We at Advantage Publishing, Inc. want to use this opportunity to wish all of you a very Happy Holiday Season. I know that I am looking forward to time with my loved ones and "getting away" for a few days -- even if getting away means only having to travel 45 minutes to Chiefland. It truly is "The Most Wonderful Time of the Year." May you and yours have a wonderful time with those closest to you. |
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www.BuildingEdgeMagazine.com
The December issue of Building Edge is available both online and in print. The cover was on Gary Clemmons and GC Construction of Gainesville. The National Feature is on Construction Technology.
Our January 2008 issue is being printed this week. The cover story is on Allen Stine and All America Homes. Our National Feature will be on Home Technology.
February we return to Lake City and feature Sparks Construction. The National Feature will be on Surfaces & Finishes: Countertops, floorcoverings, walls & ceilings. Advertising and editorial deadline is December 29th.
Our Fall 2007 Commercial issue, featuring Ausley Construction , is now available as well. You can view this issue online at www.buildingedgemagazine.com/commercial, or call us for a copy.
Our Winter Commercial issue, featuring Trunnell Construction on the cover, goes into production this week.
The Spring 2008 issue of Commercial Building Edge will open this week. Paul Stentiford and Stentiford Construction Services will be on the cover. Please call us for details.
HOME™: Living in the Heart of Florida:
Our winter issue is going to the printer this week. The proofs look great. The cover story will be a feature on Sister Hazel'sAndrew Copeland. Drew exemplifies everything we want for this magazine. He is a North Central Florida native, has chosen to raise his family here, and gives so much back to the community. While we know it is going to be hard to top our first issue, early indications are the next issue is even better. We have taken many recommendations and improved the content of the publication. Obviously, you the reader will be the ultimate judge of that. Distribution is now at about 350 locations, and requests for subscriptions have come in from 14 states. It is nice to see that The Heart of Florida is as popular as ever, and I am humbled that we have been chosen by so many, so quickly to be the vehicle to deliver the news on the area. To be featured in this magazine, advertise or just interested in receiving the magazine, please email us at info@advantagepublishinginc.com or call us at 352-372-5854. If you have not seen our first issue, please visit our website at www.livingintheheartofflorida.com
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Gainesville Hopes Condos will Revitalize Downtown
Luxury "sky-box" condos, ranging from $664,200 to $855,450, are being sold pre-construction to fund the groundbreaking of the proposed 11-story Gainesville Greens condominiums. The 12 luxury condos being sold are roughly 1,600 square feet each. They offer access to private rooftop terraces complete with Jacuzzis, glass-cabanas and barbecue grills.
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Urban Living
Sooyeon Kwon said she has always enjoyed an urban style of living growing up in Seoul, South Korea. So, it was no surprise when she chose a condominium in the heart of downtown Gainesville for her new home. "I'm used to a city-kind of life, but I didn't look at condos per se," said Kwon. The 38-year-old pharmaceutical sciences researcher had graduated from the University of Florida in 2004 and, after accepting a faculty position at UF, began looking for a home. But after looking at three houses, she felt the upkeep would be too much for her to manage alone. She said she took one look at Regents Park and knew she had found her home.
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Gainesville Commission Speaks Against Schools Plan
School officials want to deal with future growth by building new elementary schools in west Gainesville, but the idea has drawn a tepid response from some Gainesville city commissioners who fear that could lead to a further decline of east Gainesville. Instead, Mayor Pegeen Hanrahan and several commissioners said they want to explore with the school district and the Alachua County Commission ways to steer high-quality development to east Gainesville school zones that have room for more students but have low student achievement.
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Sting Targets Unlicensed Contractors
They came in hopes of receiving their down payments as well as to start working on a new project. But what they didn't know was that the job was as fake as their license and they will be going to jail. On Friday, sheriff's deputies, along with the State Attorney's Office, the Department of Business and Professional Regulation and the county's building department, organized a sting operation in an effort to crack down on unlicensed contractors.
