This past week, we had to opportunity to attend ERA Trend Realty's Appreciation Night. Tommy McIntosh and the folks at ERA Trend Realty held their reception at the Florida Museum of Natural History. There were several hundred people in attendance, and a smile on the face of everyone. The highlight was probably the release of the butterflies.Check out these photos that Aaron Bailey took for us at the event.
As you know, we partnered last year with the AGC of Greater Florida(AGCGF), to produce its Constructor magazine and annual membership directory. The latest issue of Constructor is now available. To view the Spring issue of Constructor, click here, or click on the magazine cover to the right.
Each week, I have shared the latest news from Marty McFall's Caring Bridge Journal. Checking the website that has been following Marty's progress, http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/4martymcfall, we learned that he got to take his first real shower in six weeks - something that must make everyone around him very happy. He's talking about wanting to go home, something we are all hoping will happen in the near future.
This weekend, Lake City hosted it's Spring Showcase of Homes. The Columbia County Builders Association, Lake City Reporter and Lake City Board of Realtors, the message about Now Being a Great Time to Buy continues to be delivered. It is nice to see the message getting out.
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www.BuildingEdgeMagazine.com
Our April issue, with its annual spotlight on the Builders of the Parade of Homes™, will be online this week, and in the mail soon. This issue continues to grow. This year, we were able to spotlight 42 builders. The National Feature is on kitchens. Our Developer Spotlight in this issue is on Deltona Corporation. We will be covering the parades in Alachua and Marion counties. This issue will also include the inaugural Buyer's Guide. Once we finish producing the guide, it will be available through this email and online, as well as in print. Look for this issue to arrive right before the start of the Parades.
Our May issue closes this week. It will feature, The Enclave Apartments developed by Collier Enterprises, and constructed by Davis and Sons Construction. The National Feature will be on Outdoor Living: decking, landscaping, fencing, outdoor lighting, retaining walls, outdoor kitchens, fireplaces. We will also recap the Columbia County Showcase of Homes and the BANCF Home Show.
In June, we return to Ocala, and feature Claeys Construction. The National Feature will be on Doors: entry, interior, patio and overhead. This will be the issue that we recap the Spring Parade of Homes™.
We are excited about these issues, and look forward to your participation.
Our Winter 2008 Commercial issue, featuring Trunnell Construction, is online.
The Spring 2008 issue of Commercial Building Edge is at the printer, and will also be online in a few days. 2007 Marion County Small Business of the Year Stentiford Construction Services, led by Paul Stentiford is our cover story. Look for this issue to arrive the third week of April. We are also in the process of developing a website for Paul and his team with a hopeful launch date right around the time this issue is published. The temporary site will be up and running soon. Please call us for details.
In the Summer, we will feature Brian Crawford, owner of Concept Construction of North Florida. Brian is also the president of the Columbia County Builders Association.
In the Fall, we will feature Nathan Collier and Collier Enterprises.
HOME™: Living in the Heart of Florida:
We are reviewing proofs of the Spring issue of HOME: Living in the Heart of Florida, and it will be in print very soon. Distribution is at over 450 locations, including the Gainesville Chamber of Commerce, Ocala Marion County Chamber of Commerce, Newberry/Jonesville Chamber of Commerce, Williston Chamber of Commerce and the Gainesville Regional Airport. We ran out of copies of the Winter issue long before the end of the quarter, so we are looking at ways to grow distribution. If you would like to view the Winter issue online or subscribe to the magazine, please view us at www.LivingintheHeartofFlorida.com. The Spring issue should arrive the middle of April. |
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Housing Slump Slowly Righting Itself Locally
News that nationwide housing sales unexpectedly rose 2.9 percent in February is a boost to homeowners whose homes have been on the market for months. Though the increase in sales is good news to some, there is a clear difference in housing markets depending on which part of the country a homeowner lives. In Columbia County, when comparing the first quarter of 2007 to the first quarter in 2008, there are several factors at work that appear to favor an upturn in housing sales, according to Dan Gherna, executive vice president of the Lake City Board of Realtors. "I was just in Tallahassee for realtor legislative days, and Gov. Charlie Crist was speaking about a substantial increase in pending home sales," Gherna said. "(Crist) was attributing that to the recent passage of Amendment 1, and the homeowners' ability to port tax savings to a new home - that should be a big help to the market."
