A Condo for Christmas?

As long as prices are being slashed to spark a few more sales before Santa Claus hits your neighborhood, maybe we should count residential condominium units among those bargains. Florida Realtors report that the number of units sold statewide more than doubled in November year over year, to 4,889, while the median price per unit slipped 21% to $104,400.

The good news here (see, it isn’t all bad) is that condos haven’t fallen out of six-figure range yet, but prices have continued to slide even as sales volume has increased over the past year or so. Clearly there are buyers for these units, but who are they? Investors waiting for a market rebound, or individuals taking advantage of a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to own a second home in the Sunshine State?

Downtown Jax Worth Reviving

Jacksonville has arguably one of the prettiest city skylines in Florida, including three of the state’s largest office towers. However, a street-level view of the urban core reveals trouble that can’t be seen as easily from a scenic distance.

The Florida Times-Union published a detailed analysis of the current state of Downtown Jacksonville that covers ways to bring it back to life, borrowing concepts from other cities across the country. While being located along an ocean coast offers some advantages, it doesn’t insulate it from economic woes that affect every sector of commercial real estate.

Beale, Bishop Forge New Bond

Oftentimes in commercial real estate, responding to opportunity means joining forces. That’s exactly what two industry veterans have done in the Central Florida market.

Michael Beale and Billy Bishop recently formed BishopBeale, a full-service commercial advisory firm based near Downtown Orlando. The longtime acquaintances combine at least four decades of industry experience, along with more than $200 million worth of investments and commercial properties.

…And We’re Baaack!

After a bit of a hiatus resulting from a combination of surgery, medical leave and changes at ALM’s Real Estate Media Group, I’m happy to present the reactivation of Commercial Grove. Though there are still a few days left on this year’s calendar, we might as well get 2010 under way early (without canceling vacations and holidays, of course).

While this blog focuses specifically on Florida commercial real estate, it gets quite a bit of readership well beyond our dual shores courtesy of GlobeSt.com. That makes this a potentially good outlet to spread the word on deals, changes and general news of interest to industry types.

If you have something interesting to pass along, e-mail it to cwcronan@gmail.com or post it in the comments section here. Many thanks, happy holidays and best of luck in the new year!

Rothstein May Face Eviction

The former law firm of embattled attorney Scott Rothstein firm didn’t pay rent on its Miami office in November, and the landlord either wants the money or the space, Terry Sheridan writes in the Daily Business Review, an ALM publication.

Blue Capital US East Coast Properties asked for almost $23,000 on 7,300 square feet leased by Rothstein Rosenfeldt Adler at Bank of America Tower at International Place. It seeks a decision on whether the firm’s bankruptcy trustee will keep or abandon the space.

Foreclosure Supply Vs. Demand

It doesn’t make sense to commercial real estate investors that they aren’t seeing a steady stream of foreclosed assets for sale. So what’s the deal, they ask a guy like John Bell, managing director of DTZ Rockwood in Miami.

“Investors were expecting a flood of distressed real estate to hit the market, but this has not materialized,” says Bell, who recently issued a special report on the subject. Instead, he explains, lenders are employing the “extend and pretend” method, extending maturing loans for a year or two hoping for a market rebound.

Industrial Isn’t That Bad … Yet

A veteran industrial broker has a few things to say about Susan Ruby’s recent column for GlobeSt.com observing whether the industrial sector has bottomed out in Florida. Ted Bywater, chairman of Orlando-based Bywater Co., has a deeper perspective on the sector dating back to the mid-1970s downturn.

“In those days, there was almost no business. No one was moving into town and no one was expanding,” Bywater recalls. Even after an Orlando economic development group placed ads in the Wall Street Journal offering warehouse space for sale as low as $7 per square foot, there were still no takers, he says.

Panama City Clear for Takeoff

It appears the $500-million investment in Panama City’s new international airport is already starting to pay dividends, with Southwest Airlines pledging to start jet service to and from the Panhandle vacation spot next spring. The popular Dallas-based low-fare carrier has a strategic alliance agreement with the airport’s developer, Jacksonville-based St. Joe Co., for eight daily nonstop flights.

Southwest’s arrival is expected to stimulate job growth and economic development within Northwest Florida, along with providing another option to bring travelers from around the country to its beaches, says Britt Greene, St. Joe president and CEO. The major state landowner is building the airport on 4,000 acres as part of its massive 75,000-acre Bay West development.

Seminoles Put On Pressure

The Seminole Tribe of Florida, which already has a potentially lucrative gambling pact with Gov. Charlie Crist, is trying to convince the state Legislature to approve it. Their message, in so many words: We want it all and we want it now!

James Allen, CEO of gaming operations for the Seminoles, made the tribe’s wishes known at the Florida Gaming Summit on Tuesday in Hollywood, as covered by the Miami Herald. Lawmakers might have heard him better had he made his remarks in Tallahassee, but Hollywood just seems a friendlier venue to make an argument for more gambling, doesn’t it?

Rubbing a Genie Lamp

The so-called “great recession” may be over by now, but the recovery process will still take some time, says a University of Central Florida economist. Sean Snaith, director of the UCF Institute for Economic Competitiveness in Orlando, likens the recovery to a “genie lamp” rather than a “gravy boat,” reflecting the longer recovery period that will likely last into 2011.

“We are now in the recovery/rehabilitation phase after the economy’s treatment for the credit infarction,” Snaith writes in the center’s most recent US forecast. “The economy is not out of the intensive care unit, but still in serious condition. The quadruple policy bypass performed by the Federal Reserve Bank and the federal government did indeed save the economy from a much more dire fate, but the recovery from this trauma will be slower than many had hoped it would be.”