South Florida Business Journal articles from August 1995

South Florida Business Journal archives from August 1995

Viragen investors see upward ride: some returns are 100%; can stock go higher?
August 25, 1995... HIALEAH - Some investors who put their money and their faith in a small Hialeah biomedical research and manufacturing firm already have reaped returns of more than 100 percent. Others are standing pat because they think they see even greater...

Miami financier faces new round of fraud, theft charges. (Ronald G. Williams)
August 25, 1995... MIAMI - Financier Ronald G. Williams has been arrested on charges of fraud and grand theft for the second time this year while his company, Select Capital Advisors, remains open for business. He was arrested week by the Florida Comptroller's...

Pru invading banks' trust and estate turf. (Prudential Securities Inc.)
August 25, 1995... Yet another brokerage is seeking to get into a business that once belonged almost exclusively to banks: trusts and estates. Following the lead of other brokerages, Prudential Securities Inc. is aggressively pursuing trust and estate business...

N.J. firm dials up wireless network. (Geotek Communications Inc.)
August 25, 1995... MIAMI - Geotek Communications of Montvale, N.J., is building a multi-million dollar digital wireless network in Florida and has based its state headquarters in Miami. The network will provide wireless telephone, dispatch, paging and data...

Can tradition sell Abacoa homes? (planned community in Jupiter, Florida)(Real Estate Monthly)
August 25, 1995... JUPITER - George de Guardiola looks at South Florida and sees development patterns that trap us in our cars. He sees new housing tracts filled with meandering, dead-end streets that funnel traffic onto high-speed collector roads and then to...

Europe meets South Miami at DeLaTorre home. (Homero DeLaTorre, CEO and president of Delta Shoe Group)(South Florida Homefront)
August 25, 1995... When Homero DeLaTorre's dad visited his son's new Coral Gables home, he decided to take a self-tour. Moments later, the family could hear his panicked cries over the intercom: "Help, I'm lost. Come find me!" It's easy to get lost in...

Condos cautiously tap new family market.(South Florida Homefront)
August 25, 1995... Developers wait to market concept Miami Country Day School has become a sales office of sorts for the North Dade upscale development The Waterways. It all started with one family. They moved into the community, appreciated how they blended...

Rolex sale to benefit creditors. (creditors of Schwag Used Cars Inc.)
August 25, 1995... MIAMI - Just three days before his car dealership was forced into involuntary bankruptcy, Walter Schneir went shopping at Mayor's Jewelers. Besides buying diamond bracelets and earrings, Schneir bought 23 Rolex watches as part of the nearly...

W. Palm Beach pushes to start Downtown/Uptown project. (West Palm Beach, Florida urban development project)(Real Estate Monthly)
August 25, 1995... WEST PALM BEACH - Can a public investment of $15 million turn 77 acres of long-vacant land into a bustling, $300 million urban showcase? Can a government-led initiative succeed where a privately funded project failed? West Palm Beach Mayor...

Bureaus launch tourist blitz. (Miami and Fort Lauderdale, Florida to be promoted as tourist destinations)
August 18, 1995... Miami, Fort Lauderdale aim to compete with Caribbean resorts When northerners open their travel sections this fall in search of beach and sun, they'll find two South Florida cities giving Caribbean destinations a run for their money. For...

Omni area hopes to lure film services industry. (Miami, Florida)
August 18, 1995... MIAMI - Miami may be one step closer to becoming a Tinsel sort of Town. The Downtown Development Authority has devised an aggressive plan to lure post-production companies and ancillary services to a 33-acre site assessed at $18 million...

Debate pits hospitals vs. nursing homes.
August 18, 1995... MIAMI BEACH - A battle over skilled nursing facility beds that has pitted Mount Sinai Medical Center against the Miami Jewish Home and Hospital for the Aged is a symptom of an even bigger conflict brewing across the state. At issue: Whether...

Knight-Ridder finds new niche. (Knight-Ridder Inc.)
August 18, 1995... Newspaper company's strategy shifts gears to fast-growing information services MIAMI - While Knight-Ridder Inc. tries to deal with soaring newsprint prices and a strike at the Detroit Free Press, the international communications company is...

Mortgage program starts slowly. (Bank of North America)
August 18, 1995... FORT LAUDERDALE - Six months after Bank of North America started a special mortgage program for Fort Lauderdale police officers who move into low- and moderate-income neighborhoods, only one officer has bought a home. Two others were...

New city? Destiny is hot issue. (Dade County, Florida)
August 18, 1995... DADE COUNTY - To Joe Robbie Stadium President Richard Andersen, a proposal to incorporate the community around the stadium means higher taxes and higher prices for Dolphins and Marlins fans. To David Garfinkle, property manager of the...

