Nov. 4 Issue by Kat Hughes

GULF COAST

NOVEMBER 4 – NOVEMBER 10, 2011

Business Review FIRST UP:

PEOPLE FINDER

THREE DollarS

DEVELOPMENT:

STORY ON PAGE 23

Hitting the Links

fixing history

How to recruit SEE PAGE 12 and select the Platted lands plague best employees for your business. the state, but reducing Page 9

Lisa Krouse shares how good golf is for mind, body and business.

regulation could help.

Companies • Trends • Entrepreneurs • CEOs

The Weekly Newspaper for Gulf Coast Business Leaders

Engineering Inspiration The key to solving creative challenges PAGE 10

Mark Wemple

Chris Gallagher and Jonathan Parks stand in front of the parking garage on Palm Avenue in downtown Sarasota. Parks’ firm, Sarasota-based Jonathan Parks Architect, was the lead architecture firm — and creative force — behind the project.

GULF COAST BUSINESS BUZZ

+ Connecticut pays $900,000 per Jax job

Here’s one more reason why New Englanders should move to Florida. After failing to persuade fiscally prudent residents in Collier and Sarasota counties to

more than $900,000 of taxpayer money per job. And it’s not as if Connecticut taxpayers have that kind of money lying around. The Legislature had to approve a bond issue to raise the funds. So while some on the Gulf Coast still mourn the loss of the Jackson Lab deal, higher tax burdens in the Northeast from projects such as Jackson Lab will send more wealthy residents to Naples and Sarasota. That’s economic development for which Floridians don’t have to pay top dollar.

+ Agency holds on to wallet, gets deal done

Government officials aren’t exactly synonymous with cutthroat negotiators when they dole out incentives to lure businesses to town. The Bradenton Downtown Development Authority, however, recently turned that premise upside down. The DDA reached an agreement Oct. 28 with Syracuse, N.Y.-based Widewaters Group, a firm with bold ambitions to renovate an old hotel in the heart of downtown.

The city will provide Widewaters with $1 million in incentives and roughly $1.5 million in tax rebates. Widewaters, for its part, will turn the 86-year-old building, known locally as the Pink Palace, into a 115-room Hampton Inn & Suites — a $17 million project. (See Business Review, April 29.) Widewaters, which has built $1 billion worth of commercial real estate over the last 30 years, including 20 hotels, initially sought an incentive package worth $4.5 million. It later

See coffee talk on page 3

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COFFEE TALK

fork over millions of taxpayer dollars for a new research center with vague promises, The Jackson Laboratory has found a new home in the Constitution State. That’s because Connecticut legislators are far more generous with other people’s money than their Florida counterparts. They recently voted to give the Maine-based genetics laboratory $291 million in taxpayer money for a research center that may employ 320 people within 10 years. Even if Jackson Lab meets these job projections, that’s

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dropped its request to $3.8 million. City officials, though, held firm. “We would all certainly like to see something done there,” DDA Vice Chairman Greg Green told the Business Review earlier this year. “But we can’t spend ourselves into a negative position like the federal government can.” After several months of pushback, Widewaters took the deal. “We didn’t get everything we wanted from an incentive standpoint,” Widewaters official Brian Long tells Coffee Talk. “But we understand there’s a limit to what they can do. They had to balance what we had to do with other projects in the future.” Of course, that kind of fiscal logic isn’t always prevalent in government. (See: publicly financed sports stadiums.) Long, meanwhile, is happy to have negotiations done, so the firm can focus on the actual project. Construction is expected to begin by next spring, and work, which includes a lobby restoration, new windows and several historic-style features, could be done by early 2013. At least 40% of the rooms will be suites with kitchens, says Long. The building, officially the Manatee River Hotel, is on 10th Street West. It has been vacant since 2005. Widewaters bought the property out of foreclosure in 2009.

Former hockey star joins Savtira Kelly Chase racked up 2,017 minutes in the sin bin throughout his career as a professional hockey player. Now Savtira, a Tampa-based cloudconsulting firm, is bringing in the former bruiser to fight for bigger contracts. Savtira CEO Timothy Roberts met Kelly Chase the enforcer more than 15 years ago. “Most of my friends were hockey players,” Chase Roberts says. Roberts says Chase shows the same willingness to drop the gloves while conducting business deals as he did while a brutal enforcer during his NHL career. But Roberts taps Chase for his friends not his foes. “Kelly brings a huge network of contacts to Savtira,” he says. Chase’s time spent as color commentator for St. Louis Blues hockey games built a wealth of contacts for him. Roberts hopes that along with serving as an adviser for the firm, Chase will net new business partnerships that will help grow the business. “He knows all these millionaires and high-profile leaders,” Roberts says. Savtira pulled another deke on the ice with the addition of Vik Grover, senior managing director in investment banking with the Westport, Conn.-headquartered Source Capital Group Inc. Grover will also serve on the advisory board. Roberts says he is impressed with Grover’s financial background, but plans to use his IT know-how to Savtira’s advantage. Says Roberts: “Vic is worth in weight in platinum. I won’t even say gold, that’s how good he is.”

+ Orion bankers sing in Jerry Williams case

The case against former Orion Bank Chairman, President and CEO Jerry Williams got a little tighter for prosecutors recently. U.S. District Judge Charlene Honeywell sentenced two Orion executives and a borrower to prison after they pleaded guilty to misleading federal and state banking regulators to the condition of the Naples-based bank before it was shut down. When regulators shut it down in fall 2009, Orion was the second-largest bank headquartered on the Gulf Coast by assets. Most of the bank’s assets and deposits were sold to IberiaBank of Lafayette, La. A federal grand jury indicted Williams in March alleging 13 counts including bank fraud. Prosecutors accused Williams of scheming to fraudulently raise

See coffee talk on page 5

ECONOMIC SNAPSHOT

GULF COAST RETAIL INDEX



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AUGUST RETAIL INDEX Annual Area Index Change Cape Coral-Fort Myers 139.2 5.3% Naples 122 5.2% Sarasota-Bradenton 116.5 4% Tampa-St. Petersburg 110.7 2.8% Punta Gorda 116.8 0.8% Source: Florida Legislature Office of Economic & Demographic Research

What it means: The index of retail activity shows a marked improvement in the Fort Myers and Naples areas on an annual percentage change basis. Both of those areas exceeded the annual statewide increase of 4.7%. A relatively strong tourism season in the Fort Myers and Naples areas in August helped boost retail activity, especially compared with last summer’s impact of the Gulf oil spill. Fort Walton and

Panama City, two areas hard hit by the spill, saw the biggest annual percentage increase in the retail index in the state, 14.2% and 12.3% respectively. Forecast: Consumer confidence among Floridians still hovers around record lows, according to the University of Florida’s Bureau of Economic and Business Research. But what consumers say and what they do often are at odds. Retail sales are likely to improve as job creation continues and older people receive the cost-of-living adjustment for Social Security. Meanwhile, real estate prices are stabilizing in many areas of the Gulf Coast and sales are cutting into the inventory of existing homes.

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What the data show: The index of retail activity is designed to measure personal consumption and it combines the categories of autos, consumer durables (such as appliances), tourism and consumer non-durables (such as food and clothing). The index’s base equaled 100 in 1988. For example, an index of 150 today would have taxable sales equal to 1.5 times the base period in 1988, or a 50% increase. The latest data is for August.

Vision in Business

GULF COAST BUSINESS REVIEW NOVEMBER 4 – NOVEMBER 10, 2011

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GULF COAST WEEK REGIONAL BUSINESS NEWS AT A GLANCE

SARASOTA-MANATEE County reviews candidates

Sarasota County received 45 applications for its vacant county administrator position. The candidate the county selects will replace former county administrator Jim Ley, who resigned in May amid a procurement scandal after 14 years in the position. Applicants include Sarasota Deputy City Manager Marlon C.J. Brown; Longboat Key Police Chief Al Hogle; and former Longboat Key Town Manger Bruce St. Denis. Several other candidates also have ties to the area.

County commissioners are expected to cut the list to the top five names by Nov 8. Former North Port Police Chief Terry Lewis, onetime undersheriff with the Sarasota Sheriff ’s Office, is the current interim county administrator.

Bank faces scrutiny

Punta Gorda-based Calusa National Bank recently became the latest community bank headquartered on the Gulf Coast to officially be placed under regulatory watch. The $145 million asset bank signed an enforcement agreement with the U.S. Office of the Comptroller of the Currency at the end of August, according to a filing made public late last month. The OCC says it identified “unsafe and unsound banking practices relating to increasing credit risk at the bank” in its What do you think the filing. economic outlook for your The agreement further calls region is for this upcoming for the bank to maintain higher season? capital levels and improve underperforming loans. Officials at the To vote in this week’s poll question, visit: review.net/decision. bank, which has two branches in Charlotte County and one in Results from last week’s poll: North Port, say the institution is meeting the requirements of the Do you think the Obama administration’s new mortgage agreement. refinancing plan will help lift Lee-Collier the economy?

EXECUTIVE

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Kottkamp named CEO

VR Laboratories has named former Florida Lt. Gov. Jeff Kott75% kamp as its CEO. Lee County recently awarded $5 million in subsidies to the pri-

Yes No

vately held Bonita Springs-based startup company. In exchange, VR Laboratories pledged to create 208 high-paying jobs within the next five years. VR Laboratories plans to build a manufacturing facility in Lee County that will make botanical pharmaceuticals for the beverage and food industries. The facility is scheduled to open in 2013. VR Laboratories has a license to produce these pharmaceuticals from HerbalScience. An attorney by profession, Kottkamp served as Florida lieutenant governor in the administration of Gov. Charlie Crist from 2007 to 2011. In that capacity, Kottkamp served as chairman of Space Florida. Prior to that, he was a state legislator for six years.

HMA to sell debt

Health Management Associates plans to raise $1 billion in debt and borrow another $2.7 billion in loans, the hospital management company announced. The Naples-based hospital operator says it plans to use the proceeds to repay a portion of its current debt and for “general corporate purposes.” The company operates 66 hospitals in non-urban areas and has been acquiring more hospitals in recent years. Most recently, HMA acquired seven Mercy Health Partners hospitals in east Tennessee from Catholic Health Partners. The company’s stock trades publicly (symbol: HMA; recent price: $8).

Sarasota permit values fall Single-family home building permits issued in Sarasota County dropped slightly on an annualized basis in September, but the permits’ value plummeted, according to the county’s office of financial planning. The county issued 38 permits in S e p t e m b e r, down 2.6% from 39 permits in September 2010.

