Newsletter 137

NEWS FROM THE SUNCOAST …..

OPINION: ASSESSING THE IMPACT OF IAN

This is an opinion piece, written by Sarasota Herald-Tribune’s Jay Handelman.

As Hurricane Ian’s winds and rain whipped around my home, I was helping my Herald-Tribune colleagues write and edit our website with the latest information we could provide about the storm’s arrival and impact. We were all working remotely, mostly from our homes. One by one, an editor or reporter had to drop out of helping because of lost power or internet connections. My cable service went out about 3:15 p.m. that Wednesday and somehow my power hung on another four hours. After being so deeply immersed in every last detail, I was suddenly cut off from what was happening, aside from the awareness that the storm was wreaking some kind of havoc in my Sarasota neighborhood. I had taken in two friends who had to evacuate their homes, one from Siesta Key and the other from near Phillippi Creek. I was happy to have the company as we tried to listen in to radio simulcasts of both ABC7 from Sarasota and WTVT from Tampa. But the signals frequently dropped and even when we could hear them, the meteorologists were not thinking about those listening only to the radio. “As you can see here…” someone would say. Well, no, I couldn’t. Losing service like that was a strong reminder of how connected we are to our phones and apps and how little we can know about what is happening around us when they don’t work. The best weather apps are useless when there is no service to provide access. By the time the storm passed on Thursday, I was still unable to get online. Phone calls were a struggle and who knows if the text messages I sent went through. A friend stopped by and showed me some photos of the heartbreaking damage in Fort Myers and to Venice Theatre, which I had heard about but hadn’t seen. No matter how many post-storm photos you have seen, nothing really prepares you for images of houses that look like they exploded from the inside, or a theater building where you have spent countless hours reduced to a metal framework. For more on this story, courtesy of Sarasota Herald-Tribune, please click here: Assessing Ian’s Impact

IAN ESTIMATE AT $3.8B

The state-backed Citizens Property Insurance Corp. last week substantially increased its estimated costs from Hurricane Ian, with the tab now expected to reach $3.8 billion. Citizens last month projected its expenses at $2.3 billion to $2.6 billion from the Category 4 hurricane, which made landfall Sept. 28 in Lee and Charlotte counties and swept across the state. But in a news release last Tuesday, the insurer said its initial projection was based on one hurricane model. The new estimate used a second model, along with factoring actual claims data, litigation costs and inflation. Citizens also said it is in the “early stages” of evaluating damages from Hurricane Nicole, which hit the East Coast last week before moving up the state as a tropical storm. But the news release said Nicole, which made landfall south of Vero Beach as a Category 1 storm, is not expected to have a major financial impact on Citizens. “We will continue to update the market and other stakeholders as we gather additional information from actual losses,” Jennifer Montero, Citizens’ chief financial officer, said in a prepared statement. Citizens has estimated it will receive 100,000 claims from Ian, which devastated some coastal areas of Southwest Florida. Spokesman Michael Peltier said Citizens had received 55,843 claims as of Tuesday morning. Citizens expects that it will cover $2.4 billion of the costs from its surplus, which is essentially cash built up to prepare for paying claims. The other $1.4 billion will be covered through reinsurance, backup coverage that Citizens buys from private reinsurers and the state-run Florida Hurricane Catastrophe Fund. While projections have varied, the overall insurance industry is expected to pay tens of billions of dollars in claims from Ian. As of Wednesday, the Florida Office of Insurance Regulation said it had received reports of $8.7 billion in estimated insured losses — a number that includes property claims, along with such things as auto-damage claims. The total is updated weekly.

To read more on this story, courtesy of CL Tampa Bay, please click here: Ian Estimate At $3.8B

FEMA HAS PAID MILLIONS TO RESIDENTS

The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) has paid more than $714 million in individual assistance to victims of Hurricane Ian in Florida, according to newly released figures. The money was given to households in 26 counties designated by federal authorities as disaster areas following the historic storm. The FEMA funds go to disaster victims who applied and qualified for financial assistance to help pay for replacing or making repairs to their home, or rental payments. The money also covers replacement of essential household items and other disaster-related expenses, like car repairs, childcare or temporary lodging.

