Florida Trend articles from August 2006

Florida Trend archives from August 2006

Corner office.(Florida Trend's awards)(Brief article)
August 1, 2006... These seven plaques are the newest additions to the impressive collection of awards that Florida Trend's editorial and art team has earned over the past 48 years. The fact that 61 publications from the U.S., Canada, Mexico, Puerto Rico and...

Naked Pasco.(Readers)(Letter to the editor)
August 1, 2006... Your June article "Buck Naked" [FloridaTrend.com] on the Pasco nudists resorts was great. They do contribute to our economy. One of the most positive impacts is that a number of people who come here from other states or countries end up moving...

Corrections.(Readers)(Correction notice)
August 1, 2006... Revenue for Maritrans Inc., listed among Florida's Top 150 Public Companies in June, is $180.71 million. It should have been ranked No. 104. The correct firm name for 10 Florida Legal Elite honorees named in the July issue is Dean, Mead,...

Tiffany's pearl harvest.(Executive Lifestyles: Gems & Jewels)(Tiffany & Co.)(Brief article)
August 1, 2006... Tiffany & Co.'s barely 2-year-old offshoot called Iridesse is an industry first: A store devoted entirely to cultured pearls--strands, rings, earrings, cuff links and more. Of the 10 Iridesse stores, three are in Florida (Boca Raton, Tampa and...

Style transformation.(Executive Lifestyles: Gems & Jewels)(Mayors remakes used jewellary)(Brief article)
August 1, 2006... Mayors has an alternative to relegating older pieces to the hidden recesses of your jewelry box when styles change. Through a program it calls Gem & Design, jewelry wearers can work with in-house designers to update or transform dated pieces....

Seaworthy.(Executive Lifestyles: Gems & Jewels)
August 1, 2006... When he was just a boy, Scot Congress moved from Indiana to Sanibel, where his father opened Congress Jewelers and built a clientele with jewelry he designed to be reminiscent of the sea. Today, the store is an island landmark known for its...

Jewel cluster.(SHOPPING)(Bal Harbour Boutique Inc. attracts jewellary shops)(Brief article)
August 1, 2006... Bal Harbour Shops has the highest concentration of world-class jewelers of any shopping center and continues to attract elite names. The famed Harry Winston jewelers opened its first mall location there in December 2005, joining long-term...

High in fiber: cardiologist's plan: more exercise and more fiber.(Executive Lifestyles: Health: Executive Health Management)
August 1, 2006... Several years ago, Miami internist and cardiologist Dr. Steven Schnur found that many of his patients were suffering side effects from low-carbohydrate diets: Headaches, nausea, digestive problems, weakness. "I decided to come up with what...

Upscale upgrade.(Executive Lifestyles: Travel Ritz-Carlton Naples)(Brief article)
August 1, 2006... With the Ritz-Carlton Golf Resort in Naples moving successfully toward its fifth birthday, the chain turned its attention to the Ritz-Carlton Naples, the original Ritz in southwest Florida. In the past year, the 20-year-old, five-star property...

SeV Performance T-shirt.(Travel Wear)(Brief article)
August 1, 2006... SeV Performance T-Shirt Website: scottevest.com Price: $29.99 to $34.99 Available with short or long sleeves, the SeV T-shirt has room for a digital music player or cell phone in a specially lined pocket designed not to sag or...

Waldorf-Astoria.(expansion in Orlando)(Brief article)
August 1, 2006... Orlando will be home to a Waldorf-Astoria, only the second in the world to be built from scratch as the Hilton chain expands the brand of the historic New York hotel. The 500-room hotel will share a site with a 1,000-room Hilton and a spa at...

Wyndham Lake Buena Vista Hotel and Spa.
August 1, 2006... Also at Bonnet Creek, Wyndham Worldwide is developing a 400-room Wyndham Lake Buena Vista Hotel and Spa along with a nine-tower Fairfield vacation ownership resort. Construction is set to start this year.

Rosen Shingle Creek resort.
August 1, 2006... The 1,500-room Rosen Shingle Creek resort next to the Orange County Convention Center opens in September. The resort will include a spa, a fitness center, four pools, volleyball, tennis and basketball courts and a nature trail along Shingle...

St. Regis Resort & Residences.
August 1, 2006... Construction starts this fall on the oceanfront St. Regis Resort & Residences, a "five-star-plus" residential and hotel/condo property in Bal Harbour. The property is expected to open in mid-2009.

