Newsletter 138

NEWS FROM THE SUNCOAST …..

LAWMAKERS SWEETEN MARKET FOR INSURANCE COS

New limits on lawsuits, changes that will push homeowners out of Florida’s state-backed insurer and another $1 billion in taxpayer money to bolster the troubled property insurance industry were approved last week by the state Senate.  The legislation is expected to end this week’s special session that was called by lawmakers to stabilize a staggering insurance market that was further rocked by September’s Hurricane Ian. The bill, approved 27-13 by the Senate, is decidedly industry-friendly. But it comes with no guarantee that premium rates will drop. Still, for customers — especially the 1.1 million policyholders in state-supported Citizens Property Insurance Corp. — the measure will certainly have an impact. Citizens now has double the number of policyholders from two years ago, as Floridians who can’t find private coverage to meet mortgage requirements are relying on getting a state-backed policy. But under the bill, people would be barred from renewing Citizens’ policies if a private insurer offered one that was within 20% of Citizens’ premium. That’s basically the same requirement for first-time Citizens’ policy-seekers. New standards are also added. First-time Citizens’ customers in a flood zone would be required to have flood insurance, beginning in April. Homeowners renewing Citizens’ policies in flood prone areas would need the added coverage by July. For more on this story, courtesy of Tallahassee Democrat, please click here: Lawmakers Sweeten Insurance Market

IAN 2ND BIGGEST INSURED LOSS EVER

Fort Myers Beach Vice-Mayor Jim Atterholt says even if they believe it, residents shouldn’t publicly mention that the town’s recovery may take five years because it’s bad for business.”I’m hearing some things around the island that give me great concern. I hear that ‘It’s going to take five to 10 years to rebuild our island,'” Atterholt said. “For the people who keep talking about five years, seven years, I wish they’d knock it off.” As with Hurricane Charley’s battering almost two decades ago, the market to some extent will help determine the timeline in the Hurricane Ian aftermath, Town Council member Bill Veach said. “We’ve got a lot of folks who are older who are making decisions about whether they’re going to rebuild or whether they’re going to sell and move along with their life,” Atterholt said of the population that had a median age of 66 in the 2020 Census and does include younger families. “We’re going to lose people who visit our island to other communities. This is a competitive market out there.” It prompted Atterholt to coin a term. “This season’s going to be rough. We’re not going to have a season like we normally did,” he said. “But the next season next year — 2023 — we will be a functional paradise once again.” Ian will rank as the second-largest insured loss in world history, behind 2005’s Hurricane Katrina, according to a new analysis recently by reinsurer Swiss Rethat is putting the number at up to $65 billion. At the forefront for Fort Myers Beach: 2.5 million cubic yards of debris, well more than the 1.95 million the entire Lee County had after Hurricane Irma’s slamming in 2017 and more than New York City’s 2 million after 2012’s Hurricane Sandy. The Beach has enough to fill the Empire State Building almost twice. Under 25% of that amount had been collected by the end of November, nine weeks after Ian’s demolishing. To read more on this story, courtesy of News-Press, please click here: Ian 2nd Biggest Loss Ever

NO RAYS SPRING TRAINING AT PARK THIS YEAR

The Tampa Bay Rays said they will not be hosting spring training at Charlotte Sports Park this year because of significant damage from Hurricane Ian. The destruction the Port Charlotte stadium sustained during the Category 4 storm is too significant to have it ready in time for the spring training season, according to a joint statement from the baseball team and Charlotte County. In the coming weeks, the county and the Rays said they will develop a restoration plan for the stadium, which sits on El Jobean Road. “We are all disappointed for the residents of Charlotte County and the fans there,” the statement read. “The community is in the thoughts and hearts of the Rays, and the team will continue to support recovery efforts.” The statement offered no specifics on damage to the park, potential repair costs or the length of the assessment. Brian Gleason, a spokesman for Charlotte County, declined to provide more details when asked recently. The Rays have held spring training in Port Charlotte since 2009. The total economic impact of fans attending Tampa Bay Rays games in Charlotte County was estimated to be about $6.1 million this past year, according to a study from Research Data Services of Tampa. Please click here to read more, courtesy of Sarasota Herald-Tribune: No Rays Spring Training At Charlotte