Payments to victims in Lee County, where Ian made landfall with 15 feet of storm surge, dwarfed other counties in Florida. Victims there so far have received more than $290 million, or about 40% of the total distributed. The next highest areas were a mix of counties closer to Ian’s landfall point and those that saw serious flooding as Ian passed across Florida. Volusia County was second in assistance ($64 million), followed by Charlotte ($59 million), Orange (almost $51 million) and Sarasota ($48 million). Fort Myers Beach, along with Lee County’s other barrier islands, took the brunt of Ian’s assault on Florida’s coastline. The storm, a Category 4 when it made landfall Sept. 28 at 3:05 p.m. near Cayo Costa, sent 150 mph winds and a towering storm surge tearing through the town’s center. Ian pummeled the state with crushing storm surge, obliterating wind speeds and torrential rainfall, leaving a swath of devastation from the southwestern coast across the I-4 corridor. The hurricane, the fifth-most powerful to ever hit the U.S., left countless homes and businesses wrecked or underwater and nearly 2.7 million people without power. Please click here to read more: FEMA Pays Millions

PARK REOPENING EYED

North Port will assess the condition of Warm Mineral Springs and the cost of removing debris with the aim of reopening it as soon as possible on temporary basis. The accelerated reopening would happen before the negotiation of a public-private partnership to operate the springs on a long-term basis and develop the 61.4-acre park that surrounds the 21.6-acre historic site. North Port City Manager Jerome Fletcher will attempt to negotiate a revised agreement with the current contracted park operator, National and State Park Concessions, to bring in modular buildings so people can return to using the springs as soon as possible. The decisions – made through a pair of motions by Vice Mayor Barbara Langdon that passed unanimously – marked a departure from the course set forth immediately after the three historic structures on the property were condemned because of damage from Hurricane Ian. “I just fundamentally believe that we need to return this property – building aside – return this property to pre-hurricane conditions,” said Langdon, who felt that would be a key to a successful public-private partnership to develop the entire 83-acre park. An important reason the City Commission is now entertaining the prospect of reopening the springs prior to forming that partnership is the fact that it can seek reimbursement for the debris cleanup from the Federal Emergency Management Agency, as it will do for the debris clearing at all other city parks. Interested in reading more, then click here: Park Reopening Eyed

ALLEGIANT RESTARTS RESORT CONSTRUCTION

Construction has resumed on the Sunseeker Resort Charlotte Harbor, about a month after Hurricane Ian caused two of its construction cranes to collapse. Allegiant Travel Co., the Las Vegas-based company behind the upcoming resort on the banks of the Peace River, said last week that it has started work again on Sunseeker, which is scheduled to open in September 2023. The company said it is currently replacing all of its cranes and moving to mobile cranes for the duration of the project. Allegiant has also started construction the hotel’s Reflections Pool, a 117,074-square- foot, ground-level pool deck next to the resort’s main tower. More than 700 yards of concrete were poured into the base of the pool, which totals 19,420 square feet and will eventually hold 508,500 gallons of water. Construction on the 785-key, $585 million Sunseeker originally started in early 2019, but a year later, work stopped because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Work resumed in August 2021 after the company secured financing for the remainder of the project, and doors were scheduled to open in May 2023. After Ian, however, the grand opening was pushed back to September. Allegiant plans to hire more than 1,200 employees to staff the resort, which is about 15% of the current leisure and hospitality employment in the Punta Gorda metro area, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Recruiting efforts for Sunseeker are expected to kick off in the spring, the company said. There’s more on this story here: Resort Construction Resumes