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City OKs New Church Lot Sizes
Minimum lot sizes for building places of religious assembly were increased Monday, written in ink by the Gainesville city commissioners - erasable ink that is. "The biggest change of this is the lot size, and we did state in the committee meeting that we would go back and consider the lot size requirement again, as well," said Commissioner Scherwin Henry, who chairs the Community Development Committee that has been considering this issue for several weeks. Members and leaders of religious institutions expressed concern that the more burdensome lot-size requirements would harm smaller congregations that don't have the ability to auire larger lots. Existing churches would be "grandfathered in," and would not have to comply with the new lot size requirements.
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City OKs Changes to Power Plants
Gainesville city commissioners tweaked criteria that will be used to score three incoming proposals from finalists for the city's new power plant. Under the changes, the finalists will now be able to submit more than one proposal to the city, each with a different variation on fuel type. Before sending out a request for a proposal, the city decided that the new power plant would be fueled by biomass, a fuel created by burning wood. The remaining debate is centered on whether that plant could also burn municipal solid waste - trash - as a fuel. "We may have unknowingly made it impossible to select one that is waste-wood only," Mayor Pegeen Hanrahan said. "We are interested in discussion of solid waste, but we're not sure we want to go that way." The companies will now be able to submit two plans based on fuel types, one that uses only biomass, one that uses a combination of waste and biomass.
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Modeling a Green Future
Gainesville Regional Utilities is paying the owners of an energy-efficient home for helping greenhouse gas emissions, which could provide a preview of efforts to address global warming. The home in the Madera subdivision includes energy-saving features such as highly insulated walls, heat-blocking windows and ultra-efficient appliances. Energy experts studying the home found it used about half as much energy in 2007 as a home constructed to meet the minimum building code. They say the reductions at this one home helped GRU power plants avoid releasing about 8.6 metric tons of the greenhouse emissions believed to cause climate change. The utility paid $86 to homeowners Linda Bartoshuk and her husband Charles Sommerfield for the credits that represent those reductions.
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Revised Plan for Hatchet Creek
The proposed residential development Hatchet Creek, which after long debate was approved in October with a long list of restrictions, is back on the city's agenda. Commissioners voted unanimously Monday to hear the developer's altered proposal at a special meeting on April 16. Developer Robert Simensky petitioned to have the city reconsider the development with alterations to restrictions made with regard to concerns for wetlands on the property and airport noise. "We did talk to him about going back and tweaking his plan, and I think he's made a good-faith effort to do that," Commissioner Scherwin Henry said. Some of the changes submitted to the commission allowed for more residential developments and altered language that restricted construction in the "airport noise zone."
http://www.gainesvillesun.com/article/20080325/NEWS/803250322/1002/NEWS
Clinic for New Homebuyers
Next month residents can get some advice and tips about purchasing a new home at the Homebuyer Education Clinic, Alachua County officials reported. The event is free and will be held on April 26 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at Santa Fe Community College, 3000 NW 83rd St., in building S. "The recent downturn in the housing market may be favorable to families seeking to become homeowners," said Jim Bramble, president of the Alachua County Affordable Housing Coalition, in a statement.
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Town and Country
Anyone who knows University of Florida football knows that the girls are the fairest and the boys are the squarest. Now, readers of CNNMoney.com and The Progressive Farmer magazine will also know that the business climate is among the best for launching a company and that the farmland surrounding Alachua County is among the best to locate a home and a farm. Gainesville ranked No. 47 in CNNMoney.com's list of "100 best places to live and launch," and Gilchrist County came in ninth in The Progressive Farmer's list of the best places to live in rural America. The Gainesville ranking came as no surprise to Scott Wilber, who scoured the nation for a place to locate his startup technology company, Psigenics, before moving into the Gainesville Technology Enterprise Center about a month ago.