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Planners Debate Rail-Trail Design
A community designer shared the excitement Tuesday when Gov. Charlie Crist authorized the purchase of a 2.3 mile-long corridor in Gainesville for a bicycle trail, but calls into question current plans for the trail's route. "We have a stake in making the right kind of design decisions for the community," said Martin Gold, executive director of the Florida Community Design Center in Gainesville. "We want the community to be better." Gold won a competition in 2002 for a design he submitted to the city for the West 6th Street Corridor Rail-Trail. Now, nearly six years later, auisition of the property for the proposed 2.3-mile-long bicycle and pedestrian route is nearly complete and it looks as though $2 million in funding for the project will be available.
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GRU Pick Coming from Big Coal Area
If he takes the top job at Gainesville Regional Utilities, Bob Hunzinger would be moving from coal country to a place where coal has become a dirty word. Gainesville city commissioners this week selected Hunzinger as their first choice for general manager of GRU. He spent four years as general manager at Owensboro Municipal Utilities before resigning in September. The Kentucky utility shares similarities with GRU: both are publicly owned, provide a range of services and ultimately answer to local government.
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New Water Plans will be Delayed
Plans to slow the flood of pollutants into Marion County's groundwater and springs won't be ready for commissioners to consider by January as hoped. Last month, after rejecting stiff rules meant to stem the tide of increasing nitrogen seeping from septic tanks into groundwater, county commissioners directed staff to come back with a revised plan two months later. County Growth Management Bureau Chief Michael May said last week that after his first proposal failed, he would approach the board more carefully the next time, with more information and more community involvement in the plan.
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New Lamps Light the Way in Ocala Historic District
Community leaders and residents of Southeast Fifth Street gathered Monday to shed a little light on the completion of the historic-style streetlight project. A year ago, longtime Southeast Fifth Street resident Augie Greiner began a crusade to have streetlights installed along the poorly lit road. He enlisted the help of his neighbors, as well as City Councilman Kent Guinn, City Manager Paul Nugent and the Historic Ocala Preservation Society. Monday afternoon, a short ceremony was held under the oak canopied intersection of Southeast Fifth Street and Southeast 15th Avenue to celebrate the project's completion.
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Marion County Demands River Data
When it comes to water, the Marion County Commission wants to draw a line in the sand. On Tuesday, commissioners decided that county government should not pay for planning or any other parts of alternative water supply projects until after the St. Johns River Water Management District has established minimum flows and levels for the Ocklawaha and Silver rivers. Right now, there are two alternative water supply projects in which Marion might be a partner: the potential pumping of surface water from the Ocklawaha River near the Eureka area and a possible desalination plant in Flagler County on the Atlantic coast.
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Architectural Standards at Issue for Quiet Waters
Conceptual architectural renderings of the Quiet Waters project on Gator Inlet shows three 80-ft high multi-family residential Mediterranean style buildings with 101 units. Development plans also feature a clubhouse, cabanas, a pool and a marina with 52 boat slips for the residents. Mayor Nancy Clutts voted against the rezoning request on Dec. 5 during the first reading of the proposed ordinance because of the height and architectural standards. She said she didn't want to see a "block compound erected at the city's gateway. It's the first thing motorist would see, She said.
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Permit Use Draws Plenty of Discussion in Columbia County
Plenty of discussion was generated Thursday during the first public hearing of two proposed text amendments to the Columbia County land development regulations pertaining to the special temporary use permit and the special family lot permit during Thursday's meeting of the Columbia County Board of County Commissioners. The special family lot permit allows a land owner to deed a minimum one-half acre to a relative for a trailer providing it is his or her primary residence.
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MCBIA Calendar of Events Click Here>
BANCF Calendar of Events
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Sink Gets Pat on Back for Tax Break on Grants
Insurance companies have sniped that Florida officials are too focused on reducing property-insurance costs with little regard for the risk the companies take, but there is one Florida elected official who has earned insurers' love. State Chief Financial Officer Alex Sink is mentioned frequently by industry insiders as someone in Florida government who "gets it" -- and now the insurers have put their regard for her in writing. The Property Casualty Insurers Association of America issued a statement this past week congratulating Sink for getting the Internal Revenue Service to exclude My Safe Florida Home grants from taxable income.
