Face Off: Tampa’s Transportation Task Forces

Writer: Max Crampton-Thomas

4 min read September 2019 — Whether it is Hillsborough, Pasco or Pinellas County, transportation issues seem to plague the entirety of this growing region. Mitigating these challenges requires innovative thinking and collaboration between the community, local government and both public and private organizations. Invest: Tampa Bay recently spoke with Beth Alden, executive director for the Hillsborough Metropolitan Planning Organization, and Whit Blanton, executive director of Forward Pinellas. These two organizations, whose primary focus is addressing the transportation and transit issues in the Tampa Bay region, discussed how they are gauging community needs in regards to these issues, facilitating better transit options and how they are turning dollars into solutions.

How do you gauge the community’s needs in regards to new transportation options?

Beth Alden: We have been engaging the public with an online survey, which is an interactive, gamified survey to ask folks about their priorities in regards to transportation. We received 5,200 responses, and it is amazing how many people are saying that they want a better rapid transit system. We have also discovered that they are very interested in reusing the freight rail tracks. That would require an agreement with CSX, which owns those tracks, but it’s a very underutilized asset. There’s no freight rail track between Downtown Tampa, the airport and the Westshore Business District, and it will take some extra steps to create that.

Whit Blanton: Our challenge in Pinellas County is that we are not growing like Pasco, Hillsborough, or Manatee County. We are expected to add about 90,000 people by the year 2045, which is a small fraction of what the other counties are expected to have. We have to plan and think differently. We have a situation here where the average new worker in Pinellas County is almost 50 years old, so we are not attracting young workers, except maybe in St. Petersburg, but most young people can’t afford to live there. Our strategy is really aimed at the future of our workforce, how do we draw talent and how do we retain this talent. We believe the solution is investing in housing and better mass transit services.

How are you facilitating better transit options?

Alden: In regards to transit, having some form of passenger rail system or rapid transit system would be one way we could do that. The important point with a rapid transit system is that we provide a way for it not to get stuck in traffic, so we need to provide some space for it to run and get out of traffic. We can do this with our bus system by providing special bypass lanes for buses where there is room on major roads. The walk and bicycle infrastructure is really important as well. People do not realize how many trips they make that are less than two miles long. If there are safe ways to walk or bicycle, then they do not necessarily have to be putting another car on the road to make that short trip. This also relates to our Vision Zero project, which is the vision of zero traffic deaths in Tampa Bay.

Blanton: ITS (Intelligent Transportation Systems) 2.0 is our plan for moving toward more intelligent transportation systems. Since the early 2000s, we’ve done a good job of implementing smart signals for moving traffic, responding to hot spots of congestion and facilitating traffic flow.  ITS 2.0 is intended to reimagine what the next phase of that investment is going to look like, which will focus more on real-time information and also ensuring the safety of bicycling and walking. Our advanced traffic management system has been focused on moving cars through intersections and keeping the flow going, but the next phase will include recognition of pedestrians at crosswalks. We also have an integrated transit fare payment system, called Flamingo Fares, that has been under development for a couple of years. That should go live in the next year. It will be a one-fare payment that can be used all over the region, whether someone is in Hillsborough or Pinellas County.

What specific plans are being implemented to move transportation development forward?

Alden: We will start with the essentials: resurfacing, safety and smart traffic signal projects. Almost half (the new Hillsborough transportation tax) is for transit, starting with expanding the bus service so it runs on evenings, weekends and often enough that you do not have to spend an hour waiting for a transfer. This is an amazing opportunity to implement the changes we have been planning for years. There are many more exciting projects in the pipeline. We finally have the resources to make the changes that the community wants to see in Tampa Bay.

Blanton: The Gateway District is our economic engine in Pinellas County. It is where the St. Pete-Clearwater International Airport is located, and there are a significant number of manufacturing and office jobs in that area. The challenge is that it is a loose and segregated type of development that is in need of an update. The Gateway is in four different jurisdictions, so it can be hard to design a cohesive plan for that area. We asked all four local governments, Pinellas Park, St. Petersburg, Largo and Pinellas County, to contribute $100,000. Forward Pinellas then put in $100,000 and the Department of Transportation put in another $500,000. With all this funding, we were able to put together a million-dollar master plan that is about to be finished. It is a reimagining of how the Gateway will develop in the future and focus on sustainable development because a lot of the gateway is in a coastal, high hazard, flood-prone area where businesses and potential development are vulnerable. The plan addresses how we are looking at higher density development to support transit in that area because we need to get our workers between the counties.