WARM MINERAL SPRINGS TO REOPEN

Warm Mineral Springs will be open by the end of April as the city plans to take over operations itself, but the timing isn’t soon enough for frustrated residents who spoke to the North Port City Commission recently. When the park does open, it will be under direct control of North Port Parks and Recreation and not the current vendor, National and State Park Concessions, as the board voted to give the vendor 90 days’ notice that its contract will be terminated. Warm Mineral Springs closed Sept. 27, in anticipation of the arrival of Hurricane Ian. After the storm, the three historic buildings at the park were condemned and the park has remained closed ever since. During a staff presentation recently, City Manager Jerome Fletcher said that significant progress has been made to return the site to pre-hurricane conditions. The cost to reopen the park on a temporary basis has been estimated at between $85,500 to $119,500, with the monthly operating costs pegged at between $13,000 and $15,000 a month. Currently the city is evaluating a proposal from Warm Mineral Springs Development Group LLC that would see it lease the 21.6-acre area around the springs for 99 years and acquire ownership of the other 61.4 acres that it would develop. As part of that process, the city must also solicit competitive proposals. Interested in reading more, then click here: Warm Mineral Springs To Reopen

SNOOK HAVEN TO REOPEN

Snook Haven, the popular restaurant and entertainment venue on the Myakka River, will officially reopen in early January, following a decision recently by the Sarasota County Commission to extend the Venice Pier Group’s lease on the property through April 7, 2024. Justin Pachota, president of the Venice Pier Group, said that there could be an unadvertised soft opening of the restaurant the week of Christmas, with his biggest concern being the hiring of staff for the restaurant. Snook Haven, at 5000 E. Venice Ave., closed Sept. 27, in anticipation of Hurricane Ian, and remained closed after flooding by the Myakka River from the storm left the grounds under roughly four feet of water. “We’ve been working hard to get it reopened, even in anticipation of this approval,” Pachota said. “We’ll absolutely be open by January and we’ll have a published opening.” The County Commission, as part of its consent agenda, approved the lease extension and allowed VPG to receive up to $175,000 in credit on its lease payment as compensation for its effort to remediate flood damage and reopen the restaurant. Sarasota County still plans to replace the aging facility – which dates back to 1958 – with a new 1,500-square-foot food concession building and an open-air pavilion designed to maximize views of the Myakka River. Without the extension, the Venice Pier Group’s 10-year lease operate the facility would have expired in July 2023. There’s more on this story here: Snook Haven To Reopen

RENTS UP AFTER IAN

While much of the rest of the country saw rents decrease in November, the areas hardest hit by Hurricane Ian bucked the national trend with increases for the second month in a row, according to two reports that track rental data across the United States. The Florida Atlantic University report on rents in the 100 most populous metro areas noted that 68 saw rents decrease. However, the Cape Coral-Fort Myers and North Port-Sarasota-Bradenton metropolitan areas saw rents shoot up 1.9% and 1.4%, the second-and fourth-highest month-over-month increases in the country, according to FAU data. Another report on monthly rent trends compiled by the online listing service Apartment List had the Fort Myers, Sarasota and Naples metros with the highest monthly rent increases in the country. The FAU report does not include the Naples metro area as it is not among the 100 most populous. Ken H. Johnson, an economist with FAU, said that, given the steep rent increases in Southwest Florida, combined with rent decreases across the country, Hurricane Ian, which struck in late September, is the likely cause. Johnson said that in recent months, trends indicate rents had been returning to historic rates of increase following rapid run-up in costs across the country. Since the COVID-19 pandemic, rents in Sarasota’s metro area have increased by 46.7%, but rents had been on the decrease for several months before Hurricane Ian made landfall in Southwest Florida. In July, they went down by as much as 2.3%. Please follow the jump for more on this story: Rents Up After Ian