Mack for Senate

U.S. Rep. Connie Mack, a Republican from Fort Myers, plans to run for the U.S. Senate seat currently held by Democratic U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson. Mack apparently changed his mind after declining in the spring to run against Nelson. He will join a crowded field of contenders in the Republican primary that includes former Sen. George Lemieux. Mack’s vacated house seat will likely attract many candidates. Already, Lee County Commissioner Tammy Hall announced she plans to run for Congress and has filed to run in the Republican primary.

tampa bay St. PeteTimes changes name

The St. Petersburg Times will change its name to the Tampa Bay Times Jan. 1, according to a statement issued to the newspaper’s readers by Chairman and CEO Paul Tash. Tash cites the diverse audience the paper reaches as justification for the new name. He states 3/4

The construction value of the properties, however, dropped 29.9%, from about $6.65 million in September 2010 to $4.66 million this past September.

of the publication’s readers live outside of St. Petersburg. In the statement, Tash also discussed the shared sports teams between counties in the region. The St. Pete Times Forum in Tampa will be renamed the Tampa Bay Times Forum.

Tech Forum names board

The Tampa Technology Forum, a Tampa-based non-profit membership organization of technology professionals, announced this week the selection of its new executive leadership and board officers for 2012, including Heather Kenyon, who will serve as CEO and president, a press release from the organization says. Kenyon, who served as vice president and development for TBTF from 2003 to 2008, will assume her new position Nov. 4. Kenyon replaces Amy Norman, who held the position since 2007. Steve Hasselbach will be chairman of the board of directors for 2012. Other appointees include Kathy Killingsworth as vice chair, Charlotte Baker as treasurer and Dan Rodriguez as secretary.

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Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Miami, has found himself on the defensive regarding the date of his parents’ exile from Cuba — which happened 15 years before he was born. But he took a brief respite from his descendent defense recently to chat with the Greater Tampa Chamber of Commerce on the region’s economic outlook. Rubio discussed the uncertainty in the regulatory and tax environment that stymies growth of Rubio medium and small businesses. But he mainly came to listen. He said he wants to hear from the individuals who want to create jobs. The frustration filling the room was palpable. Chase Stockon, CEO of St. Petersburg-based Panther International, questioned the senator regarding military spending — an important driver of Tampa Bay’s economy. Rubio cited troubles in Pakistan, Iran and the drug trade in South America as reasons to keep military spending at its current level. He warns that an additional $600 billion could be cut from the military budget on top of what President Barack Obama has proposed if congressional budget negotiations fail. “Military spending is not what’s driving our debt,” he asserted. On another economic point, Rubio addressed a concern from Cory Neal, senior vice president of the Bank of Tampa. “Our regulatory experience right now is such that it makes us not want to do business in certain areas,” Neal said. Rubio responded by saying he had recently talked with Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke, who told him to refer any concerned bankers directly to him. Joking aside, the senator explained that there is a disconnect between what the Federal Reserve is trying to do and what regulators are doing. The same buzzwords filled the room throughout the luncheon: jobs, small businesses, energy efficiency. But one thing the senator said was met with surprised faces from the likes of Bob Rohrlack, president and CEO of the chamber, Joe Lopano, CEO of Tampa International Airport and the other high profile guests: “Partisanship was worse for the economy than 9/11.” Rubio told the group the drop in the consumer confidence index following the debt debate was steeper than the drop following the terrorist attack. Of course, he also fielded the same questions regarding his parents’ exile. Says Rubio: “It’s ironic how non-Cuban exiles are telling Cuban exiles how much of a non-Cuban exile I am.”

+ Gulf Coast state rep seeks to curb bureaucracy

The business license and registration process in Florida, long a hotbed of entrepreneurial loathing, could be on the verge of an overhaul. In fact, late last month the Florida House Business & Consumer Affairs Subcommittee reviewed a plan from the state Department of Revenue that would create a universal registration portal for

Homeowners associations that were wracked by delinquencies during the real estate bust are seeing some improvements at last. “I think we’re past the bottom,” says Robert White, co-founder and managing director of KW Property Management & Consulting. “In pretty much all of our markets, the associations are getting much more financially stable.” The Miami-based property management firm manages about 7,000 units on the Gulf Coast, including Tampa and Naples. White says lower delinquencies are a result of improving economic conditions combined with more aggressive boards pursuing delinquent homeowners. “The forecasting for bad-debt expense has been declining,” he adds. On the West Coast, the recovery is more pronounced in Naples. “It seems like Naples and the East Coast are a bit better off than Tampa and Orlando,” says White. new businesses. In the current system, would-be business owners have to go through multiple state agencies, sometimes more than five, from professional regulation to management services. “When looking to start a business in Florida, for too long, business owners have been burdened by many duplicative registration forms that can become costly and time consuming,” House Business & Consumer Affairs Subcommittee Chairman Doug Holder, R-Sarasota, says in a statement. “The new ‘one stop’ registration process will go a long way toward improving Florida’s business climate and reducing the burden the state places on businesses seeking a license.” The Department of Revenue plan allows agencies to share pertinent business owners’ information. The department also says its registration process could help businesses save money, through a consolidation of tasks such as criminal background checks and receiving payments.

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capital and falsify bank records to mislead regulators. The two former Orion executives who pleaded guilty, Thomas Hebble and Angel Guerzon, and borrower Francesco Mileto, will likely be key witnesses in Williams’ trial early next year.

GULF COAST BUSINESS REVIEW NOVEMBER 4 – NOVEMBER 10, 2011

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FIRST UP

Sky High

Mark Wemple

Colette Eddy started her photography business in 1987. She hopes her recession rebound will continue in 2012.

An economic downturn grounded Colette Eddy in the late 1980s. She’s hoping regulatory uncertainty in 2012 doesn’t do the same.

olette Eddy must pay close watch to the weather before she heads to work. Grey clouds can throw a day’s work off kilter. Instead of sitting down in front of a computer screen, as CEO and owner of Tampa-based photography firm Aerial Innovations, Eddy flies 1,500 feet in the air in one of her rented aircrafts snapping shots of rumbling herds of buffalo, towering skyscrapers and most notably, construction projects. Her passion for flight and photography pushed her firm from a happenstance startup in 1987 to a $1 million company this year. She’s up 50% for 2011, to $1 million. She hopes to keep the momentum going into 2012. That is, if the regulatory, tax and health care uncertainty don’t shoot her down. Eddy’s job is not for one afraid of heights. In fact, her newest addition, Jason Stephens, had to get over some stomach troubles. They gave him the distinguished “air award” for most times getting sick during a shoot.

A queasy stomach is what Eddy felt after she was fired from a sales position with a similar photography firm in Fort Lauderdale in the ‘80s. “I was canned,” Eddy says with a surprising smile. Following the disappointment she took a job at Progressive Insurance out of necessity. “I lasted a whole three days,” she laughs. That’s when one of her former clients, Roy Dickie, then a project manager at Trammell Crowe construction, pushed her into the entrepreneurial arena. “Roy said that if I started my own business he would give us all his business,” she says. Trammell Crowe, which has completed $50 billion worth of construction, clearly had the firepower. The promise of a stable stream of revenue and a $25,000 loan from a physician friend of Eddy’s propelled her to start Aerial Innovations. The firm has moved cyclically with the real estate sector and was rocked by the recent crisis. “Construction photography makes up about 80% of our business,”

Eddy says. “So you can imagine what the recession did to us.” Some additional challenges Eddy faces are familiar to entrepreneurs: taxes and regulation. “You know it’s the small businesses that really get hurt by tax increases,” she says. “We don’t have the legal firepower that the bigger corporations do,” she says. Eddy mentions she’s worried about letting people go because of changes in employee health care laws. And regulations by the Federal Aviation Authority have made her job difficult. While shooting over Disney the FAA forces her to fly at double the height she would prefer. To get around these changes she has started lobbying for more relaxed laws. “I’ve started talking to lawyers and getting in touch with the right people,” Eddy says. Aerial Innovations has a current staff of six, down from the 12 it had two years ago, and is operating at annual revenues of around $1 million. Eddy projects a

10% increase in revenues over the next 12 months “if business stays the way it is,” she says. Eddy is most excited about a project near Miami in which she will soar above the world’s largest ribbon-cutting ceremony, which entails shooting the fivemile-long ribbon from the sky. Life in the sky isn’t always carefree. Eddy has been forced down on occasion in humorous circumstances. One time her photographer was shooting above a prison and the flight was grounded. Prison officials thought the plane was part of an elaborate escape plan set up by one of the inmates. Despite leering real estate troubles and government uncertainty, Eddy says she wouldn’t have it any other way. “It’s an amazing position to be in,” Eddy says, “flying above those skyscrapers and seeing the people inside at their desks. It makes me thankful to just be making it by.” — Alex Mahadevan

FIRST UP

Selling the Green Selling green-building concepts to the construction industry isn’t as easy as it might seem. But Jennifer Languell speaks their language.

t’s not easy being green. Just ask Jennifer Languell, whose job it is to convince builders that green-building standards are worth the extra effort. Languell’s firm, Fort Myers-based Trifecta Construction Solutions, is a consulting firm that works with residential and commercial builders and individuals to design energy efficient homes, commercial buildings and communities. Languell’s challenge is that decisionmakers often aren’t sold on green building standards, and many still aren’t even sure what it means. What’s more, the collapse of the residential and commercial real estate markets means some building owners can’t afford to pay for “green” upgrades. And there’s the ennui over the green movement, which has been spun by every industry in what some derisively call “green washing.” Even as commercial builders embraced a green certification process called Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design, there’s now a term for its overuse in marketing: “LEED fatigue.”