 

 

To learn more about our interviewees, visit:

http://forwardpinellas.org/

http://www.planhillsborough.org/

Atlanta’s Westside: Where Opportunity Meets Walkability

By Sara Warden

 

2 min read September 2019 — There are 26 qualified Opportunity Zones in the city of Atlanta, with the majority of them running down west of the I-75 in the city’s Westside. The qualified Opportunity Zones were born from a fiscal effort to drive private business into low-income communities. But it is more than just tax incentives that make Atlanta’s Westside one of the city’s fastest-gentrifying areas.

“There is demand,” Avison Young Principal Casey Keitchen told Bisnow. “There’s way more capital chasing qualified Opportunity Zone deals than there are qualified Opportunity Zone deals.”

This week, the Arthur M. Blank Family Foundation awarded a $17.5 million grant to Atlanta BeltLine Partnership to support development of Westside Park. The 280-acre park is slated to be the largest greenspace in Atlanta when it opens, with the first phase set to be inaugurated in 2020. The donation will be combined with $26.5 million from the city.

“Westside Park is a transformational project that will set an exciting new precedent for greenspace development across Atlanta,” said John Dargle, Jr., Commissioner for the city’s Parks & Recreation department in an interview with Atlanta Daily World.

According to Arthur M. Blank, Chairman of The Arthur M. Blank Family Foundation, the aim of the project is to create a community in an area that did not have the facilities to do so. “We want these Westside communities to feel like this is their park where residents, neighbors, and visitors are connecting and gathering because that is when Atlanta is at its very best,” he told Atlanta Daily World.

In the last few years, private developers have flocked to the area to take advantage of the qualified Opportunity Zone, among other features. 

“Westside is all the rage creative office. That makes sense,” Banyan Street Capital Principal Taylor White told Bisnow. “It makes a lot of sense for Opportunity Zone investors to go to that market.”

The magic of the Westside is that it is the point of crossover between most qualified Opportunity Zones and the Atlanta BeltLine project, meaning this real estate is worth its weight in gold. It can offer easy mobility, green spaces, social spaces and entertainment. Added to this is the Westside’s easy access to educational facilities, in particular Georgia Tech, which means that for developers, the sky is the limit. 

One developer that saw opportunity in the area is CrossStone Management, a firm that purchased several land parcels and is now looking to build retail, residential and commercial space. “I was attracted to the areas before Opportunity Zones were even discussed,” said the firm’s founder, Greg Todey, to Bisnow.

 

To learn more about our interviewees, visit:

https://beltline.org/about/the-atlanta-beltline-project/atlanta-beltline-overview/

https://blankfoundation.org/

https://www.atlantaga.gov/residents/parks-recreation

http://www.banyanstreet.com/

Face Off: Broward’s Construction Boom

Face Off: Broward’s Construction Boom

By Max Crampton-Thomas

 

4 min read September 2019 — It seems like more cranes are dotting the downtown Fort Lauderdale skyline every week as new developments emerge from the ground at a record rate. Invest: Greater Fort Lauderdale recently had the opportunity to speak with two of the leading constructors in South Florida, Ryan Romanchuk, the Fort Lauderdale business unit leader for DPR Construction, and Brian Sudduth, the president of Miller Construction. The wide-ranging conversations touched on trends in the sector and how their companies are adapting to these, along with the challenges the industry faces.

What emerging trends are impacting the construction industry and how are you adapting to these?

Ryan Romanchuk: There is a strong movement toward prefabrication similar to what we’ve seen in other parts of the world outside of the United States. It is a movement to become smarter as an industry as our labor costs go up and we move more into a manufacturing environment. We are looking for different components that we can prefabricate off-site, which in turn helps to limit the amount of manpower needed on-site, making our project safer and resulting in a higher quality product. One of the constraints of prefabrication is that it requires a certain level of repeatability to make economic sense for a project. However, as our technological tools get more sophisticated we are going to start to push toward digital fabrication. It’s the idea that every project can be unique but still be prefabricated based on building it virtually first.

