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This week we officially enter the dog-days of August. Usually, August is all about two things for me.....the kids going back to school and football starting. While both of these excite me, I am just as excited that we will close on the Premiere issue of our new magazine, HOME: Living in the Heart of Florida in August. I want to use this space to give special thanks and recognition to my Board of Advisors who have helped make sure this new magazine is going to be a success: Mitch Glaeser, Lori Willis, Jessica Pastore, Jennifer Costello, Andrew Rocco, Bert Heuser and Melanie Shore have provided countless hours of advice, friendship and time to help with the launch of the new magazine. Thank you all!
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www.BuildingEdgeMagazine.com
Our August issue will print this week. The cover story is on Ocala's Adams Homes. The National feature is Curb Appeal: Entry doors, brick and siding, roofing, lighting, landscaping, paving. The online version will be up in the coming week and in the mail shortly.
Sales close this week on the September issue which includes a feature on The Palms, an exciting new downtown Gainesville condominium development being brought to you by Mitch Glaeser, Greg Trunnell and Miles Kinsell. For more information, please contact us at (352) 372-3958 in Gainesville, or (352) 368-1707 in Ocala. The national feature is Interior Design: Lighting, hardware, trim millwork, interior doors, fireplaces, stairs, closet systems. We are spotlighting in this issue Griffis Tile and Flooring.
In October we will be featuring Isaac Construction in Lake City. The National Feature will be onWeathering the Elements: HVAC, insulation, house wrap, anti-mold products, siding and brick, roofing, pest control.
Our Summer 2007 issue of Commercial Building Edge is now available. The cover feature is on Gray Construction Services. The National Feature is on Green Building.
Sales are now open on the Fall 2007 issue, which will include a cover feature on Ocala's Ausley Construction . The Winter issue will feature Trunnell Construction on the cover.
HOME™: Living in the Heart of Florida Resource Guide
Home: Living in the Heart of Florida, a new magazine from Advantage Publishing is open for sales. Our website will be up in the next few days. I encourage you to bookmark the link, as we aim to make this the number one website for the North Central Florida Community. It is www.LivingInTheHeartOfFlorida.com. Part of this new publication will be our newcomer/relocation resource guide. It will include just about everything anyone looking to move to our area or relocate within the 12-county market will need. To be listed in the resource guide, please call us today to discuss. I am pleased to note that we have formed some terrific partnerships with local establishments to insure success through the delivery of the publication. Just to name a few, we are working closely with Gainesville Regional Airport, Gainesville Chamber of Commerce and the Newberry/Jonesville Chamber of Commerce. Coming this fall will be a publication for the consumer unlike anything out there today!
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Park Lane Apartments to Expand Next Year
With 224 luxury town-home apartments built and occupied, construction has begun to fill the remaining retail space in Park Lane Apartments near the intersection of Tower and Archer roads. Early next year, construction will begin to more than double the residential space and build a row of retail and office properties to include a large pharmacy, bank and upscale family restaurant. Barnie's Coffee and Tea Company sat alone for nearly a year in the 11,000 square feet of first-floor retail space fronting Tower Road, but a Haagen-Dazs ice cream shop is under construction in a nearby storefront, scheduled to open in September.
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SE Gainesville Residents Weigh In on Redevelopment
The revitalization plan for southeast Gainesville inched forward Saturday morning during a meeting at Williams Elementary School. Planning experts contracted by the city met with area residents to refine and tweak a master plan before it is handed over to the city commission later this summer. Planners had previously narrowed their focus to five specific areas where housing, retail and office space could be developed. Plans presented during the nearly three-hour open house and presentation looked a lot like the work done in downtown Gainesville in recent years. Town centers filled with shops and offices were proposed along with mixed-use development of retail and residential space.
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Gainesville Budget Cuts Spending But Not Services
Changes to Florida's property tax system forced a 12 percent decrease in Gainesville's tax rate but caused few cuts in services under a budget given preliminary approval by city commissioners late last week. The $95 million 2007-2008 budget, which will receive final approval later this summer, largely makes up for decreased property tax revenue with a mix of internal changes, increased fees and taxes and the elimination of some programs. Programs that were cut include funding for community design workshops, an employee home-ownership incentive, and funds used to pay for the downtown winter ice rink and security guards at City Hall.