The former Splendid China theme park site in Kissimmee and an adjacent 330-room Days Inn Maingate West Hotel at U.S. Highway 192 and State Road 429 were sold for an undisclosed price to Wooden Bridge Partners LLC and Wooden Bridge Partners GP LLC.
August 1, 2006... The former Splendid China theme park site in Kissimmee and an adjacent 330-room Days Inn Maingate West Hotel at U.S. Highway 192 and State Road 429 were sold for an undisclosed price to Wooden Bridge Partners LLC and Wooden Bridge Partners GP...

Impressive debut.(Executive Lifestyles: Dining and Spirits)(The Garlic)(Jasmine Thai)(The Yearling)(Restaurant review)
August 1, 2006... Opus 5 5050 Town Center Circle, Boca Raton opus5boca.com 561/544-8000 I seldom review a restaurant in its first days or even weeks of operation, believing it wise to allow time for a few shakedown cruises (and ignoring the...

Rocking the boat.(Trendsetters: Marine Industries)(Bill McGill of MarineMax)
August 1, 2006... Bill McGill MarineMax Chairman, CEO Clearwater First boat: Glastron, 14-foot, with a 100-horsepower Mercury motor. He was 22. Effect of fuel prices on prospective owners: "They don't even talk about it." Retirement:...

Matt Bridgewater.(Notables)
August 1, 2006... Matt Bridgewater, 35, president, GEM Products, Orange Park, whose $15-million-revenue company has had eight consecutive years of double-digit sales growth. The 38-employee company manufactures marine industry hardware.

Managing partner Fred Pace, 53, and partner and developer Peter Bos, 59, are looking at expanding dry and in-water storage in an undisclosed Panhandle market.(Notables)
August 1, 2006... ... Managing partner Fred Pace, 53, and partner and developer Peter Bos, 59, are looking at expanding dry and in-water storage in an undisclosed Panhandle market. Their 5-year-old Legendary Marine, Destin, is a 162-employee, $70 million in...

Below the surface.(Trendsetters: Marine Industries)
August 1, 2006... Joe Lewis Mount Dora Boating Center Owner, Mount Dora A disquieting trend unsettled people in the boat business a few years ago. At a time when Boomer demographics and circumstance should have favored strong industry growth, sales...

Clean team.(Trendsetters: Marine Industries)(water treatment by Sophie Mastriano )(Brief article)
August 1, 2006... Sophie Mastriano Water Management Technologies President, Fort Lauderdale Like Jimmy Buffett's "mother ocean," the Miami River has seen it all--Henry Flagler and the homeless, worn freighters serving Caribbean islands and...

Manatee-minded.(Trendsetters: Marine Industries)(John Sprague in marine industry)(Brief article)
August 1, 2006... John Sprague, 59, Stuart, has been making a mark in the marine industry in Tallahassee and Pahokee. In Pahokee, he is managing member of an unusual public-private partnership with the state and city to build a 144-slip marina and recreational...

Robert Cleckler Bowden: head football coach, Florida State University, age 76.(Icon)(Interview)
August 1, 2006... I took this job here not with the idea of staying. I felt like we'd eventually move up to Alabama or Auburn. But we got here and started being successful. We've been in the same house for 30 doggone years. I've never sat down in my life...

More green for Brownfields.(DEVELOPMENT)
August 1, 2006... Five years ago, Terry Manning helped establish an $800,000 revolving loan fund to assist a private developer with the cleanup of an arsenic-contaminated golf course in West Palm Beach. But the developer had to look elsewhere to find financing...

Tapped out.(WATER CONSERVATION )(Miami-Dade ranks last in water reuse)
August 1, 2006... Miami-Dade has a dismal record of conserving water and has done little to prepare for the roughly 100 million-gallon-per-day increase in consumption the county expects over the next 20 years. That's the blunt assessment of state regulators who...

Ugo Colombo.(Players)
August 1, 2006... High-rise developer Ugo Colombo has purchased the 21,000-sq.-ft. Carl Fisher estate in Miami Beach for more than $25 million, according to reports. The home was built in 1927 by Carl Fisher, who developed much of Miami Beach.

Monroe County Commission.(Players)
August 1, 2006... Retired Miami-Dade Fire-Rescue worker Glenn Patton of Key Largo has been appointed by Gov. Jeb Bush to serve on the Monroe County Commission, filling the vacancy after Murray Nelson died in April.

Bacardi U.S.A.(Players)
August 1, 2006... Former Moet Hennessy USA chief John P. Esposito has been named president and CEO of Miami-based Bacardi U.S.A. He replaces Eduardo Sardina, who retired.

UM Hospital.(EDUCATION/RESEARCH)
August 1, 2006... The University of Miami has approved construction of a 144-bed, $460-million hospital and medical center on the campus shared by its medical school and Jackson Memorial Hospital. Construction is scheduled to begin early next year with...