Brian Sudduth: Office space construction has been slower over the past several years, but we are now starting to see more opportunities for development and redevelopment of office space. The need for construction in hospitality has continued to offer opportunities, and there is still heavy demand for our services in the industrial market. The residential, multifamily market is slowing down, but we have not typically participated in these sectors. I think this is part of the reason why we are seeing opportunities for Miller Construction growing and why 2020 will be just as good if not better for our business.

What is an ongoing challenge the construction industry faces?

Romanchuk: We are working to incorporate data-driven decision-making into all aspects of the business and really moving toward predictive analytics. Every construction project produces so much data but at the same time every project is so unique, which makes it challenging to harness the data produced. Our ability to harness our data as an industry will make us more predictable and at the end of the day that is what most if not all our clients want: predictable outcomes.

Sudduth: The challenge of finding labor in construction is not limited to just identifying people for management roles; it is also finding quality craftsmen to work on these jobs. There are more opportunities than available workers in the marketplace. People leaving Florida and leaving the industry all together during the recession was one factor, but we also have a skills gap because for the last decade, high-school students were encouraged to go to college rather than consider vocational training for things like electrical, plumbing and welding. Those programs are finally seeing a resurgence, but that gap has had an effect on available labor.

What are the factors that contribute to the longevity of your company?

Romanchuk: DPR is and always has been a self-performing general contractor. It really centers around the belief that we are builders at heart and our central belief as a company to respect the individual. This is why we don’t believe in “piece work” and believe in a fair and honest hourly wage and benefits such as health, 401K and paid care leave for all our craft employees.  We have had high levels of retention and are investing in training our employees to make sure they continue to grow their skillset and have upward mobility within DPR. Being a self-performing contractor requires additional resources, time and capital, but we control our own destiny, carry forward respect for the individual and can be part of our industry working to solve the labor gap. 

Sudduth: The longevity of our company is attributed to our business model of always putting our clients first. We never try to chase a revenue number or a product type. Instead, we focus our efforts on quality clients, and through the years we have done a good job of selecting clients that are looking for a long-lasting partnership. We always look out for their best interests, and in return people appreciate that and come back to us whenever they have new projects. We have never been a company that tries to be the biggest. Our goal has always been to be the best construction company.

To learn more about our interviewees, visit:

https://www.millerconstruction.com/

https://www.dpr.com/

Tackling Affordable Housing in the Bay

Tackling Affordable Housing in the Bay

Writer: Max Crampton-Thomas

2 min read August 2019 —  Growth in the Tampa Bay region has been twofold, with a  significant boom in the economy and the population. As the population grows so does the need for more affordable housing options in the region. While there has been a notable increase in the development of luxury apartments and multifamily units, which are popping up all over Downtown, there is a notable deficit of affordable housing options. Mayor Jane Castor, her administration and community organizations like the Tampa Housing Authority recognize that they must work together to find- a solution for this problem.

Since her election in April, Mayor Castor has identified access to affordable housing solutions as one of her top priorities, as noted when she spoke with Invest:. “In reality, the most pressing issues in our community are transportation, affordable housing and workforce development.” She has since taken action to address the housing issue with the recent formation of the Affordable Housing Advisory Team as part of her “Transforming Tampa’s Tomorrow” transition. The role of the advisory team will be to ensure home ownership for all residents in Tampa regardless of economic status. It  will be one of five advisory teams guiding the mayor’s strategic vision for addressing key issues in Tampa Bay. 

One of the members of the Affordable Housing Advisory Team is Leroy Moore, the senior vice resident and chief operating officer for the Tampa Housing Authority. The Authority is not only focused on providing housing assistance to low-income residents. Its role has evolved over the years to better address the affordable housing issue in the region. Invest: recently spoke with Moore, who discussed how the Authority is addressing this need. “The Housing Authority has evolved to not only manage affordable housing, but also to redevelop this housing into real estate that functions as more than just a roof over someone’s head. We consistently ask ourselves what else does a community need? A community needs jobs, quality food and transportation accessibility, which brings in the need for collaboration with transportation agencies in the region. We can meet the needs of the community by developing housing, especially affordable and attainable housing, around accessible transit options. Great transit translates into better housing costs.” 