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Belleview Just Grew a Little Larger
Belleview grew by 151 acres Tuesday with the final annexation of several properties located primarily in the southern section. The annexed land is mostly set for commercial or residential development. All of the annexation applications received unanimous approval from the city commission.
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Ocala City Council Extends Brownfield Areas
Spurring economic development in locations touched by industrial stigmas such as contamination can be difficult. The misconception that industrial properties are contaminated sometimes arises when these lots remain on the real estate market for a length of time, said George Roberts, Brownfields project coordinator for the city of Ocala. Furthermore, most lenders want proof that an industrial site is not contaminated before loaning funds to a potential buyer. This can become a complication because environmental assessments can cost up to $25,000. That's where grant monies from the federally funded Brownfields Program come into play. The goal of the Renew Ocala Brownfields Program is to rejuvenate properties and bring jobs back to those areas, said Roberts. At Tuesday night's Ocala City Council meeting, council members decided to extend a Brownfields area by two square miles. Click Here>
Boutique Hotel Aims to Lure More Groups to Ocala
This is no ordinary Holiday Inn. That's the impression you get walking into hotelier Danny Gaekwad's latest venture, a new hotel and conference center located on Southwest 38th Avenue just off Interstate 75. The new hotel is an upscale facility beyond the usual mid-market expectations of a Holiday Inn. The atrium-style lobby features glass-walled elevators, a spacious bar, and two flat-screen televisions. Overstuffed upholstered chairs beckon before a double fireplace.
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Columbia School District Launches $25M Building Bonanza
The Columbia School District is in the midst of a building bonanza as it attempts to deal with an increasing student population and looks to comply with state-mandated Class Size Reduction amendment regulations. As a result of those two elements, the school district has launched, and is in the planning stages of launching, at least five major construction projects, totaling more than $20 million during the 2007-08 school year. The school district's construction projects will contain elementary, middle and high school projects and all are designed to deal with an increasing student population by providing more classroom space.
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MCBA Calendar of Events
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BANCF Calendar of Events
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Insurers Unmoved Over Reforms
Tallahassee's panacea for Florida's property insurance ills aimed to inject competition in the private market while lowering rates for financially put-upon homeowners. By cajoling insurance carriers to write more policies with cheap, state-subsidized reinsurance, recent legislation hoped to pump new capital into the anemic private sector and slash premiums by a statewide average of about 24 percent. Six months after the law was passed - and before the first storm has barrelled into the state - increased competition remains elusive, suggesting this legislative cure-all lacks potency.
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Some Coastal Businesses Forced to do Without Business Interruption Insurance
The show must go on for Southwest Florida businesses, with or without business interruption insurance, but as owners near the coast lose that protection they're rethinking how and where they do business. Business interruption insurance covers expenses when a company can't operate because of damage, said John Fischer regional director of the Florida Department of Financial Services, and some policies will also pay for businesses to move so they can operate in another location.
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State Approves Lee Growth Management Plan
The state of Florida likes what Lee County did during a major overhaul of the county growth management plan. And it only took 22 years. The state mandates a major overhaul, called an Evaluation and Appraisal Report, every seven years. Lee County's first such report in 1989 was challenged by the state and by other parties, like the Responsible Growth Management Coalition.
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Tax Reform Proposal is No Solution
Preliminary results are in, and it's clear that imposing retroactive property tax reductions is a failure - big time. Municipalities have either spent, or wisely invested, past property tax revenues in services that are now expected and are, therefore, hard to discontinue. The stated goal of getting the Florida economy booming again also will fail.
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Green Affordable Housing Funds Available
Grant funds of up to $50,000 per project are now available for developers committed to providing green affordable housing. Enterprise is pleased to announce this funding opportunity for developers interested in planning, designing and constructing green affordable housing. The application deadline is Aug. 31. Grants are expected to be awarded by November.