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New Lawsuit Alleges Florida's Property Tax Laws Hurt Recent Buyers
A new lawsuit challenges existing and proposed state property tax laws, alleging they discriminate against recent homeowners. The case concerns top policymakers because it seeks to unravel a popular tax cap enjoyed by hundreds of thousands of Floridians. Attorneys from Alabama and Florida have been trying for months to eliminate the Save Our Homes tax cap that only permanent Florida residents enjoy. They have been blocked in lower courts, but are back at it again. The new lawsuit seeking class-action status claims all recent homesteaders in Florida -- specifically, those who have bought homes in the last four years -- are discriminated against to the advantage of longtime homeowners.
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Insurers May Face Class-Action Lawsuit
Railing against the failure of the insurance industry to pass on savings to Floridians after the state took on more of the risk, Gov. Charlie Crist has appointed three high-powered lawyers to file a class-action lawsuit against the industry on behalf of state residents. ''I'm increasingly concerned they are potentially violating the new law,'' Crist said in an interview with The Miami Herald on Tuesday. ``Common sense would dictate to you that if they are not passing on the savings to the customer, they are violating the law that says they must pass on the savings to the customer.''
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Allstate Still Aims for Homeowners-Insurance-Rate Hikes
Allstate Insurance has taken the first step toward appealing state insurance regulators' rejection of the company's request to raise property-insurance rates. The company has filed a petition for an administrative hearing with the Florida Office of Insurance Regulation, which in November rejected Allstate companies' attempts to increase rates for homeowners insurance in the state by an average of more than 41 percent.
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Hometown Homestretch: Campaign Appears in Disaray
With a month left to collect the remaining 200,000-plus signatures they need to qualify, there are signs the wheels may be coming off the Hometown Democracy bandwagon. Floridians for Smarter Growth is meeting them on every Florida street corner and we have proof our efforts are slowing the amendment's progress. According to the December 12 Daytona Beach News Journal (DBNJ), Hometown Democracy severed ties with Progressive Campaigns Inc. (PCI), the group's longtime signature gathering company. Founder Lesley Blackner wrote hundreds of thousands of dollars in personal checks to PCI across years of cooperation. Suddenly, the beginning of December was the end of their partnership.
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Florida's Investment Fund Makes Gains
Florida's local government investment pool Monday recorded its first net-positive day since reopening under new management Dec. 6, state officials said. It had been shut down for a week due to panic over mortgage-backed securities that had been downgraded as part of the nationwide subprime lending crisis. Local agencies Monday deposited about $43 million in the pool, essentially a state-operated money market fund, while withdrawing only $9 million, according to the State Board of Administration's interim director, Bob Milligan.
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U.S. Treasury Chief Explains Plan to Help Homeowners Avoid Foreclosure During Stop in Orlando
Treasury Secretary Henry M. Paulson Jr. told Orlando-area mortgage bankers, business people and government officials Monday that the administration is working to help homeowners avoid foreclosure wherever possible without creating a massive bailout. Paulson is crisscrossing the country, explaining the administration's recent actions to blunt the threat of the resetting of home loans to high levels that many borrowers cannot afford.
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Investors Cheer Positive News
Stocks jumped Friday following a better-than-expected rise in profits at Research in Motion Ltd. and on word that Merrill Lynch may have lined up a big cash infusion from a Singapore fund. The Dow Jones industrial average gained more than 200 points and, along with the other major indexes, posted a gain of more than 1.5 percent. The developments seemed to allay investor fears that economic growth would succumb to tightness in the credit markets. Adding to the measure of relief some investors felt, the Federal Reserve said after the opening bell that it would continue with its special biweekly auctions for banks as long as necessary to relieve strains in the short-term debt market.
