Babcock deal an 'opportunity' for Morgan Stanley: It's pretty clear now the Morgan Stanley real estate funds that are backing the purchase of Florida Babcock Co. with West Palm Beach developer Syd Kitson are called "opportunity funds" for a good reason.South Trail less Friendly: Joe Sandor, Joe Camera and Carmine and Fred D'Ariano, Sarasota-Manatee counties' Friendly's restaurant franchisees, have closed their centrl Sarasota restaurant at 6606 S. Tamiami Trail.Sarbox bash at FGCU: The acronyms flew at the annual W. Thomas Howard lecture sponsored by Florida Gulf Coast University's business school in Fort Myers recently.Sorry, the lot doesn't go with the building: Buy a building and get that lot for free is what a number of real estate investors initially thought when they went to see the former Badcock Home Furnishings building at 1570 Boulevard Of The Arts in Sarasota.Everybody and his uncle facing suits: The second annual Litigation Trends Survey of corporate general counsel produced by the international law firm of Fulbright & Jaworski LLP doesn't paint a pretty picture of U.S. corporations and in particular the real estate business.
