at Business 2.0 magazine off the Christmas card list. The magazine's New Rules of Real Estate issue pegged Southwest Florida as the number two area in its "Where not to buy" list. Cape Coral-based Whitney Information Network's shares fell 31% Nov. 21 after it said the Securities and Exchange Commission is conducting an investigation of its stock-market education programs and corporate acquisitions.Entrepreneur and Net Infuse CEO John Turner didn't take just any vacation this year: The 44-year-old took on Mount Everest - the world's highest peak - to prove he could and to raise money for The Children's Home, Tampa.

  • News
    By
  • Business Observer Staff
  • December 1, 2006
Commercial RE Briefs

First Tampa Development buys landCapital Realty Investors buys building in Hidden River ParkDirected Capital Resources' company buys four Taco BelInvestors pushing to annex Pine Island parcelsCroci North America buys land for future expansionDevelopers buy Bonita Beach property for Bellezza ShoppesRetailer Marco Destin buys St. Armands storeDevelopers buy S.R. 70 land for Lion's Gate DevelopmentBenderson Development revisiting Park of CommerceGold Coast Eagle Distributing completes purchase

  • Tampa Bay-Lakeland
    By
  • Business Observer Staff
  • November 24, 2006
Commercial RE Briefs

Cypress Creek Capital buys Eastpointe Office buildingHarrod Properties buys Bayshore Professional CenterSunrise Senior Living completes Aston Gardens acquisitionsSongy partners, D'Jamoos Group buy in Forum for office parkBonita Springs Baymont Inn sold, being renovatedN.J. entrepreneur, partner plan Lehigh carwash, office buildingBurton-Katzman Development buys L-3 Cattlemen propertyWilliams family takes over two Farley Funeral HomesKVN Heating, Air moving to larger Centre Park suite

  • Tampa Bay-Lakeland
    By
  • Business Observer Staff
  • November 24, 2006
Coffee Talk

Coffee Talk smells a trend brewing. On Nov. 10, we reported on Sarasota-based luxury homebuilder John Cannon's plans to open a commercial construction business, partly to make up for decreasing revenues stemming from the residential building slump. A recent report shows that Bradenton professional employer organization Gevity HR is the largest PEO in Florida and the third largest in the country. Members of Florida's largest nonprofit business group, Associated Industries, spoke at a Nov. 17 public hearing before the U.S. Interior Department's Minerals Management Service, urging the government to open two million acres in the Gulf of Mexico to oil and gas drilling. Inventory is up 180% from a year ago and sales are down, way down, but the Pinellas Realtor Organization says the housing market is stabilizing.The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation Trust bought 887,000 shares of WCI, or 2.1% of the shares outstanding, for about $15.5 million. Finance chiefs and other top executives responsible for complying with federal accounting requirements are in line for some hefty raises in 2007, a leading staffing services firm reports. Top bankers, information technology managers and auditors will also have thicker wallets and purses.

  • News
    By
  • Business Observer Staff
  • November 17, 2006
Coffee Talk

Icahn buys 4% of WCI, credit downgradedSource Interlink chief resignsNaples-based TIB Financial Corp., the parent of TIB Bank, acquired The Bank of Venice for about $16 million. That's about 1.9 times book value.Private companies in need of capital might find what they're looking for at the Florida Venture Forum's 16th annual conference Feb. 6-7 at the Boca Raton Resort & Club in Boca Raton.Goldman Sachs investment banking division co-chief Scott Kapnick and his family recently gave $10 million to the Naples Botanical Garden for the development of 160 acres that will include cultivated gardens at Bayshore and Thomasson drives.Naples-based International College named its business school for Kenneth Oscar Johnson, a former ExxonMobil executive and CEO of Florida-based Belcher Oil.eal Estate executives from across the country converge on the Gulf Coast to talk strategy.

  • News
    By
  • Business Observer Staff
  • November 17, 2006
Commercial RE Briefs

Investment group buys, renovates American MarinaPraedium Group buys, renames Polo's at BrandonFort Lauderdale buyer pays $87.8 million for City CenterCrossland announces MiraBay mixed-use developmentGold Coast Eagle sells center to CokeRiviera Dunes outparcel fetches $6.2 millionSarasota group buys Budget InnRaymond Building Supply invests in land for future expansionHunt Construction Group preparing land for Tuscany ParkAdam Smith buys 0.37 acres, plans three-story project

  • Tampa Bay-Lakeland
    By
  • Business Observer Staff
  • November 17, 2006
Insurance tops agenda

Florida Governor-elect Charlie Crist jumped tracks en route to fulfilling his pledge to make his "anti-murder" bill the first order of business. Now, he is focusing on an issue with broad economic implications: Insurance.The insurance jam threatens the health of the Gulf Coast's construction industry - one of the primary engines in our economic vitality.

  • News
    By
  • Business Observer Staff
  • November 10, 2006
Coffee Talk

The annual Capeopoly real estate conference in Cape Coral drew more than 400 people recently. It's easy to understand why: Cape Coral was the nation's fifth-fastest growing city last year.Cannon seizes commercial opportunity in housing slowdown The tech company accelerator located in Pinellas County might be one of the best-kept secrets a startup can find.John Cannon: Housing slowdown not carrying other sectors downOutback buyback done deal?Fox Electronics was honored with the 2006 Southwest Florida Blue Chip Community Business Award, an awardthat recognizes businesses in Lee and Collier counties that have successfully overcome adversity.The ongoing Wilson family saga is set to add another chapter Nov. 14, when an empty land plot in a Sarasota subdivision goes up for public auction. Downtown Tampa is finally on the cusp of becoming a 24-hour city where people live and work, as the first phase of Grand Central at Kennedy in Channelside nears completion and other residential towers take shape, according to the newest office market report by GVA Advantis Real Estate Services Co.Bonita Bay gives more money to schoolsWCI Communities outlook remains grimHappy birthday to you, DooleyMack

  • News
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