Fairmont Turnberry Isle Resort & Club.(AVENTURA)
August 1, 2006... AVENTURA -- Fairmont Turnberry Isle Resort & Club will lay off more than S00 workers this summer as it begins a $100-million renovation and expansion. Executives say the resort will reopen by December.

TotalBank Chairman Adrienne Arsht.(CORAL GABLES)
August 1, 2006... CORAL GABLES -- TotalBank Chairman Adrienne Arsht has donated $1 million to support the University of Miami's Ethics Program.

Florida Marlins.(HIALEAH)
August 1, 2006... HIALEAH -- Despite another rebuff from lawmakers last spring for a state sales tax rebate to fund a baseball stadium for the Florida Marlins, Hialeah and Miami-Dade officials are pushing a plan for a new home for the team in Hialeah's western...

Neff Corp.(MIAMI)
August 1, 2006... MIAMI -- Only a year after selling out to a private equity fund, construction-equipment rental firm Neff Corp. has announced plans to go public, hoping to raise up to $345 million.

The Related Group.(MIAMI)
August 1, 2006... Builder Magazine has named Miami-based development firm The Related Group the nation's top multifamily developer as ranked by both housing starts and revenue.

Nokia.(MIAMI)
August 1, 2006... Finland-based Nokia has selected Miami over Mexico City and Sao Paulo, Brazil, for the Latin American headquarters of its mobile-phone division. The company will transfer some workers to Miami and hire others locally, bringing its workforce to...

Winn-Dixie.(MIAMI-DADE)
August 1, 2006... MIAMI-DADE -- Winn-Dixie (OTC-WNDXQ.PK) will close three stores in Miami-Dade as part of its Chapter 11 reorganization plan.

Colonial Press.(MIAMI-DADE)
August 1, 2006... Commercial printer Colonial Press has announced a $6.2-million expansion in Miami-Dade, adding 14 full-time positions.

Parkway Regional Medical Center.(NORTH MIAMI)
August 1, 2006... NORTH MIAMI -- Tenet Healthcare plans to sell three south Florida hospitals--including Parkway Regional Medical Center in North Miami--as part of a larger deal to divest itself of 11 hospitals. The other two south Florida hospitals are...

Strong-mayor ruling.(POLITICS)
August 1, 2006... A state appeals court has ruled that a controversial plan to shift many powers from the county commission to the mayor's office can go before voters, perhaps as early as this fall. The so-called strong-mayor proposal has been a cornerstone of...

State Rep. Ralph Arza.(POLITICS)
August 1, 2006... State Rep. Ralph Arza is under fire for allegedly using racial epithets over a period of months in talking about Miami-Dade School Superintendent Rudy Crew, who is black. Crew and the Legislature's black caucus have filed complaints with the...

Miami City Commissioner Johnny Winton.(POLITICS)
August 1, 2006... Miami City Commissioner Johnny Winton has been charged with battery on a police officer and disorderly intoxication after scuffling with officers after his flight was canceled at Miami International Airport in May. If the charges stick, Winton...

Crackdown.(CONDO/HOTELS)(restrictions in occupancy)(Brief article)
August 1, 2006... With more hotel chains rolling out hotel/condos, officials in Hollywood, Pompano Beach and Fort Lauderdale are discussing plans to restrict the length of time investors can live in the condo units. The ostensible reason given for the proposed...

Boom times.(HISPANIC ENTREPRENEURS)
August 1, 2006... Hispanic businesswomen are making inroads in south Florida, according to the latest figures from the Center for Women's Business Research (2004). More than ?0% of small and medium-sized Hispanic-owned firms are based in south Florida, *...

Mixed bag.(CRIME)
August 1, 2006... Mixed Bag Crime rates (violent crime, murder, robbery and aggravated assault) for select south Florida cities: City 2004 2005 % Change Fort Lauderdale 2,788 2,873 +3.0% Hollywood ...

Harris Private Bank.(Players)
August 1, 2006... Harris Private Bank has named Pam Dean as its Florida regional president. Dean will oversee wealth management service delivery for the West Palm Beach-based bank. She will also maintain her current role as managin9 director of the West Palm...

Cleveland Clinic.(Players)
August 1, 2006... Robert Kay has retired as CEO of the Cleveland Clinic. The Weston-based hospital has named Bernardo Fernandez, former chairman of the division of medicine and head of vascular medicine, as its new CEO.