Languell says the male-dominated construction industry is often leery of a woman engineer who espouses environmental solutions. Initial meetings can be frosty. “They’re already mad,” she laughs. But in her presentations to them, Languell is blunt from the start: “I’m not a tree hugger,” she tells them. As a foil, Languell contrasts herself with radical environmentalists who sue to block housing developments without considering the economics. “They make me look normal,” she says. That’s because Languell, who earned a doctorate in civil engineering from the University of Florida, seizes on the financial benefits of green building and doesn’t take a moral stand with them on the issue. “We’ll reduce your operation and maintenance costs,” she explains. After obtaining her Ph.D., Languell moved to Fort Myers in 2001 to assist The Bonita Bay Group in developing standards for the first certified “green” community called Verandah. “The pitch was: No one else is doing this,” she says. That started the green-building rush in the area and in 2003 Languell formed Trifecta, helping homebuilders certify homes were built to “green” standards such as healthy building materials, energy efficient appliances, native vegetation and lower water consumption. For some builders, marketing was the only benefit of green building. “If they did it just to pimp it, they’re no longer here,” Languell says. But the homebuilding collapse forced Languell to shift the focus of her company. “People went bankrupt and didn’t pay us,” she says. While she declines to share financial results for competitive reasons, she Languell says business fell 20%. Government and owner-occupied buildings are now her main target market. That’s because contractors are now required to build government buildings to green specifications. Meanwhile, many corporations realize the cost savings of energy efficient buildings. “The biggest challenge now is it’s not

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Gulf coast Business Review NOVEMBER 4 – NOVEMBER 10, 2011

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Jennifer Languell, Trifecta Construction Solutions: ‘I’m not a tree hugger.’

JimJett.com

Jennifer Languell schedules about 100 speaking engagements a year on the subject of green-building techniques. reproducible,” Languell explains. That’s because certification of homes could be done on a scale of volume. Not so for oneof-a-kind commercial structures. And multi-tenant buildings for the private sector remain a tough sell because the landlords don’t realize the energy savings because tenants usually pay utilities. What’s more, the collapse in rents doesn’t leave much money for landlords to make improvements. “There’s just too much space out there,” Languell says. There’s competition too, often from much-larger engineering firms such as CH2M Hill who often tend to charge less money but don’t provide the same level of service, she says. Languell says she charges by the project, not by the square-foot. “I ballpark it and hope the clients aren’t needy,” she laughs. “It all seems to work out.” Languell now travels frequently all over

the country and overseas. She estimates she delivers about 100 lectures a year on the subject of green building. These speaking engagements attract corporate and government clients who recognize her as an expert on green building. They also serve as a way to find the environmental champions in corporate America and “sustainability managers” in government agencies. These advocates can be the people who help Languell navigate the office politics of getting greenbuilding projects approved. She’s had some unusual requests from individuals too as a result of her public speaking. For example, AOL Founder Steve Case hired Trifecta to suggest ways to make his 100-acre farm in Maryland energy independent. “His kids wanted it,” she says. —Jean Gruss

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GULF COAST BUSINESS REVIEW NOVEMBER 4 – NOVEMBER 10, 2011

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FIRST UP

Fountain of Work Entrepreneurial engineer Josh Evans gives prospective clients a heads up on future government regulations. It’s paying off for his newly formed company.

Josh Evans has found profitable niches for his newly formed company, J.R. Evans Engineering in Estero.

JimJett.com

hen the government creates a regulatory mess, it can often spell opportunity for smart entrepreneurs. Consider Josh Evans, a 38-year-old entrepreneur who spotted early how the flood map changes could create massive headaches for property owners on the Gulf Coast. Evans, a water-resource engineer, started J.R. Evans Engi-

Stephen Suau, James Guida and David Brown co-founded Sarasota-based Progressive Water Resources in 2006.

Aqua Expertise FIRST UP The byzantine water permit process has befuddled many an entrepreneur. A Gulf Coast firm aims to capitalize on the confusion.

hen David Brown and James Guida worked for a state government water permit office, they struggled to balance the needs of clients with the bureaucracy that paid their salaries. “We would see people come in and say, ‘why are they doing it this way?’” recalls Guida, who, with Brown, worked for the Southwest Florida Water Management District, commonly called Swiftmud. “As best we could, we would steer them in the right direction, but we were still regulators.” Instead of prolonging the bureaucratic agony, however, Brown, Guida and business partner Stephen Suau, another former government employee, took an unusual turn: They launched a private company, Sarasota-based Progressive Water Resources.

The firm helps developers, builders, landowners and farmers navigate Florida’s perplexing water management and regulatory process. Somewhat paradoxically, the firm’s client list includes engineering firms that work directly with local and regional government offices that also need water permit guidance. Some PWR clients are the government entities themselves. “We worked for government, but we acted as consultants,” says Brown. “Now we can see both sides of the equation. We can see right through the cloud and actually predict what will be on the other side.” Hyper-focused water permit consulting work has traditionally been the domain of large engineering and architecture firms in Florida and on the Gulf Coast, so PWR is in some rare space. The firm hopes to utilize that unique model in the near future with a focus on agriculture — an area

government officials, including Gov. Rick Scott, say is ripe for job growth. “Some developers are going back to agriculture,” Suau says. “They are realizing there is money to be made not by selling homes but by making organic food.” Guida, Brown, and Suau, who previously advised Sarasota County on storm water runoffs and flood planning, formed the company in 2006. Guida and Brown met at Swiftmud, and the pair knew Suau independently from their work in the community. Guida says he and his co-founders all witnessed government inefficiency in action, and they wanted PWR to provide an antidote. “We saw some things that could have been a little more business-friendly,” says Guida, “a little more logical.” Now with eight employees and a satellite office in Brooksville, PWR has between $1

Lori Sax

million and $5 million in annual revenues. Revenues have been mostly flat during the recession, executives say. The firm’s list of services is more than 50 tasks deep. That highlights both its breadth of experience and a regulatory environment that made the firm’s existence possible, and profitable. Services range from alternative water supply planning to well construction to watershed development. The firm has completed projects in more than a dozen Florida locations, in addition to work in Alabama and Georgia. Recent past clients include the city of Venice and AG Armstrong Development, which has an office in Tampa. With Armstrong, PWR helped put together a public water supply well system in Polk County. In Venice, meanwhile, the firm helped the city renew its Swiftmud water use permit. The firm navigated what it called “exceptionally stringent” water use rules in that project. The firm nonetheless sees the most growth potential in agriculture. One challenge, says Brown, is it has been hard to find new clients other than through wordof-mouth. “You can’t advertise to them, you can’t market to them,” says Brown. “Agriculture is a tight-knit group.” — Mark Gordon

www.review.net

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neering in August 2010. He seized on the fact that the federal government was proposing to put most of Collier County into a flood zone as part of its national plan to revise the country’s flood maps. The move would have put thousands of acres and buildings into flood zones, devaluing the land because it would deprive the owners of the ability to build. So Evans called on Collier’s largest landowners, successfully appealing for the exclusion of their properties from the new flood zones. “They all signed us up,” he says. Besides helping these landowners preserve the value of their land, Evans also saved them hundreds of thousands of dollars of flood-insurance premiums. “In retrospect, I probably would have charged more,” Evans chuckles, declining to share financial details for competitive reasons. But Evans, an alumnus of former engineering powerhouse WilsonMiller in Naples, says the effort on behalf of landowners generated plenty of goodwill. “It’s opened up the door to get a lot of civil engineering work,” he says. When he started the company, Evans says all of his work was related to appealing flood maps, and today 60% of his company’s work consists of developmentplanning work for homebuilders. With a $50,000 letter of credit from FineMark National Bank & Trust, Evans launched his business in an executive suite in summer 2010. He expanded to an office in Estero when the floodzone work increased, and the company staff now totals eight people. “I didn’t realize the scale it turned into,” he says. “I thought when I started I’d have two people.” But Evans, the son of a Kentucky apple farmer, plugged into the network of people he knew when he was a top executive with Wil-

sonMiller and later as an executive with Pulte Homes overseeing the development of roads, sewers, water, golf course and parks at the town of Ave Maria in eastern Collier County. Evans considered buying an existing engineering firm, but he was reluctant to take on debt to do that and instead started his own company. “The only way to compete is without debt and with minimal overhead,” he concluded. While Evans is continuing to pursue other flood-zone cases (he says that business could triple), he’s spotted another opportunity courtesy of the federal government: A new mandate from the Environmental Protection Agency to test large underground fuel tanks for leaks. To pursue that work, he formed a subsidiary two months ago called KMF Environmental Consulting with business partner Kris Fields. Using the same strategy that brought him success in the flood-zone appeals, Evans pitched this new service to a large Texas-based operator of gas transmission lines called Boardwalk Pipeline Partners. To move natural gas around its transmission system, the company owns hundreds of large underground fuel tanks at numerous pumping stations along its lines. Fields earned special qualification to conduct the testing for these large underground tanks, and Evans says the contract with Boardwalk Pipeline potentially represents a year’s worth of revenue for his young firm. If he’s identified other niches, Evans isn’t sharing. But he’s planning to double the size of his office in Estero. And after years working for others, he loves being an entrepreneur. “I’ve never felt more alive,” he says. —Jean Gruss

Josh Evans, J.R. Evans Engineering: ‘I didn’t realize the scale it turned into.’

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Lindell Capital Closes $1.5m Condo Loan TAMPA, Florida

FIRST UP

LINDELL CAPITAL, LLC, the newly formed lending arm of LINDELL INVESTMENTS, headed by long time business leader, Carl Lindell, has closed another $1.5 million dollar 1st mortgage loan on an area condo project formerly in foreclosure.

Find Good People

Dennis Slater, Executive Vice President and CFO for Lindell, said that this is the second loan, in addition to a $1.8 million dollar loan to the same borrower, on a bulk condo purchase.

Why it’s still hard to find good people: “With unemployment so high, you’d think there would be great candidates,” Anderson says. But mortgage brokers, real estate agents and bankers who once were accustomed to six-figure incomes aren’t likely good candidates for housekeeping jobs many are applying for today. “They’re not used to manual work. Their heart’s not in it. They’re going to leave at the first opportunity.” Online employment boards are a waste of time: Anderson says Shell Point has stopped using websites such as Monster and CareerBuilder to post jobs. “We’d get tons of resumes and we weren’t hiring any of them,” she says. Prospective candidates surfed the job boards and clicked haphazardly on jobs that sounded good to them, without any intention of moving to Fort Myers. “We were getting applications and resumes from out of the country and all over the United States,” Anderson says. “It was a huge waste of time.” Good interns make good employees: Anderson says Shell Point has partnered with vocational schools around Lee County, which require students to complete internships to graduate. Internships are a good opportunity to evaluate future prospects. The local work force development board also has been a good source of candidates. “They will send us people who are qualified and trained,” she says. And Shell Point has its own recruitment site online at ShellPoint.org. Social media is uncharted territory: Anderson says Shell Point isn’t using social media such as Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn as a recruitment tool. “We’re trying to figure out the way to do that,” she says. From what she hears from her peers, though, “they’re not getting a lot of return yet.” On personality tests: “I’ve never been a big fan of personality testing,” Anderson says. Relying exclusively on such tests

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Karen Kocher Anderson says the best way to select good employees is to observe them in the workplace.