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Showcase of Homes, Buy Now Event Focuses on Foundation
Questions about what some people perceive as a dizzying and daunting process of becoming a homeowner were answered Saturday by loan officers and contractors during the Showcase of Homes, Buy Now event. Showcase Central, an informational booth, was set up in the newly constructed commercial site at 1140 SW Bascom Norris Drive which provided information on home financing and loans. Sponsored by the Lake City Board of Realtors, Columbia County Builders Association and the Lake City Reporter, the event also showcased homes throughout Columbia County that are open today for perusal.
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Study group Meets on Rainbow Springs Protection
In the bright sun, visitors in dripping bathing suits stroll away from the swimming hole toward the parking lot at Rainbow Springs State Park. Nearby, representatives of government agencies and nonprofit environmental organizations are gathered in a darkened conference room watching slide shows on pollution levels in the spring and the river it feeds. Dave DeWitt, with the Southwest Florida Water Management District, pointed to a graph showing that nutrient levels in the spring and at sampling points on the Rainbow River have nearly doubled since 1994. DeWitt said the district's research concluded the primary source of pollution is synthetic fertilizer, which can percolate into the ground or be carried into the river by a stormwater system. A lesser source of pollution, but still a source of concern, is septic tanks, DeWitt said.
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County Road 25 Pegged for Project
Belleview may welcome a new commercial and residential development by the end of next year, and this one won't be on U.S. 441. Fort Lauderdale-based Skyrise Development Group announced plans Tuesday to build an open-air shopping center, gas station and 55-unit apartment complex on the vacant land at County Road 25 and Southeast 67th Avenue. The project's developer, David Houri, hopes to break ground by the end of the summer. "We are going where there is the potential to grow," Houri said Wednesday. "Belleview has very good demographics, and it's close to The Villages."
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Runway Extension Approved
City commissioners gave the go-ahead for an extension to runways at the city's airport Monday. Leesburg International Airport's two runways will be extended 300 feet, with new safety areas and a new taxiway for planes and jets. The project is set to cost almost $3 million, about $75,000 of which would be paid by the city. The rest would come from grants from the state and the Federal Aviation Administration. City officials have discussed the extensions and upgrades as a way to convince commercial airlines to operate from the field. Technological upgrades and other infrastructure will be needed to achieve that goal. City officials had to obtain a permit from the St. Johns River Water Management District to extend the runway. Part of the project will impact nearby wetlands, district officials said. The city has already paid to offset the impact on the wetlands.
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Possible Cut of Impact Fees Worries Some in Groveland
The city could give up more than $400,000 in impact and permit fees to help a proposed apartment complex. Cagan Management Group, the private developer of the Cagan Crossings community south of Clermont, has asked Groveland to waive impact and permit fees that would be charged on a new project: 260 apartments planned near State Road 50 and Ledbetter Street. The request has stirred strong debate among City Council members including some who say that Groveland can afford to offer financial incentives to help Cagan provide more affordable housing in an area dominated by single-family homes. Others argue, however, that giving too much is treading in dangerous water that likely will attract other developers seeking the same benefits.
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MCBIA Calendar of Events
BANCF Calendar of Events
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USGBC Heart of Florida Chapter
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Southeast Building Conference Coming Up
It's time to make your plans to attend the South's largest regional building industry trade exposition and educational event -- the Southeast Building Conference (SEBC) and its co-location partner, GreenTrends, set for July 30-August 2, 2008 at the Orange County Convention Center in Orlando. Now in its 30th year, the SEBC is presented by the Florida Home Builders Association while GreenTrends is the annual trade show and conference of the Florida Green Building Coalition.
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Florida's Realtors Bring Their Concerns to the Capitol
Realtors from around the state have converged on Tallahassee for the annual Legislative Days hosted by the Florida Association of Realtors. As many as 800 association members were in town Tuesday for committee meetings and conferences with their respective legislators at the Capitol. More events are scheduled today, including a luncheon with Gov. Charlie Crist and U.S. Sen. Mel Martinez. Summer Greene, a Realtor in Fort Lauderdale and secretary of the FAR, said every state representative and senator gets a visit from Realtors in his or her home town. "We basically talk to them about the issues affecting our members, who are their constituents," she added. Property taxes and state spending are priorities, along with affordable housing.