The Authority’s actions to tackle affordable housing include the redevelopment of a 28-acre superblock of public housing that will be known as the Encore District. In his discussion with Invest:, Moore spoke about the Authority’s approach to this development and how it differs from the original construction., “Seventy-five years ago, the Tampa Housing Authority developed a 28-acre superblock of public housing on the doorstep of what is now Downtown. Seventy-five years later, we are redeveloping that site and realizing that its potential today is far greater than what was ever imagined back then. Instead of just having a 28-acre single-use affordable housing community, we now have 12 city blocks of diverse development called the Encore District.” He continued: “Encore will be a LEED Gold neighborhood development community. All the buildings have a commitment to be LEED Silver or higher. We replaced the affordable and workforce housing and increased the number of affordable units on that exact same footprint. We are also adding other uses like hotels, museums, schools, market-rate housing and grocery stores all within the same 28-acre area.”

The need for more affordable housing is not an issue that will resolve itself and will only continue to manifest into a larger challenge as the population in Tampa Bay grows. The solution is not clear-cut, but community leaders like Mayor Castor and Moore are working to find actionable answers.  

To learn more about our interviewees, visit:

https://www.tampagov.net/

 

https://www.thafl.com/

The Future is Now for FATVillage

By Max Crampton-Thomas

 

3 min read August 2019 — Fort Lauderdale’s FATVillage makes up for what it lacks in size with a treasure trove of arts, cultural and technological offerings. Founded in the late 1990s by Doug McCraw, the four-block historic warehouse district has developed into an arts hub to rival the most established arts districts in South Florida. While the area was originally founded as a way to rally philanthropic support around the artistic community in Fort Lauderdale, it is now transitioning into the premier destination for artists, small-business owners, technologists and arts enthusiasts.

The emergence of FATVillage has been a thoughtful and deliberate process of encouraging smart development that never diverts from the emphasis on art as the main part of the neighborhood’s DNA. This stands true for the introduction of more mixed-use development into the area, as McCraw highlighted in a recent interview with Invest: Greater Fort Lauderdale, discussing how that development is not only a new concept but also positively affecting the surrounding neighborhoods. “FATVillage has consistently been a significant economic driver in the Broward County region. It has acted not only as an arts community but also as a nucleus for a lot of the development in Flagler Village. What we are doing in terms of using art as a driver of mixed-use development is still a new concept, and not many developers are integrating product development with a creative community in the same way that we are,” McCraw told Invest. 

He also acknowledged that while FATVillage is undergoing a transition to focus on developing its status as an economic driver in the region, the reason for the district’s success has been the deliberate and careful process of deciding who can lease inside the area. “FATVillage is at a transition point. We are very focused on developing FATVillage to make it a treasure for Fort Lauderdale. We have aggregated various types of coworking spaces with different disciplines, all of which are major components of FATVillage. We have a curated process and we do not just lease to the first person who walks in the door. Our focus on art as an integrated part of the DNA of FATVillage makes us a unique component of Fort Lauderdale’s culture,” McCraw said. 

Helping to achieve this vision for the future of FATVillage, while also remaining true to its arts identity, is Urban Street Development, which has been involved with the district from the beginning. Invest: recently had a conversation with the Co-Founder Alan Hooper about what the next phase of development for FATVillage will look like. “In August, we intend to deliver a plan that will take the FATVillage Art District in downtown Fort Lauderdale into an exciting era that will combine food with art and technology (FAT) and develop a neighborhood where people and businesses of all sizes can find a place to live, create, collaborate, and socialize. The 5- acre-plus plan fully embraces the arts and elevates the opportunities for artists and creative businesses alike. Positioned inside the downtown core, the Opportunity Zone, and a block from Brightline, the options for community building are endless,” Hooper told Invest:. “We want to help FATVillage evolve into the place it should be. A place that is attractive to creative businesses while maintaining the artists who made us a well-known destination. We want to build some affordable housing for artists and local creative people, as well as really cool workspaces for start-up businesses that might represent art in another way, through video or audio, the art of the word, or the art of food. A place like this will be very attractive to businesses that benefit from hiring within a congregation of talent. In the end, we are creating a village that all people can grow with, be a part of and enjoy.” 