FPL BILLS TO GO UP THREE TIMES IN 2023

Electric bills for Florida Power & Light customers are expected to increase not once, not twice, but at least three times next year. One increase was expected, having been built into a base rate settlement approved in 2021. Another is the effect of the end of a one-month refund, thanks to the Inflation Reduction Act that Congress passed this summer. And the third, the Juno Beach-based utility says, is because of the impact of the war in Ukraine on natural gas prices. But on the third cost increase, customers won’t know the full amount until January, a delayed decision by FPL that has been objected to by the state’s utility consumer watchdog. The base rate for a FPL customer who uses 1,000 kilowatt hours of power in a month was set to increase by roughly $5 in January. That was prescribed as part of last year’s agreement between FPL, intervening parties and the Florida Public Service Commission, which regulates how much the utility can charge its 12 million customers across Florida. With the base rate increase and changes to the pass-through fees, which are separate line items on bills, such as fuel costs, a 1,000 kwh monthly bill would go up from $120.67 in December to $130.23 the next month. Two months later, customers are expected to see another bill hike as the utility seeks to recoup fuel costs it spent to run its power plants in 2022, FPL officials said. Toward the end of each year, electric utilities seek approval from the PSC for how much they intend to spend the following year on certain costs that are ultimately passed through to customers, like fuel or storm-protection projects, as well as “true-up” readjustments if costs from previous years were over- or under-collected. There’s more on this story here: FPL Bills To Increase 3 Times

OUTDOOR DINING TO STAY, FOR NOW

Sarasota will extend its pandemic-era policy of allowing outdoor dining in public parking spots until at least March 31. The policy was set to end on Dec. 31, but some downtown restaurants opposed the expiration. City manager Marlon Brown told commissioners recently that he will extend the policy for three months, which will give the city attorney time to research whether Sarasota can permanently implement this type of outdoor dining. During the pandemic, Sarasota let restaurants apply for a permit that allows them to use on-street public parking spaces as dining areas. City spokeswoman Jan Thornburg said that 19 businesses originally had these permits, but that number has since decreased to 15.

The planned expiration met resistance from downtown restaurants, including Duval’s Fresh. Local. Seafood. Last Friday, the popular seafood restaurant sent an email to patrons encouraging them to come to the City Commission meeting and wear white in support of local businesses and outdoor dining. Liz Williams, the front of house manager at Brick’s Smoked Meats, said at the meeting that the expansion of outdoor dining has added many new seats to downtown restaurants and created new jobs. She added that it allows immunocompromised people or other individuals who don’t feel comfortable eating inside to still be able to visit restaurants. Williams noted that ending the practice would “definitely dampen the currently vibrant downtown atmosphere.” Please click here for more: Outdoor Dining To Stay For Now

MAJOR ROUNDABOUT TO OPEN SOON

Sarasota motorists will before long be able to drive in and out of a roundabout at the intersection of Gulfstream Avenue and U.S. 41. Construction crews have been building the roundabout since 2021. It’s in a key spot in Sarasota, as residents and visitors pass through the intersection on their way to St. Armands, Lido and Longboat keys. The Florida Department of Transportation anticipates that the project will be completed by mid-spring of 2023, but the roundabout will open sooner. FDOT spokesman Adam Rose said that workers are constructing roadway templates for the approaches to the roundabout, and those templates should be ready for asphalt in the next three weeks. Once the paving is done, motorists will start using the roundabout. The $8.6 million undertaking began in March of 2021. Over the course of the project, the intersection has been home to a few different traffic patterns. There were traffic delays when one of those patterns (Phase 1A) went into effect last year, and some residents were confused by the changes to the intersection. Those traffic delays decreased, though, as motorists became more familiar with the pattern and signal timing was adjusted. Motorists now pass through a pattern called Phase 2A, which has been in effect since late summer. The project was originally expected to be completed this fall, but it was delayed. Rose said that materials and resources were diverted from the project to Hurricane Ian recovery efforts. Much work has been done on the project already. Rose said recently that all underground drainage and utility work is finished, and curb placement is 90% complete. After the roundabout opens, the project won’t be over, yet. FDOT will still have work to do on the medians and sidewalks. Rose noted that occasional lane closures are expected while these final elements are completed. He said they’ll try to close lanes during off-peak hours to reduce impacts on traffic. 

