Related considering fund to buy-up condos

South Florida Business Journal - by Oscar Pedro Musibay

Jorge Perez, chief executive officer of condo developer the Related Group, is looking to create a fund to buy distressed units in South Florida's saturated condo market.

Matt Gorson, president Greenberg Traurig which represents Related, confirmed that Perez is considering it.

"The strong and smart developers would be wise to create funds and acquire distressed assets," Gorson said. "The Related Group would be in the mix."

Gorson said the analysis of the possible venture was in the very preliminary stage and he could not comment further or provide details about its potential mechanics.

A source outside the firm said Greenberg is already creating the paperwork and that the funding would come from Latin America.

Related did not return a call seeking comment.

Ron Shuffield, president of brokerage Esslinger Wooten Maxwell, said he hadn't heard about Perez's interest in buying distressed units, but it makes sense.

"If he can purchase parts of a building or whole buildings for less than it would cost to build them, it's a smart move," Shuffield said.

Investing in Wholesale Preconstruction Real Estate

Investing in Wholesale Preconstruction Real Estate
Buying in bulk can help increase profits
Published on: Tuesday, December 25, 2007Written by: Beth Anderson

Buying in bulk is a strategy many shoppers use to save money. That same strategy can also help real estate investors expand their profits.

Real estate developers typically have to pre-sell a certain percentage of condo or home developments to get a construction loan from banks. In addition to allowing for bank financing, getting the first few units sold tends to help start sales momentum and helps the developers get started on the project more quickly. As a result, developers are often willing to offer huge discounts in order to move large blocks of units. Most investors, though, will likely find it difficult to come up with the funds necessary to purchase a block of condos.

Investors interested in this type of investment should be glad to know that there are now several institutions that work to bring together investors to buy these bulk offerings. These institutions get deep discounts from the developers and pass them along to buyers, who can then buy individual properties at prices much lower than what they could have bought them for if they had purchased directly though the developer.

Most investors, after buying a property as part of a bulk rate discount preconstruction offering, sell it after construction is completed at retail price, often making thousands in profit. This investment strategy is called wholesale preconstruction, bulk preconstruction or preconstruction syndication.

Old Brick Township to include conservation, industry

December 22, 2007

Old Brick Township to include conservation, industry By AARON LONDON Staff Writer
A stretch of road in western Flagler County that was part of Florida's first great land-buying flurry of the 20th century could play that role again.

That is, if a developer's plans meet with approval.

Jacksonville Beach-based Fletcher Management Co. is preparing plans to develop 5,200 acres in northwest Flagler County called Old Brick Township, including 5,000 residential units and 1 million square feet of industrial space.

Because the project is so large, it must go through the state's multi-tiered development of regional impact process. The first step was taken Dec. 14 with a pre-application process in Flagler County conducted by the Northeast Florida Regional Council.

The property is west of U.S. 1 and along the border between Flagler and St. Johns counties. The western side of the project abuts Old Brick Road, part of an historic road that once stretched from Michigan to Miami, and developers say they want to help preserve and restore the road, which is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Foreign Buyers Snap Up 2nd Homes in US

By LESLIE WINES – 1 day ago
NEW YORK (AP) — Panden Rota, a Nepalese producer of fine rugs, is about to become a Manhattanite, the owner of a sumptuous apartment in the luxurious downtown neighborhood of Battery Park City.

His primary residence will remain Katmandu, but his new home will allow him to spend more time at U.S. showrooms that display his rugs and with a brother and sister in New York. "I looked at many places and I decided that a Manhattan apartment will always hold its value," he said.

Rota is part of a growing wave of foreigners who buy second homes in the U.S. for work and play and as an investment.

Cosmopolitan cities like New York and Miami have long served as second homes for affluent and accomplished foreigners. But the trend is growing. One in five American realtors has sold a home to a foreign investor in the past year, according to the National Association of Realtors.
The events of 2007 have made the U.S. much more affordable for international home buyers. Severe dollar declines against the euro and pound have made U.S. homes much cheaper for Europeans. But even foreign buyers without that sort of currency advantage are benefiting from sharp drops in housing prices at a time when problems in mortgage lending are keeping many Americans out of the market.

Smaller builders gobble up lots in Lee County

By Dick HoganOriginally posted on December 23, 2007

Builders are snapping up thousands of lots in Lee County at fire sale prices — and experts say the party’s just getting started.In the past two months, Hovnanian Enterprises sold 812 lots in Cape Coral to Deltona Corp. and is trying to sell its Lehigh Acres lots. Lennar Homes sold its 700-acre Stoneybrook North project in North Fort Myers to Metro Development Group and its 362-acre Cypress Shadows to Cameratta Properties.Both sellers are big, publicly traded national builders who have seen profits drop and stock price plummet.Hovnanian closed Friday at $7.05, off 81 percent from its 52-week high of $37.58 on the New York Stock Exchange. Lennar closed Friday at $17.20, off 70 percent from its 52-week high of $56.54 on the NYSE. Both companies lost their investment-grade debt ratings this year.

John Ryan wants to buy your lots

John Ryan's Metro Development Group recently bought 8,300 lots from Lennar, bringing its total to a whopping 30,000 lots in Florida - and counting.
By James Thorner, Times Staff WriterPublished December 23, 2007

John Ryan recalls the frenzied days of the last housing boom when a Pasco County chicken farmer had merely to snap his fingers and Ryan was aloft in his helicopter with a land-purchase contract in hand.
One site on the leading edge of suburban New Tampa absorbed an inordinate amount of his attention: 900 acres belonging to the Zephyr Egg Co. off Morris Bridge Road.
"I must have put 40 offers on that land," the 46-year-old Canadian-born developer says.

Distressed Oakland residential properties yield deals

Posted by Carol Marshall Oakland Business Review December 20, 2007 07:00AM
Categories: Commercial real estate, Top Stories

It's a story that's becoming too familiar to Russ Long, associate at O'Keefe & Associates.
"It has more and more become my job to help developers liquidate," Long said of his duties at the Bloomfield Hills-based turnaround and consulting firm. When builders - particularly national residential builders, Long said - pull out of markets that have become less profitable in Michigan's floundering economy, it's the land owners, the developers, who are left holding the bag.

General downturn doesn't slow Town Center project

December 18, 2007
General downturn doesn't slow Town Center project By BARRY FLYNN Business Writer
Town Center, the new "downtown" for Palm Coast, lost two land sales this year but is progressing with other major projects despite Florida's historic real estate bust.

Site work began this month for a $16 million Hilton Garden Inn and a two-story condominium office building, developers and city officials said. Plans for a 14-screen movie theater are moving ahead with the sale of land for it planned for this week.

Also, six banks have committed to opening branches on the periphery of the 1,500-acre project along two of the city's busiest thoroughfares, State Road 100 and Belle Terre Parkway, according to Dave Lusby, vice president of Palm Coast Holdings, the master developer.

CNN/Money.Com Likes St. Joe

St. Joe Company
Posted: 10:19 AM Dec 13, 2007Last Updated: 10:19 AM Dec 13, 2007

CNN/Money.com is picking the St. Joe company among it's best investment bets for 2008. The experts interviewed for the article admit they have no idea if the Florida real estate market has hit rock bottom. But they say it will eventually bounce back.
Right now St. Joe's company stock is selling for about 28-dollars a share. It's highest price was 82-dollars in July 2005.

With the U-S Census Bureau projecting a 33% population increase, or 6-million new residents in Florida by 2020, CNN/Money.com is betting the St. Joe Company will get it's share of that new home market.

The experts also point out Wall Street has undervalued St. Joe's 710-thousand acres of land. That value is 37-hundred an acre, while the fair market value would be around 72-hundred an acre.

Other analysts point out Panama City's home sales have been better than the state average this year and they predict the new airport will boost growth and development.
So how good is this information? Cnn/Money.com's top ten stock picks out-earned the Standard & Poors by 13% in 2006 and 8% this year.

A rescue plan that is worth the price

Published: December 7 2007 19:33 Last updated: December 7 2007 19:33

The US government’s attempt to stem the growing housing crisis by getting lenders to freeze loans to troubled subprime borrowers is a far from perfect scheme. It involves arbitrary judgments, rewards for reckless behaviour and variations of contracts. But it is justified by the extreme circumstances.

The package negotiated with lenders by Hank Paulson, the US Treasury secretary, is aimed at preventing a further wave of foreclosures over the next two to three years as floating-rate mortgages taken out by subprime borrowers reset to higher rates. Some 1.8m Americans who bought houses they could not afford fall into this category.

Fannie Mae Plan to Raise Housing Finance Costs Highlights Need for Congressional...