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Consumer Spending Surges in November, Reducing Fears of Imminent Recession Consumers put aside worries about slumping home sales and soaring gasoline prices and headed to the malls in November, pushing spending up by the largest amount in 3 1/2 years. The better-than-expected surge lessened fears of an imminent recession. The Commerce Department reported Friday that consumer spending shot up 1.1 percent last month, nearly triple the October gain. It was the biggest one-month jump since a 1.2 percent rise in May 2004 and was significantly higher than the 0.7 percent gain analysts had expected.
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Senate Approves Bill to Eliminate Taxes on Forgiven Mortgage Debt
In a move to address the subprime lending crisis and to help struggling home loan borrowers, the Senate approved legislation that would eliminate any taxes home owners might face when banks renegotiate the terms of a home loan and forgive a portion of the outstanding mortgage debt. The change in the tax law would cap untaxable forgiven mortgage debt at $2 million and apply only to principal residences.
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Fed's Goal is to Avoid Repeat of Mortgage Mess
The historic changes to the mortgage market that the Federal Reserve unveiled are designed to stop many of the predatory and abusive lending practices that fueled the foreclosure crisis. But they won't help homeowners already in trouble. The new rules aren't retroactive and so won't affect millions of homeowners who have a subprime mortgage they can no longer afford or who were victims of predatory lenders. The new rules signal a major shift for the Fed, which has never before taken such broad action to protect borrowers and is still under fire from consumer advocates for doing too little.
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It's Lights Out for Traditional Light Bulbs
A little-noticed provision of the energy bill, which is expected to become law, phases out the 125-year-old light bulb in the next four to 12 years in favor of a new generation of energy-efficient lights that will cost consumers more but return their investment in a few months. The new devices include current products such as compact fluorescents and halogens, as well as emerging products such as light-emitting diodes and energy-saving incandescent bulbs.
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Washington Policymakers Can Help Housing to Begin 2008 Recovery
With help from the Congress and an accommodating policy from the Federal Reserve, the housing industry will begin its recovery in the second half of 2008, the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) said in a year-end housing forecast teleconference. NAHB chief economist David Seiders forecasted slow economic growth next year, which is based on the assumption that the economy avoids recession, Congress passes key reforms to address the subprime lending crisis and the central bank remains ready to step in if needed to keep the economy moving forward.
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Boomers Discover that it's Easy Being Green
There are now 40 million so-called "green boomers" in the United States, according to a survey being released by AARP. That's more than half of all boomers, which, at 79 million, make up the largest generation in U.S. history. While many may not have been early adopters of environmental behaviors, now that boomers are signing on in large numbers, the effects will be great, AARP says.
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Tax Change May Mean Delay in Refunds
More than 20 million taxpayers will escape the alternative minimum tax this year, thanks to a stopgap measure Congress approved. But lawmakers waited so late in the year to vote that many early filers could have to wait until March to get their refunds. About 4 million taxpayers owed the AMT in 2006. As a result of the temporary fix, about the same number of taxpayers will owe the AMT for 2007.
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Butler Expansion Takes Key Step
Butler Enterprises took a big step Thursday by submitting a pre-application to the state documenting the impact of a proposed 150-acre mixed-use retail center north of the existing Butler Plaza. The plan, called a Development of Regional Impact, includes few details of what the development could look like, but rather focuses on the impact the development will have on traffic, the environment, public facilities and other resources of concern. Basic descriptions call for a lifestyle retail center that would be constructed in two phases over 10 years.
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Largest Solar Power System Put In
By installing the largest solar power system in Gainesville, Hoch Shitama was thinking green - and not just the environmental kind. With rebates, tax credits and energy savings, Shitama said his architectural woodworking company should recoup the costs of the 25-kilowatt system and start saving money in four years or less. Pure Energy Solar, a 2-year-old solar electrical company in Gainesville, installed the last of 126 solar panels Wednesday at Akira Wood in the Baird Center at Main Street and Depot Avenue, covering a 92-by-36-foot section of roof. The photovoltaic system will capture energy from the sun and convert it to electricity for the shop's use. Any electricity the shop does not use will go into the city electrical grid, with GRU crediting the company 6 cents per kilowatt on its utility bill.