IAN PUTS BUILDING CODES IN SPOTLIGHT

This article is written by Mary Dougherty, executive director of the Gulf Coast Builders Exchange. The magnitude of the devastation from Hurricane Ian is unfathomable. Our hearts go out to those in the hardest-hit areas. I know that members of the Gulf Coast Builders Exchange have been hard at work making repairs to schools and businesses to get them back online as quickly as possible. We are seeing the best in our community after such a terrible disaster. As you drive down the I-75 you see work crews from many different states coming to help repair the damage. As a country, we can be proud of how we come together for each other after disasters. During times like this, we even see political differences put aside. The federal and state government have been working together, counties have reached across lines to send law enforcement and emergency services to assist other agencies that have been stretched to the max, and once again we can be proud of Sarasota Memorial Hospital for providing services for other areas where hospitals were damaged. While many of us in the region were fortunate to have minimal damage, our neighbors to the south and east need our continued help. At GCBX, many of our members are reaching out to help their employees that were impacted by the storm and mobilizing crews to begin recovery efforts. Soon it will be time to look at the lessons learned from Ian. The biggest takeaway is that these storms are unpredictable. The governor was warning the entire west coast of Florida in the days before the storm and that warning was appropriate. Pinpoint accuracy for this type of storm just doesn’t seem possible, so we cannot depend on it. We all must be prepared. I thought I was prepared, but in retrospect I will do better next time. We all need to check our insurance policies and make sure we have adequate insurance coverage. The storm surge and river flooding associated with Ian have shown us that many parts of Florida where homeowners did not think they needed flood insurance were not spared the fury and devastation caused by the flooding. Yet, when you look at many areas affected by the devastation, you see some structures that seem to have survived the worst of the fury. We will not know for quite some time, but I wonder if this means that newer building codes implemented after past disasters did, in fact, live up to their promises. This certainly is not how we wanted to evaluate them, but nature has put them to the test. Please follow the jump for more on this story: Ian Puts Building Codes In Spotlight

A LOOK AT TRENDS IN THE LUXURY MARKET

This column is from Coldwell Banker’s Duff Rubin. This month, I wanted to highlight the top trends dominating the 2022 luxury real estate market. As I have mentioned previously, the Sarasota region continues to be one of the most searched regions in the nation and in Florida for real estate. Here are some highlights from Coldwell Banker Global Luxury’s 2022 Trend Report released in late October. Nearly 90% of respondents believe the 2023 real estate market will be better or the same as the 2022 market for investment. Florida still ranks in the top 10 (No. 8) for locations where luxury buyers are most interested, and Florida was also the top international buyer destination for the 14th consecutive year. Real estate remains in a strong position for the remainder of 2022 and heading into 2023 as more affluent consumers are turning to real estate as a long-term investment strategy. Our report found that 77% of U.S. luxury consumers own an investment property. Of those, nearly two-thirds own two or more properties. Affluent consumers are also turning to real estate to diversify their portfolios as a long-term investment strategy. Part of this can be contributed to the volatility of the stock market as well as the record pace of home appreciation across the country over the last few years. With rising mortgage interest rates, luxury buyers are getting creative with financing real estate purchases. Just over half plan to finance their next home purchase with cash (51%) while more than 48% plan to use a private wealth mortgage. Buyers are also using nontraditional bank loans, seller carryback financing and rate buy-downs. There’s more on this story here: A Look At Trends In The Luxury Market

REAL ESTATE MARKET STILL STRONG

Real estate statistics on September home sales in the Sarasota-Manatee County area continued to show a slowing market, but continued strength on price, according to the Realtor Association of Sarasota Manatee. “We are continuing the trend that we’ve seen for several months now where the number of closed sales is dropping, and prices are leveling off,” said 2022 RASM President Tony Veldkamp. Yet, the area’s real estate market is still considered one of the healthiest and strongest in the United States. The Wall Street Journal this week released a ranking of its top housing markets, placing the North Port-Sarasota-Bradenton metro area at fourth among the top 300 largest metro areas in the country. That’s above all other Florida markets including the metro areas of Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater (11), Cape Coral-Fort Myers (12), Naples-Immokalee-Marco Island (16) and Orlando-Kissimmee-Sanford (18). All year the Sarasota metro area has been near the top, rising as high as second in January in the Wall Street Journal’s rankings. Economists and real estate experts point to monetary policy enacted by the Federal Reserve through interest rate hikes as reasons for the slowing market. There’s also concern about a potential recession that could be effecting the local market.