JimJett.com

Karen Kocher Anderson, Shell Point Retirement Community: ‘I’ve never been a big fan of personality testing.’

could blackball a potentially great employee. Instead, Anderson says observation of a candidate in the workplace and what she calls “behavioral interviewing” often yield better results. For example, instead of asking candidates if they believe it’s bad to show up late for work, she asks: “How many times were you late for work in the last six months?” She says prospects are surprisingly candid with answers — and their excuses.

About employment recruiters: For high-level executives, Anderson works with industry recruiters who know good potential candidates, many of whom are already employed but who might be enticed to leave. “There’s no way we have time to do that,” Anderson says. Because recruiters work on contingency, Anderson hires two or three to create competition and make them work a little harder. Red flags: There are ways to identify candidates who might not fit in your organization. Anderson says the first tip-off is when a prospective candidate appears disgruntled about his or her circumstances. Another clue is when their career path doesn’t make sense. Gaps in employment can also be a warning sign, though you have to ask why. Health care reform: The cost of providing health care insurance is likely to keep rising. Anderson says Shell Point recently spent $250,000 to open a wellness office and hired Healthstat of Charlotte, N.C., to screen current employees and identify potential health problems. Shell Point will evaluate the program after 18 months and hopes it will generate enough savings to save Shell Point $2 in health-related costs for every $1 it spends on the wellness program. —Jean Gruss

“The borrower was introduced to us by a local business broker and we quickly became very comfortable with the acquisition price and the business model, obtaining 90% rental occupancy within the first 90 days.” Lindell said “the first deal went exactly according to their plan, so it made a lot of sense to partner with them on their next acquisition.” “We feel real good about the relationship.” Lindell added, “The majority of our loans have been real property and development related, but we have also advance over $2.1 million against accounts receivable and inventory for a couple of rapidly expanding local enterprises.” Slater confirmed the continued rise in the new loan package applications. “Many local business brokers are coming to us with solid acquisition and business models that most banks just won’t consider.” “We perform a business analysis and make immediate decisions. The capital is readily available and the transactions can be closed with in a short time.” Lindell added, “If the request makes good business sense, we consider the loan.”

LINDELL CAPITAL Email requests to: info@lindellcapital.com 813.286.3800

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aren Kocher Anderson knows how to find good people. Industry peers in Florida recently named Anderson, the human resources director for Shell Point Retirement Community in Fort Myers, as the best human resource professional of 2011. The Detroit native oversees a five-person department that cares for 900 employees at Shell Point, a retirement community of about 2,300 residents. Business owners and entrepreneurs might consider her advice for finding qualified employees.

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Karen Kocher Anderson is the best human resource professional, as voted by her peers. She offers some advice for entrepreneurs and business owners.

GULF COAST BUSINESS REVIEW NOVEMBER 4 – NOVEMBER 10, 2011

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architecture By Mark Gordon | Deputy Managing Editor

‘Think Like a Raindrop’

Mark Wemple

Jonathan Parks and Chris Gallagher, with Sarasota-based Jonathan Parks Architect, led the design process at Citrus Square. The 35,000-sqaure-foot, three-story mixed-use project in downtown Sarasota was completed in 2010.

An award-winning architecture firm shares its secrets. A big key, for any business: Creativity can come from anywhere.

rchitecture wowed Jonathan Parks at an early age. So much so he took college art classes — for fun — in the sixth grade. Parks parlayed his interest into a thriving architecture career, work that ultimately led him to Sarasota. That’s where he founded Jonathan Parks Architect, a business that has survived a tumultuous time in the industry, when many large firms have scaled back, and many small firms have shut down. Parks’ firm, however, while not growing like it did in the boom, is still going. Parks says he hasn’t had to lay off any of his 12 employees during the downturn. Moreover, JPA also recently won two coveted industry awards.

It won the “Best New Low-Rise Development” award from MultiHousing News for Citrus Square, a mixed-use project just north of Main Street in downtown Sarasota. And Engineering News Record Southeast recognized the firm in its Best Projects of 2011 Awards, for its work on the city of Sarasota’s Palm Avenue parking garage. Parks and JPA Associate Chris Gallagher recently discussed the evolution of both projects with the Business Review. A key point, says Parks, is transferrable to just about any business: Be open to creativity out of any employee, anytime. Says Parks: “You never know where a great idea will come from.”

Palm Avenue Parking Garage

Citrus Square

Location: Palm Avenue, downtown Sarasota, a block north of Main Street Built: 2010; garage opened in February Recognition: Award of Merit, Transportation, from Engineering News Record Southeast, Project details: The 280,000-square-foot garage was a controversial project. Some city leaders, and residents, complained about using prime downtown real estate for a garage. Former Sarasota Mayor Kelly Kirschner, who supported the $12 million project, also came under criticism when he said the city should build a “worldclass” parking garage. The final result is a six-story garage with 740 parking spots. It’s built in a curvy, free-form sculptural style. The contours of the exterior resemble sails. A row of retail stores is on the ground floor, and the top deck overlooks Sarasota Bay and downtown. Creative process: The firm had never built a parking garage before this project. So the first step, says JPA Associate Chris Gallagher, was to study garages from every angle. “A lot of our concentration

Location: North Orange Avenue, Sarasota, a half-mile north of Main Street Built: 2009-2010; completed January 2010. Recognition: Best New Development/Low Rise from MultiHousing News Project details: The most unique aspect of the 35,000-square-foot, three-story mixed-use project could be the timing: It was unveiled in 2008, and it was built in 2009 and 2010, during a period where nearly no other mixed-use projects on the Gulf Coast were conceived. The focus of the $8.5 million project was an old European-style building with street facades and authentic details. French doors with balconies, cast stone moldings and retail shops with wooden storefronts are some of the highlights. “Citrus Square reproduces what’s happening in the city,” the judges wrote. “It doesn’t look like it just showed up…the downtown retail development works with the fabric of the city and addresses the scale of the project.” At least 80% of the building’s condos have been sold, and the stores

in the office was about retracing the steps of the user,” says Gallagher. “We wanted to see what it would be like every step of the way.” So Gallagher, Parks and other JPA employees walked up and down the floors of the existing parking garages in Sarasota. They looked for safety, ease of parking and comfort. “The sense of cleanliness was a big thing,” adds Parks. Another element in the design process was to consider the garage a place where people go, not only cars. “What’s the human story behind it?” says Gallagher. “How can we make life more enjoyable and inspiring?” The completed project was a product of those early visits to other garages. For one, the garage has wide spaces between floors to utilize natural light. The circular stairwells are also a source of pride for the architects, in that it combines fun with functional, says Parks.

on the ground floor include a café and a wine bar. “It’s an incredibly modern building except for the fact that it’s so delightful,” says Parks. “It just speaks to people.” Creative process: Parks and Gallagher searched several Florida cities for an example of this type of project they could study. But they couldn’t find one that combined modern and historic the way they envisioned, says Gallagher. So they forged ahead with the project. A breakthrough came from Gallagher, when, at a staff meeting to discuss the project, he said the firm needed “to think like a raindrop.” By that, Gallagher meant the “narrative” of the design process should be a building that protects against leaks, drops and other rain-based calamities. For instance, that’s why the doors are set so far back from the walls, Gallagher says. The raindrop soon became a rallying cry for the rest of the project. It was a part of nearly every angle of the design. “People come to us for things that aren’t common,” says Parks. “People come to us for things that aren’t what everyone else has.”

Gulf coast Business Review NOVEMBER 4 – NOVEMBER 10, 2011

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GULF COAST BUSINESS REVIEW NOVEMBER 4 – NOVEMBER 10, 2011

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government by Jean Gruss | Editor/Lee-Collier

Matt Caldwell, a state representative from Lehigh Acres, wants to know how government can remove obstacles to development in antiquated subdivisions.

JimJett.com

Hong Kong Zones The problem of platted lands Often referred to as “platted lands” or “antiquated subdivisions,” these are vast tracts that developers subdivided into thousands of residential lots in Florida and other Sunbelt states in the decades following World War II. Lots in these developments, including Cape Coral, Lehigh Acres, Rotonda and Port Charlotte on the Gulf Coast, were sold to people outside the state with the promise of owning a plot of land in the Sunshine State. Many people purchased these lots sight unseen. The problem with these developments was that they weren’t designed with room for commercial development, schools, parks or even roads or sewers. Over the years, residents gradually moved into these areas though there remain huge numbers of outlying lots. At a recent gathering, Fort Myers planner Max Forgey of Forgey Planning Services illustrated the staggering urban-planning challenge presented by these developments with the example of Cape Coral, which was incorporated as a city in 1971. Cape Coral in Lee County is 120 square miles with 133,000 platted lots, an area four times bigger than Miami and three times the size of Boston. Barely half of the lots have been built upon in its 50year history so far. Cape Coral has 1,300 linear miles of streets, nearly double Manhattan’s. To drain the area, the developers built 400 miles of canals. The Rosen brothers, developers of Cape Coral in the late 1950s, first built homes there in the early 1960s. But the Rosens failed to include enough land for commercial development, open spaces or basic necessities such as sewagetreatment plants. To do that in the more densely populated areas of Cape Coral has already cost local taxpayers millions of dollars. Cape Coral now has about 154,000 residents and could accommodate 400,000 residents. “We have all we need for another 100 years,” says Forgey. —Jean Gruss

Platapalooza got people talking about how to fix planning disasters of older communities such as Lehigh Acres and Cape Coral. Removing government barriers is the first fix.