Arts and culture is a major key in Florida’s economy, and even more so in Broward County. Areas like FATVillage play a vital role in keeping arts in the county, and acting as a significant economic driver for the region. FATVillage has long been an attractive destination in Fort Lauderdale, but it is now on the cusp of a major transition into a true arts and economic staple in Broward County. 

 

To learn more about our interviewees, visit:

https://www.fatvillage.com/

http://www.urbanstreetdevelopment.com/

Spotlight On: Mayor Sandra Bradbury, City of Pinellas Park

Writer: Max Crampton-Thomas

2 min read August 2019 — The unprecedented economic growth the Tampa Bay MSA, including Pinellas County, is enjoying comes with both benefits and challenges. At the very center of Pinellas County is it’s fourth largest city, Pinellas Park. Invest: Tampa Bay recently spoke with Mayor of Pinellas Park Sandra Bradbury. She discussed how the city is handling the region’s growth, its focus on remaining economically and environmentally sustainable, and her outlook for the next year.

 

 

 

What efforts are being made to encourage environmental sustainability in the city? 

In a partnership with the Wounded Warriors Abilities Ranch, we just started development on a new park called Lurie Park. This park is going to be completely accessible for all handicapped people, from children to the elderly, and will be geared toward our veterans. We also just purchased a four-acre property that was a horse stable, which we are in the process of converting to a farm. It is an extension of the existing Helen Howarth Park. Our goal is to work with the U.S.-based network of youth organizations 4-H and bring students to the farm to teach them how to sustainably raise and grow their own food.

How are you supporting local business growth? 

Businesses come to us all the time because we have a relatively large amount of commercial area that’s available for development. The city council and voter referendum created a package of incentives that we could use to retain businesses that want to grow and expand. These incentives allow businesses the flexibility to move offices or add square footage to their buildings. We are one of the few places that has this ability. It is within our ordinances to allow our economic development manager and her team to offer incentives to local businesses, which revolves around how much they are growing and how many employees they will be hiring with the expansion. So far, city council has provided seven packages to different companies that have grown in Pinellas Park. 

What does the next year look like for Pinellas Park? 

We think the future is bright. We have a lot of businesses that are still looking at us as a place to expand into. Our position is unique because we are at the very center of the county. We are also one of the few cities that still has vacant land available, especially in our industrial area. This gives a business the opportunity to come here and develop their work space. With the economic growth in the region, our homes have gone up in value over the years, but overall the Pinellas Park area is still affordable. We have parks in the area, and our citizens assist in the conservation and revitalization of those parks as necessary. Overall, we feel extremely positive about the next year. 

 

To learn more about our interviewee, visit:

https://www.pinellas-park.com/

Face Off: The Development of Fort Lauderdale

By Max Crampton-Thomas

4 min read August 2019 — Home to more than 180,000 people and growing, Fort Lauderdale continues to work tirelessly to position itself as the premier economic powerhouse in South Florida. This growth and economic development of the city has not happened by chance, but rather, has been a result of well thought out, deliberate and collaborative initiatives from both the local government and community organizations. Two of the leaders driving this development are the independent taxing district known as the Fort Lauderdale Downtown Development Authority and the primary economic development organization for the city, the Greater Fort Lauderdale Alliance. Invest: Greater Fort Lauderdale had the good fortune to speak with both Bob Swindell, the president and CEO of the Greater Fort Lauderdale Alliance, and Jenni Morejon, the president and CEO of the Fort Lauderdale Downtown Development Authority. The conversations explored how the community is addressing climate resiliency, challenges facing development in the city and ultimately how they are working to help Fort Lauderdale achieve its true potential.

 

How have you seen the business community address resiliency as it pertains to climate change?

Jenni Morejon: Nearly 10 years ago, South Florida became a national and global leader in addressing climate change by developing the Southeast Florida Regional Climate Compact made up of Monroe, Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach counties. Following this sophisticated public sector collaboration, the compact engaged the business community to explain why economic resiliency should be on their agenda. Now, groups like the Greater Fort Lauderdale Chamber of Commerce, the Alliance and the Broward Workshop, and their private sector members, better understand the importance of climate change and why investments in resiliency today will have an ROI and long-term tangible benefit.