Fannie Mae Plan to Raise Housing Finance Costs Highlights Need forCongressional ActionWASHINGTON, Dec. 7 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- In response to Fannie Mae'sannounced plan to impose an "Adverse Market Delivery Charge" for all mortgagespurchased after March 1, 2008, National Association of Home Builders (NAHB)Executive Vice President and CEO Jerry Howard today issued the followingstatement:"Fannie Mae's new fee is a broad tax on homeownership that ultimately will bepassed along to consumers. It's certain to be more difficult for the housingmarket to regain its footing when steps are being taken to drive up mortgagecosts. This is the exact opposite of what needs to be done and underscores theimportance of Congress quickly enacting legislation that would strengthenregulatory oversight of government-sponsored enterprises (GSEs) Fannie Mae andFreddie Mac while also preserving their vital housing mission.

Legal Web Sites Shake Up Condo Market

Lawyer-run sites attract clients as they educate real estate buyers

By Paola Iuspa-AbbottDaily Business ReviewDecember 10, 2007

South Florida lawyers are increasingly tapping into the cyber world to capture a share of the growing business of helping buyers recover deposits from pre-construction and condo conversion projects.

Web sites such as recovermydeposit.com and depositrecoveryservices.com are popping up across the Web. The lawyer-run sites inform buyers of their rights under Florida law and possible remedies and offer them help. But to be able to offer this service, lawyers said, they have had to relearn specific state and federal laws that were little used in the past.

Hallandale Beach condo buyers sue, say that were misled about marina

Group demands deposits now that slips unavailable
By Robin Benedick South Florida Sun-Sentinel

December 7, 2007

HALLANDALE BEACH - Despite its name, the Ocean Marine Yacht Club is no mariner's dream.In fact, boats may not be welcome at the new 28-story condo tower on the Intracoastal Waterway because a planned 48-slip private marina is not going to be built.Without a dock for their boats, some buyers who are supposed to close on their condos starting this month are demanding their deposits back. No marina, no sale, they say.

Fannie Cuts Dividend, Offers $7 Billion in Preferreds (Update3)

Dec. 4 (Bloomberg) -- Fannie Mae, the largest source of money for U.S. home loans, cut its dividend 30 percent and said it will sell $7 billion of preferred stock to bolster capital as the housing crisis deepens.

The quarterly payout will drop to 35 cents a share from 50 cents starting in the first quarter, Washington-based Fannie Mae said in a statement today. The government-chartered company plans to issue the preferred stock later this month.

The worst housing slump in at least two decades will hurt fourth-quarter earnings ``in a material way'' and continue to weigh on 2008 results, Fannie Mae said. The decision to shore up capital follows a similar move last week by McLean, Virginia-based Freddie Mac. Fannie Mae said last month it had a capital cushion of $2.3 billion after reporting a quarterly loss of $1.4 billion.

UPDATE 1-Countrywide plummets as mortgage jitters grow

Tue Nov 20, 2007 1:57pm ET

(Updates stock price, adds background, details)

NEW YORK, Nov 20 (Reuters) - Shares of Countrywide Financial Corp (CFC.N: Quote, Profile , Research) plummeted as much as 22 percent on Tuesday to their lowest level in more than seven years following an analyst downgrade and amid growing investor jitters over credit losses stemming from the U.S. housing slump.

The shares were down $1.43, or 13.5 percent, to $9.14 in afternoon trading after falling as low as $8.21 earlier in the session -- less than half the $18 conversion price for the $2 billion of Countrywide preferred stock that Bank of America Corp (BAC.N: Quote, Profile , Research) bought in August.

Credit default swaps on Countrywide Home Loans Inc rose about 160 basis points to 900 basis points, or $900,000 per year for five years to insure $10 million of debt, an analyst said.

UPDATE 1-Countrywide plummets as mortgage jitters grow

Tue Nov 20, 2007 1:57pm ET

(Updates stock price, adds background, details)

NEW YORK, Nov 20 (Reuters) - Shares of Countrywide Financial Corp (CFC.N: Quote, Profile , Research) plummeted as much as 22 percent on Tuesday to their lowest level in more than seven years following an analyst downgrade and amid growing investor jitters over credit losses stemming from the U.S. housing slump.

The shares were down $1.43, or 13.5 percent, to $9.14 in afternoon trading after falling as low as $8.21 earlier in the session -- less than half the $18 conversion price for the $2 billion of Countrywide preferred stock that Bank of America Corp (BAC.N: Quote, Profile , Research) bought in August.

Credit default swaps on Countrywide Home Loans Inc rose about 160 basis points to 900 basis points, or $900,000 per year for five years to insure $10 million of debt, an analyst said.

Freddie Posts Loss, May Cut Dividend; Shares Plunge (Update8)

Nov. 20 (Bloomberg) -- Freddie Mac fell 29 percent, the biggest decline since it went public in 1988, as the second- largest U.S. mortgage-finance company posted a record loss, warning of a possible dividend cut and the need to raise capital.

The worst housing slump in 16 years caused ``significant deterioration'' in the third quarter that will continue through year-end, McLean, Virginia-based Freddie Mac said in a statement. The net loss was $2.02 billion, or $3.29 a share, three times what some analysts estimated.

``It's as bad as it possibly could be,'' said Howard Shapiro, an analyst at Fox-Pitt Kelton in New York. Shapiro recommended investors sell Freddie Mac shares, reversing his opinion to hold more of the stock than is contained in benchmark indexes.

UBS Faces `Substantial' CDO Losses, CreditSights Says (Update2)

By Cecile Gutscher

Nov. 19 (Bloomberg) -- UBS AG, Europe's largest bank by assets, may have lost as much as $9 billion on collateralized debt obligations, according to CreditSights Inc.

The losses would be almost half the Zurich-based bank's $20 billion of top-rated CDOs, securities based on underlying assets. CreditSights, the independent research firm in New York, based its analysis on the bank marking down its holdings to prices indicated by benchmark indexes rather than methods used by UBS.

``While we do not expect it to make the additional $9 billion of writedowns estimated by our model, we do not see how it can avoid further substantial losses,'' CreditSights analysts led by Simon Adamson in London said in the report. ``UBS is by far the most vulnerable bank in absolute terms'' out of the nine European banks surveyed by CreditSights, the report said.

Treasuries Rise to the Highest in Two Years on Credit Concern

By Sandra Hernandez and Deborah Finestone

Nov. 17 (Bloomberg) -- Treasuries rose to the highest since 2005 as credit-market losses related to delinquent subprime mortgages drove investors to the safety of government debt.
Two-year notes gained for a fifth straight week, extending their rally to the longest in eight months on speculation the Federal Reserve will cut borrowing costs a third time this year. The Fed will release minutes of its October meeting next week, and the Commerce Department is expected to report that housing starts fell to the lowest since 1993.

``The market's pricing in an easing by the Fed,'' said Anne Briglia, senior fixed-income strategist in New York at UBS Wealth Management Research. ``Price action is being driven by institutional investors who are acutely aware of the broader financial stresses here.''

The two-year note's yield fell 8 basis points, or 0.08 percentage point, to 3.34 percent this week, according to bond broker Cantor Fitzgerald LP. It reached 3.28 percent yesterday, the lowest since February 2005. The price of the 3 5/8 percent security due in October 2009 rose 1/8, or $1.25 per $1,000 face amount, to 100 17/32. Yields move inversely to bond prices.

Goldman Sees Subprime Cutting $2 Trillion in Lending (Update5)

By Kabir Chibber
Nov. 16 (Bloomberg) -- The slump in global credit markets may force banks, brokerages and hedge funds to cut lending by $2 trillion and trigger a ``substantial recession'' in the U.S., according to Goldman Sachs Group Inc.

Losses related to record home foreclosures using a ``back- of-the-envelope'' calculation may be as high as $400 billion for financial companies, Jan Hatzius, chief U.S. economist at Goldman in New York wrote in a report dated yesterday. The effects may be amplified tenfold as companies that borrowed to finance their investments scale back lending, the report said.

``The likely mortgage credit losses pose a significantly bigger macroeconomic risk than generally recognized,'' Hatzius wrote. ``It is easy to see how such a shock could produce a substantial recession'' or ``a long period of very sluggish growth,'' he wrote.

Freddie Mac Joins Fannie Mae in Raising Mortgage Fees

By Jody Shenn

Nov. 15 (Bloomberg) -- Freddie Mac, the second-largest source of money for U.S. home loans, joined Fannie Mae in introducing or raising fees on mortgages the company buys from lenders because of the increased risks in slumping housing and mortgage markets.

Freddie Mac is primarily setting new fees for mortgages made to borrowers with credit scores below 680, whose loans exceed 70 percent of their property's value. The new charges range from 0.75 percent to 2 percent depending on credit scores, according to a bulletin by the company. The changes take effect March 1.