ould antiquated velopment. That fact will REVIEW SUMMARY residential subdilikely force a private-sector visions on the Gulf solution for a problem that Issue. Antiquated Coast become zones of has vexed the Gulf Coast for subdivisions economic freedom like decades. Trend. Economic Hong Kong? The scale of the problem development Welcome to Platapaloois huge. For example, at the Key. Remove governza, a festival of planners, current sales pace there is a ment barriers to spur engineers and attorneys 200-year supply of residenredevelopment. who recently welcomed tial lots in places such as any alternative idea to dePort Charlotte, says Adam veloping these depressed areas. About Cummings, a former Charlotte County 100 of them gathered late last month to commissioner who has been involved in discuss a wide range of solutions. the discussions. Joining this party of sorts were state No one expects an immediate solution legislators from two such communities, to the challenge, and developers aren’t Reps. Matt Caldwell of Lehigh Acres and swarming these areas to assemble parGary Aubuchon of Cape Coral. Both men cels. “The urgency is not there, but this is have pledged to help remove government the best time to do this because you don’t barriers for these special areas. have the opposition of specific applicants Government is at the root of the prob- to take the short-term gain,” says Michael lem and removing zoning and develop- Ciccarone, a North Fort Myers attorney ment restrictions is the key, says Caldwell. and expert on the subject. “This is the “No one would have built a community time when long-term planning is going like this if it weren’t for government sub- to be more effectively implemented and sidies,” he says. understood.” Caldwell says he envisions more densely developed parts of Lehigh Acres in east Government hands off Lee County could be modeled after Hong Some of the Platapalooza participants Kong, areas free of the existing burdens say Ciccarone proposed a novel idea that of zoning and taxation where economic could deter development in some of the development could be unleashed. “I don’t more remote areas of these communiknow what we have to lose,” he says. ties: Give up the public roads. These two communities and others like “If you don’t want development to octhem around Florida were planning di- cur, that is the single most effective way sasters when they were created decades to cause that to happen,” says Ciccarone. ago, and they’ve suffered mightily during the real estate bust. Developers subdivided vast tracts into thousands of residential lots without regard for roads, sewers, commercial space and parks. Because many of these lots were sold to people sight unseen, this fragmented ownership is scattered around the U.S. and overseas. A government solution is more limited today because Florida voters in 2006 severely curtailed government’s ability to take private property for economic de-

Bill Spikowski, Spikowski Planning Associates: ‘When the government comes in, it’s the big elephant and prices triple.’

“People can still buy and build out there, but as a practical matter it’s extremely difficult to get financing to do that if you’re not on a public road.” What’s more, no legislation is needed. Cities like Cape Coral or the Lee County commission could simply decide to stop maintaining these remote roads and give up ownership. “People who are living out there aren’t going to like that too much,” Ciccarone concedes. However, governments could create a system where owners of land in outlying areas could trade for development rights or land where commercial and residential buildings are already concentrated. The depressed real estate market might make the process easier now, some say. The legislature could be more aggressive about letting municipalities seize land from those who don’t pay property taxes. “The process by which government takes over an abandoned property is very cumbersome,” says Bill Spikowski of Spikowski Planning Associates in Fort Myers. Municipalities could swap lots in more densely populated neighborhoods for those in outlying areas. Government itself wouldn’t necessarily be the buyer but it could set up the exchange system. Besides, government has a terrible record when it comes to land buying. “When the government comes in, it’s the big elephant and prices triple,” says Spikowski.

What’s the cost?

There are some who suggest more aggressive government involvement in fixing the problems of these antiquated subdivisions. In fact, the growth-management bill approved by state legislators this year includes the term “antiquated subdivision” but means only those that were approved on paper but never developed. “What I’ve believed for the last 20 years is there would not be a long-term

Gulf coast Business Review NOVEMBER 4 – NOVEMBER 10, 2011

statewide effort to ameliorate the platted lands until the legislature recognized them as statewide areas of critical concern,” says Max Forgey, a longtime planner in the region with Forgey Planning Services. The state could use conservation-land funds or another funding source enhanced by a local match to acquire and “de-plat” those remote subdivided lands before more people start moving there. Taxes on real estate transactions might be one source, says Forgey. “One thing I’d really like to see in the next year or two is for us to do an economic study of the actual costs and benefits,” he says. A program of land swaps or transfers of development rights should also be carefully studied. “It’s difficult to find a system that’s actually worked,” says Beverly Grady, the partner in charge of the Fort Myers office of Roetzel & Andress who specializes in land use and zoning. “We need to find a successful one,” she says. “You have to give value to those rights,” says Cummings, the former Charlotte County commissioner who says such a system won’t work if local municipalities continue to approve developments in more remote areas. “Nobody uses it because the commission is willing to give development rights for free,” he says, citing the approval of Babcock Ranch in eastern Charlotte County as one recent example. To give value to development rights, Cummings advocates adopting language in a county’s charter that caps development. Charters are more rigid documents that can’t easily be changed by politicians. “The important thing that it does is that it acknowledges there is a cost to development rights,” he says. Advocates of greater government involvement acknowledge that it could be an expensive proposition. “It’s not going to be easy nor is it going to be cheap,” says Cummings. “You’ve given away the farm and now you have to buy it back,” he says.

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UPCOMING

Calendar of Events November 7

Public policy roundtable: U.S. Rep. Gus Bilirakis will speak at a Greater Tampa Chamber of Commerce meeting. The event will run from 11:45 a.m. to 1 p.m. at The University Club, One Tampa City Center, 201 N. Franklin St, Suite 3800, Tampa. Cost is $35 for members and $40 for others. For more information visit tampachamber.com.

November 8

Tech entrepreneurs: Randy Berridge, president of the Florida High Tech Corridor Council, will discuss the council’s tools for entrepreneurial startups and growing businesses at the Suncoast Technology Forum meeting. The event will run from 7:30 a.m. to 9:30 a.m. at the Stoneybrook Golf Club, 8000 Stone Harbour Loop, Bradenton. Cost is $15 for pre-registered guests and $25 for others. For more information visit suncoasttechnologyforum.com.

November 9

McIntosh show: Ross McIntosh, owner of The Bidder’s Broker in Naples, will present the annual Naples-focused real estate market overview. The event will start at 5:30 p.m. at the St. John the Evangelist Church, 625 111th Ave. N., North Naples. For more information visit cbia.net or call the Collier Building Industry Association office at 239-436-6100.

November 10

Lifetime achievement: The Argus Foundation will honor Sarasota businessmen Gene Whipp and Hollis Tucker with its 2011 Lifetime Achieve Awards. The event begins at 6 p.m. at The Sarasota Hyatt Regency, 1000 Blvd. of the Arts, Sarasota. Cost is $125 per person. For more information visit argusfoundation.org.

Goss speaks: Former U.S. Central Intelligence Director and former U.S. Congressman Porter Goss will speak at the Tiger Bay Club of Southwest Florida. The dinner will run from 6 p.m. to 10 p.m. at the Hyatt Regency Coconut Point Resort, 5001 Porter Goss Coconut Road, Bonita Springs. Cost is $125 per person. For more information visit swfltigerbay.org. Economic outlook: Northern Trust Chief Investment Officer for the Southeast Region David Koulish will be the keynote speaker at the CEO Exchanges’ invitationonly annual meeting. The event will run from 1:30 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. at the Northern Trust building, 425 N. Florida Ave., Tampa. For more information visit ceoexchanges.com or call 561-395-4581.

November 15

Commercial builders: The Lee Building Industrial Association will host a panel discussion with several of the region’s top construction company leaders. The event runs from 5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. at the Pelican Preserve Clubhouse, 9802 Pelican Preserve Blvd., Fort Myers. Cost is $25 for Lee BIA members and $45 for non-members. For more information visit bia.net. Biopharma capital: Hing Wong, founder and CEO of Altor Bioscience, will speak at the Tampa Bay Innovation Center. The event will run from 9 a.m. to 11 a.m. at the Moffitt Cancer Center, Stabile

Research Building, Auditorium, 12902 Magnolia Drive, Tampa. No cost. For more information visit tbinnovates.com.

November 17

Spot the gazelles: Meet the Tampa Bay area’s top technology startups at Gazelle Lab’s demo day starting at 9 a.m. at the Progress Energy Center for the Arts Mahaffey Theater at 400 First St. S., St. Petersburg. For more information visit gazellelab.com/demo-day. Civic achievement: The American Jewish Committee will hold a civic achievement award dinner honoring Gwen MacKenzie, president and CEO of Sarasota Memorial Health Care System. The meeting starts at 6 p.m. at Michael’s On East, 1212 S. Gwen MacKenzie East Ave., Sarasota. Cost is $175 per person. For more information contact AJC Regional Director Brian Lipton at 941-365-4955 or liptonb@ajc.org.

January 26

Economic outlook: Sean Snaith, director of the Institute for Economic Competitiveness at the University of Central Florida, will provide a forecast for 2012 at a gathering of the Economic Development Corp. of Sarasota County. The event will run from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. at the Hyatt Regency Sarasota, 1000 Boulevard of the Arts, Sarasota. Cost is $65 per person. For more information visit edcsarasotacounty.com.

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International entrepreneur teacher John Doggett laid out dire problems and huge opportunities recently at the Florida Futures Conference in Orlando.

Courtesy

ECONOMIC POLICY By Rod Thomson | Contributing Editor

Scary Opportunities Gulf Coast companies can take advantage of emerging economies in China, India and Brazil — if the right policies are in place.

ohn Doggett can scare the pants off even the savviest business crowd with just the facts, as he did recently to about 300 business and government leaders at the Florida Futures Conference in Orlando. And then he can inspire them like Knute Rockne on fact steroids. As a senior lecturer at the McCombs School of Business at the University of Texas and a teacher of entrepreneurs in more than 40 countries, Doggett commands an array of statistics and perspectives that can make any CEO or garage startup quiver. “If you don’t know how serious the problems are, you’re not willing to take the tough medicine to fix them,” he says. Here is some seriousness. U.S. debt has gone from $5.7 trillion to $14.7 trillion since 2000. In fact, it amounts to 23% of GDP — world GDP, that is. “By the end of this decade, we could be paying as much in interest as we do for defense,” he said. “Right now, we have too many politicians in denial ... Therefore, they are not proposing solutions that make sense, which creates a great opportunity for you in Florida.” The United States’ biggest competitors are moving in the opposite direction. In 2006, the G7 countries combined held $1.3 trillion in the foreign exchange currency market. China passed that in 2007 and now holds more than $3.4 trillion in foreign exchange. On the other hand, the United States’ debt is increasing by at least $1.4 trillion this year. “You just need elementary math to know this is unsustainable,” Doggett says. “So what are we going to do about it? We’ve got to be honest.” Part of the honesty is acknowledging our past and how we got to where we are as an economic juggernaut, and how our competitors are mimicking who we used to be to catch and pass us.