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Builders May Seek $1.1 Million Impact Fee Refunds
Builders are likely to ask Highlands County government for impact fee refunds totaling more than $1.1 million should the fees be suspended for six months. That is likely to happen for building projects that are in progress, in case fees are suspended to stimulate home building, Ross Macbeth, the county's attorney, told the county commissioners on Tuesday. Last Tuesday, the commissioners agreed to schedule a vote on Commissioner Guy Maxcy's proposal to temporarily suspend impact fees. As soon as that news was out, three builders canceled building permits they had taken out only a few days earlier, in anticipation that commissioners may waive impact fees, Macbeth added. They also demanded refunds of the impact fees they had paid. Builders pay the fees to cover infrastructure costs caused by growth when they take out a building permit.
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New Crane Rules Enacted in Miami
A new Miami-Dade County ordinance that beefs up inspections and safety measures for lifting cranes is in effect, days after a section of a construction crane crashed onto a Miami home, leaving two workers dead and five more hurt. The U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration continues to investigate Tuesday's crash. City of Miami investigators say they are trying to determine whether windy weather or operator error caused the accident. The ordinance that takes effect Friday was prompted by a fatal crane accident in 2006 in Miami-Dade County. It requires crane operators to pass a written test and demonstrate their abilities to maneuver, shut down and secure the giant equipment. Previously, heavy machine operators did not have to be certified and only had to follow general federal requirements.
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Cities Devote Energy to "Green Initiatives"
A new coalition of environmentally conscious Brevard County politicians hopes to share energy-efficient ideas, reduce waste and save money. Led by Melbourne Councilman John Thomas, this group -- featuring members from Cape Canaveral, Cocoa, Indian Harbour Beach, Satellite Beach and West Melbourne -- will brainstorm and research "green" initiatives for Space Coast governments. These initiatives could include fleet vehicle purchasing, office equipment, building materials and the like. "Let's say that Melbourne has started using a particular light bulb, and we've saved 'x' number of dollars. Palm Bay and Titusville and Cocoa say, 'We've been looking at this, and it's a great idea,' " Thomas said. "And they get together and buy them in bulk, so they can use the buying power of three cities."
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Developers Need to Be Involved in Green Movement, Speaker Says
Until now, the debate over global warming has tended to be scientific and, to an increasing extent, a political one, as congressional leaders debate whether government action is needed to combat what some think is a major environmental threat. According to Steven Kellenberg, global warming may soon become something else entirely: a business matter, most critically for housing developers. "I don't really care if you believe in climate change or not, or if you blame man for rising temperatures," Kellenberg said.
http://www.theledger.com/article/20080327/REPORTER/803270431/1177
Top State Planner Seeks Tighter Limit on Changes to Growth Plans
Hometown Democracy might be the leverage state planners need to push through stricter development rules in a slumped building market. As planners and activists suggest reforms for Florida's growth rules, they are invoking the name of the failed petition that might have given voters veto power over development. Even the state's top planner - Department of Community Affairs Secretary Tom Pelham - warned lawmakers they might push residents to hometown democracy, which he called an "extreme measure," if they fail to support his proposed changes to state development regulations. Called the Citizens Bill of Rights, Pelham's proposal would give local governments only one chance - instead of two - each year to change their growth plan and require super-majority approval for large developments.
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Onsite Wastewater Bill Gets Favorable Hearing
The Florida Legislature has just completed its third week of the 2008 Legislative Session, and already many of the Florida Home Builders Association's member-identified priority issues have moved into the spotlight. Of particular significance is an important onsite wastewater treatment system bill which, last week, received a favorable hearing in the House Environmental Protection Committee. FHBA members have designated onsite and springshed protection as one of their seven top priorities in order to address efforts by state agencies to mandate the installation of expensive, untested, performance-based septic systems to reduce nitrogen impacts on the environment. The proposed mandate efforts would supersede conventional, environmentally-friendly and cost-effective sewage disposal systems, and force an increase of tens of thousands of dollars to new home construction.