The higher fees by Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae follow an 81 percent drop over the past year in the market for new mortgage securities without guarantees from the government-sponsored enterprises. The tightening of lending standards that's resulted has worsened defaults by borrowers unable to refinance rising adjustable-rate loans and has limited home sales and prices.

U.S. Stocks Decline; Wells Fargo, Fannie Mae, J.C. Penney Drop

By Michael Patterson

Nov. 15 (Bloomberg) -- U.S. stocks fell for a second day after Wells Fargo & Co. said the housing market is the worst since the Great Depression and investors speculated Fannie Mae masked credit-market losses in its latest earnings report.

Major central banks are now on the way to cut policy rates

Nouriel Roubini Dec 05, 2007

What a difference a day makes. Yesterday this author called for all major central banks to cut policy rates to address the severe liquidity and credit crunch that is infecting the G7 and Eurozone financial markets and prevent a global hard landing. 24 hours later we have now:

- the Fed clearly on the way to cut rates next week for the third time in a row, the only issue being now whether it is going to be a 25bps or 50bps cut.

- The Bank of Canada cutting its policy rate by 25bps yesterday given the financial markets turmoil and the excessive strength of the loonie.

- The Bank of England deciding by tomorrow whether to cut its policy rate with the authoritative Financial Times editorial column today recommending a rate cut in the UK and being sympathetic to rate cuts by other central banks as long as growth is under threat. Hopefully Mervyn King and his fellow policy makers at the BoE will follow the advice of the FT and others who are now calling for a rate cut.

In a Credit Crisis, Large Mortgages Grow Costly

By FLOYD NORRIS and ERIC DASH
Published: August 12, 2007

When an investment banker set out to buy a $1.5 million home on Long Island last month, his mortgage broker quoted an interest rate of 8 percent. Three days later, when the buyer said he would take the loan, the mortgage banker had bad news: the new rate was 13 percent.

“I have been in the business 20 years and I have never seen” such a big swing in interest rates, said the broker, Bob Moulton, president of the Americana Mortgage Group in Manhasset, N.Y.
“There is a lot of fear in the markets,” he added. “When there is fear, people have a tendency to overreact.”

The investment banker’s problem was that he was taking out a so-called jumbo mortgage — a loan greater than the $417,000 mortgage that can be sold to the federally chartered enterprises, Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae. The market for large mortgages has suddenly dried up.

HSBC seen facing another hit from U.S. mortgages

LONDON (Reuters) - Europe's biggest bank HSBC Holdings (HSBA.L: Quote, Profile , Research) is this week expected to unveil a further big hit from its exposure to the U.S. mortgage crisis.
HSBC Finance, the unit formerly called Household, will unveil third-quarter results on Wednesday.

The Sunday Telegraph newspaper said HSBC will reveal a new $1 billion hit in the results. But the figure could be higher than that as losses from the run-off of the U.S. mortgage book was about $2 billion in the second quarter and the market has deteriorated since then, analysts have said.

HSBC declined to comment on Sunday.

Paulson: Pact near for freeze on mortgages

Treasury chief says government is working with lenders to avoid defaults
updated 2 hours ago

WASHINGTON - Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson said Monday he is confident there will soon be an agreement to help thousands of homeowners avoid mortgage defaults by temporarily freezing their interest rates.

Paulson told a national housing conference that this effort involved a “pragmatic response” to current realities as the economy goes through the worst housing slump in more than two decades. The number of homeowners struggling to meet higher payments because their initial introductory rates are resetting is currently soaring.

Paulson and other top Treasury officials have been holding talks with major players in the mortgage industry over the past several weeks to hammer out an agreement that would freeze the lower introductory rates to keep them from resetting to higher levels for a period of years.

WEEKEND EDITION: How To Spot Signs The Housing Crisis Is Nearing Bottom

December 02, 2007: 08:42 PM EST

BOSTON (Dow Jones) -- This week's stock market rally lifted long-suffering financial shares and home-builder stocks and was seen as a heartening sign for the battered housing market, although economists say it's only the first, uneasy step toward restoring confidence and an eventual turnaround.

A recovery may still be years away, and several other key factors need to come together before housing prices can stabilize and begin to mend. Interviews with housing and financial analysts revealed several signs that savvy investors might want to look for that would set the stage for a housing recovery.

First, financials stocks such as banks and lenders, as well as other housing sectors such as home builders, need to flatten and rebound.

"The sentiment is so negative," said Mark Vitner, senior economist at Wachovia Corp. (WB) . "The housing industry isn't going to get better until financial services improve, and there's just too many homes out there in inventory."

The economist said if construction pulls back the next two years as expected, housing supply and demand should get back in balance by the tail end of 2009, considering the glut of unsold homes currently on the market.

Another requirement is that spreads on bond yields need to come down, giving investors a better sense of safety, while the commercial real estate market has to avoid major setbacks. A plan to freeze rates on subprime adjustable-rate mortgages, if it moves ahead, would help quell fears of a surge in home foreclosures, experts said.

The projections for the credit and mortgage markets must brighten, and consumer confidence has to revive. Homebuyers need to come out this spring, but all bets are off if the economy slides into a recession. Finally, more rate cuts by the Federal Reserve in coming months would also improve the outlook, as would consolidation in the home-builder sector or foreign investors putting more money into banking and housing stocks.

Investment propels a real

Panama City - The hilltop view overlooking the former Howard US Air Force Base in Panama says it all.

The vacant barracks will be the site of a $10 billion minicity slated to be the size of Central London. Just beyond the hills, the Panama Canal is undergoing a $5 billion expansion, and in the background cranes hang over new skyscrapers that seem to rise every week.
Panama, it seems, is in its prime.

Once overlooked as nothing but a canal, this tiny Central American nation of 3 million is attracting residents, businesses, and investors the world over. Some are seeking a haven from political situations in the region. Others are jumping on what they see as one of the best investments around. But as the government markets itself as the Latin American lodestone, many caution that the city is growing too quickly out of its own infrastructure.

"We are the geographic hub of the Americas," says Ivan Carlucci, the president of the Panamanian Association of Real Estate Brokers and Developers, adding that 11,000 new units will come online this year. He boasts that 99 percent have already sold. Some say that speculators have fueled the boom, but Mr. Carlucci says he expects the real-estate market to maintain its momentum because of other large infrastructure and industrial projects throughout the country. "We will be sustained by all the other aspects."

Real Estate Sales

Posted: 4:21 PM Nov 22, 2007

Last Updated: 9:38 AM Nov 23, 2007

Florida's home sales remained soft in the third quarter, but there was one bright spot for Bay County.

Across the state, almost 32,000 existing single family homes were sold. That's a whopping 29% drop from the almost 45,000 sales for the same period a year ago.

The homes aren’t selling even though prices are still falling. The median sale price is down to $232,000, compared to $246,000 a year ago.

The 369 homes sold in Panama City in the third quarter represented an eight percent drop from the year before, and the median price of almost $203,000 was down four percent from the same period in 2006.

As for the good news... The declining condo prices are finally becoming attractive. The prices here fell by 13%. That translated into a 38% jump in the sales over last year.

Luxury Real Estate Board of Regents Expands Into Panama with Newest Member

(openPR) - PANAMA CITY, Panama – Luxury Real Estate’s Board of Regents announced today its expansion into Panama with BusinessPanama Real Estate. BusinessPanama Real Estate will be the exclusive representative of the Panama territory. LuxuryRealEstate.com has the largest international presence of any luxury real estate brand or network, with members in 65 countries, representing properties in 111 countries.“It’s amazing to see how quickly BusinessPanama Real Estate has climbed to the top of our organization to join our Board of Regents,” said John Brian Losh, CEO and publisher of LuxuryRealEstate.com, and broker, chairman and CEO of Ewing & Clark, Inc., Seattle’s oldest real-estate brokerage. “Panama is enjoying a booming luxury market, and I expect that BusinessPanama will be at the heart of many of the innovative opportunities and high-end transactions coming to that country.”

More Stores Announced for Pier Park

Tuesday, Nov 20, 2007 - 12:39 PM

The following was released Tuesday by the Simon Property Group.
For Further Information, Please Contact:Les Morris, Simon Property Group (317) 263-7711E-mail: lmorris@simon.com

MORE CHOICES COMING TO PIER PARK- Stores, Restaurants and Massage Services on Tap at Panama City Beach Community Destination -

PANAMA CITY BEACH, FL (November 20, 2007) – Simon Property Group, Inc. (NYSE:SPG), the country’s largest owner, developer and manager of high quality retail real estate, announced another wave of enviable retailers and restaurants coming to Pier Park, a 900,000 square foot retail and entertainment complex located on 93 acres that covers land from Front Beach Road (at the City Pier) to the heavily-traveled Highway 98 (Back Beach Road).

