Newsletter 56

Dear friends,

What happens in Florida during the summer months considered off-season? We’ve had record heat and substantial rainfall this summer, so staying cool and hydrated is at the top of everyone’s list. This is especially important for the crews handling the road construction that continues to cause frustration for drivers. It’s the obvious time to get work done to repair roads and bridges, despite the daunting weather conditions.

The extensive review of our traffic signals has begun, with the hope that it will help to reduce the frustration that drivers experience during our peak tourist season of January 1 through April 30.

A big topic of conversation among locals is the sale and future plans for the Colony Beach & Tennis Club on Longboat Key. Once a prestigious gathering place, it has fallen to disrepair after lengthy legal battles. See the article below for details.

As accredited members of the National Home Watch Association (NWHA), our bonded and insured services offer peace of mind to our clients. We take great pride in maintaining and enhancing their homes in paradise. The greatest compliment we can receive is a referral.

Visit our website for more information on our services and how we can help: Suncoast Home Concierge

Here’s some recent Suncoast area news:

FLORIDA SETS TOURISM RECORD: Florida set another tourism record during the first six months of 2016, welcoming the highest number of visitors of any six months in its history. The record amount of 57.4 million visitors is a 4.3% increase over the same period the year before. In the second quarter, 27.3 million visitors came to the state, an increase of 3.1% over the year. Visit Florida, the state’s tourism promotional unit, estimated that the record number for the first six months include more than 49 million domestic visitors. The average number of travel-related jobs in the quarter also was a record high of 1.3 million, up 4.3% over the year. Please click here for more on this story, courtesy of the Sarasota Herald-Tribune: Another tourism record

LOCAL HOME PRICES OUTPACE NATION: Home prices in Southwest Florida are still outpacing state and national increases. Single-family homes rose 7.8% in the Sarasota-Manatee region in June over the year, dates provider CoreLogic reported. Florida posted the nation’s sixth-highest home appreciation rate. “Mortgage rates dipped in June to their lowest level in more than three years, supporting home purchases,” said Frank Nothaft, chief economist at CoreLogic. There’s more on this story here: Home prices on the rise

COLONY DEMOLITION MAY START SOON: Today, the Colony Beach & Tennis Club looks like the set for a horror movie. Its legal history is nearly as frightening. But by the end of 2020, the debris-filled tennis courts, rusted stairways and boarded-up wooden buildings could be replaced with a five-star resort and condominiums. Orlando-based Unicorp National Developments Inc. recently closed on the $22 million purchase of the once world-known tennis resort. It’s a move that expected to end six years of litigation and eventually pump $1 billion worth of new life into the 18 acres of premiere beachfront property on the southern end of Longboat Key. Originally constructed in 1973, the Colony held a reputation as one of the top tennis resorts in the country. When the five-star resort makes its debut on New Years Eve 2020, it will do so without the tennis component. Unicorp has plans to bulldoze the property and start from scratch. Increased traffic will likely be a sticking point with Longboat Key residents. Please click here for more: Colony demolition

TURTLE HATCHLINGS SHATTER RECORDS: Just shy of 4,200 sea turtle nests have been laid along Sarasota and Manatee County beaches so far this year, according to Mote Marine Laboratories. That is more than twice last year’s record 1,714 nests, with three months left in the 2016 nesting season. Nests have been found on every beach along the 35 miles of shoreline from Venice to Longboat Key by Mote’s Sea Turtle Patrol, which includes teams of scientists and volunteers who scour the beaches for new nests every morning, according to a news release. The largest increases came on Longboat and Casey Keys. Follow the jump for more: Turtle nests

COLLABORATING TO SAVE CORAL: Mote Marine Laboratory & the University of Guam Marine Laboratory have forged a new partnership that organizers say will benefit scientists, students and faculty while enhancing collaboration in marine research and science education. The agreement would have Mote and UOG explore opportunities to partner in teaching, introduce more undergraduate students to the coral reef science at Mote’s research facility on Summerland Key in the Florida Keys, and share research and education facilities and infrastructure. There’s more here: Coral collaboration

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