South Florida Business Journal articles from November 1997

South Florida Business Journal archives from November 1997

Deals pave 17th Street; buyers snapping up property on Lauderdale causeway. (Fort Lauderdale, FL)
November 7, 1997... Buyers snapping up property on Lauderdale causeway Before this week's onslaught of boat show visitors, 17th Street in Fort Lauderdale was crawling with a different kind of traffic: real estate brokers and investors. Several Southeast 17th...

Hospitals: HMOs too slow to pay their bills. (health maintenance organizations)
November 7, 1997... Hospital group surveying members to gauge problem, setting talks with insurers The Florida Hospital Association is preparing to confront the state's managed care industry over the "chronic problem" of companies that don't pay their bills on...

Roasters refugee wraps up. (former Kenny Rogers Roasters CEO Thomas Metzger's opening of Wrapsters restaurant)
November 7, 1997... Everything about the way 35-year-old Thomas Metzger does business is quick. So when the former chief of Fort Lauderdale-based Kenny Rogers Roasters stepped down in May due to "professional differences," it didn't take him long to find his next...

Business cheers the first year for Penelas; the first ever 'strong mayor' for Metro-Dade has scored several deals to boost the local economy. (Alex Penelas, mayor of Dade County, FL)
November 7, 1997... The first ever 'strong mayor' for Metro-Dade has scored several deals to boost the local economy One year after being elected Dade County's chief administrator, Alex Penelas has become an effective negotiator who can pick the best players to...

Developers adding luxury neighbors to Boca Resort. (Boca Raton Resort & Club)
November 7, 1997... The grounds of the Boca Raton Resort & Club soon will have a handful of permanent residents. In a deal that is a first for the historic 963-room hotel, 15 luxury homes are going up on 7.4 acres of the 356-acre resort. Construction on two of...

How HMOs hedge their bets; when it comes to treating their expensive, critically ill patients, insurers leave nothing to chance. (health maintenance organizations)(Health Care Monthly)
November 7, 1997... When it comes to treating their expensive, critically ill patients, insurers leave nothing to chance Health insurance is a gamble, and when managed care companies hold a losing hand, they hedge their bets. When patients get chronically or...

The kindest cuts. (Expense Reduction Consultants Inc.)(Small Business Strategies)(Company Profile)
November 7, 1997... After years of haggling and penny-pinching for other people, Victor Ronder formed his own consulting firm. He's still haggling and penny-pinching - but now he gets to keep some of the savings As president of a 50-employee company, Jonathan...

Big hurdle for Gables deal. (Rouse Co's planned development in Coral Gables, FL)
November 14, 1997... Commissioners aren't sold on merits of hotel proposal Upscale Coral Gables is known for its strict zoning laws and its lack of large, mixed-use commercial projects in the CocoWalk or Bayside mold. But that may change if the city's commission...

Countdown to Comdex. (Florida technology firms at Comdex Fall '97)
November 14, 1997... * High-tech firms prep, pack and panic for the week-long silicon showcase in Las Vegas It's the Olympics of information technology. And starting Monday, when Comdex Fall '97 opens at the Las Vegas Convention Center in Nevada, several South...

Beacon Centre on the block - sale could set record price.
November 14, 1997... * Codina Group's 3 million-square-foot warehouse complex may fetch up to $185 million The warehouse park that defined the super-hot Airport; West real estate market is for sale - and it's likely to fetch a lofty price, sources said....

Rather than sell out, car dealer cashes in. (dealer Alan Potamkin's sale of his land to an investment fund)
November 14, 1997... * Alan Potamkin resists the embrace of CarMax and AutoNation, selling his dealership's land to a private investment group Car dealer Alan Potamkin doesn't want to completely embrace the changes Wayne Huizenga's Republic Industries is bringing...

New owners spending to turn Ibis into a Phoenix. (Ibis Golf & Country Club in West Palm Beach, FL)
November 14, 1997... * After being lost by Llwyd Ecclestone, the 1,900-acre development is attracting builders - and buyers After having its wings clipped by the financial woes of its previous developer, Ibis Golf & Country Club in suburban West Palm Beach has...

'Inventor of the singles bar' brings Smith & Wollensky to South Beach. (opening of a Smith & Wollensky restaurant in South Florida)
November 14, 1997... A stern but smiling Alan Stillman, considered by many a legend in the national restaurant scene, takes a good look inside his new Smith & Wollensky steakhouse under heavy renovation on South Beach and gives his assistants the lowdown. "It...