“We’re very pleased to announce these new stores coming to Pier Park,” said Paul Ajdaharian, regional vice president at Simon. “I think the breadth of the stores and restaurants that we’re announcing here speaks to the great variety that shoppers will find when they come to Pier Park.”

Fish Tales, owned and operated by glass artist Cindy Stephens and her husband Buddy, is a whimsical, unique art gallery representing the finest local art on the Gulf Coast. Fish Tales has two stores in Grayton Beach and Apalachicola and is relocating its Grayton Beach location to Pier Park.

New condo conversions bring broken promises

Posted on Sun, Nov. 18, 2007

New condo conversions bring broken promises
BY DONNA GEHRKE-WHITE

Their first home should be their joy. But Michelle Fernandez and her fiancé, Efrain Uribe, are bitterly regretting buying a place from a developer converting a high-rise apartment complex into condos in North Miami Beach. Now, they say, they're stuck with shaking elevators, exposed pipes, badly stained hallway carpets, a flooded laundry room and even mold in the couple's air conditioning closet. ''Nothing is what they promised,'' Fernandez says. Yet, she and her fiancé may be among the more fortunate among the thousands who bought apartments converted into condos in South Florida in the last five years: An executive at the development company says at least some of the work will be done.

Others who have bought condo conversions have discovered they're on their own to fix code violations, an aging infrastructure and faulty equipment. In some cases, that means the new condo associations are levying thousands of dollars in special assessments for repairs. ''The actual nightmare starts after they move in. Six months to a year later, they discover they got sold a lemon,'' says Jan Bergemann, founder of Cyber Citizens for Justice, a grass-roots consumer group that has fielded dozens of complaints about condo conversions. Most are from first-time home buyers ''who don't even have money to talk to an attorney,'' he adds.

More than 43,000 apartment units have been converted to condominiums and sold in Miami-Dade and Broward since 2004. Because most of the buildings were older, the units were less expensive than ones in new buildings, attracting lower-income and first-time buyers.

The condition of the buildings varied widely, as do the required repairs. And different cities have different laws on what repairs are required before apartments can be converted to condos and sold.

The state law on condo conversions is ''very vague,'' says Dale Lee, building official for North Miami Beach. ''Some municipalities feel no requirement'' is mandated when rental apartments become condos, he says. But North Miami Beach interprets the state law as requiring that life-safety equipment be up to code at the time the units are sold. That includes balcony railings, smoke detectors and fire alarms.

''I'm looking out for the consumer,'' Lee says. ``We feel it is a change of use.''
Some new owners complain cities don't find code violations in converted buildings until after the developers have sold all the units, says state assistant condo ombudsman Bill Raphan.
In fact, some developers did little more than cosmetic work while converting aging apartment buildings, he says.

''The developer painted the walls and called them condos,'' Raphan says.
One woman told Bergemann, the condo activist, that she had to take out a $15,000 line of credit to pay a special assessment for repairs after she moved into her converted unit -- only to discover that her new condo association was planning another assessment to cover more work.
She and several others declined to talk to The Miami Herald because they feared property values would plummet if people knew of their buildings' problems.

Nikki Poulos, who bought two units in 2005 in a small converted apartment complex just off Biscayne Boulevard in Miami, says people should know that problems can arise months after signing on the dotted line.

''I was happy to buy -- the model apartment looked nice,'' she says.
Then months later she says the carpeting disintegrated and had to be replaced.
She also discovered after closing that an electrical plug didn't work -- it hadn't been connected to electrical wires. A door rotted and there was mold on baseboards. ''In one bathroom the tile was so poor that water leaked down the well and into the kitchen,'' she says.

Developer David Meunier also didn't keep his promises, such as providing pool furniture, she says.
Meunier says the units were all in good shape at the time of turnover. He says the chaise lounges he had bought for the pool deck were stolen. He blames any problems on renters. ''Out of 15 condominiums, only one has been used by a homeowner,'' says Meunier.
He himself kept two of the units as investments. ''This is an up-and-coming neighborhood,'' he said.

STRUGGLING TO PAY
He notes that some of the building's cash-strapped investor-owners are struggling to pay their monthly maintenance fees of about $125 to keep the complex in good shape. ''Some are behind $1,400,'' he says.
During the real estate frenzy, when entire buildings sold out in a day, many buyers snapped up units without reading the fine print, analysts say.
''When you are buying a condo conversion you aren't buying new,'' reminds Gary Saul, an attorney who represents developers.
The state requires developers to give buyers copies of an engineer's report outlining the condition of the building, he says. But Saul believes few buyers actually read it.
Developers also are required either to set aside reserves or buy warranties, usually for a few years, on major items such as roofs, he says. Again, he believes few of the buyers learned what developers were leaving behind.
''In some cases the developers were supposed to place monies in reserves to cover systems that would become obsolete such as roofs, the electrical wiring. In many cases they did not place sufficient amount of money,'' says real estate analyst Jack McCabe, president of McCabe Research & Consulting in Deerfield Beach.
But during the boom few objected because property values were going up ''double digits every year,'' he says.
Buyers thought they would sell quickly so it wouldn't matter if the developer hadn't put up the required reserves, he said.
Then the market tanked and suddenly many discovered they couldn't sell -- and their aging building needed work that they would have to pay for, he says.
Reputable developers will make repairs, Saul says, because they want to stay in business.
At Inland Towers in North Miami Beach, an executive with the developer, Mederos & Associates, told The Miami Herald his company would make the promised repairs.
''Do you think I want bad conditions? We are trying,'' says operations manager Gene Lopez.
CASH FLOW WOES
But the company had a cash flow problem earlier this year after buyers became scarce and it was hard to get loans. Now that a bank has committed to loans for improvements such as hall carpeting, ''we expect to get things done,'' Lopez says.
The company is also renting units to get cash, he adds, while continuing to try to sell apartments, with prices starting at $159,900. He recently met with a Herald reporter to show how Mederos & Associates had painted the tower, refurbished the lobby and installed new mailboxes.
He adds that his company is now finishing work on new balcony railings required by the city.
North Miami Beach building official Lee says none of the apartments should have been sold until the developer installed the new railings, and he refused to give certificates of occupancy to the new units until the work was done.
That's why buyers earlier this year, such as Fernandez and Uribe, weren't listed as actual owners and couldn't get the $25,000 homestead exemption for the condos.
''Our taxes are due and we will have to pay the entire amount,'' Fernandez says.
Last year, the couple oohed and ahhed over the model apartment's granite countertops, maple cabinets and crown molding.
They closed last March after they say they received promises that the building would be renovated just as tastefully.
They thought the covered walls on the 10th floor of the model unit were a rendition of how their own floor would look once the overhead pipes were hidden.
But Lopez now says developers never promised the upgrade. Previous investors had covered the pipes on the 10th floor, he explains.
But what alarms the couple most is that a firefighter during a recent inspection spotted mold in their air conditioning closet. ''He said we shouldn't be in the unit,'' Fernandez says.
Lopez blamed any mold on the couple not properly maintaining the air conditioning.
''But how could the mold develop so fast?'' Fernandez counters.
She worries about its health effects -- and is demanding that the developer fix it to their satisfaction, which she says hasn't been done yet.
''It's making the place unbearable to live in,'' says their attorney, Joseph H. Fernandez.
© 2007 Miami Herald Media Company. All Rights Reserved.http://www.miamiherald.com

Slow sales, more time

Construction of the Island View condominium and retail complex on the northern edge of downtown won't begin by the end of the year as initially planned because of slow sales and a slight change to the project's design.

But officials with Triangle Development of Clearwater say sales have steadily picked up and construction will begin by Dec. 31, 2008 - the new deadline the City Council unanimously approved Wednesday night.

Triangle executives asked the council for a one-year extension on their $270-million project, which includes three condo towers, a row of townhomes and about 13,000 square feet of shops and restaurants.

Click title for rest of story.

Airport groundbreaking marks development boon

November 1, 2007
Ed Offley
WEST BAY
Celebrating a major milestone in economic development and land conservation, officials with the Panama City-Bay County Airport on Thursday morning broke ground on the long-awaited relocation project.

Cheered by a crowd of about 1,000 political leaders, business executives and county residents gathered, Airport Authority board members led by Chairman Joe Tannehill joined Florida Transportation Secretary Stephanie Kopelousos in launching construction of the $330 million effort. Kopelousos appeared on behalf of Gov. Charlie Crist, who had to forgo the ceremony for an emergency summit meeting of governors in Washington, D.C., to discuss the ongoing drought.
"I don't think any day could be any bigger, brighter and better for the future of Bay County,'' beamed Panama City Beach developer Mike Bennett as he watched the ceremony under a cloudless sky.