Please click on the link for more: Major Roundabout To Open

NO ST. ARMANDS HOTEL, CONDOS FOR NOW

The city of Sarasota has decided against considering a proposal that could bring boutique hotels and condo units to St. Armands Circle. A board that represents the circle’s property owners would like the city to update the circle’s zoning regulations, envisioning that hotel rooms or condos could be located on the second floor of some buildings. The first floor would continue to be occupied by businesses. For hotels to be allowed on the circle, the city would have to amend its Zoning Code. But, recently, city commissioners unanimously denied the St. Armands board’s request to have city planning staff develop zoning amendments. They expressed concerns about traffic, and some worried about increasing development on the barrier islands. The St. Armands Business Improvement District’s board of directors, which represents the circle’s property owners, came up with the proposal. The board sees flaws in the city’s current zoning regulations for St. Armands. “Our zoning needs to be cleaned up on St. Armands,” said Tom Leonard, the board’s chair. “There’s some holes in it.” The board proposed that the code be amended to promote mixed-use development in the district. Hotels, for example, would be allowed on the second floor of buildings on the circle. Leonard said he thinks the circle could be home to a few small boutique hotels. Condos are another aspect of the business improvement district board’s proposal. Residential uses are currently allowed on St. Armands Circle. However, Leonard said the requirements for the number of parking spaces that must accompany a residential property make it impractical for property owners to install condos there. Some residents of St. Armands and Lido keys expressed concerns about the board’s plan during a recent City Commission meeting. A lawyer representing the Lido Key Residents Association said the proposal would increase density on a barrier island that already has traffic and parking issues. There’s more on this story here: No Hotels Or Condos On St. Armands For Now

ANOTHER SIESTA KEY HOTEL GETS THE NOD

How impressed with Dave Balot were members of the Sarasota Board of County Commissioners? For starters, it was Nancy Detert who made the motion recently to approve his plans to build a six-story, 112-room hotel at 5810 Midnight Pass Rd. – where the old Wells Fargo bank once stood. She happens to be the only commissioner who voted against both of the two high-rise hotels the commission approved last winter. “The difference is night and day,” she said of Balot’s proposal when compared to the hotels that got the green light at Calle Miramar near the Village (eight stories, 170 rooms) and Old Stickney Point Road near the south bridge (seven stories, 120 rooms). “He understands the community. The other two were unbudging and in-your-face greedy.” What transpired was a 5-0 vote in favor. It came on the heels of an 8-0 recommendation by the county’s planning commission in September. Neither of the two previously approved hotels had unanimous support at either level. “You’re being rewarded for your community interaction, and you did everything to support our rules,” Detert told Balot. “You did it right.” Even the 10 speakers in opposition of Balot’s plan acknowledged, without exception, that Balot was forthcoming and a pleasure. However, several of them told the board that while Balot was open to revisions and adjustments during conversations, only one item of concern – raising a concrete barrier around his property from 6 feet in height to 8 – ever made its way to the fine print of the proposal that was ultimately approved. Others that needed to be in writing, said opposing resident Eileen Jones who is a board member of the Siesta Key Coalition and an ambassador with Save Siesta Key incorporation group, included details about trees being planted on the hotel’s south boundary, the posting of no-trespass signs on neighboring private-beach properties, posting of various rules in hotel rooms, and some roadway signage that addressed traffic flow and turn lanes. Added Darrel Peters, a board member with neighboring Gulf & Bay Club, the promises “were only oral – there’s no written documentation.” Among those concerns was how to manage stormwater runoff. Catherine Luckner, president of the Siesta Key Association, said the construction would leave the hotel’s footprint 75.7% impervious – problematic for an area already known for flooding. Other concerns included what Bob Luckner of the Siesta Key Association and the Siesta Key Coalition argued was an insufficient traffic study, while others reminded commissioners that local setback interpretations remained in a state of chaos after county staff acknowledged in January that the other hotels were approved despite an oversight regarding language in the codes. Beyond all that, reminders were also voiced about how the approvals of the other hotels were soon to be in question via lawsuits alleging the county violated its own codes. Thus, there should be no hurry or purpose in rendering a decision seeing as the Balot hotel would also be in limbo for now. “You should table this, and see where you are in the litigation,” Patricia Petruff, a land-use attorney representing the anti-hotel Siesta Key Coalition, said. “Should you approve another one? Is that the best use of the taxpayers’ dollars?” All these objections, including others, were previously voiced to the planning commission.

