Waiting for the Next Big Deal

While getting ready for the long Independence Day weekend, I got caught up on a little industry-related reading and saw this article from Gulf Coast Business Review that says commercial real estate sales volume between Tampa and Naples has fallen 82% from last year. Now, before you say “no kidding, Chester” or any variation thereof (which I admit was my initial reaction), it’s important to note why deal velocity has fallen off so much.

Turns out it has little to do with the continued frozen capital (really, in this heat?) and more to do with the continuing bid-ask gap between eager buyers and reluctant sellers. Kyle Burd with Orlando-based Eola Capital even remarked that a deal got spiked over as little as a 2% difference. Somebody at the table would have covered that out of pocket back in the crazy money days.

Digging Deep to Park Downtown

Florida’s largest office markets may not have the most expensive parking in the US, but it sure seems that way sometimes. A new report by Colliers International puts the daily median rate here at $15 and up, except Jacksonville where it’s just under $9.

There are more variables in the monthly rates, which range from $53 in Fort Lauderdale (third least-expensive market nationwide) to $133 in Tampa. Colliers measured the monthly median in Miami at $134.12, though some office landlords question that figure.

Are Condo Sales Finally Bouncing?

After months of falling prices, residential condominium sales appear to have headed back up in May. The Orlando-based Florida Association of Realtors reports that statewide prices for existing condos increased 6.4% last month, averaging $113,400, while the number of units sold jumped 21% over the year to 4,839.

It isn’t time to start popping corks and setting off fireworks just yet. Condo prices are still down 38% from last May, when the state average was $181,700. But they are finally headed back upward, and that’s something in a market where anything will do.

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)

New Solution to Golf Course Sales

With the US Open on golfers’ minds this week, it seems a good time to talk about how difficult it is to sell golf courses. Marcus & Millichap thinks it has a pretty good solution.

Steven Ekovich, director of the firm’s National Golf Group based in Tampa, says he wants to bring efficiencies to an inefficient market, bringing a new underwriting standard to golf course brokerage and valuation. Marketing packages run between 40-50 pages, versus the usual two or three, and include information such as course financials, pro forma predictions, area demographics and comparables of other courses for sale.

Too Many Rooms at the Inn?

There’s no question that fewer people are coming to Florida for vacations and holidays this summer. Yet new hotels are still unlocking rooms—and there are more to come.

At least five hotels are scheduled to open in Jacksonville between now and Labor Day, even though hotel occupancy is down 13% so far this year, according to a report in the Jacksonville Business Journal. One developer there says the concept of “build it and they will come” no longer works.

Goodbye Circuit City, Hello HHGregg

HHGregg’s expansion into Florida and other Southern states might be made a little easier and quicker by the availability of vacant stores previously occupied by former rival Circuit City. The St. Petersburg Times reports that the Indianapolis-based appliance and electronics retailer will take up as many as six stores in the Tampa Bay market by Christmas.

Customers of HHGregg that I’ve talked with, in the Sunshine State and beyond, love the stores from both price and service standpoints. It’s interesting to note that HHGregg could take up not just empty Circuit City sites, some of which are fairly new, but those of other fallen competitors such as Sound Advice.

Codina Leaves GM Board, And More

Packing up from a few splendid days roaming South Florida, a few parting thoughts:

—Armado Codina, commercial development legend and chairman of Coral Gables-based Flagler Development Group, will not be on the board of directors of General Motors when it emerges from bankruptcy, reports The Miami Herald. Codina, who has served on GM’s board since 2002, is one of six directors not named to the new board, which is being picked with input from the Treasury Department.

“Several of our directors have been on the board for quite a long time, so there is a question of whether they wanted to continue,” GM spokeswoman Julie Gibson told the newspaper. Codina was not immediately available for comment.

Magic City Showoff

Now that the NBA Finals are moving to Orlando for a few days this week, this question: Which buildings should ABC showcase to the rest of the country when it offers those panoramic shots of the city surrounding Amway Arena?

Yes, you can probably expect plenty of Disney World scenery to show up between basketball and commercials, but as we all know there’s a lot more to Orlando than theme parks. So you be the TV director, assuming someone at ESPN might be reading this blog.