Doggett relates the comments of Xie Lina, a 26-year-old engineer at Those who do not know Applied Materials in Chihistory are doomed to na, who was asked whethrepeat it. Consider this er China would play a big quote: role in clean energy in the “The budget should be future. She was actually balanced, the treasury surprised by the question. should be refilled, the “Of course, China will public debt should be lead in everything.” reduced, the arrogance That is the sort of of officialdom should be confident bravado that tempered and controlled, used to be a hallmark of and the assistance of Americans and American foreign lands should be capitalism. It still can be. curtailed lest the Republic “This is the greatest time become bankrupt. People to be an American,” says must learn again to work, Doggett, clearly not your instead of living on public run-of-the-mill univerassistance.” sity professor. “The whole Marcus Cicero, 55 B.C. world is moving in our direction of thinking.” The United States won the cold war — the triumph of capitalism over communism. “We told the world our way is better,” he says. That better way was free markets and capitalism. The world took note. “The countries that are taking off are taking off because they are following our model,” he says. The problem is, we are moving away from our successful model, following a European model that involves a much larger government role and a more expensive socialist state. That model cannot compete with the emerging countries following the U.S. capitalistic model, just as Europe was unable to keep pace with the United States.

did you know?

How to dig out

The United States’ huge debt is a reflection of the U.S. leaving the rugged individualism that built the country and turning to the soft socialism of a nanny state, Doggett says. An optimistic realist, the first thing Doggett suggests from a public policy point of view is something rarely discussed, but which many business people can immediately understand: Sell some assets and downsize to market realities. The federal government has huge land holdings in every state. For instance, the feds own 43% of California, 69% of Alaska, even 9% of Florida. Selling a goodly portion of these assets would create a dramatic change in the balance sheets of the federal government and local governments. Three good things would follow. • The proceeds of sold land the federal government really doesn’t need to own — he is not talking about national parks — can be used to pay off our entire debt. Wipe it out. • Take those tens of thousands of government employees managing land the federal government doesn’t need to own, and either put them to better uses, or shrink the government — and hence expenses — by that much. • Place those millions of acres of land back on the tax roll, making them productive for job creation and revenue creation for local governments, who now are robbed a potential income by the feds owning so much. “It’s time for our government to get out of the landowning business,” Doggett says. “But the key is that it is a one-time solution. Because once it is sold, it is gone. We will have to sell some of these assets.”

See scary opportunities on page 16

Gulf coast Business Review NOVEMBER 4 – NOVEMBER 10, 2011

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scary opportunities from page 14 The other step that needs to be taken is to grow the economy. Obvious, yes. But it works well with getting out of debt without trying to raise tax rates. The only tax Doggett sees as reasonable to increase is to eliminate the cap on Social Security. Currently, earnings more than $106,800 are not taxed for Social Security. Eliminating that cap would result in a 30- to 40-year extension in the life of Social Security, Doggett says, taking that politically dicey program off the table. And then robust economic growth is a necessity. This is where his wealth of international experience comes into play. Doggett says our biggest competitors have smaller governments, lower taxes and less regulation. They do not have unions that make unskilled labor so expensive that companies cannot compete globally. And they have a hunger to grow and conquer economically.

Middle class bonanza

For many, the rise of Brazil, Russia, India and China — commonly referred to as BRIC — is seen as a threat to U.S. economic domination. Doggett sees the countries — particularly Brazil, India and China — as the biggest opportunity in the history of the United States. Those countries contain roughly 40% of the world’s population and are creating a middle class for the first time in history. That middle class is gobbling up goods at a rapacious rate. Goldman Sachs predicts the BRIC middle class could grow from 250 million to 1 billion by 2020. That is about three entire U.S. markets, and Goldman anticipates that middle class could rise to 3.5 billion by 2050. The middle class in a country is a buying machine. For example, there were 15 million cell phone users in China in 1997. By 2010, there were 875 million users and within three years, there will be 1.2 billion users. In India, there were 340,000 users in 1997 and will be more than 1 billion by the end of 2012. China is the most populated country in the world and has the second-largest economy. Goldman Sachs predicts it will pass the United States as the largest economy by 2035. But some are now saying it could happen in the next few years because of the rapid Chinese growth and anemic U.S. growth. By 2050, the Chinese economy could be nine times bigger than it is today, and the Indian economy could be 12 times bigger. That growth scares a lot of people. Not Doggett. “I’m a businessman … That market is going to need a lot of things you can produce. They are going to buy it from somebody.” In this decade, 50 million to 75 million people in the BRIC countries join the middle class for the first time every year. They will want cars, TVs, cell phones, computers, food, services and health care.

National GDPs in 2010 (Purchasing Power Parity) This chart shows the growth rates of the western nations. Looking at Europe and the United States compared with the emerging countries, the larger the social welfare net, the slower the economic growth. But John Doggett looks at the growth in China, India and Brazil and sees massive emerging markets for U.S. and Florida products. Country United States China Japan India Germany Russia U.K. Brazil France Italy

GDP Real Growth % $14.66 trillion 2.8% $10.09 trillion 10.3% $4.32 trillion 3.9% $4.06 trillion 10.4% $2.94 trillion 3.5% $2.22 trillion 4.0% $2.17 trillion 1.3% $2.17 trillion 7.5% $2.15 trillion 1.5% $1.77 trillion 1.3%

Brazil is now the largest exporter of orange juice to the United States. It has built modern orange juice super-tankers that can carry 8 million gallons of frozen orange juice concentrate and ship them to Boston cheaper than Florida can. Doggett says the Brazilian orange companies are very efficient. Is it all cheap labor? The Brazilians are also major owners of orange groves and orange processing plants in Florida. All this has been accomplished in about a generation. Brazil was not even in the orange juice exporting business in the 1980s. It capitalized on the big Florida freezes in the early 1980s — saw the opportunity and grabbed it like the United States used to. The country went where the market was, Doggett says. “You want to grow your economy? Go where the markets are. You want to create more jobs? Build things the world needs. You want to improve the quality of life in this state? Open your eyes.”

What about Gulf Coast firms?

You don’t have to be Ford selling cars in China or Tampa Bay giants Jabil Circuit or Tech Data, which have global operations well under way. Sarasota-based Sun Hydraulics is rapidly expanding into China. The company went from a joint venture partnership to running its own office earlier this year, investing a lot of money into expanding in China. There are growing opportunities for those who do not necessarily need a presence in other countries. Ev-

eryone has supply chains. But it means hustling in an increasingly competitive world. Bonita Springs-based Shaw Industries is a supplier for Caterpillar, which has seen tremendous sales growth to China as that country ramps up its infrastructure building. Shaw’s business with the giant maker of earth-moving equipment was up 100% in 2010. Shaw boosted its travel, engineering, research and development, and focused on creating and getting out new products. It hustled to innovate and stretch itself, and it has paid off. Fox Electronics in Fort Myers has an office in Hong Kong and is aggressively pursuing the Chinese market, along with other Asian countries. Health care is a huge opportunity, for middle class people have more ability to spend on medical needs. And the Gulf Coast is loaded with medical companies, from Naples-based Arthrex to Sarasota-based METI to Clearwater-based Lincare Holdings. The Port of Tampa is a major economic engine, as are other major ports in the state. Of course, there is the deepening Panama Canal for super tankers, but there is much more already happening to be built on. “This is the best environment in three decades to move the state forward,” says Bill Johnson, director of the Port of Miami. “Florida can be the logistics center of the hemisphere … the market is international.” Brazil is Florida’s largest trading partner and the third-largest provider of foreign tourists to the state. Last year, Florida shipped $5.8 billion worth of machinery and other goods to Brazil while importing $2.8 billion worth of goods. One in every six Florida jobs — 1.3 million — is connected to international business. Florida boasts the second-largest concentration of exporters in the United States with more than 42,000 export companies, and is the third-largest exporter of high-tech products. Between 2003 and 2008, Florida’s high-tech exports rose 81%, more than three times as fast as the U.S. average growth in that sector.

Political problems

The wrong people in political office causes a problem. “When companies…say, ‘We’ve got to go where the market is,’ the politicians call them…bad names. You’re un-American. You’re taking American jobs oversees. My friends, they’re just being business people,” Doggett says. If a company is in the cell phone business, PC business, car business and so on and is not in India and China, he says, that company is going out of business. And a company out of business employees zero people and pays zero taxes. “We’ve proved that the free market, that capitalism, that going where the market is, made sense,” Doggett says. “We need to practice what we preach.”

Gulf coast Business Review NOVEMBER 4 – NOVEMBER 10, 2011

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street smart marketing

Your ‘Free’ Executive Assistant Why would you pay top managers big bucks, then expect them to fill the copy machine?

t senior sales levels, the return on investment from a skilled executive assistant can be substantial. Consider a veteran Gulf Coast Realtor of high-end properties. He will sell $10 million in real estate this year. Assume the adjusted gross income earned by the executive would likely be upward of 2.5% in commissions: that’s $250,000. Assume his assistant is paid $50,000 and helps to make the well-known Realtor 20% more efficient in production. That’s the $50,000 needed to pay the executive assistant. In this example, the net cost difference is zero. Here it costs nothing, while the benefits to the team keep growing. Use your own figures of course. A full commission, with a listing fee to boot and no rebates, could generate a 4% commission, but you grasp the idea.

The dynamic duo

Aside from the financial aspect that a good executive assistant could generate, think about the mental relief such a person could offer. Today, many trusted assistants are taking on supervisory roles. They’re managing information flow, dealing with financial management, attending meetings, doing planning and organizing. And, once a dynamic duo is in place, the executive may wish to make

it clear that the assistant has real authority. The message the executive should grow to convey is: “I trust this person to represent me and make decisions.” While it certainly is folksy to see a corporate All-Star loading paper into the photocopy machine because of a “we’reall-in-this-together” concept, it’s just plain dumb. You just don’t want to bog down a “top producer” with too many non-producing tasks. Even with our general staff assistants, our fast-moving Gulf Coast enterprises always seem to have too few to carry out corporate tasks.

Boost mind share

Naturally, the real estate field is just one high intensity area where an executive assistant thrives. Consider other Gulf Coast professional services enterprises: attorneys, architects, accountants, builders, bankers, developers, financial planners, insurance brokers, marketing communicators, light manufacturing and more — all of whom need organization help. Granting middle managers access to an assistant — or even shared resources with a second middle manager — can often give a quick boost to productivity even at lean well-run companies. Welba J. Duncan, founder of the prominent Duncan Leadership Institute, which trains support staffs nationwide,

tells the Harvard Business Review that executive assistants give companies and management a human face. “They’re troubleshooters, translators, help desk attendants, diplomats, human databases, travel consultants, amateur psychologists and ambassadors to the inside and outside world,” she claims.

