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.”

Value Drawdown Not As Bad

Brevard County could serve as a good example of how commercial real estate values look in all 67 counties of Florida. An analysis by Melbourne’s Florida Today shows that commercial property in the east-coast county fell 6% last year, to $13.8 billion as of Jan. 1, while residential property slipped 24% to $34.5 billion.

However, the article notes that the taxable value of Brevard commercial properties increased by about $200 million to $7.8 billion, “largely because of increases in the agricultural value of farm land as well as the value of new construction.” Most owners will get lower property bills this year.

Can Obama Control Wall Street?

Florida is a long way from Wall Street, yet what happens up there definitely affects the way things are done down here. Now President Barack Obama is attempting to pull back the reins on the bulls and bears.

In a Monday speech at New York City’s Federal Hall, covered by GlobeSt.com, Obama said pointedly that “the old ways that led to this crisis cannot stand” and that Wall Street can no longer rely on taxpayer bailouts when risks go bad. He also touted the most ambitious overhaul of the financial system since the Great Depression, though he didn’t offer specifics.

Heading to Capitol Hill

Sometimes it takes a while for Congress to catch on to an impending crisis, but now commercial real estate has finally caught its collective attention. In case you missed it, my colleague Erika Morphy covered the topic at GlobeSt.com.

Basically, the commercial mortgage market is seen as the other shoe to drop for a banking system already strained by tons of residential loans gone bad. It could be up to Congress to take action, not necessarily a bailout but something that would stem the perceived hurricane of debt coming due over the next few years.

Second Chance for Miami 21

It ain’t over ’til it’s over, and so it appears for the Miami 21 proposal being pushed by Mayor Manny Diaz. A new vote on the measure by the City Commission is set for next Friday, Sept. 4.

Miami 21 was practically declared DOA after an Aug. 6 vote ended in a 2-2 tie. Diaz vowed not to give up, so we’ll see if anyone changed their minds over the past month.

Grove Sound-Off: Too Many Banks?

Drive around any city or town in Florida and you’re likely to find bank branches scattered about. Some have familiar names; others you’ve probably never even heard of before.

Ever since the late 1990s when Jacksonville-based Barnett Bank merged with NationsBank, which was then swallowed by Bank of America, an entire spate of new banks was established statewide. Some opened to counter the perceived lack of customer service resulting from megabanks, while others were established as bait for those same big fish as a way to help stockholders make a quick killing on their investment.

Getting Ready for ICSC, And More

As the deadline for another issue of Real Estate Florida approaches, allow me to declutter my mind and desk a little:

• The International Council of Shopping Centers is hosting its annual Florida Conference next week at Gaylord Palms in Kissimmee, with at least 5,000 expected in attendance. A slight amount of falloff is expected because of the recession and a perceived shutdown in retail development, but don’t expect empty corridors and booths.

“It’s not going to be a doom-and-gloom conference,” says Dale Scott, ICSC state director. “The retail developer is as creative a person as you’re going to find. They’ll figure out a way to adapt to what is out there. The attitudes are changing.”

Now It’s Called Amendment 4

Gov. Charlie Crist’s hesitant decision to sign Senate Bill 360 into law may have inadvertently put the Florida Hometown Democracy proposal on a fast track toward passage next year. The Florida Supreme Court last week certified the longtime movement’s efforts to garner the required number of signatures to put it on the 2010 general election ballot, and now Secretary of State Kurt Browning has given it a new name: Amendment 4.

Now the fight is really on after three previous failed attempts to put Hometown Democracy on the ballot in 2004, ’06 and ’08. Opponents of the measure, also nicknamed “Vote on Everything,” range from Naiop to the Florida Chamber of Commerce.

Waiting for 10%? We’re There

It hurts to report news like this, but the Florida Agency for Workforce Innovation released its latest unemployment stats Friday and, as was expected soon enough, we have topped the 10% mark. That’s 943,000 of our neighbors out of work by last month’s count.

Palm Coast had the state’s highest metropolitan jobless rate in May at 14.4%. Among major metros, Tampa-St. Petersburg reached 10.6%, Orlando matched the statewide average at 10.2%, Jacksonville hit 9.7% and Miami-Fort Lauderdale was 9.4%. More details can be found at the FAWI Web site.

(Related: Robert Knakal’s StreetWise blog)