April 23, 2024
Real Estate
Condo Education
With many condominiums staring down costly repair bills and needing professional oversight, Florida International University's College of Business is offering a training certificate program for board members and owners.
Read more »
Published on 4/22/2024
Surf's Up
Surfing in Orlando? That's the idea behind a surf park that's being proposed for a landfill site in west Orange County. The $45-million Orlando Surf Park would feature a 15-acre pool with patented wave-making technology.
Read more »
Published on 3/25/2024
Overcoming Obstacles
There's no mistaking the redevelopment appeal of the 800,000-sq.-ft. Galleria at Fort Lauderdale. The lagging mall sits in a prime spot to capture the dollars of tourists and affluent homeowners nearby with its front on heavily traveled Sunrise Boulevard, between Federal Highway (U.S.1) and beach road A1A, just across the bridge from the famed city beach. It has water views, is just a short ride to downtown and is about a third the size of the city's central business district.
Read more »
Published on 3/25/2024
St. Joe's Agenda
With a 169,000-acre footprint in five counties, the St. Joe Co., headquartered in Panama City Beach, is the largest private landowner in Northwest Florida and also its largest commercial developer. CEO Jorge Gonzalez shares with Florida Trend his outlook for the company's growth in 2024 and beyond.
Read more »
Published on 3/22/2024
Main Street Metamorphosis
Coconut Creek, a city of 57,000 in northwest Broward that calls itself the “Butterfly Capital of the World,” has been known for years as a bedroom community, agriculture spot, and home to a Seminole Tribe casino and car dealerships.
Read more »
Published on 3/19/2024
Jazzing it Up
The struggling University Mall in Tampa was a sad scene, with empty anchor stores, dusty potted plants and stained carpets beneath the benches. JCPenney left in 2005, followed by Dillard's in 2008, Macy's in 2017 and Sears in 2018. Built in 1974 just west of the University of South Florida campus, the mall had acquired a seedy reputation.
Read more »
Published on 3/14/2024
Adapting Anchors
Fifteen years ago, Michele “Mik” Oca was living in his native Italy and working in entertainment marketing and design when he got a call from the White House. Incoming President Barack Obama was toying with the idea of replacing the bowling alley at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. with a basketball court — and Oca, who'd carved out a niche for himself designing bowling products and alleys, was invited to submit a redesign plan to convince the president to keep the lanes.
Read more »
Published on 3/11/2024
Building Blocks
Palm Springs in central Palm Beach County became the debut site for Renco USA's first housing complex — four buildings totaling 96 units — made with molded, interlocking blocks the company calls “Lego-like.” Miami-based Renco says its building method is cheaper, faster and 23 times stronger than concrete.
Read more »
Published on 2/27/2024
Building Success
What's the single biggest challenge facing the construction industry right now? Mandy Weitknecht knows the answer: a serious shortage of skilled workers.
Read more »
Published on 12/12/2023
Reimagining Racetracks
The nearly century-old Hialeah Park thoroughbred racetrack has hosted luminaries Harry Truman, Winston Churchill, Jackie Kennedy and Elizabeth Taylor — along with the iconic flock of American flamingos seen in the opening credits of Miami Vice in the 1980s.
Read more »
Published on 12/8/2023
MIA Facelift
FDR Miami Hotel, a partnership between Fontainebleau Development and Related Cos., is building a 451-room Westin Hotel near the Dolphin parking garage. Guests will be able to cross a pedestrian bridge to enter the airport's Concourse D. FDR will pay the county at least $2.58 million per year in a 50-year lease.
Read more »
Published on 10/23/2023
Out with the Old
Coming in 2027: The St. Regis Residences, Sunny Isles Beach, Miami, a two-tower luxury condominium on Collins Avenue. Under development by Fortune International Group and Chateau Group, the project will rise just 5.4 miles from the Surfside site where Champlain Towers collapsed.
Read more »
Published on 10/12/2023
Quick Fix
As Pensacola grapples with an affordable housing crisis, local leaders are looking at repurposing an aging motel to help tackle the problem.
Read more »
Published on 9/30/2023
Developmental Pitch
Last year, the Philadelphia Phillies spent $22.5 million to buy a strip mall just south of BayCare Ballpark, the 8,500-seat stadium where the team hosts spring training games and the Phillies-affiliated Clearwater Threshers play single-A Florida State League games. Now, after holding private meetings with Clearwater city officials, the Phillies' plans for the 13-acre shopping center site are coming into focus.
Read more »
Published on 9/30/2023
Big Deal
The Horse Creek Ranch conservation easement deal, costing $51 million and spanning more than 16,000 acres across DeSoto and Hardee counties, ranks as one of Florida's biggest single conservation agreements in 20 years. As part of the easement, the Carlton family-owned ranch will continue to be used to raise cattle while the land will be permanently protected from development.
Read more »
Published on 8/22/2023
Office Optional
Coastal Cloud, a Palm Coast technology consulting company with several major offices across the country, embraced remote work long before the COVID-19 pandemic came along. The business still does, says CEO Tim Hale, though an increasing number of staff are returning to the office — not because of a policy change but “because many people are re-discovering they enjoy the camaraderie and team learning of an office environment.”
Read more »
Published on 8/8/2023
Island Plan Revival
After more than 20 years of stalled development, a planned project on Watson Island — a publicly owned enclave between downtown Miami and South Beach — is in the hands of developers known for making big projects happen. In a joint venture, BH3 Management and Merrimac Ventures purchased the 75-year ground lease for the vacant 10.8-acre parcel on the island from Flagstone Property Group.
Read more »
Published on 7/31/2023
All Hands on Deck
Leon County officials, concerned over closings and delays of Amazon's national network of distribution centers, are now more optimistic that the e-commerce giant's $200-million Tallahassee fulfillment center is on track to open later this year.
Read more »
Published on 7/27/2023
Florida's Future
We asked 13 experts in their respective fields to look into their crystal balls. Here are their thoughts on the decade ahead.
Read more »
Published on 7/18/2023
Passing the Baton
The topic for the three panelists at the real estate forum in Fort Lauderdale had nothing to do with Millennials. The focus was “Downtown Fort Lauderdale: A Dynamic Investment Opportunity.” Generational change, however, was center stage.
Read more »
Published on 6/15/2023
A Clean Start
For decades, the five-acre site at the eastern edge of downtown Naples was littered with rundown metal buildings once used as warehouses and car repair shops. It was an area where street crime flourished.
Read more »
Published on 5/17/2023
Park Place
Sarah Combs grew up a farmer's daughter. From an early age, she harvested crops on the family's spread in a tiny, tight-knit Colorado town, developed a strong work ethic and constantly engaged with neighbors. It was a long way from north Tampa, an area that over the years has been beset by poverty.
Read more »
Published on 5/17/2023
The Greening of Florida's Brownfields
Over the last quarter-century, Florida has helped to transform almost 200 contaminated sites into clean community hubs. The pace of the redevelopment is about to pick up dramatically.
Read more »
Published on 5/16/2023
Field Day
St. Petersburg is moving forward with its latest effort to redevelop the city's 86-acre Tropicana Field site — this time with the direct involvement of the Tampa Bay Rays.
Read more »
Published on 4/30/2023
Tony Cho's New Flow
The Miami real estate investor and developer has done it all, from jet-setting with celebrities to building a fortune — and he's only in his 40s. His new venture — encouraging the building of harmonious communities for 1 billion people — might be his most ambitious yet.
Read more »
Published on 4/18/2023