Click here for more, courtesy of Siesta Sand: Another Siesta Key Hotel Gets OK’d

SEARS BUILDING SELLS FOR $10.75M

The former Sears building at Sarasota Square Mall has sold for $10.75 million, a move that puts the dying mall in a better position for redevelopment than ever. The property’s buyer, Torburn Partners of Northbrook, Illinois, is the same company that owns the mall’s main structure, including the Costco warehouse and the AMC Theatres. Torburn also owns the former Macy’s building on the shopping center’s west side. With its Sears purchase, it now owns three out of four available land parcels at the Sarasota Square site at U.S. 41 and Beneva Road. The mall has been slowly fading as a shopping destination for years, thanks to the Great Recession, the rise of e-commerce and competition across the street from Benderson Development Co.’s Pelican Plaza. Sarasota County officials have discussed breaking it up or turning parts of it into affordable housing. But one of the biggest obstacles to redevelopment has been too many separate property owners. Now that Torburn owns the Sears building, that could change. “They need to get control of it, and that’s what they’re trying to do. Then, it becomes an incredibly valuable piece of property,” Barry Seidel, president of American Property Group of Sarasota, Inc., said. “If they have control of it, they can start to put together a development plan.” The Illinois company has spent about $35.3 million on Sarasota Square properties over the past two years. It purchased the Macy’s structure for $5.5 million in May 2021 and the main mall structure for $19 million four months later. The mall was a steal, considering that previous owner Unibail Rodamco Westfield bought it for $77 million in 2003. Westfield lost the mall in foreclosure just after COVID-19 hit.

Please click here for more: Sears Building Sells For $10.75M

A LOOK BACK AT REAL ESTATE TRENDS IN 2022

This is an editorial from Coldwell Banker’s Duff Rubin.

To say that 2022 has been a tale of many trends in the real estate market would be an understatement. In Sarasota, specifically, real estate has shown growth, incredible demand, price increases, bidding wars, and supply shortages, to name a few. Factor in a Category 4 hurricane hitting the region in late September as well as rising interest rates and it has made the fourth quarter look different than the rest of 2022. According to Ellen O’Day, the managing broker for two of our Coldwell Banker Realty offices in Sarasota, closings and interest briefly slipped this quarter, but are already picking up again. New construction homes with construction delays have had closings move to late December or even January. Listings are picking up, which will help a local market that has been short on supply the entire year. “Sellers are listening more to their agents and being more realistic with asking prices,” noted O’Day. “We still need better inventory for our middle of the road buyers, such as the $400,000 to 700,000 range. And builders continue to contact us, looking for property to develop in Sarasota County.” This has allowed buyers a slight reprieve in having to make a same-day decision in the under $1 million market. Bidding wars are not as frequent, and buyers are not being forced into potentially rash decisions on such an important purchase decision. Some potential buyers who left the market after getting repeatedly outbid, are returning. The Sarasota luxury real estate market is still experiencing a good deal of demand. A property priced over several million was just listed by our Longboat Key office and was under contract in a single day. Cash sales are also still a large part of Sarasota home sales. Some months, cash sales account for at least 75% of the sales in our Longboat Key location. With this number of cash buyers, who aren’t affected by what mortgage interest rates are doing, Sarasota remains a strong real estate market. Florida, as a whole, has always be in demand ‒ the weather, the beaches, the outdoor activities, the long list of things to do. Real estate markets are and always have been regional in nature. This sometimes gets lost in translation in news stories. There’s more to read here: Editorial: Real Estate Trends For 2022