Opportunity comes knocking - twice - for Majors Grill House. (South Florida restaurant)
November 14, 1997... New York chain revamps concept for transplanted customers in Boca Raton Gillis Poll and his brothers, Dean and George, knew they wanted to expand their New York restaurant business into South Florida - they just hadn't planned to do it this...

Brownfield no longer blocks greenbacks at Port 95. (brownfield development in Hollywood, FL)
November 14, 1997... * Changing attitudes on contaminated 'brownfields' has developers bullish on Broward industrial park In a deal that illustrates environmental regulators' changing position on polluted properties, Port 95 Commerce Park in Hollywood this week...

Another warehouse comes to Weston - is it too much. (International Developments International's planned warehouse at Weston Park in South Florida)
November 14, 1997... * 1 million square-foot project tests demand, but others say timing is good In a move that observers say will test the viability of warehouses in Weston, a large merchant developer is about to begin construction of more than 1 million square...

A hospital's best friend. (Healthcare Financial Enterprises Inc)
November 14, 1997... * Healthcare Financial revs up its million-dollar computer system to dig up thousands of dollars that HMOs owe to hospitals Peter Carvalho's distrust for the managed care industry deepens with every dollar his company earns. This year,...

Patients pressured to pay Sunrise debts. (Sunrise Healthcare Plan Inc.)
November 28, 1997... Some South Florida doctors and hospitals are pressuring former patients to pay bills that were left behind by Sunrise Healthcare Plan's insolvency last summer. Despite warnings that such efforts could violate state law, some medical providers...

Ex SafeCard exec eyes Transmedia. (former SafeCard Services founder Steven Halmos; Transmedia Network Inc.)
November 28, 1997... Steven Halmos uses his Transmedia card whenever he wants to save a few bucks on lunch at a restaurant near his downtown Fort Lauderdale office. Now Halmos wants more from Miami-based Transmedia Network than a 25 percent discount on meals. He's...

Like spring break, tourist season is a thing of the past, says tourism chief. (interview with Greater Fort Lauderdale Convention and Visitors Bureau Pres Nicki E. Grossman)(Interview)
November 28, 1997... Normally this time of year harks the arrival of tourist season. Not anymore, says Nicki E. Grossman, President of Greater Fort Lauderdale Convention & Visitors Bureau, who called 1997 another record year for tourism in South Florida. We asked...

Conventioners heading to Delray Beach Marriott. (construction of Marriott Delray Beach)
November 28, 1997... Marriott's makeover of former Holiday Inn adds rooms, space - and money The Holiday Inn Camino Real in Delray Beach is changing names and getting a $15 million facelift in a move that will almost triple the size of the oceanfront hotel. The...

Health-care 'Bill of Rights' could be costly, industry says. (healthcare industry's reaction to the proposed 'Consumer Bill of Rights')
November 28, 1997... Leaders among South Florida's health-care community welcomed last week's proposals for an industry-wide "Consumer Bill of Rights," but differed on how the document should be used. Many pointed out that certain guidelines announced Nov. 20 by...

Baseball bet tax strikes out with Miami-Dade hoteliers. (Greater Miami and the Beaches Hotel Association)
November 28, 1997... 'If anyone even thinks about a new stadium, they better not come around here looking for 'money,' the group's president says Miami-Dade hoteliers say they have paid more than their fair share to the South Florida professional sports market....

Father-son team building success. (Gordon Homes owners' Gary and Rob Gordon)(Company Profile)
November 28, 1997... This father-son team reverses the assumptions on generation gaps: The son, Rob Gordon, 24, is serious, business-minded, calculated - a long-term thinker. The father and founder of Gordon Homes, Gary Gordon, likes to kid around and makes gut...

From Hurricane Andrew to Andy Garcia: how builder got his start. (CDC Builders founder Jose Ortega)
November 28, 1997... Builder Jose Ortega would up working in his neighborhood not as a business opportunity, but as a responsibility to his Key Biscayne neighbors On the morning after Hurricane Andrew devastated Key Biscayne, Cuban-born builder Jose Ortega stood...

Still flying solo. (Smith Aerial Visions owner William Bottomley)
November 28, 1997... At one Fort Lauderdale aerial photo service, success takes flight by keeping all aspects of the business in house What do you do when your competition outsources operations so it can start undercutting your prices? If your William Bottomley,...