“Inventory has also leveled off; sellers seem to have a ‘wait and see’ attitude regarding the economy. Prices continue to be very strong, but inventory has not increased significantly, which means that it is still a great time to sell,” Veldkamp, also a senior advisor with SVN Commercial Advisory Group, said. Closed sales have posted lower numbers in 2022 than in 2021, with 39% fewer sales in September 2022 compared with the same time period last year. Prices in the Sarasota-Manatee market, though, have continued to post yearly increases.

Last month the median price for a single-family home in the two-county area came in at $505,000, a 20.2% increase compared to September 2021. Luxury sales continue to top the $10 million mark, with the highest sales price for Longboat Key in 2022 being reached on Oct. 20. Please click here for more: Real Estate Still Strong

RED TIDE COUNTS CLIMBING

Scientists are saying a red tide bloom that’s lingered along the coast for a few weeks is now being fed by nutrients running off the landscape in the wake of Hurricane Ian. Red tide (Karenia brevis) is a naturally occurring organism in the Gulf of Mexico that sometimes blooms to toxic levels. But research shows that nutrients from farm fields, lawns and septic tanks fuel red tide blooms close to shore — making them more frequent, longer-lasting and more intense. “I don’t see any good evidence that hurricanes initiate a red tide, but once you have a red tide started, runoff will make it worse,” said Larry Brand, a water quality expert, scientist and professor at the University of Miami. Ian didn’t create the conditions for the original bloom; but rain water and storm surge has helped fuel the bloom, which now stretches from the Sarasota area south to Marco Island. Counts of 1 million cells per liter and higher have been reported at multiple locations along the Southwest Florida coast. Dead fish litter many beaches in the region, and the Florida Department of Health in Collier County issued an exposure advisory Wednesday. DOH agrees with Brand, that nutrients flowing off the landscape contribute to the intensity and duration of the bloom. “Once inshore, these opportunistic organisms can use nearshore nutrient sources to fuel their growth,” a Wednesday DOH press release reads. “Blooms typically last into winter or spring, but in some cases, can endure for more than one year.” DOH says people who live along the coast should even check their air conditioning filters.”Residents living in beach areas are advised to close windows and run the air conditioner, making sure that the A/C filter is maintained according to manufacturer’s specifications,” DOH says. “If outdoors near an affected location, residents may choose to wear masks, especially if onshore winds are blowing.” Please click on the link for more: Red Tide Counts Climbing

LWR PLAN OKAYED

The developer of Lakewood Ranch got clearance recently to build a new community of up to 5,000 homes on over 4,000 acres of undeveloped land in eastern Sarasota County. The development, dubbed Lakewood Ranch Southeast, will be east of Interstate 75, between Fruitville Road and the Sarasota-Manatee County line. Sarasota County commissioners approved two ordinances recently that are necessary for Lakewood Ranch’s plan, despite strong opposition from residents of east county. “Please don’t take away what I invested as a health care professional in this county to live a rural lifestyle,” said Cindy Martin, who lives next to the Lakewood Ranch property. “Protect me. Protect us on Fruitville Road.” Two decades ago, the County Commission adopted the Sarasota 2050 Plan, which allowed for communities to be master planned, but also set aside green space for protection and conservation. The plan allows for a few different forms of development, such as “villages” and “hamlets.” “Villages” are more urban and allow for a greater density of housing units than “hamlets,” which are farther east.