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Bill Would Freeze Citizens Rates Through 2009
Freezing insurance rates on homes covered by the state-run insurer through 2009 and limiting rate increases in the following two years are two of the proposed changes in a bill that began winding its way through the Florida Senate Tuesday. Citizens Property Insurance also would be prohibited from selling wind-only policies after July 1 in the state's coastal areas. Existing wind-only policies could be renewed. The 115-page bill incorporates many recommendations of a special Senate committee that investigated why rates hadn't dropped as expected in the past year. It also would eliminate key privileges for private insurers operating in Florida and gives regulators more muscle to discipline companies that violate the state's insurance code. In a jammed two-hour session, the Senate Banking and Insurance Committee reviewed and approved another bill that would reduce the size of the Florida Hurricane Catastrophe Fund by $3 billion to $25 billion.
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New Bill Could Expand States
The Senate Banking and Insurance Committee approved a bill Tuesday that would make sweeping property insurance changes in Florida. The bill would expand the state's power to suspend and fine insurers that violate state laws, extend the freeze on Citizens Property Insurance Corp.'s rates one more year until Jan. 1, 2010 and again allow Citizens to insures homes worth more than $1 million. It's unclear what will happen with the legislation, however, given the strong opposition in the House. The House and Senate are "so far apart," said Senate Minority Leader Steve Geller, D- Cooper City. "That's why more likely than not I don't see anything passing. I hope I'm wrong." Sen. Jeff Atwater, R- North Palm Beach, who introduced the bill after co-chairing a special committee formed this year to investigate how insurers set rates, said consumers' frustration over high insurance prices sparked massive changes in insurance laws last year and that may happen again.
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Vote on Tax-Cap Proposal Postponed for Week
The sponsor of a plan to put a strict cap on all governments' tax revenues into the state Constitution struggled to keep the issue alive Wednesday and postponed a vote on whether to put it on the November ballot. Mike Hogan, the Duval County tax collector, said he will wait until the last meeting of the Taxation and Budget Reform Commission next week as he continues to make changes to the already watered-down plan. He must get 17 votes from the 25-member panel to put the measure on the ballot, but he's struggling to get enough support because the measure is bitterly opposed by city and county governments and has lukewarm support from many panel members.
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300 Push For Tax Breaks
The property tax debate returned to the state House of Representatives on Tuesday -- well, at least half of it did. More than 300 people hungry for more tax relief converged in House chambers to deliver the message "Amendment 1 doesn't mean you're done" and hear from Speaker Marco Rubio and other House leaders who have pressed for more cuts. In January, voters overwhelmingly passed Amendment 1, expanding tax exemptions for homeowners and businesses. Last year, the House and Senate chambers were the scene of numerous heated debates over property taxes. Tuesday's rally included several tax-cut advocacy groups, including Volusia Tax Reform. A representative with another group, Floridians for Property Tax Reform, which organized the bus rally, said at least 400 people from throughout the state were expected Tuesday.
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News Encouraging on Mortgage Rates, Existing-Home Sales
Within the past week, home builders received encouraging news on mortgage rates and existing home sales. On Thursday, Freddie Mac announced that the average 30-year fixed-rate mortgage was 5.87% for the week, according to its Primary Mortgage Market Survey, down from 6.13% for the previous week and 6.16% for the same time a year earlier. One-year Treasury-indexed ARMs averaged 5.15%, up a tad from 5.14% during the prior week but down from 5.40% a year earlier. "Mortgage rates fell this week as various actions were taken to improve market liquidity," said Frank Nothaft, Freddie Mac's chief economist. "In addition," he said, "the inflation report from the Consumer Price Index reflected weaker price increases than consensus expectations. Unchanged in February both including and excluding food and energy costs, it is the first time the core CPI did not report a monthly increase since November 2006.