Relocation proponents did more than applaud the end of a decade-long planning and design process that will culminate in the opening of the new Panama City-Bay County International Airport in early 2010. They also lauded the activation of the West Bay Sector Plan, a mammoth land-use agreement approved by the Bay County Commission in 2003 that will guide the economic development of 34,000 acres and the preservation of another 41,000 acres of St. Joe Co. land spanning the State 79, State 77 and County 388 corridor.

Work starts on Bay County airport

Officials broke ground Thursday for a new Panama City-Bay County International Airport on land donated by The St. Joe Co.

St. Joe donated 4,000 acres for the airport as part of its 16,000-acre West Bay development. The $330 million airport is scheduled to open in 2010.

The first phase consists of residential units, commercial space and a hotel. The second and third phases of the project consist of industrial, commercial and retail space; residential units; a marina; and an inn.

The new airport project was praised by Gov. Charlie Crist as a model for economic development balanced with environmental protection.

"This new airport provides a tremendous economic and conservation opportunity for Northwest Florida, the state and the nation," Crist said.

Jacksonville-based St. Joe Co. (NYSE: JOE) is one of Florida's largest real estate operating companies. It focuses on real estate development and sales, with significant interests in timber.

Looking for the Best Place in the World to Retire?

Sunday, 28 October 2007
During the past 15 years, International Living magazine has calculated its Annual Global Retirement Index; a resource intended to assist retirees and future retirees in evaluating and comparing the world's most popular retirement destinations. It is based on a number of criteria, giving various weights to each, depending on its importance to retirees. Listed below are those criteria considered with their individual weighting:
Cost of Living—20%
Health Care—20%
Special Benefits—20%
Real Estate—15%
Entertainment, Recreation, and Culture—10%
Climate—5%
Safety and Stability—5%
Infrastructure—5%
Believe it or not, until this year, Panama had topped the list for the past six years. It still has plenty to offer retirees, however this year, with 30 countries being analyzed and ranked, it fell to fourth position. Ahead of Panama in third position, was Italy with its beautiful cities, its fine weather, and of course, its historic sites. In second position was, of all countries, Ecuador, which moved all the way up from the tenth position last year. Ecuador offers an extremely low cost of living, great weather, beautiful land, a growing economy tied to the US dollar, and a stable political environment. It might be a well kept secret, but Ecuador is becoming a land of opportunity and retirees are taking advantage of it.

Location, location

October 23, 2007
Developments offer amenities closer to home
By Ed Offley

PANAMA CITY BEACH
The rules for success in local real estate development have changed, and they are transforming the face of Panama City Beach and nearby Bay County.

Where once a builder simply could acquire land and throw up a mass of single-family homes or a high-rise condominium tower, the tightly competitive housing market is driving developers to embrace the new urban village concept.

Best Cities for Job Growth

By Mary Lorenz, CareerBuilder.com writer
Florida isn't just for vacationers and retirees anymore. It seems the Sunshine State is also a hub for employers and businesses eager to expand and hire more workers.

Forbes.com recently released its annual list of the 200 Best Places for Businesses and Careers, and, among those places, five Florida cities ranked in the top 10 for U.S. cities with the highest job growth. Cape Coral, Fla. held the top spot for cities with the highest job growth. Las Vegas, Nev. ranked second, followed by Naples, Fla. and Sarasota, Fla. McAllen, Tex. rounded out the top five.

Malta homes among world’s most affordable… so far

by Francesca Vella
Malta is one of the 25 most affordable housing markets worldwide, according to a Home Price Comparison Index (HPCI) study published by premier real estate provider Coldwell Banker. However a report published in Business Week hinted that this could be due to the fact that the country has not yet joined the euro area.

Apart from 317 American housing markets, the 2007 HPCI study evaluated affordability in 77 international housing markets in 28 nations outside the US.The most expensive studied international markets included (prices converted to US dollars as of 7 September this year): Dublin ($2.13 million), Milan ($1.91 million), Rome ($1.79 million) and Paris ($1.67 million), On the other hand, the most affordable international market tracked was Bogotá, Colombia, at $140,100, followed closely by Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt ($144,896) and Granada, Nicaragua ($190,000).

Foreclosure suit imperils condo development on Manatee River

Article published Oct 17, 2007

By MICHAEL BRAGA
STAFF WRITERSmichael.braga@heraldtribune.com

BRADENTON -- One of the region's largest condominium projects is the target of a foreclosure suit by one of the nation's biggest banks.If Wells Fargo's suit against the 700-unit Riviera Southshore is successful, Riviera Southshore will be the most prominent Southwest Florida project to date to succumb to the pressures of a sagging real estate market.Other projects have died, and in recent months about 200 homeowners a month have been losing their homes to foreclosure in the region.Exactly how developer Frank Maggio will respond to the suit from the nation's fourth largest bank is unclear: he did not return calls on Tuesday for comment.But people who have followed the project closely are not optimistic about its chances for survival given the state of Florida's real estate market.Maggio defaulted on a $22.3 million loan from the bank, according to the suit filed earlier this month by Wells Fargo."We would have hoped that he was better capitalized than that," said Bradenton Mayor Wayne Poston. "A lot of approved projects are not being built. All of Florida is facing that now. We're being impacted just like other communities."It would mark the end of a project that generated strong passions.

‘Perfect storm’

October 22, 2007

Beach becomes buyer’s market
By Ed Offley

PANAMA CITY BEACH
Back in the days of the thriving beachfront condominium construction boom, Realtors joked that the overhead construction cranes adorning the skyline should be designated as the official city bird.

Today, the condo crane is on the endangered species list.
In 2004, there were at least three dozen resort condo projects under various stages of construction along Bay County’s western beachfront, each one with one or two of the signature horizontal jib cranes towering overhead. Now, from St. Andrews State Park west to the county line, only the Tropic Winds condo project under development still sports such a device.

How Ecuador can take your breath away

BY AMANDA J. MILLER
Cox News Service

QUITO, Ecuador -- High above the city, 72 feet to be exact, I'm inching around the 2-foot-wide ledge of the 17th-century bell tower of the Iglesia de la Compania, trying without much success to tamp down vertigo. Oddly, I feel both terrified and exhilarated.
The tower is the perfect vantage point to view the city's crazy quilt of centuries-old buildings and modern construction.

Ecuador is noted for its outdoor travel opportunities, especially for seeing exotic animals and swimming with sea lions and giant tortoises in the Galapagos Islands. In this small country of 13 million people, you can also trek in the Amazon jungle or get close to whales cavorting off the coast. Who knew there would be nearly as many thrills in its capital city of 1.4 million people and the volcanic region around it?

A visit to Quito, designated a UNESCO World Heritage site in 1978, blends history and adventure in unexpected ways.

THE ELEVATION
The city is at a breathtaking 9,300 feet, almost twice that of ''mile high'' Denver and so high some people might suffer minor altitude sickness -- fatigue or mental confusion from thin air.
Susan Carter of Gardendale, Ala., had a mild bout when she first arrived for a visit last year with her daughter Julie, a graduate student at Auburn University who was in Quito working for the summer.

''It's just a weird feeling,'' she said, trying to describe the sensation of lightheadedness. Even climbing stairs takes an effort and your mind goes goofy, is how I'd describe it, though the symptoms dissipated within a few hours.

It's perks plus at new downtown condo developments

Services meant to cater to residents' every need will be offered: a 24-hour concierge and doorman, limousine and valet service and on-site IT concierge.

"Mandarin Oriental is often rated the top hotel group in the world, so as the five-star brand's first venture in the Midwest, this building will usher in a new era for sophisticated and gracious city living. As far as its level of service and amenities, Mandarin Oriental Tower, Chicago is poised to be the only building of its kind not just in Chicago, but throughout the entire Midwest," said Chris Kenny, chief financial officer for Palladian Development.

For information, call (312) 540-1515 or log onto www.mandarinorientaltower.com.

For complete article click title.

Las Vegas Realtors Implement New Procedures to Accommodate Foreign Buyers

High prices in international housing markets, combined with the weakening US dollar and the current slump in US housing values, have foreign investors taking another look at American real estate investments, according to local Las Vegas agent Diann Tonnesen who has noticed a marked increase in international enquiries over the past few weeks. In response, her company has put in place a new system to streamline foreign national purchases which can be a bit more complicated.