Lakewood Ranch proposed creating a new designation called “Village Transition Zone,” which will only apply to the 4,120-acre property in east county. The designation is meant to provide a transition between the “village” and “hamlet” designations. It will allow more homes to be built on the property than were previously permitted. The county commissioners unanimously approved a growth plan amendment that creates this new designation and makes changes to maps that are part of the 2050 Plan. They also approved the Lakewood Ranch East Southeast “Development of Critical Concern” (DOCC). A DOCC is a “large-scale development that is presumed to create significant impacts on the environmental systems, drainage systems, public facilities, and the local economy,” according to a county memo. Katie LaBarr, a planner with Stantec Inc., who was representing Lakewood Ranch, said that as the county’s population and housing demand grows, Lakewood Ranch Southeast will “provide an opportunity for moderate density development as an alternative to large-lot urban sprawl.” “This will minimize infrastructure costs, traffic congestion and environmental degradation,” she argued. LaBarr said the development will be home to a variety of housing types, including single-family homes, villas and townhomes. There’s more on this story here: LWR Plan OK’d

STATE TOURISM BOOMS

U.S. visitors continued to drive Florida’s tourism industry at a record pace, while international travel still struggled to reach pre-pandemic levels, according to newly released figures for the third quarter of 2022. The tourism marketing agency Visit Florida estimated recently the state attracted 35,115 million travelers during the third quarter, a 6.9 percent increase from 2021. The estimate was also 8 percent above the same period of 2019, before the pandemic largely shut down the state’s crucial tourism industry. The numbers from July 1 through Sept. 30 — the fifth consecutive quarter outpacing the corresponding quarter in 2019 — indicated the industry has mostly moved past the COVID-19 pandemic. “Tourism is the No.1 industry in Florida, and it is the highest contributor to general revenue of our state. So the health of our tourism economy is directly related to the health of our economy as a whole,” Visit Florida President and CEO Dana Young told TravelMole managing director Graham McKenzie recently while at the World Travel Market London. “Said another way, if we aren’t doing well, the economy is not going to be doing well either. And so, the more people realize that, that very important connection between tourism and prosperity, the more they are likely to realize how important the work that we do with tourism marketing is.” The estimates did not reflect impacts from Hurricane Ian, which crashed into Southwest Florida as a Category 4 system on Sept. 28, days before the end of the quarter. But some resorts have reported layoffs as they try to recover from damage, and the hurricane could affect fourth-quarter tourism numbers. After Ian hit, Visit Florida quickly put together a digital and social media promotional campaign, seeded with about $2.7 million, that focused on parts of the state left unscathed by Ian. Young didn’t discuss the Ian-related efforts with TravelMole but highlighted marketing beyond the state’s top tourism regions. Click here for more, courtesy of WFSU News: State Tourism Booms

BEST PLACE TO RETIRE: SRQ SLIPS

Sarasota, which last year was named the best place to retire in the country, fell several spots on this year’s rankings from U.S. News & World Report. The magazine listed Sarasota as the 11th-best place to retire in the nation in its 2022-23 rankings, released recently. While 11th place is nothing to scoff at, it’s a big drop from the city’s first-place ranking from the past two years, and its No. 2 ranking from 2019. So why did Sarasota fall so far? It might have something to do with the cost of living. Because of a nationwide real estate boom that has led to rising home prices, U.S. News & World Report weighted housing affordability more heavily this year than any of the other five factors that determine the rankings. The housing market has forced retirees to weigh housing availability more heavily when it comes to choosing somewhere to spend their golden years, Emily Brandon, U.S. News senior editor for retirement, said in a statement. Sarasota’s median home sale price was $517,193 in September, a 20.3% year-over-year increase, according to data from the Realtor Association of Sarasota and Manatee. “With fixed-rate mortgage rates more than doubling over the past year, it stands to reason that falling affordability would lead to changes in the rankings of the Best Places to Retire,” Patrick S. Duffy, real estate economist, said in a press release. “As long as both rates and home prices are high, indexes related to things like happiness or health care quality, while important, will take a back seat to affordability.” Please click here for more: SRQ Slips On Best Places List

