Train’s A-Comin’, Now What?

The excitement over Florida’s new high-speed rail line might be greater … if we hadn’t heard about it so many times before. President Barack Obama brought the state $1.25 billion as a down payment Thursday, and now we find ourselves asking, “What do we do now?”

That big chunk of stimulus funding, while much appreciated, is only the beginning of a long process that has good intentions (job creation, reduced dependence on cars and so forth) but is going to get expensive in the long run. Nobody really knows how much of the 84-mile line between Tampa and Orlando can be covered by Obama’s oversized check, and it doesn’t even factor in the even longer track proposed to Miami.

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.

Flipping Magazine Pages Online

Wait a minute, Mr. Postman! The latest issue of Real Estate Florida is being delivered strictly online.

That’s right, the magazine you look forward to getting in your traditional mailbox is available only in digital format this time around. All of our issues are accessible online so that’s not new, but this is our first edition that you can flip through and read exclusively on your computer screen.

Lee Offers Its Own Stimulus

Lee County is putting up $25 million in cash incentives to fund expansion and relocation at a time when money for economic development is limited. It ain’t nearly as much as the $787-billion stimulus being put up by the Obama Administration, but it’s still significant.

The Lee County Economic Development Office will manage the initiative, dubbed FIRST (Financial Incentives for Recruiting Strategic Targets), aimed at high-value business projects. Target industries include life sciences, aviation, shared services, information technology and manufacturing.

Grove Sound-Off: What Can Obama Do for CRE?

One day into his new administration, President Barack Obama is already grabbing the reins of the Troubled Assets Relief Program where it concerns the use of those funds by banks. As Erika Morphy reports on GlobeSt.com: “One likely development that will be welcome to CRE is a greater focus on accountability for banks that choose to tap the billion-dollar-plus program.”

It’s early in the game yet, and the euphoria from Tuesday’s historic inauguration may take a while to wear off. But here’s your chance to put it out there: What would you like to see Obama do for CRE in the next four years, especially here in Florida?

Grove Alert: Other Execs Change Jobs

Aside from Barack Obama replacing George W. Bush in our nation’s highest office Tuesday, a few other executives changed positions within Florida commercial real estate.

Michael F. Beale has departed Highwoods Properties Inc. as senior vice president and regional manager at its Orlando office. Beale, who also serves on the Real Estate Florida editorial advisory board, is starting his own enterprise called Beale Commercial Real Estate, based in the Seaside Bank building in Downtown Orlando.

Grove Sound-Off: Obama and CRE

Now that Barack Obama will soon take up residence at the White House, presidential prognostication can turn in a different direction. Specifically, what impact will the new Democratic leadership have on commercial real estate in Florida?

Speculation on the subject was under way well before Tuesday night’s election returns became clear, even in spite of our fair state’s efforts to muck things up again (it’s practically tradition by now). One CRE executive from South Florida tells me he thinks the investment market will “freeze in its footsteps” until Obama fully discloses his formula for capital gains taxation.

So, what’s your take on the Obama Administration’s effect on CRE?

Kemp Still Has Game Left

After hearing football/political legend Jack Kemp at RealShare Central Florida on Thursday in Kissimmee, one might wonder whether the right guys are running for president this year. (Read more about the conference here and here.)

Never mind that Kemp has done that a few times before, or that he was a vice presidential running mate in 1996. Now a Washington, DC-based consultant, he remains a staunch advocate for lowering taxes on businesses, which he has tried to convince fellow Republican John McCain to do, and rails against Democratic opponent Barack Obama for proposing to raise them.