Las Vegas, NV (PRWEB) October 2, 2007 -- With the high price of foreign property, investors are bargain shopping in the United States to take advantage of the favorable rate of exchange while it lasts. One of the most popular housing areas being scrutinized is the Las Vegas real estate market, said Glen and Diann Tonnesen of Prudential Americana Group Realtors, who have been local agents for more than 24 years and have a team of agents who work with them. "Over the past few weeks we have suddenly been deluged with requests from Canada and the UK in particular. Earlier this year we would maybe get five or six international emails a week. All of a sudden we are getting four or five a day. Most seem to be looking for second homes that are relatively inexpensive compared to their native countries."

http://www.prweb.com/releases/2007/10/prweb557520.htm

Redefining price of luxury living

Spire's $40 million penthose may break new ground in city real estate

By Susan Diesenhouse Tribune staff reporter
September 27, 2007

The Chicago Spire developer has distinguished the tower he is building by its height, 2,000 feet, and by the cost, at least $1.5 billion to complete what will be the world's tallest residential high-rise.But Wednesday, Garrett Kelleher, chief executive of Shelbourne Development Ltd., left real estate circles here agog with the news that unit prices would reach as much as $40 million, or about $4,000 a square foot, for the two-floor penthouse."We've never seen anything like this in Chicago," said James M. Kinney, president of Rubloff Residential Real Estate. "There are people who are holding property that's worth a lot, but nothing at that price has traded here."

"[The developer] must be looking for someone with a large ego and large wallet who wants to say, 'I live in the highest condo in the world,'" added Kinney.Most of the 1,193 units in the 150-story Spire will be priced from about $750,000 to $10 million, Kelleher said in an interview last week.But the 10,293-square-foot penthouse "will be on the highest condo floors in the world, with 360-degree views, in a signature building designed by Santiago Calatrava with its own private elevator from the base to their floor," Shelbourne spokeswoman Kim Metcalf explained Wednesday. "Whoever buys that will have a completely unique home."In Chicago, most luxury downtown condominiums are selling for about $750 to $1,100 a square foot.At the Mandarin Oriental Tower Chicago, prices for a residential condominium reach $892 a square foot, said the developer, Gerard Kenny, president of Palladian Development LLC. At the Waterview Tower and Shangri La Hotel, residential condominiums are priced as high as $1,000 a square foot, said Sean McMahon, project manager for developer Teng Associates. At the Trump International Hotel & Tower, the average is $1,093 a square foot, Donald Trump said recently."[In recent years,] some condominium sales have quoted as high as $1,400 a square foot, but that's not the norm," Kinney said.He said the highest sale price recorded in the multiple listing service is $8.27 million, paid in November for a 10,950-square-foot penthouse at 800 N. Michigan Ave. There might be condominiums that are worth more than that, Kinney said, but they have not yet been marketed."A $40 million price, that's in the outer atmosphere," said Rick Cavenaugh, president of Chicago-based Fifield Realty Corp. "If they could get that, it would be cool, but those are New York numbers. Are we there yet? We don't know."Indeed, in New York one London-based oil industry executive reportedly agreed to pay $56 million for a triplex penthouse in the Plaza Hotel overlooking Central Park."Prices like that haven't been achieved in Chicago, but if they sell it, Shelbourne would set a new standard," he said.

Fed Slashes Interest Rates By 50 Basis Points

The Federal Reserve slashed benchmark interest rates by a half point in an agressive move to prevent the economy from moving into recession and to ease the pains of the housing bubble. The decision to cut the overnight federal funds rate from 5.25% to 4.75% was unanimous. This is the lowest level since May of 2006 and the first time the Fed has cut interest rates since June 2003. It was the first 1/2 point cut since November of 2002.

The Fed also lowered its discount rate it charges banks for direct loans by the same percentage.

"Today's action is intended to help forestall some of the adverse effects on the broader economy that might otherwise arise from the disruptions in financial markets and to promote moderate growth over time," the Fed said in a statement outlining its decision.

"The committee will continue to assess the effects of these and other developments on economic prospects and will act as needed to foster price stability and sustainable economic growth," it said.

The stock markets responded favorably by moving higher as most analysts had only predicted a 1/4 point cut. The Dow was up nearly 2.4% to 13,723 in late trading Tuesday.

The new land grab

Private equity firms and hedge funds are snapping up cheap land in markets where real estate has gone from boom to bust. Fortune's Katie Benner reports.

By Katie Benner, Fortune reporter
September 17 2007: 10:00 AM EDT

(Fortune Magazine) -- Picking off land from over-leveraged homebuilders during crashing real estate markets was once the purview of local developers. This time, however, global players, including D.E. Shaw, Apollo Real Estate Advisors, and the Rockefeller Group, are eyeing land in Florida, Colorado, California, and other subprime-ravaged states.

Their plan is obvious in the wake of the real estate meltdown: buy these hard assets and wait until the markets bounce back. "The Rockefeller Group is actively researching Florida properties that may become available for purchase," a spokesman for the New York-based investment and real estate firm told Fortune. "There are definitely opportunities for homebuilders to sell some of the land they acquired when the residential market was very strong."

To read entire story click the title.

Chicago takes lead for 2016 Olympics

By Roger Blitz
Published: September 14 2007 16:45 Last updated: September 14 2007 16:45

Chicago is the early frontrunner to host the 2016 summer Olympics after the International Olympic Committee on Friday unveiled a shortlist of seven cities that have entered the race.
Madrid, which came fourth in the final 2012 ballot, and Tokyo, which hosted the 1964 Games, are also in the field. The other shortlisted cities are Rio de Janeiro, Prague, Doha and Baku.
Prague and Madrid will be at a disadvantage because another European capital, London, is hosting the 2012 Games, Olympics observers say. With Beijing hosting next year’s Games, IOC members may feel less pressurised to award the 2016 Games to another Asian country like Tokyo.

Rio, which failed to make the official candidate list for the 2012 race, hosted the PanAmerican Games this summer and no South American city has ever staged the Games. But it is already hosting football’s 2014 World Cup.

Click title to read article

Fed may not rush to the rescue

Bernanke wants to break assumption that central bank will cut rates whenever there is turmoil in financial markets, according to WSJ.

August 30 2007: 5:01 AM EDT

FRANKFURT (Reuters) -- The U.S. Federal Reserve is not rushing to cut benchmark interest rates because it wants to break investors of the view that the central bank is there to bail them out, an article in the Wall Street Journal said on Thursday.

Fed watcher Greg Ip, without quoting specific sources, said Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke was keen to draw a distinction between keeping financial markets ticking over and ensuring a sound economy.

Click title for more informtion.

OFHEO Home Price Appreciation Slowing But Has Not Stopped

The OFHEO House Price Index (HPI) usually doesn't get too much attention (except here where we regard it as the best, or at least the most interesting of the periodic housing indicators) but this time around people began anticipating it days before it was actually issued and there was speculation that it would be the harbinger of really bad news to come.

The Index, however, did not show a nationwide drop in housing prices as had been expected, just the smallest increase in many years.

The HPI tracks average house price changes from repeat sales or refinancings of the same single family houses as obtained from data collected and maintained by Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae. The data base contains information on more than 33 million repeat transactions over the last 32 years and the "purchase only" index is based on 4.9 million transactions.

http://www.mortgagenewsdaily.com/8312007_Home_Prices.asp

Central Florida

5,700-Acre Community Planned for Central Florida August 06, 2007
By Michael Fickes, Contributing Correspondent

A 5,700-acre former ranch near Arcadia in Central Florida’s DeSoto County will provide the land for a nine-square-mile master-planned community to be developed by Cameratta Properties L.P. along with The Carlyle Group, a global private equity firm headquartered in Washington, D.C.Located near Arcadia, along major east-west and north-south highways, the new community will include more than 10,000 homes, a town center, government offices, retail stores, commercial office space, schools, houses of worship, a golf course, recreation facilities, athletic fields and walking trails. Financial details of the project were not disclosed.

According to a spokesperson for Cameratta, coastal Florida residents have begun to move to the interior of the state in search of more affordable lifestyles. Cameratta’s new master-planned community will support that trend.Cameratta and The Carlyle Group also worked together in 2003 to develop Southwest Florida’s tallest building: High Point Place, a 32 story luxury high rise condominium project on the waterfront in Fort Myers.Cameratta specializes in the acquisition, development, construction and management of residential and commercial real estate projects.With $71.4 billion under management, Carlyle invests in buyouts, venture and growth capital, real estate and leveraged finance in Asia, Europe and North America.

Port Authority approves bigger budget

August 10, 2007
Wood pellet traffic on the rise
Daniel Carson

Amid expected increased operating revenues aided by new wood pellet traffic, the Panama City Port Authority unanimously approved its fiscal year 2007-08 budget Thursday.

Executive director Wayne Stubbs said the port’s operating revenues are budgeted to increase to $10.54 million in FY 2007-08, up from a projected $8.75 million for this fiscal year, which ends Sept. 30.

Operating expenses also are budgeted to rise almost $1.3 million, to $6.6 million, and the port’s 2007-08 capital budget of $10.35 million includes $6 million for the completion of a new bulk warehouse and conveyor system.