SARASOTA BALLET PRESENTS WORLD PREMIERES

Running from October to May, The Sarasota Ballet’s seasons are a tightly-packed marathon, each subsequent program – most often a triple bill – coming barely a month after the previous run. Since the company shares its performance venues, and even sometimes its rehearsal spaces, with other organizations, it can make for scheduling nightmares and a wicked time-crunch to meet deadlines. Which is, in part, why were three world premieres on the bill when the company opened its 32nd season at the FSU Center for the Performing Arts recently – two by company dancers and another by an acclaimed young British choreographer. Director Iain Webb says the more expansive lead up time to the fall opener allowed him and the choreographers to take on the multiple aspects of producing three entirely new works, which wouldn’t be possible with the back-to-back crunch once the season is underway. “I wasn’t thinking of the risk – it’s always a risk when you commission,” Webb said recently, as all three ballets were nearing completion. “I didn’t think in those terms. I was more thinking of giving them time to create and this is a good time for that.” There’s more to read here: Sarasota Ballet Presents World Premieres

AIRPORT AUTHORITY OPPOSES APARTMENTS

Sarasota County commissioners have given final approval to a developer’s plan for apartments on the site of the former Sarasota Kennel Club – a move that the city attorney said will likely spur two lawsuits by the local airport authority. North Carolina-based developer Aventon Companies is planning to build 372 apartment homes on the vacant dog track property, which is near the Sarasota Bradenton International Airport. The airport’s governing board has raised strong objections to the plan. The airport’s president and CEO predicts that apartment residents will complain about the airplane noise and says that a stormwater retention pond at the development could attract birds, posing a risk to aircraft. Earlier this fall, the City Commission approved a growth plan amendment for the apartments to be built, which led the Sarasota Manatee Airport Authority to file a lawsuit challenging the decision. On Nov. 7, the City Commission was scheduled to hold the second public hearing for the rezoning and site plan for the kennel club property. The airport authority’s attorney urged the commission to postpone the hearing. The city’s attorney, Robert Fournier, told commissioners that if they didn’t take that step – and instead went ahead with approving the rezoning – the airport authority would likely file an additional two lawsuits against the city. This fall, the Sarasota Manatee Airport Authority has challenged the growth plan amendment in two ways. First, it passed a resolution initiating Florida’s conflict resolution process, which is a way for governments in the state to resolve disagreements without going to court. There’s more on this story here: Airport Opposes Apartments

MAKING THE GRADE

Sarasota Memorial Hospital, HCA Florida Sarasota Doctors Hospital and HCA Florida Englewood Hospital all earned A grades in the Leapfrog Group’s fall safety report cards released recently. Sarasota Memorial Hospital and HCA Florida Englewood Hospital continued streaks of consecutive A grades, while Doctors Hospital regained A status after earning a B in the spring safety report card, which reflected data from 2021. “The past two years have been the most challenging in health care,” Robert Meade, CEO of HCA Florida Sarasota Doctors Hospital, said in a prepared statement. “Even with the COVID-19 pandemic and a local hospital closing we have remained committed to serving this community. Our caregivers continue to show up for our patients, each other and put our patients and safety first.” Sarasota Memorial Health Care System CEO David Verinder, echoed those thoughts on the COVID-19 period in a prepared statement, though SMH is the only hospital in the region that has maintained a straight-A streak since 2016. “The past three years have been very challenging, with the pandemic, labor shortages, supply chain disruptions, and Hurricane Ian, which impacted so many people in our region, but through every challenge and obstacle, our physicians and staff demonstrated their resourcefulness, resiliency and unwavering dedication to care for this community,” Verinder said. “This award is a reflection of their commitment, quality service and personal sacrifice.” The Sarasota Memorial Hospital Venice campus, which opened last November, is not yet eligible to participate in the Leapfrog rankings. If you’re interested in reading more, then click here: Hospitals Earn An A