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Assembled Houses Offer Homebuyers a Quick, Less Expensive Alternative
Amid today's gloom and doom in the housing industry, Vince and Stephanie Scuderi are happy - finally - to talk about building their dream home. They chose a modular home design, an alternative construction method that can save time and money. When the Scuderis were ready to build their dream house on the 12 acres in Gaithersburg owned by Stephanie's family since 1985, they wanted it fast - and modular was the ticket, Vince said. Their builder figured that the modular home could be built in 90 days at a cost 15 percent to 20 percent less than ''stick-framed" homes that might take a year. Also, because their house is going up quickly, they are getting an edge on sharply rising costs of building materials, said builder Jimmy Dean of Unique Construction in Derwood.
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Bush Administration Proposes Overhaul of Financial Regulation, With New Powers to Fed
The Bush administration is proposing a sweeping overhaul of the way the government regulates the nation's financial services industry from banks and securities firms to mortgage brokers and insurance companies. The plan would give major new powers to the Federal Reserve, according to a 22-page executive summary obtained by The Associated Press. The Fed would be given broad authority to oversee financial market stability. That would include new powers to examine the books of any institution deemed to represent a potential threat to the proper functioning of the overall financial system.
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Fed Auctions Another $50 Billion
Fighting to ease a dangerous credit crisis, the Federal Reserve has provided a total of $260 billion in short-term loans to squeezed banks since December to help them overcome credit problems. The central bank on Tuesday announced the results of its most recent auction - the eighth since the program started in December - where commercial banks bid to get a slice of $50 billion in short-term loans. It's part of an ongoing effort by the central bank to provide relief to a spreading credit crunch that has unnerved financial markets. The situation threatens to push the country into a deep recession. Counting the latest auction results announced Tuesday, the Fed has provided a total of $260 billion in short-term loans to banks since December.
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National Housing Endowment Supports Construction Management Programs with Major Help Grants
Four institutions of higher education were recently awarded grants of $100,000 each from the National Housing Endowment, the philanthropic arm of the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB). The Homebuilding Education Leadership Program (HELP) grant is gifted to two- and four-year colleges and universities to help create, expand or enhance existing residential construction management programs. In 2006, the National Housing Endowment launched the HELP program as the cornerstone of its education effort, and is its signature grant program. Through this program the Endowment has made a long-term commitment to establish closer relationships with institutions of higher education.
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Builders Support Federal Housing Finance Board Mortgage Relief
The National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) today applauded a decision by the Federal Housing Finance Board to allow the Federal Home Loan Banks to temporarily increase their holdings of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac securities to help stabilize the mortgage finance market. "This prudent action to allow the Federal Home Loan Banks to double their holdings of agency mortgage-backed securities (MBS) for a two-year period will help to alleviate the mortgage credit crunch by potentially injecting more than $100 billion into the MBS market," said Jerry Howard, executive vice president and CEO of NAHB. To get mortgage money flowing again given the current chaos and stagnation in the credit markets, Howard also urged Congress to move quickly to enact FHA modernization and comprehensive reform of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.
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Record Attendance Expected at Annual NAHB National Green Building Conference
More than 1,500 builders and other housing professionals are expected to convene in New Orleans to discuss the latest advancements and trends in eco-friendly home building at the 10th annual NAHB National Green Building Conference. Hosted by the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) May 10 to13 at the Sheraton New Orleans Hotel, the event is the only national conference targeted to green building for the mainstream residential single-and multifamily building and remodeling industry. Conference attendees will have the opportunity to attend cutting-edge education sessions, tour an impressive exhibit hall showcasing the latest green building products and ideas, and attend the National Green Building Awards honoring the best in green building. More than 60 education sessions will be offered on topics ranging from green remodeling and green building trends to building science, indoor air quality and local green building considerations.
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You Are How You Live
Across the country, thousands of communities are trying to fight urban sprawl and global warming from the ground up. Instead of adding eco-friendly touches to existing neighborhoods, developers are building whole new communities designed along green principles. Some of these developments offer very basic solutions to environmental concerns, such as street layouts that promote walking and discourage driving. Others go much further, incorporating environmentalist ideas into every aspect of community life. Some, for instance, use eco-friendly building design and set aside a portion of the neighborhood property as preserved land. Some save on resources -- and build community spirit -- by having residents share amenities such as washing machines.