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Even Modest Impact Fees Can Take a Big Toll on Housing Affordability
Even as the housing market correction continues to exert downward pressure on new home prices, localities continue to push forward with new fees and regulations that will further erode housing affordability, according to a new study released by the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB). The report on the impact of government regulation on housing shows that each $1,000 increase in the cost of a new median-priced home forces 217,000 prospective buyers out of the marketplace. Based on national mortgage underwriting standards and incorporating the latest data from the U.S. Census Bureau, the report contains detailed results for more than 300 metro areas. The analysis found that every $819 rise in fees paid at the beginning of the construction process - such as an increase in the price of a construction permit, a tap fee, a proffer or an impact fee - adds an additional $1,000 to the final price of the home.
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Major Building Industry Group Launches Green Plan
On the sun-drenched 44th floor of the LEED gold-certified Hearst Tower in Manhattan last week, officials of the influential Building Owners and Managers Association International (BOMA) announced a new energy plan for the commercial real estate sector. "The commercial building sector accounts for 18% of U.S. greenhouse gas emissions and $24 billion a year in energy costs, and the plan we're announcing will significantly decrease those emissions and save billions," said BOMA Chairman and CEO Kurt R. Padavano. BOMA includes more than 16,500 members, who own or manage more than nine billion square feet of space. The voluntary plan includes seven points for members to work toward, with the goal of reducing their use of resources. Steps include getting an energy audit, educating staff on proper maintenance and use of equipment, and aiming for a target of decreasing energy consumption by 30 percent by 2012.
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AGC Student Competition Being Planned
The Associated Schools of Construction (ASC), an association at the top construction programs in the U.S., will have its annual student competition in Jacksonville during the fall of 2007 and 2008. More than 30 student teams from the southeast region will compete in heavy civil, construction management and design-build competitions during the two-day event, co-sponsored and hosted by AGC of Greater Florida and Florida East Coast Chapters. The dates are October 31, and November 1 and 2, 2007 at the Embassy Suites Jacksonville - Baymeadows.
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Montgomery-based Construction Firm Handles Big Jobs Worldwide
What began in 1983 as a family owned-and-run business operated out of John Caddell's Montgomery home did about $360 million in revenue last year and has completed more than $3 billion -- yes billion -- in construction projects during its history. While Caddell Construction has become a world player in the construction industry, Kirby Caddell, who helped his father start Caddell Construction, admits the company may not be that well known in Montgomery. He said this is partially because their major construction projects aren't local malls or nearby office buildings, but major government projects from Katmandu to Beijing. The Montgomery company has earned a place among the short list of preferred contractors for U.S. State Department projects.
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Industries Unite to Address Looming Transportation Crisis
"Our highway system is aging, our cities are choked with congestion, our transit systems are inadequate, our ports function poorly, and our railroads are at capacity," said Stephen E. Sandherr, chief executive officer of the Associated General Contractors of America (AGC) said during a press conference in Washington, D.C. last week. Sandherr commented on the findings of a new vision report released today by AGC and 16 other organizations, aimed at helping the National Surface Transportation Policy and Revenue Study Commission develop recommendations to meet growing future domestic transportation needs. "There is a funding crisis, congestion crisis and safety crisis looming," continued Sandherr. "It's now time to make the tough choices that will carry our nation forward for the next 50 years."
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ABC Urges Subcommittee to Retain Independent Contractor Classification
In a letter sent last week, ABC encouraged the U.S. House Education and Labor Committee's Health, Employment, Labor and Pension Subcommittee and Workforce Protections Subcommittee to preserve the independent contractor classification, citing the "integral role" independent contractors play in the construction industry. "In construction, independent contractors are often the perfect answer to a pressing need for special skills and experience needed on short-term projects," ABC's letter stated. "The independent contractor has freedom to choose his or her work schedule, while the small business owner maintains the flexibility to adjust work demands with current business activity, and the consumer enjoys the benefit of a reasonably priced, quality product."
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AGC of Greater Florida Calendar of Events
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| Current Issues |
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Residential July 2007
Commercial Summer 2007
HOME: Living in the Heart of Florida
Fall 2007
For more information,
Please contact
Scott Costello |
If you are interested in joining the BANCF and taking advantage of these great opportunities,
Please visit
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