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Wal-Mart's Solar Power Project Would Be he Biggest In City
Akira Wood would no longer have the largest solar power system in Gainesville if a 250-kilowatt system is built at a Wal-Mart Supercenter proposed at U.S. 441 and NW 34th Street. The solar power system would be built as a structure to provide shade over the Wal-Mart parking lot in a partnership between the retailer, Gainesville Regional Utilities and Maryland-based SunEdison. GRU has been seeking partners to build a showpiece to promote solar energy as a renewable energy source to offset the harmful environment effects of traditional sources.
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Commercial Construction Leads Architecture Billings
Commercial construction is expected to perform well in 2008 despite predictions of a U.S. recession, according to a study by the American Institute of Architects. The AIA Billings Index rose to 55.3 in November, up from 52.3 in October, while inquiries for new projects was 56.6. The index shows an approximate nine-to-12-month lag between architecture billings and construction spending.
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Council Oks Sale of Library Building to IHMC After Surprise Proposal
A surprise proposal tonight for a $50 million project on the former downtown library and chamber site almost put the brakes on negotiations with the Institute for Human and Machine Cognition during the City Council meeting. A group comprised of local investors presented council with a plan to create, Broadway Plazas, a two-building complex designed to house the chamber of commerce, condos, professional offices, retail and restaurant space, and a downtown parking garage. In addition to the utilization of the current Ocala/Marion County Chamber of Commerce site, the proposed development would need the former downtown library site, he same location that council has been preparing to turn over to IHMC.
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Expanding Landscape
A national drugstore chain and the expansion of two banks top the list of commercial projects on tap for Marion Oaks in 2008. It has been two years since the former Bank of America building in Marion Oaks burned in the summer of 2005. Since that time, the bank has operated from a mobile building a few blocks away. The new building, originally slated to open in June of this year, is currently under construction on an outparcel at the Marion Oaks Shopping Center, which is anchored by Winn-Dixie. The new branch building is expected to open during the first quarter of 2008 according to Steve Esparza, consumer market executive for Bank of America.
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Airport Adding Charter, Aircraft Repair
A groundbreaking ceremony was held last week for a charter and aircraft maintenance business at Gainesville Regional Airport. RD Air Services' new facility will provide repair and electronics work for small planes. It will also help the company expand its service managing private planes that can be offered as charters, said Scott Branham, administrative coordinator for RD Air. "It opens up options for local aircraft owners," he said. The $2.5 million facility will feature 6,000 square feet of office space, 24,000 square feet of hangar space and a 50,000-square-foot ramp. It is expected to be finished in the next eight months and is being built next to the Eclipse Aviation center off Waldo Road.
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Economists Forecast Strong Growth in U.S. Non-Residential Construction for 2008
The non-residential construction sector in the U.S. will experience strong growth in 2008, despite the heavy drag coming from the decline of the residential construction market, says a panel of construction economists south of the border. The Associated General Contractors (AGC) of America produced their third annual Economic Forecast on Dec. 13 to discuss the direction of the U.S. construction industry in 2008.
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President Bush Signs Energy Bill
President George W. Bush Dec. 19 signed the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007, a measure that would raise vehicle fuel economy standards, mandate the increased use of biofuels and phase out the sale of incandescent light bulbs. In a statement, the president said the bill will "increase our energy security, expand the production of renewable fuels, and make America stronger, safer and cleaner for future generations."
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House Approves 7-Year Extension to Terrorism Risk Insurance Program
The U.S. House of Representatives Dec. 18 voted 360-53 in favor of a measure that would extend the federal government's Terrorism Risk Insurance Act (TRIA) program, which is set to expire at the end of 2007, for seven years. TRIA provides a transparent system of shared public and private compensation for insured losses resulting from acts of terrorism, in order to ensure the continued availability and affordability of property and casualty insurance for terrorism risk.
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AGC of Greater Florida Calendar of Events
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Residential December 2007
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