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Home Sales Increase Sharply
Sales of existing homes increased unexpectedly in February after six months of decline, but private economists said it was too soon to say the prolonged slide in housing is coming to an end. The National Association of Realtors said sales of existing homes rose by 2.9 percent in February to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 5.03 million units. It marked the first sales increase since last July, but even with the gain sales were still 23.8 percent below where they were a year ago. The median sales price for single-family homes and condominiums dropped to $195,900, a fall of 8.2 percent from a year ago, the biggest slide in the current housing slump. The median price for just single-family homes was down 8.7 percent from a year ago, the biggest decline in four decades. Wall Street, which had been expecting another decline in home sales, was encouraged by the February increase as well as improved terms for Bear Stearns stockholders in the sale of that company to JPMorgan Chase & Co.
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Sustainable Solutions: The Impact of the Green Building Movement
Global demand for energy has been growing at a rate far above our current production capacity. This differential has resulted in a diminished supply of spare resources and a spike in prices. The problem is not necessarily caused by a lack of resources, but a lack of cost-effective resources. We are nearing depletion of easily accessible oil, and, as a result, will be forced to turn to other, more expensive options. Some of these options include deep-sea drilling, production in areas of political unrest, extraction from tar sands and heavy oil, which is a type of crude oil that is challenging to produce.
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Builders Applaud OFHEO Decision on Conforming Loan Limits
The National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) today applauded the Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight (OFHEO) for its decision not to decrease conforming loan limits from the current level of $417,000 in 2009 and subsequent years. "OFHEO's decision to reverse a proposal to establish new guidelines that could have resulted in lower conforming loan limits in future years is welcome news for the housing sector," said Jerry Howard, executive vice president and CEO of NAHB. "With housing in the midst of a serious downturn and the mortgage markets in crisis, this move is a step in the right direction to ensure that there is an adequate availability of funds for the refinancing of loans and for new loans."
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Move to Ease Mortgage Credit Crunch Not Bold Enough
With the nation's housing industry caught in the grips of a difficult mortgage credit crunch as the peak home building season fast approaches, regulators in Washington, D.C. last week took an encouraging step to put Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to work to stabilize housing and the financial markets. But considering the severity of the problem and its dire implications for the U.S. economy, home builders said that it is not enough. The Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight (OFHEO) announced on March 19 that it was reducing the capital surcharge levied on the two housing government sponsored enterprises (GSEs) to increase immediate liquidity to the mortgage-backed securities market by up to $200 billion.
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Salt Lake Builders Make 'Buy-Now' Headlines in Local Newspaper
Faced with newspaper headlines reading "New-home sales reach 12-year low" and "U.S. home foreclosures skyrocket," local home builder associations often witness first-hand the damage that negative reporting can inflict upon the local housing market and the businesses of their members. Sensational news media coverage has been especially troubling to HBAs in markets that have averted the harsh downturn being experienced in some of the hardest-hit housing markets in the country. Hammered with negative national coverage that didn't apply to their market, the Salt Lake Home Builders Association (SLHBA) decided to take action and set the record straight to show local consumers why now is a great time to buy.
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From Grief, a Hospital for Children Arises
It was seemingly just a routine test at Shands' pediatric outpatient clinic last October. But for 3-year-old Sebastian Ferrero, it was a fatal mistake. The Gainesville youngster died after receiving a massive overdose of the amino acid arginine, administered as part of an exam to determine if he might be a candidate for growth hormone therapy. From his parents' grief has arisen a determined, communitywide effort to build a freestanding, full-service children's hospital in Gainesville. Wednesday afternoon, Sebastian's parents, Horst and Luisa Ferrero, announced in a news conference that they are prepared to match, dollar for dollar, contributions up to $1 million made before Dec. 31 to the Sebastian Ferrero Foundation.
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UF Wins ABC Student Competition
ABC held its eighth annual Student Construction Management Competition during the 2008 ABC National Convention, March 5-9 in San Juan, Puerto Rico. Teams of four students from 23 colleges and universities across the nation competed in the contest's first round on March 5. Five finalist teams advanced to a second round. The 2008 Student Construction Management Competition teams competed for more than $10,000 in cash and prizes, as well as the coveted Cœ Construction Management Champions title. Students went head-to-head in three areas: project management/scheduling; estimating and safety. Awards were given in each area, as well as an overall award for highest total points.