Bank of Florida.(Players)
August 1, 2006... Keith Costello has been named executive vice president, senior lender and president of private banking for Bank of Florida. Costello previously worked at Great Florida Bank, City National Bank of Florida and NationsBank.

Plantation General Hospital.(Players)
August 1, 2006... Plantation General Hospital has named Barbara Simmons CEO of its 264-bed facility. Simmons had been the hospital's COO since 1995.

Spirit Airlines.(Players)
August 1, 2006... Spirit Airlines CEO Jacob Schorr has retired. Ben Baldanza, who joined the company as president in January 2005, has replaced him. Schorr will continue as chairman of the board.

Fidelity Federal Bank & Trust.(BOCA RATON)
August 1, 2006... BOCA RATON -- Fidelity Federal Bank & Trust opened its 52nd branch in May. Palm Beach County's oldest community bank expanded into Broward County earlier in the year.

Woolbright Development.(BOCA RATON)
August 1, 2006... Woolbright Development has purchased the 136,000-sq.-ft. Murdock Carousell Center in Port Charlotte for $19.25 million. The real estate investment firm plans to upgrade the exterior and add a 15,000sq.-ft, freestanding building along U.S. 41.

Legacy Bank of Florida.(BOCA RATON)
August 1, 2006... Legacy Bank of Florida has opened with $31 million in capital, the most ever for a commercial bank based in Palm Beach County. The bank has branches in West Palm Beach and Fort Lauderdale.

Former Arby's executive Mike Welch.(BROWARD)
August 1, 2006... BROWARD -- Former Arby's executive Mike Welch has bought nine of the company's Broward County locations. Welch previously led a company that owned Burger King and Domino's Pizza restaurants in Poland.

Port Everglades.(BROWARD)
August 1, 2006... Broward County has signed an agreement with COSCO/Evergreen for container service between Port Everglades and the Far East.

ABB Optical North America.(BROWARD)
August 1, 2006... ABB Optical North America is expanding its U.S. headquarters as it moves from Fort Lauderdale to Coral Springs. The optical products distributor has 120 employees in south Florida.

Medical Village Hospital.(BROWARD)
August 1, 2006... The North Broward Hospital District filed a new certificate of need application for the Medical Village Hospital, to be located on the campus of Nova Southeastern University.

Nova Southeastern University.(DAVIE)
August 1, 2006... DAVIE -- Nova Southeastern University has announced plans to build a $30-million biotechnology incubator at its Davie campus. The proposed five-story NSU Collaborative Research Center will house startup biotech firms, which will collaborate...

Office Depot.(DELRAY BEACH)
August 1, 2006... DELRAY BEACH -- Office Depot (NYSE-ODP) has purchased Clifton, N.J.-based Allied Office products, a privately held office products and services dealer. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

BankAtlantic Bancorp.(FORT LAUDERDALE)
August 1, 2006... FORT LAUDERDALE -- BankAtlantic Bancorp plans to open 16 branches this year and an additional 27 in 2007.

Wilton Towers.(FORT LAUDERDALE)
August 1, 2006... Wilton Manors Developers plans to convert Wilton Towers into condominiums after its $24-million purchase.

DHL.(PLANTATION)
August 1, 2006... PLANTATION -- DHL is investing more than $250 million during the next four years in strategic initiatives in Russia. The package delivery firm is focusing its investments on infrastructure and facilities, a wider product portfolio, introducing...

Clematis District.(WEST PALM BEACH)
August 1, 2006... WEST PALM BEACH -- Nine new businesses have opened in the Clematis District of downtown West Palm Beach recently.

550Q.(WEST PALM BEACH)
August 1, 2006... Just five blocks away, Wasserman Real Estate Capital and The Corcoran Group broke ground on 550Q. The condo development will include 365 residences and come with a two-year membership to the Norton Museum of Art. It also will feature an on-site...

Small steps.(NANOTECHNOLOGY)(University of South Florida )
August 1, 2006... In his 1979 novel, "The Fountains of Paradise," science fiction writer Arthur C. Clarke penned a fantasy involving a civil engineer's quest to build an elevator from Earth to space. Today, three decades later, space ladders may not be so...

University of South Florida.(Players)
August 1, 2006... Geralyn McClure Franklin, former dean of the school of business at the University of Texas of the Permian Basin, is the new dean of the University of South Florida's business school, replacing Ron Hill.

HCA.(Players)
August 1, 2006... HCA has named Robert Conroy Jr. president and chief executive of St. Petersburg General Hospital.

Florida Council on Economic Education.(Players)
August 1, 2006... Don DeFossett, former chairman and CEO of Walter Industries, was named chairman of the Florida Council on Economic Education, a non-profit that promotes financial literacy in Florida schools. Jim De Santis, former president of the Astronauts...