Up and coming

One of the best and certainly broader developmental benefits our own Gulf Coast entrepreneurs should consider is the benefit of providing assistants for upand-coming managers. The real pay off may come when the manager arrives in a job in the upper levels. An experienced executive assistant can be particularly helpful if the manager is a new hire from outside the company. The assistant becomes a crucial onboard resource, helping a newly hired All-Star read and understand the organizational culture. In a way, knowledgeable assistants are more than a productivity asset. In a strange twist of roll playing, they could play the role of reverse mentors. That is, the shared knowledge of the corporate culture would be imparted, as well as nuances to smooth the entry for the new executive. After years of cutting back, professional services organizations especially

can boost productivity by arming more managers with the “big assist.”

The final word

Expert assistants understand the unspoken need and characteristics of the people with whom they work. They will have high levels of enthusiasm, emotional stability and intelligence. They’ll respond to subtle cues; shifts in executive’s behavior and temperament. They will innately understand that timing and judgment are the foundation of a smooth working relationship. Is this the time right for your growing Gulf Coast organization to make an investment in a more productive future? Consider the upcoming era of the executive assistant as the next big thing in professional services. Executive assistant relationships are business partnerships. They can easily be self-funding. Strong ones are “win-win-win”; that’s because ultimately, it’s the enterprise that wins big. Lou Lasday creates action-oriented strategic marketing initiatives for Gulf Coast emerging companies. He has been a general partner of an Ad Age “Top 100” marketing communications firm and regional president of the American Marketing Association. Lasday can be reached at lasdaygroup@verizon.net

November 18, 2011

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GULF COAST BUSINESS REVIEW NOVEMBER 4 – NOVEMBER 10, 2011

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commercial real estate LEE-COLLIER

by Sean Roth | Real Estate Editor

Chico’s buys warehouse for future expansion BUYER: Chico’s Retail Services Inc. (principals:

Brian Bitzer, Verna Gibson, Alexander David Dyer, Kent Kleeberger and Kevin Schockling), Fort Myers SELLER: CDW 10995 Metro Parkway LLC PROPERTY: 10995 Metro Parkway, Fort Myers, PRICE: $2.5 million PREVIOUS PRICE: $1.21 million, December 2007 LAW FIRM ON DEED: Robert D. Royston Jr. PA, Fort Myers

PLANS, DESCRIPTION: Fort Myers retailer Chico’s FAS Inc. purchased a 33,000-square-foot industrial warehouse building for $2.5 million. The price equated to $76 per square foot. The company plans to eventually use the property as part of its corporate headquarters. “We’ve had a lot of expansion here to match our financial success,” says Robert Atkinson, vice president-investor relations of Chico’s FAS Inc. “We’ve outgrown our campus on Metro [Parkway], so we acquired that building for our future growth needs.” Atkinson says that it may be used in the near term to house employees as the company shifts departments to accommodate refurbishing the existing campus. Further, he says the purchase also reiterates that Chico’s plans to keep Fort Myers as its corporate home. Randal Mercer of CBRE represented the seller and Allan Fox of Commercial Property Management represented the buyer.

Costar

Impact Team Sports buys two buildings

BUYER: Impact Team Sports LLC (principal:

Bryan Smith), Naples SELLER: First American Bank PROPERTY: 1986 Seward Ave. and 5625

Kathleen Court, Naples PRICE: $725,000 PREVIOUS PRICE: $480,100, January 2002 TITLE FIRM ON DEED: Seaview Title CO. LLC, Naples

PLANS, DESCRIPTION: Naples-based Impact Team Sports LLC purchased its 8,160-square-foot building and a nearby 3,250-square-foot building for $725,000.

The price equated to $64 per square foot. The company, which provides screen printing, embroidery, sports equipment and vinyl lettering, has leased the larger building since July 2009. “After two years, seeing that I still felt the potential for this business was viable, I felt I didn’t want to continue paying rent,” says Bryan Smith, Impact Team Sports owner. “I didn’t want to continue paying for improvements on someone else’s building.” Smith, whose company had already converted some of the space in the former flex building into retail, plans to make a few additional interior changes. The smaller Kathleen Court flex building was purchased to allow the company to handle future growth. Smith plans to occupy a portion of the space immediately.

Etc…

Grace Baptist purchases Mid Cape Racquet & Health Club BUYER: Grace Baptist Church of Cape Coral,

Florida Inc. (principals: Thomas Ascol, Donald Reisinger Sr., John Swaska, Judy Veilleux), Cape Coral SELLER: Community South Bank PROPERTY: 1300 Ceitus Terrace, Cape Coral PRICE: $982,500 PREVIOUS PRICE: $186,300, September 2003 LAW FIRM ON DEED: Warchol Merchant & Rollings LLP, Cape Coral

• Fort Myers-based Brooks & Freund has won a merit award from the Summit Awards for work on the Diversified Yacht Services property. Diversified Yacht Services started with the demolition of a marina and boat storage facility at the mainland foot of Matanzas Bridge on Fort Myers Beach. Construction is under way on the new 50,000-square-foot largevessel service facility and a 10,000-squarefoot harbormaster outpost. The yachtservice facility houses indoor and outdoor paint booths, a 150-ton travel lift, and full water-side fueling facilities. • Fort Myers-based J.L. Wallace Inc. has started renovations to Our Lady of the Miraculous Medal Church at 12175 Stringfellow Road in Bokeelia. The renovations will convert the existing gymnasium into a multi-use assembly space; add lighting, electrical and HVAC improvements, and changes the stage. The project is scheduled for completion in November. • Mary and Kaitralyn Billie purchased 45 acres of agricultural land and a fivebedroom house at 1600 County Road 830, Felda for $575,000. Stan Stouder of CBRE handled the transaction.

Fort Myers partners form TurnKey Developers LLC Jerry Wallace, president and CEO of Fort Myers-based general contractor J. L. Wallace Inc.; real estate developer Joe Allardt and commercial real estate expert Todd Fitzgerald have formed TurnKey Developers LLC. The company will locate and develop commercial centers and invest in businesses that will operate in those centers. TurnKey’s first investment, Premier Auto Service Center, opened for business in July and added 10 new jobs to the business in Cape Coral. “This is just a start. We’ll continue investing in local businesses, developing commercial centers and creating jobs for the people of Southwest Florida,” Allardt says in a press release. Emile and Jocelyn Dauphinais, residents of Cape Coral, are managing partners in Premier Auto and run the daily operations. “The economic crash and loss of jobs in Southwest Florida devastated many families in our community,” Wallace says in a press release. “We’re going to put people back to work, one small business at a time.” TurnKey says it’s also currently working with national companies that want to expand into Southwest Florida. Fitzgerald was previously vice president of land acquisitions and development for Hovnanian Homes and president of Equity Funding, a private lending firm specializing in commercial real estate.

PLANS, DESCRIPTION: Grace Baptist Church of Cape Coral purchased the 21,923-square-foot Mid Cape Racquet & Health Club in Cape Coral for $982,500. The price equated to $45 per square foot. The seller, Community South Bank, foreclosed on the tennis, racquetball and fitness facility in August 2010, but had continued to operate the club. Grace Baptist Church plans to convert the 5-year-old club building into its new worship space and educational center. The church sold its 10,826-squarefoot facility on 11th Place to Crosspoint Christian Church of Cape Coral Inc. in September for $800,000.

• The purchase entity 5247 Parkway LLC purchased a 4,700-square-foot retail building at 5247 Golden Gate Parkway, Naples from the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. for $375,000. Enn Luthringer, Dan O’Berski and Matt Fredrickson of CBRE handled the transaction. • Gearing Up LLC purchased 1,218 square feet of industrial space at 4730 Enterprise Ave., Unit 303, Naples from M&I Regional Properties LLC for $80,000. Dave Wallace of CBRE handled the transaction. • Merill Lynch Pierce Fanner & Smith Inc. leased 9,100 square feet of office space at 13250 University Center Blvd., Fort Myers from ML Ft. Myers LP. Randal Mercer of CBRE represented the tenant and Norman Buhrmaster of Orion Investment & Management represented the landlord. • Once Upon A Child leased 6,000 square feet of retail space at 13560 Tamiami Trail N., Naples from Smyma Land Co. LP. Brandon Stoneburner of CBRE handled the transaction. • Appliance Outfitter LLC leased 24,000-square-foot space at 11811 Metro Parkway, Building 3, Fort Myers from Liddell Family Trust. Bob Johnston, Jerry Messonnier and Derek Bornhorst of Grubb & Ellis | 1st Commercial handled the transaction. • SBD Holdings Group Corp. leased 3,926-square-foot space in the Walden Center at 24311 Walden Center Drive, Bonita Springs from Chandelle Ventures. Charles Jans of Grubb & Ellis | 1st Commercial handled the transaction. • Lion’s Den LLC leased 2,400 square feet of space in Gateway at 12821 Commerce Lakes Drive, Fort Myers from Intelliflex – Daniels Parkway Ltd. Bob

“We knew we needed a bigger facility than we have had, so we’ve been looking to either build or purchase something,” says Tom Ascol, senior pastor at Grace Baptist Church. “One of our members found this building in foreclosure. We realized if we purchased and renovated it; it would be a lot less expensive than building from scratch.” However, the redevelopment doesn’t include the club’s tennis courts. Ascol says the church is working with tennis members of the club for them to take over management of the tennis courts. Fitness operations were sold to Mid Cape Fitness LLC and will be moved into another building across Pine Island Road. The church is working to occupy the building by Easter. Fort Myers-based Stevens Construction Inc. has been retained as the general contractor, and Fort Myers-based Christopher J. Lee Architects Inc. is designing the renovations. Alan Gruber of Barclay Properties represented the seller and Chris Achilles of Southern Premiere Realty represented the buyer. Johnson, Jerry Messonnier and Derek Bornhorst of Grubb & Ellis | 1st Commercial handled the transaction. • Terry Hillbrands, who operates as Gallery 41 Consignment, leased 6,400 square feet of retail space at 3906 Tamiami Trail E., Naples from Downtown Properties Inc. Paige Eber of Investment Properties Corp. handled the transaction. • Gulfcoast Consulting Group Inc. has been awarded the design and development coordination work for an 11,000-squarefoot Goodwill Industries of Southwest Florida Retail and Donation Center at 10351 Corkscrew Commons Drive, Estero. Goodwill Industries operates 25 retail and donation centers in Southwest Florida.