Bob Swindell: One of our partner organizations, the Broward Workshop, hosted a scientist from Holland. The Dutch have been dealing with this issue for years, and if you look at their coastal cities, many are below sea level. Our limestone foundation is a little different from what they have in Holland and there are definite differences in geographic qualities, but they have been working to solve flooding issues for years. People in Broward County want to talk about solutions now because they understand that this is a real threat when they see high tides and king tides causing flooding. We really need to think about solutions and how we can work block by block to mitigate this threat. The reality is that it’s going to take more thought to identify the science that will build a system that truly works.

What are some of the most significant challenges facing Fort Lauderdale?

Morejon: Housing affordability is one of the most important issues affecting the present and long-term prosperity of our community. Increasing the supply of housing units in the urban core has been the traditional focus of the Fort Lauderdale DDA. With 5,000 new units under construction in Downtown Fort Lauderdale, this legacy issue requires a more complex and comprehensive solution, incorporating higher-paying jobs and better mass transit to reduce the cost of living. Last year, Broward County voters approved an Affordable Housing Trust Fund and the DDA is now advocating for the use of public land and local financial contributions from the Trust Fund to incentivize new subsidized housing.

Swindell: One challenge we talk about frequently, and this is where publications like Invest: are a real asset, is encouraging investment in Greater Fort Lauderdale. This is not necessarily a problem right now because we still have investment dollars flowing into the area, but I think reinforcing that this community is a good investment destination is vital to our sustainability. As a region, we must be reinforcing and supporting what companies like Stiles are doing when they make a private investment in Fort Lauderdale to create office space inventory, which we can use to attract new companies to the area. Stiles is building the first new corporate commercial high-rise building in 10 years, The Main. That is a great example of creating additional inventory, and I believe that our job is to try to help fill that building. It is important to have that inventory available.

What is the outlook for Greater Fort Lauderdale for the rest of 2019 and into 2020?

Morejon: Over the past 18 years, close to 6.8 million square feet of office, retail, multifamily and hotel space has been built in Downtown Fort Lauderdale. Today, another 6.2 million square feet is under construction with 4,600 new residential units, 600 hotel rooms, and two new Class A office buildings. A combined 400 floors of development are being added to the skyline, effectively doubling the scale of Downtown in just a handful of years. This new critical mass of people will help support the growing retail and restaurant scene and provide a range of housing options to attract a diverse workforce. We’ll also see progress on three important civic projects. The City of Fort Lauderdale and Broward County will be moving forward on the development of a new joint government campus, the site for a new Federal Courthouse will be determined, and with the recent passage of a $200 million parks and open space bond, the city and DDA will be kicking off investments in our Downtown public realm.

Swindell: We conduct an annual poll of chief executives in the region and it came back very positive. South Florida tends to enter a downturn or recession a little bit after the rest of the country has already felt the effects, and we tend to exit these situations quicker. A lot of that is due to international investment, and we do not see that slowing down this year. Based on the construction leasing rates that I’m seeing, the demand is there. With some of the federal tax law changes and what you can deduct for state income tax and state sales tax, there have been some additional opportunities created for the region through people seeking lower tax environments. We have branded our community for many years as providing a “Life. Less taxing.” Florida has been well-managed financially, we don’t have unfunded pension obligations and our state has a surplus every year. South Florida will continue to have another strong year.

To learn more about our interviewees, visit:

https://www.gflalliance.org/

https://www.ddaftl.org/

Spotlight On: Andrew Verzura, Principal, VCM Builders, Inc.

By Max Crampton-Thomas

 

2 min read August 2019 — The amount of construction in a region is almost always an effective gauge of how the local economy is doing. Broward County is among those regions that has become synonymous with an abundance of ongoing and future construction projects, which speaks volumes to its strong and growing economy. Invest: Greater Fort Lauderdale recently spoke with Andrew Verzura, Principal of VCM Builders, Inc, one of the construction companies benefiting from the strong market in Broward County. Verzura discussed trends in the market, how Broward County compares to other markets and what the future of the construction industry in Broward County may look like.

What trends are emerging in the renovation projects VCM is working on?

In construction, we have to constantly regroup because the market changes. In recent years, our company decided to focus on renovations. Some of the trends we are seeing call for cleaner designs because people want to get away from heavy woods and marble, which don’t hold up well. We are seeing more porcelain, lighter colors, fewer moldings and more technology-based demands. Most of these condo buildings that were built 15 years ago did not have the technology we have today, so I’m challenged in every condo building with elevator integration, security integration and package rooms. Millennials want the ability to run almost everything off their phones, and we have to try and meet that demand. 