Of the roughly $1.8 million increase in operating revenues, Stubbs said about $1.5 million of those dollars would come from docking, wharfage and handling fees related to Green Circle Bio Energy-generated wood pellets.

“We’re basing it on 200,000 tons this fiscal year,” Stubbs said.
Green Circle has announced it could produce up to 550,000 pellet tons annually.

For more information click title

Green Circle Bio Energy facility to open later this year: Wood pellet plant project on schedule

Daniel Carson STEELE CITY, Jul 28, 2007 (The News Herald - McClatchy-Tribune Information Services via COMTEX) --

For now, Steele City is not the wood pellet capital of the world.

But by this time next year, the small Jackson County enclave should see a substantial rise in log truck and rail traffic, as it becomes home to the world's largest pellet production plant.

That's because Green Circle Bio Energy's 300,000-square-foot wood pellet plant is on schedule to open later this year, project consulting engineer David Melvin said Thursday.

To read rest of story click title

10 exotic, affordable retiree havens

Exciting locales at budget prices could be in your future -- if you're willing to move from the U.S. after your working life is over.

By International Living

Once you allow yourself to look beyond U.S. shores for a place to retire, the choices get downright exciting. Mexico, sure. But how about Panama? Or France? Or Romania?
The right spot can allow you to live the life you'd only dreamed of: crashing surf, mountain air, bustling cities. You can comb beaches to your heart's content, or you can find a place to learn. You can relax, or you can find new opportunities.

Click title for more information...

Rebound Is Possible

By Lauren Baier Kim
Here's a look at what's new in real-estate markets across the U.S. from around the Web. (Some links may require registration or subscriptions.)

Where to spot a rebound

With the housing market in a downturn, where can one expect to first see signs of a housing-market recovery? In more "affordable" markets like Indianapolis and Atlanta, says a Forbes.com article, which includes a slideshow of 10 affordable metro areas in the U.S. As prices fall in these lower-priced areas, more buyers will be able to afford homes, whereas buyers in regions with higher prices may find themselves locked out: "In markets that rely more on credit, any recovery will be more muted if lending standards remain tight or tighten," the article quotes Mark Zandi, chief economist at Moody's Economy.com, as saying. However, not all markets that made the Forbes list are healthy ones -- both Cleveland and Detroit are suffering from poor local economies and the subprime-mortgage fallout, Forbes.com notes. The Web site identified "affordable" cities by looking at median home price to median household salary ratios and tracking the percentage of homes sold in the first quarter of this year that were affordable to households earning the area's median income, Forbes.com says.... click title to read the rest of the article.

Economic and Commercial Issues

Joint CommuniqueOn Tuesday, July 31, 2001, representatives of the governments of the United States and Uruguay held the inaugural meeting of the Joint Economic Council.This Council is the product of a April 24 meeting between President George W. Bush and President Jorge Batlle in Washington. At that time, the Presidents agreed on the need to strengthen and broaden the economic relations between both countries.The Presidents agreed to create the Joint Economic Council as a distinct forum for sharing and exchanging ideas on a variety of economic topics, including multilateral, regional and subregional issues, as well as shared bilateral issues.In the opening session, the heads of the delegations, Assistant Secretary of State E. Anthony Wayne and Foreign Minister Didier Opertti, provided broad descriptions of the topics to be discussed in the inaugural meeting as well as the overall objective of the Council itself. They concluded that the implementation of this Council enhances the relationship between the United States and Uruguay.

Click title for more information...

Financing

Loan Structures
OPIC Financing offers a variety of loan structures to suit the unique needs of the projects it supports.
Corporate, Project, and Hybrid Loans
Housing and Mortgage Financing
Franchise Loan
Commercial Bank On-Lending Agreements

Fact Sheet: White House Conference on the Americas

Advancing The Cause Of Social Justice In The Americas

Posted: July 9, 2007

"In the coming months, this Administration will convene a White House conference on the Western Hemisphere that will bring together representatives from the private sector, and non-governmental organizations, and faith-based groups and volunteer associations. The purpose is to share experiences and discuss effective ways to deliver aid and build the institutions necessary for strong civil society."
- President George W. Bush, 3/5/07

Going global

Head to Uruguay, Italy, and Malaysia for real estate deals that let you live la dolce vita.

By Michael V. Copeland, Business 2.0 Magazine senior writer
March 23 2007: 12:02 PM EDT

(Business 2.0 Magazine) -- With the U.S. real estate market in the doldrums, look south - way south - to Uruguay. Uru-where? The tiny South American nation is wedged between Brazil and Argentina, whose sputtering currencies have been attracting globe-trotting bargain hunters in recent years. But it's getting harder to find a real deal in those countries, with all the competition from euro-flush investors and increasingly prosperous locals. That makes largely overlooked but delightfully cosmopolitan Uruguay the place to be.

Click title for rest of story

Take charge of your IRA

More and more entrepreneurs are using their IRA funds to invest in real estate, private equity and even their own businesses.

By Jeanne Lee, FSB Magazine
May 30 2007: 10:32 AM EDT

(FSB Magazine) -- Last November, Dave Hanrahan, 37, of Vineland, N.J., decided to try something different to improve the returns in his retirement account. Rather than putting his money into the latest hot stock or biotech fund, Hanrahan used $60,000 in his self-directed IRA to purchase a small residential building lot. Thirty days later he flipped it for a tidy profit.

Ordinarily such a move would result in a capital gains tax. But because the property was held by his IRA, Hanrahan will owe no tax on the gain until decades from now when he starts taking distributions on the account. "Otherwise I would have paid about 30 percent tax on the sale," he says.

Click title for entire story....

Retirement Realty Fiesta

Hugh Bromma, The Entrust Group 07.24.07, 4:45 PM ET

We recently found that 30% of our roughly 30,000 clients who invest in real estate through self-directed IRAs were interested in investing in offshore real estate. While that might seem like a surprisingly high percentage, longtime real estate investors have been seeing the proverbial writing on the wall for some time.

Interest in offshore real estate has been slowly growing over the last few years, and real property investment opportunities for the small investor outside of the U.S. have multiplied. Add in a softening domestic real estate market, and you have the necessary ingredients for a nascent boom in real estate south of the border.

America's Fastest-Growing Suburbs

Matt Woolsey, 07.16.07, 6:00 PM ET

Los Angeles is sometimes called the "Sultan of Sprawl." But you wouldn't know it by looking at the country's fastest-growing suburbs. Not a single one falls in the L.A. metropolitan area.

Instead, Angelenos are packing their bags and heading 60 miles east to San Bernardino, where twelve of the country's 100 fastest-growing suburbs are located. Leading the pack? Beaumont. It has experienced 130% growth since 2000.

It's easy to understand why. Home prices in the Riverside-San Bernardino metropolitan area are 30% less expensive than in L.A. Add comparable household incomes to the mix, and the move from the basin to the valley makes sense.

You may click title for slide show or click link for chart below

http://www.forbes.com/forbeslife/2007/07/16/suburbs-growth-housing-forbeslife-cx_mw_0716realestate_2.html

Real-estate investors' 10 big mistakes

Don't expect to get rich in a hurry, no matter what they say on TV infomercials, and don't let the dog eat your homework. Those are among the common goofs of novice investors.

By Bankrate.com

Once the real-estate market starts to rebound, investing in property will become a more appealing idea -- either as a career or a great side job. Like any other endeavor, though, there's a right way and a wrong way to go about it.

Bankrate spoke with established, full-time real-estate investors and with professionals, such as bankers, to identify the 10 types of traps into which real-estate investors most often fall.