• Algenol Biofuels Inc. starts work on pilot bio-refinery

Fort Myers-based Algenol Biofuels Inc. has broken ground on its pilot-scale integrated bio-refinery. The production facility will be the first large-scale deployment of Algenol’s patented technology, which produces ethanol directly from carbon dioxide, sunlight and salt water using blue-green algae in photobioreactors. The facility will contain 3,000 photobioreactors, with a target capacity of 100,000 gallons of fuel-grade ethanol per year. The development received support from the U.S. Department of Energy, Lee County and other Algenol partners. The refinery will be built on 36 acres adjacent to the company’s existing complex in Lee County. • Fozzy Networks LLC leased 2,369 square feet of office/showroom space at 5661 Independence Circle in Fort Myers from 5661 LLC. Jim Boback of the Boback Commercial Group handled the transaction.

Gulf coast Business Review NOVEMBER 4 – NOVEMBER 10, 2011

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GULF COAST BUSINESS REVIEW NOVEMBER 4 – NOVEMBER 10, 2011

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commercial real estate TAMPA BAY by Sean Roth | Real Estate Editor

Keenan Development, Keiser buy GunnAllen building building to develop a restaurant owner/ chef-focused warehouse club on the 5.25acre site. The new building will have 55,000 square feet and will be nearly identical to the company’s existing Tampa store on 50th Street. “We’re always looking for areas with a nice density of restaurants,” Rich Danieli, regional vice president of Restaurant Depot. “We plan to open this one next year.” The new store, which will employ 50 people, will be the company’s ninth store in Florida. It has 91 nationwide. Pat Marzulli of Colliers International Tampa Bay represented the seller, Sherwin-Williams Corp.

Camelot Technologies Group buys building for power division

BUYER: Gunn Highway Holdings LLC (principal:

Michael Weaver), Land O’ Lakes BUYER: Venus Investment Properties Ltd.

(Keenan Venus LLC and Keiser Venus LLC), Fort Lauderdale SELLER: MetLife Bank NA vs. 5002 West Waters Owner LLC, et al. PROPERTY: 5002 W. Waters Ave., Tampa PRICE: $7.05 million PREVIOUS PRICE: $7.41 million, July 2006

A partnership of Fort Lauderdale-based Keenan Development Group and Keiser University, also of Fort Lauderdale, purchased the 117,335-square-foot former GunnAllen Financial office building for $7.05 million. The price equated to $60 per square foot. The purchase entity Venus Investment Properties Ltd. was the successful bidder for the vacant five-story building at a court-appointed auction. The building features four elevators, a five-story glass atrium, break rooms and kitchens on every floor, a café/deli and a 186-person auditorium with special media capabilities. It also included two large diesel generators, a life-safety system that can operate for five days, a trading floor and server room. The sale also included a three-level parking garage. “It certainly is a beautiful building,” says Dale Chynoweth, chief financial officer for Keenan Development Group. “Keiser University will be moving their Tampa school over there. This will be a flagship property for them. If I was a student this would be very appealing to me.” PLANS, DESCRIPTION:

Chynoweth says that Keiser plans to hold class from the custom-designed office building. Keiser hopes to have its renovations to the building completed so that classes can start there in the first quarter of 2012. Chinook Construction Inc. will be the general contractor for the project.

Restaurant Depot redeveloping Sherwin-Williams site BUYER: JMDH Real Estate of Largo LLC,

College Point, N.Y. SELLER: The Sherwin-Williams Co. PROPERTY: 8750 Enterprise Drive, Largo PRICE: $1.38 million PREVIOUS PRICE: $1 million, January 2005 PLANS, DESCRIPTION: College Point, N.Y.-

based Restaurant Depot purchased the 40,122-square-foot former Sherwin-Williams Largo building for $1.38 million. The price equated to $34 per square foot. The new owner plans to demolish the

Courtesy Auto Group parent buys additional land

SELLER: Performance Ind Manufacturing PROPERTY: 1900 Gunn Highway, Odessa PRICE: $1.39 million PREVIOUS PRICE: $1.08 million, September

2006 TITLE FIRM ON DEED: Century Title Closing &

Escrow LLC, Clearwater

PLANS, DESCRIPTION: The owners of Land O’Lakes-based Camelot Technologies Group Inc. purchased the 21,918-squarefoot Performance Industries industrial building in Odessa for $1.39 million. The price equated to $63 per square foot. Renee Dyer and Matt Kim of Prudential Commercial Real Estate FL handled the sale. The new owners plan to lease the building to CTG Power Solutions LLC, a division of Camelot Technologies that provides remanufactured diesel and natural gas-reciprocating systems. The industrial building features 3,186 square feet of office space. The 5.08-site features nearly 3 acres of vacant land for a future expansion. CTG Power Solutions will receive incentives from the Pasco Economic Development Council for the relocation based on job creation. “Originally [CTG Power Solutions was] going to lease space, but we couldn’t find a building for them,” Dyer says. “The owner of this building was thinking about relocating out of state so they had us give them a broker opinion of value. The minute I walked in the building I said ‘I have a tenant for you.’ It was perfect for [CTG]; it had room to expand, a large amount of warehouse and was close to major roadway.” Dyer says the economic incentives were instrumental to the purchase. The purchase entity Gunn Highway Holdings LLC mortgaged the property to Regions Bank for $1.18 million.

Monterey Private Capital buys Delaney Creek land

BUYER: Pacer Financial LLC (Monterey Private

Capital), Pointe Vedra Beach SELLER: CRM Florida Properties LLC PROPERTY: a portion of Falkenburg Road south

of Progress Boulevard, Riverview Costar

BUYER: Precision Motorcars Inc. (principals: Michael Kearney, Keith Style, Craig Monaghan, Mat-

thew Mees, Mauree Mack and Elizabeth Chandler), Duluth, Ga. SELLER: John and Joanna Roberts PROPERTY: 3804 W. Alva St. and 4421 N. Church Ave., Tampa PRICE: $1.78 million PREVIOUS PRICE: $800,000, June 2007 LAW FIRM ON DEED: Hill Ward & Henderson PA, Tampa

PLANS, DESCRIPTION: Asbury Automotive Group, the parent company of Tampa’s Courtesy Auto Group, purchased two warehouse buildings on 0.92 acres south of Alva Street and west of Dale Mabry Highway for $1.78 million. The price equated to $136 per square foot. The parcels house a 7,000-square-foot and a 6,087-square-foot building north of Courtesy Auto Group’s Mercedes Benz of Tampa dealership. “It was available, and it made sense for us to acquire the additional space [for the Mercedes Benz dealership],” says Melissa Corey, manager of public relations and communications for Asbury Automotive Group. “We have no plans for it right now.” Duluth, Ga.-based Asbury Automotive Group operates 81 auto and heavy truck dealerships. The purchase entity Precision Motorcars mortgaged the property to the former owners John and Joanna Roberts for $1 million.

PRICE: $950,000 PREVIOUS PRICE: $2.98 million, March 2008 LAW FIRM ON DEED: Hill Ward Henderson,

Tampa

PLANS, DESCRIPTION: An affiliated company of Pointe Vedra Beach’s Monterey Private Capital purchased the 49.33-acre Delaney Creek property south of County Road 676 for $950,000. The two-parcel property features 25.6 acres of usable land. It is zoned for either up to 374 townhomes or 30,000 square feet of commercial space and 320 apartment units. The property was previously owned by CRM Florida Properties, an entity owned by SunTrust Bank. Nancy Surak of Eshenbaugh Land Co. in Tampa represented the seller.

Etc…

• Michael Donaldson, a multifamily specialist in Marcus & Millichap’s Tam-

Miami Beach REIT sells 10 Gulf Coast shopping centers North Miami Beach-based real estate investment trust Equity One Inc. agreed to sell 36 shopping centers — with a total of 3.9 million square feet of space — to Blackstone Real Estate Partners VII for $473.1 million. The agreement includes mortgage loan debt valued at $177.4 million in principal as of June 30. The deal included 10 centers located along the Gulf Coast.  The shopping centers are predominately located in the Atlanta, Tampa and Orlando markets, with additional properties located in North Carolina, South Carolina, Alabama, Tennessee and Maryland. The portfolio generated net operating income of approximately $35.4 million and had an average occupancy of 91% for the past year ended June 30. Equity One says it will use the proceeds from the sale to retire debt, fund its redevelopment pipeline, for future acquisitions and for other corporate purposes. “Together with our $600 million purchase of Capital & Counties and other recent acquisitions, this sale significantly advances our strategic plan to concentrate our portfolio in the urban retail markets of New York, Miami, Boston, San Francisco and Los Angeles,” Jeff Olson, CEO, says in a press release. Lazard Freres & Co. LLC acted as Equity One’s financial adviser. Eastdil Secured acted as Blackstone’s financial adviser. pa office, handled the sale of Lake Foy Apartments, a 20-unit apartment community in Deltona for $520,000. The purchase equated to $29 per square foot. Built in 1986, Lake Foy Apartments consists of five buildings on 0.85 acres. The buyer was a private investor from Orlando, and the seller was a Georgia-based financial institution.

• Lend Lease handles construction of Trinity Medical Center

Lend Lease is managing the construction of the new 236-bed medical center in New Port Richey. Scheduled to be completed in the fall, it will provide medical care to residents of Pasco, Hillsborough and Pinellas counties. The five-story, 400,000-square-foot hospital and a four-story, 90,000-squarefoot attached medical office building occupy a 55-acre site. The hospital features a surgical suite with eight operating rooms, a 12-bed postanesthetic care unit, two endoscopy rooms and 28 outpatient preparation rooms. It will also house 34 critical care rooms placed around a central nursing station, two nursing substations and nursing work areas. • The Tampa Bay Builders Association recognized Marshall Gray, president of M/I Homes’ Tampa division, as its 2011 Builder of the Year. • Cuhaci & Peterson Architects LLC recently won a contract to design a major remodeling project for a 48,000-squarefoot Sweet Bay Grocery store on Fourth Street North in St. Petersburg. • I-Clean America LLC leased 4,108 square feet office space in Arbor Shoreline, located at 19353 U.S. 19 N., Clearwater. Melanie Jackson of Colliers International Tampa Bay represented the tenant. • Commercial Clearing House leased 3,260 square feet of office space in Park Tower at 400 N. Tampa St., Tampa. Claire Calzon of Colliers International Tampa Bay represented the landlord.