How does Broward County compare with the other markets you work in? 

The difference with Broward County is that it’s a very small, close-knit community. You can meet the commissioners, public officials or the building official and they all remember you. They are extremely friendly to do business with because they have a set of rules and regulations they follow. Whenever we have issues, I can go speak with somebody. I would say that over the last 15 years, I’ve been able to work with the city to solve 95% of the problems we’ve had. People are coming here because the business environment is so friendly.

How have rising construction costs affected your business? 

Construction costs are very expensive, and they have not gone down. Compared to when we started building spec houses in 2013 to where we are now, construction costs are up 30%. Construction costs are deal breakers for a lot of projects that we are looking at because they just do not make financial sense. The banks are not going to finance projects when the numbers do not make sense and will not work. We have seen many of the large rental communities being funded by pension funds. Most of these projects, which are primarily funded by pension and real estate funds, have been looking for a 6% return.

How does the next year look for the construction industry in Broward County? 

My outlook for Broward is still very strong. There is competition but that is a good thing. I believe we will still see people buy properties here. We have a friendly environment for developing and a government that is pro development. As long as we have builders and developers continuing to focus on sensible building, then we should be in good shape for the next year. We have to be very careful and look at deals that make sense because there are a lot of inflated deals out there right now. People all think their property is worth so much money but in reality it is only worth as much as people are willing to pay for it. The market is leveling off, which is not a bad thing, and it will be interesting to see how the market accepts all the new rental buildings in downtown. 

 

To learn more about our interviewee, visit:

http://vcmbuilders.com

Spotlight On: Angelo Bianco, Managing Partner, Crocker Partners

By Max Crampton-Thomas

 

2 min read August 2019 — There are a multitude of reasons why people choose to relocate to Florida including a beneficial tax climate, ideal weather, and a bevy of real estate opportunities. Perhaps nowhere is that more evident than in Palm Beach County, and developers of commercial real estate in the region are reaping the benefits. Invest: Palm Beach recently spoke with Angelo Bianco, Managing Partner for one of the premier owner-operator and developers of commercial real estate in the region, Crocker Partners, who also happen to be the largest office landlord in Florida. Mr Bianco discussed with Invest: the impact Crocker Partners has in Palm Beach County, benefits of practicing commercial real estate in the county and what is on the horizon for investment within commercial real estate.

What impact does Crocker Partners have in Palm Beach County and South Florida? 

In the state of Florida, we are currently the largest office landlord. In Boca Raton, we are the largest office owner. We own thirty percent of all the office space in Boca Raton. We usually buy assets that have something wrong; for example, they are often poorly occupied and haven’t been operated the way that we would at Crocker Partners. We will perform renovations, reposition the assets and find new tenants. Then we either sell or re-capitalize the project to someone who wants to own more stable, secure assets. 

 

What are some of the benefits of practicing commercial real estate in Palm Beach County?

The best part of real estate in Palm Beach County is that people want to be here. Every year, more people move here. Because of our tax policies, Florida is an attractive place for the wealthy, and they tend to gravitate towards certain areas such as Palm Beach County. It’s fantastic because whenever you’re in a place where a lot of people aspire to be, they require office buildings and homes, so in turn there’s demand for new construction. Then the economy expands; people need to have rentals, apartments, storage and stores. It’s a great place to invest because, from one peak of the market cycle to the next, there’s always growth here. 

 

What trends are on the horizon for commercial real estate investment and growth in Palm Beach County?

Office development should be muted in the coming year. The reason is that a good majority of those moving here are wealthier people; they don’t drive a lot of demand in office space as most of them have hedge funds or family offices that do not require a lot of space; plus it costs so much to build new office buildings. You will have some projects, but it’s not going to be like it was in the past when there would be a tremendous number of cranes in the sky. But when it comes to multi-family development, we will continue to see growth. There will be a lot more rentals than we have had in the past. The United States by large is turning into more of a rental market than it has been, which doesn’t mean that single family homes are gone; it just means that people are much more comfortable renting.

 

To learn more about our interviewee, visit:

https://crockerpartners.com/

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