Click Link for more information

Burnt Store Road widening closer to receiving funding

ByCAROLYN QUINN
Staff Writer
The House Appropriations Committee approved $800,000 for transportation projects in Southwest Florida Friday, including the widening of Burnt Store Road in Punta Gorda, according to a statement released Friday by U.S. Rep. Connie Mack, R-Fla. The funding, part of the fiscal year 2008 Transportation, Housing and Urban Development Appropriations Bill, must next be approved by the full House of Representatives. The House is expected to vote on the bill within the next few weeks, according to Mack's statement.
If approved, the Burnt Store project would receive $200,000 to widen the hurricane evacuation route, which serves over 250,000 people in Charlotte and Lee counties. The road currently requires 17.3 hours of clearance time for a category-3 hurricane, which is a hurricane with winds 111-130 mph and flooding near the coast and possibly well inland, during peak hurricane season.
The characteristics of the roadway — two lanes, no shoulders, no divider and no lighting — account for the dangerous clearance time, according to Mack's statement. Additionally, the statement said, the evacuation route is prone to flooding, which added to evacuation times during Hurricane Charley.
In the statement, Mack said, “Southwest Florida is experiencing tremendous growth and we need to do all we can to ensure that our infrastructure can meet the needs of our community. I’m pleased the House Appropriations Committee has included funding for several important transportation projects in Southwest Florida, which will help to lessen congestion in the region and make our roadways safer for all drivers."
The Burnt Store project also received $250,000 in U.S. Department of Transportation funding in 2005.
In September 2006, the Charlotte County Commission unanimously approved the estimated $39 million four-lane expansion of Burnt Store Road from the Jones Loop-Burnt Store Road intersection south to the Charlotte-Lee county line, which, in addition to improving the route for hurricane evacuation, will accommodate increased traffic as more developments are built along the road, said Public Works Director Tom O'Kane.
The county plans to begin to widen a 2.4-mile section of the road from U.S. 41 to Notre Dame Boulevard by April 2008, with preliminary plans to complete the work by April 2010. This segment of the project was estimated to cost $8 million. The county has already identified funds for this segment, including $4 million in state transportation funding.
The county hopes to negotiate agreements with area developers to contribute to the road's second-segment improvements, which include the road's widening to four lanes from Notre Dame south to the Lee County line. This would make the project a collaborative effort between the county and the new projects that are planned along Burnt Store, with some costs to be absorbed by Tern Bay, Bonita Bay and other large developers, in the central portion of the road, O'Kane said.
“They have shown much interest in doing the design and implementation of the widening, which works out very well for all of us,” O'Kane said.
Developers will pay for the road's expansion in front of their respective projects through an impact-fee credit system, he said. “Rather than paying us the money, they would just as soon build the roadway in front of them for whatever their impact fees were,” he said.
Since developers are private entities, they can get permits and approvals faster than the county can, O'Kane said. If all goes according to plan, the developers will pay the equivalent of the impact fees to build the road themselves.
“We're very optimistic that that's going to get a majority of the roadway built,” he said.
The Burnt Store improvements are just part of a regional road enhancement program that includes a $14 million plan to link it with the western extension of Tuckers Grade by 2014

INC's BoomTowns 2007

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Developer cuts back homes to add retail

LAS VEGAS -- A Boston-based company working to transform a 200-acre tract in Charlotte County into a massive mixed-use development has revamped its plans in response to market conditions, adding a shopping center's worth of retail space to its original proposal.The Wilder Cos.' plans now call for 1.2 million square feet of retail space to be a part of The Loop-Punta Gorda, a 20 percent increase from designs unveiled last year.At the same time, Wilder has reduced to 500 the number of new residences that would become part of its massive project, slated for a tract near Interstate 75 and Burnt Store Road. When Wilder's plans were announced last May, plans called for 800 homes.

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The Wilder Companies Completes Purchase of 200 Acres in Florida

Published: 2006-12-05 Article Views: 785
The Wilder Companies announced today it has completed the purchase of approximately 200 acres in Punta Gorda, Florida, the high-growth community between Fort Myers and Sarasota on Florida's west coast.
BOSTON, MA (New Urban Observer) December 5, 2006 - The Wilder Companies announced today it has completed the purchase of approximately 200 acres in Punta Gorda, Florida, the high-growth community between Fort Myers and Sarasota on Florida's west coast.The land is located on either side of Jones Loop Road between I-75 and Route 41, the major commercial node in the Punta Gorda MSA. At over two million square feet, the project will be one of the area's largest and most integrated developments. It calls for 1.2 million square feet of retail, 500 residences, offices and a hotel. It is being intricately designed to fit easily and efficiently into its surroundings.

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Another Loop is Coming

The market is booming in Charlotte County, at the midpoint of Fort Myers and Sarasota on the beautiful west coast of Florida.

Encompassing 200 acres in desirable Punta Gorda is the large mixed-use project, The Loop.
The development is moving forward quickly with Phase 1 slated to break ground in 2007.
The project will contain nearly 1 million sq. ft. of retail, 800 residential units, 100,000 sq. ft. of office and 200 hotel rooms.

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The Loop on Jones Loop

10/28/06The Loop on Jones Loop

By BOB FLISS Charlotte Business Editor

Huge center's name a pure coincidence.

Talk about your happy happenstances.

The Loop -- a huge new retail and condo project designed to become a shopping destination for all Southwest Florida -- is planned for a 200-acre tract on Jones Loop Road just south of Punta Gorda.

Granted that The Loop still has to survive Charlotte County's often-tortuous regulatory review, it still promises to be the most ambitious local retail project since the Port Charlotte Town Center mall.

Indeed, the developer is hoping that The Loop will shift the entire center of gravity in Southwest Florida retailing.

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Florida Metropolitan Statistical Areas

Florida’s cities offer a great mix of big-city sophistication and small-town appeal. Each of the state’s 20 metropolitan statistical areas (MSAs) attracts businesses with its distinctive character and advantages. Defined by the U.S. Census Bureau as urbanized areas of at least 50,000 inhabitants and a total metropolitan population of at least 100,000, the MSAs include areas from contiguous counties if they meet certain criteria such as commuting time to the central counties, population density and prevalence of urban population.

The MSA profiles provide a brief overview of each metro area’s main characteristics such as infrastructure, labor force, education, business environment and largest employers.Please click on an MSA name on the map or on the list below for more information on that specific Florida metropolitan statistical area.

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U.S. Market Risk Ranks

With this issue of ERET, we are introducing a new ranking procedure that is designed to highlight meaningfuldifferences between categories of risk while minimizing focus on marginal changes in scores that do not representsignificant changes in an MSA’s risk profile.

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US Market Risk Index Report

Economic and Real Estate Trends Report by PMI

ABOUT PMI
For more than 30 years, PMI has combined its risk management expertise and financial strength to serve the evolving needs of our customers and the world’s financial markets.

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Hot Countries for Your Next Move

If you could pick any place in the world to call home, where would you go? My choices are either London (because it's packed with international visitors and residents), Singapore (because it's super clean), or Bali (because I like the beach and the food, plus it's cheap).

If you could pick any place in the world to call home, where would you go? My choices are either London (because it's packed with international visitors and residents), Singapore (because it's super clean), or Bali (because I like the beach and the food, plus it's cheap).I do think a lot about vacationing and moving. Probably because all my life, I've lived in eight cities in two countries. I'm glad I did -- it helped me make new friends easier then and helps me more adaptable to changes now. It's always fun to meet new people and explore new places, but it's definitely very different when you move as an adult. For my last move, I researched everything from crime statistics in the area to the school system (and I don't even have kids!). When I was little, my main concerns when I moved were places to play in the neighborhood and if my toys made it just fine to the new place.Now one of my life goals is to have a second home in a different country. Maybe not now since I still need to bank the money, but maybe when I get closer to retirement.How about you? Are you looking to move to another country, or getting a second home in a different country for your vacation spot? If so, which countries are on your list?

Top searched countries for real estate on AOL Search:

1) Panama real estate

2) Costa Rica real estate

3) Uruguay real estate

4) Belize real estate

5) Jamaica real estate

6) New Zealand real estate

7) Dominican Republic real estate

8) Mexico real estate

9) St. Thomas real estate

10) Bahamas real estate

Mexico Cost of Living

Feeling at Home Among the Elite in Uruguay’s Punta del Este

January 7, 2007
Frugal Traveler
Feeling at Home Among the Elite in Uruguay’s Punta del Este
By MATT GROSS

PERCHED on a bar stool and sipping a $7 Negroni, I surveyed the casino of the Conrad Hotel in Punta del Este with keen but detached interest. The slot machines blinked and burbled like exotic birds, and at the blackjack and poker tables, neatly dressed men and women glanced at their cards with stony faces. A poster near the V.I.P. rooms advertised an Enrique Iglesias concert.

I could hear the money running merrily down the drain — counterclockwise, of course: this was the Southern Hemisphere.

To say that casinos make the Frugal Traveler antsy is a vast understatement. My weekend budget of just $500 was enough for a mere five rounds of V.I.P. baccarat. In Punta del Este, on the Atlantic in the southeast corner of Uruguay, however, the casino serves another purpose: sitting at the base of the town's milelong peninsula, it's the perfect rendezvous point. The choice is as much symbolic as practical, for Punta del Este is a place devoted to celebrating money.

Punta is known as the Hamptons of South America — a haven for elites from Argentina, Brazil, Chile and beyond. It's where they come to chill with the supermodels Naomi Campbell and Gisele Bündchen at Buddha Bar, and to stock up on luxury labels like Gucci and Valentino.

Punta has other charms. Its beaches form a blond, boulder-flecked halo around the city, and in the golden light of early November, the buildings — the glinting Miami-esque towers, the immaculate old stucco hotels, the modernist glass summer homes — appear almost computer-generated in their breathtaking flawlessness. Farther inland, the rolling hills are carpeted with neat stands of pine and green-golden pastures that are home to cattle as tasty as Argentina's (tastier, Uruguayans claim).

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