Dollar Time facing more woes. (Dollar Time Group Inc.)
August 11, 1995... Bankruptcy filing just one hurdle among many for the discount retailer FORT LAUDERDALE - Dollar Time Group Inc., the discount retailer that filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy last month, is facing major hurdles as it tries to reorganize....

Music TV network going global. (Video Jukebox Network Inc.)
August 11, 1995... MIAMI BEACH - The Box wants to wrap up the world market for music videos. The interactive music channel, owned and operated by Miami Beach-based Video Jukebox Network, plans a vast overseas expansion, said Gino Natalicchio, VJN's vice...

Pru scandal: tell-all book sizzles. (Prudential Securities Inc.; Serpent on the Rock by Kurt Eichenwald)
August 11, 1995... Richard A. Davis has been fighting Prudential Securities Inc. for four years over $800,000 in limited partnerships he bought from the brokerage giant's Miami office. At the end of legal round three, he is a little bit closer to victory....

Two health firms plan IPOs. (Pediatrix Medical Group Inc.; Sheridan Healthcare Inc.; initial public offerings)
August 11, 1995... Two South Florida physician management companies are heading to Wall Street to raise millions of dollars to grow their businesses and lower debt. Fort Lauderdale-based Pediatrix Medical Group, Inc. and Hollywood-based Sheridan Healthcare,...

Stark's reality: CHPAs need marketing, media blitz to boost membership. (Community Health Purchasing Alliances)(Health Care Monthly)
August 11, 1995... "One of Florida's best kept secrets." That's how Victoria Stark describes the state's 11 Community Health Purchasing Alliances (CHPAs). And it's no wonder. Although they have been around for more than a year, few people can tell you what...

Russians snapping up homes in S. Fla. (South Florida)
August 11, 1995... Flush with cash, entrepreneurs are on the prowl AVENTURA - If you had told luxury real estate broker Howard Marcus in 1992 that rich Russians soon would be among his best customers, he probably would have scoffed. But three years and $10...

Coral Gables film permit debate not yet a wrap. (Coral Gables, Florida)
August 11, 1995... CORAL GABLES - The quest continues for a city ordinance that satisfies Coral Gables residents yet still allows photographers and filmmakers to do their jobs. For eight months, a battle has brewed between residents who desire their privacy...

New videos tout legal eagles.
August 11, 1995... MIAMI - Tales of legal shenanigans and attorney antics - both fact and fiction - have led to widespread contempt for lawyers and made lawyer-bashing a national sport. That's one reason Miami lawyer Paul Lipton picked up a camcorder and...

Advance acquires American City Business Journals Inc. (Advance Publications Inc.)
August 11, 1995... FORT LAUDERDALE - American City Business Journals Inc., the Charlotte, N.C.-based parent company of the South Florida Business Journal, has been acquired by Advance Publications Inc. of New York. Advance will pay $28 per share, or about...

Coastal moves to combat local losses. (Coastal Physician Group Inc.)(Health Care Monthly)
August 11, 1995... As it releases its second quarter earnings this week, Coastal Physician Group, Inc., one of the largest physician management companies in South Florida, is doing anything but coasting into its third quarter. The Durham, North Carolina-based...

Port narrows search for retail developer. (Garrison Seaport Center, Tampa, Florida)
August 4, 1995... Two Bay Area developers have emerged as leading contenders to build a pivotal retail-restaurant complex at the Garrison Seaport Center in Tampa. The Sembler Co. of St. Petersburg and the Hogan Group of Tampa are among three companies being...

NationsBank scours Pinellas for signature space. (NationsBank Corp.; Pinellas County, Florida)
August 4, 1995... NationsBank is trying to consolidate most of its Pinellas County lending operations into a single location, but finding just the right space hasn't been easy. Space is actually available, but not in the type of signature building that a bank...

Marriott plans new time-share resorts. (Marriott Ownership Resorts)
August 4, 1995... The company shifts its marketing strategy as it unveils major expansion Marriott Ownership Resorts, one of the largest time-share companies in the world, has launched an expansion that will nearly double its size in the next three to five...

State probes Olde sales practices. (Florida Securities Division's investigation of the sales and trading practices of Olde Discount Stockbrokers)
August 4, 1995... The Florida Securities Division has launched an investigation into the sales and trading practices of Olde Discount Stockbrokers after reportedly receiving complaints from some 40 customers around the state. The investigation comes on the...

Manufacturer reorganizes Largo unit. (Ametek Inc.; Largo, Florida)
August 4, 1995... Ametek Inc., an $800-million, Pennsylvania-based precision-instruments manufacturer, is consolidating operations at a Largo division with another of its units. The move is not expected to result in layoffs at the company's Mansfield & Green...