Hello, Dali.(ARTS)(waterfront facility for Salvador Dali Museum )(Brief article)
August 1, 2006... St. Petersburg's Salvador Dali Museum, which attracts 220,000 visitors annually, will get a $30-million makeover. Construction on a new waterfront facility will begin next year with an anticipated opening in 2009. The state's most recent...

The tower divisions of Taylor Woodrow and Lindell Properties have partnered to build a 15-story beachfront condominium tower.(CLEARWATER)
August 1, 2006... CLEARWATER -- The tower divisions of Taylor Woodrow and Lindell Properties have partnered to build a 15-story beachfront condominium tower. The Indigo Beach Residences will include 78 hotel/condo suites and 112 luxury condos priced from $1...

Cameratta Properties.(DE SOTO COUNTY)
August 1, 2006... DE SOTO COUNTY -- Cameratta Properties, a builder of master-planned communities, has acquired 5,860 acres south of Arcadia along two miles of SR 31.

Motorsports Management.(FORT MYERS)
August 1, 2006... FORT MYERS -- Motorsports Management, which operates seven Harley-Davidson dealerships across the country, purchased two dealerships in Michigan, American Harley-Davidson/ Buell of Ann Arbor and Brighton Harley-Davidson/Buell.

Galleria at the Forum.(FORT MYERS)
August 1, 2006... The D'Jamoos Group has kicked off construction of the Galleria at the Forum, a mixed-use commercial center with 126,240 square feet of commercial space. Design and engineering firm WilsonMiller will occupy 25,000 square feet of office space at...

OneSimpleLoan.(OLDSMAR)
August 1, 2006... OLDSMAR -- Using $156,000 in state and local tax incentives, student loan company OneSimpleLoan is expanding its headquarters to consolidate its loan processing functions. It will add 52 jobs to create a total of 82 positions.

Barron Collier Cos.(NAPLES)
August 1, 2006... NAPLES -- The Barron Collier Cos. announced plans to develop a 105-acre business park in northeastern Collier County, between the town of Ave Maria and Immokalee. Construction is expected to begin next year.

Median home price.(NAPLES)
August 1, 2006... Homes in Naples are the most overvalued in the country, according to a recent study by the National City Corp. and Global Insight. The median home price in the first quarter of 2006 was $383,000, or nearly 103% overvalued.

Orion Bancorp.(NAPLES)
August 1, 2006... Orion Bancorp recently surpassed $2 billion in total assets, a growth of more than $1 billion in the past two years. The company operates 18 full-service banking centers in the state and plans to open 15 to 18 locations over the next three...

Port Manatee.(BUSINESS BRIEFS)
August 1, 2006... PORT MANATEE -- An increase in dry bulk and general cargo shipments at Port Manatee spurred an 11% growth in port operating revenue, from $5.3 million to $5.9 million, during the second quarter of fiscal year 2006.

Saint Leo University.(ST. LEO)
August 1, 2006... ST. LEO -- Saint Leo University is adding bachelor's programs on other campuses, including criminal justice at South Florida Community College in Avon Park and Tallahassee Community College. It will add a bachelor's in criminal justice and...

Jabil Circuit.(ST. PETERSBURG)
August 1, 2006... ST. PETERSBURG -- Jabil Circuit (NYSE-JBL) is planning to close plants and lay off employees as part of a $250-million restructuring.

Interior Design Services of Florida.(TAMPA)
August 1, 2006... TAMPA -- Interior Design Services of Florida, a full-service office furniture dealer with revenue of more than $20 million, was purchased by North Carolina-based Storr Office Environments and will be operated as Storr Office Environments of...

Downtown's fringes.(DEVELOPMENT)
August 1, 2006... As downtown Orlando development booms with $2.6 billion in new projects, another trend is taking shape outside the city's core. Developers are breathing new life into old, sometimes abandoned, properties, turning them into hip urban centers...

Frank Billingsley.(Players)
August 1, 2006... Frank Billingsley has been appointed Orlando's director of economic development, replacing Tanja Gerhartz, who retired in July. Billingsley previously served as the department's deputy director and as executive director of the Downtown...

East Central Florida Regional Planning Council.(Players)
August 1, 2006... Philip Laurien has been named executive director of the East Central Florida Regional Planning Council. He previously served in a similar position in Delaware County, Ohio.

CuraScript.(Players)
August 1, 2006... David Lowenberg has taken the helm at CuraScript, an Orlando distributor of pharmaceutical products and services. He replaces Dom Meffe.