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$92M Minneola High School May be Built in Phases
A proposed $92 million high school -- the single most expensive addition in Lake County's planned campuses -- could be built in phases over several years to resolve tough budget constraints and increasing demands for more classrooms. School officials are looking to build four schools at a total cost of about $192 million. The district is expected to come up $20 million short of that amount, but the deficit could extend to $30 million or more because of huge property-tax exemptions created by voter-approved Amendment 1 in January. So the School Board is considering ways to get the most school facilities out of whatever funding they have secured. That likely will affect the high school planned for almost 2,000 students in the massive Hills of Minneola community.
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ABC Florida Gulf Coast Chapter Member Honored
ABC March 26 announced that Jed Dean of Skanska USA Building, Inc., Tampa, Fla., was named ABC's 2007 Beam Club Member of the Year during the association's 2008 National Convention in San Juan, Puerto Rico. ABC presents the award each year to the individual who is considered the top membership recruiter. "We are proud to name Jed as the 2007 Beam Club Member of the Year," said 2008 ABC National Chairman Bill Fairchild. "Thanks to the hard work and dedication of members like Jed, ABC has grown into one of the most prominent construction trade associations in the nation. Jed's passion for ABC and his tireless efforts to help build the association serve as an inspiration for all of us."
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ABC Florida East Coast Chapter Recognized
ABC March 7 presented its Charles A. Mullan awards to the chapters in each of the 10 ABC divisions that demonstrated the greatest growth in their membership dues base in 2007. The awards were presented during the association's 2008 National Convention in San Juan, Puerto Rico.
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Commercial Insurance is Back From the Brink
It's not the good old days again -- before eight hurricanes slammed into Florida between 2004 and 2005 -- when plenty of insurers were willing to write commercial coverage and rates were relatively low. But there has been some improvement since the commercial crisis erupted in the summer of 2006, when rates shot up, policies offered skimpy coverage, many insurers refused to write new policies and some companies canceled policies outright. Commercial insurance rates have fallen 20 percent to 30 percent in the past year, agents and brokers say. What's more, they're seeing competition among insurers for the first time in two years. Insurers ''had a profitable underwriting year in 2007. Those companies that want to stay in the game are dropping rates,'' says Fausto Alvarez, a partner at HBA Insurance Group of Miami.
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No Shortage of Ideas for Aging Ocala City Auditorium
If ideas could fund renovation of the City Auditorium, the venue would be in a good place. An art gallery. A playhouse. A roller rink. A convention center. These are just some potential uses attendees mentioned during a community forum Tuesday. Recently, the city hired VenuWorks, an Iowa-based consulting firm, to help determine whether the auditorium has a viable market within the community that justifies the significant investment it requires. The firm hosted Tuesday night's forum to get feedback from residents regarding what type of events they would like to see at the venue should it be reopened.
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CoStar Study Finds LEED, Energy Star Buildings Outperform Peers
A new study by CoStar Group has found that sustainable "green" buildings outperform their peer non-green assets in key areas such as occupancy, sale price and rental rates, sometimes by wide margins. The results indicate a broader demand by property investors and tenants for buildings that have earned either LEEDŽ certification or the Energy StarŽ label and strengthen the "business case" for green buildings, which proponents have increasingly cast as financially sound investments. According to the study, LEED buildings command rent premiums of $11.24 per square foot over their non-LEED peers and have 3.8 percent higher occupancy. Rental rates in Energy Star buildings represent a $2.38 per square foot premium over comparable non-Energy Star buildings and have 3.6 percent higher occupancy. And, in a trend that could signal greater attention from institutional investors, Energy Star buildings are selling for an average of $61 per square foot more than their peers, while LEED buildings command a remarkable $171 more per square foot.
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AGC of Greater Florida Calendar of Events
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Residential March 2008
Commercial Winter 2008
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