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Southeast Fla. Business Briefs - March 2010
BOCA RATON
» Hollywood Media (Nasdaq-HOLL) sold its Broadway ticketing operation, including Theatre Direct and Broadway.com, to New York- based Key Brand Entertainment for $45 million. Hollywood shareholders will receive a one-time dividend of 60 cents a share, or a total of $18 million.
» Berlin-based MediaNet Group Technologies will relocate its senior management team and some employees to a new headquarters in Boca Raton where it will employ 25, including 10 from a unit moving from Margate in neighboring Broward County.
BOYNTON BEACH
» Lake Forest, Ill.-based medical waste services company Stericycle will lay off 29 at its Boynton Beach plant.
BROWARD COUNTY
» Hamilton Forman, a pioneer's son and Broward power broker who shaped much of modern Broward County through his wealth and impact on education, politics, healthcare and land development, died at age 90.
DANIA BEACH
» Ocean Casino Cruises, the parent of gambling boat company SunCruz Casinos, filed for Chapter 7 liquidation. The company had been sailing from Port Canaveral, Jacksonville and Myrtle Beach, S.C. The company was sold out of bankruptcy court in 2004.
 DANIA BEACH — Electric car maker Tesla Motors signed a five-year lease for its only south Florida showroom. |
» Florida International University chose Skanska USA, which has its south Florida headquarters in Dania Beach, as construction manager for its 175,531-sq.-ft. Robert Stempel Complex, which will house the Stempel College of Public Health and Social Work, the Miami-Dade County Health Department and FIU College of Medicine facilities. Construction begins this summer with completion in April 2012.
» Nova Southeastern University received a $15-million federal stimulus grant to build a $30-million, 86,000-sq.-ft. coral reef research center, the only research facility in the nation dedicated to coral reef ecosystem research, at the university's Oceanographic Center at John U. Lloyd Beach State Park in Dania Beach. The Center of Excellence in Coral Reef Ecosystems Science Research Facility project will preserve 22 academic jobs and create 22 new ones and employ 50 graduate students. Nova will fund the other $15 million of the project's cost.
FORT LAUDERDALE
» Charlotte, N.C., data services company Peak 10 acquired 1Vault Networks, a business continuity and data services company with a large Fort Lauderdale facility.
» Investment manager Franklin Resources, the California-based company known for its Franklin and Templeton mutual funds, signed a 10-year lease for 80,488 square feet at Stiles Corp.'s 300 Las Olas Place, moving its 350 employees from the Broward Financial Centre on Broward Boulevard and taking occupancy of Stiles own corporate headquarters. Stiles will move to its neighboring 301 E. Las Olas Boulevard building.
» The Broward County Minority Builders Coalition, which includes Workforce One of Broward County, won a $3.2-million federal stimulus grant to train 1,000 workers in energy efficient technologies.
FORT PIERCE
» St. Lucie County raised impact fees by $3,000 for each new home, raising the total in impact fees on most new single-family units to $12,582.
JUNO BEACH
» Florida Power & Light halted work on $10 billion in Florida energy projects after having its $1.3-billion rate hike request shot down by the state Public Service Commission. Projects on hold include new nuclear reactors at Turkey Point, modernization of plants at Riviera Beach and Cape Canaveral and a natural gas pipeline.
JUPITER
» Miami healthcare company founder Phillip Frost and his wife, Patricia, donated another $1 million to Scripps Florida. It is the billionaire couple's second such donation to Scripps.
PALM BEACH GARDENS
» Fort Lauderdale developer Stiles Corp. arranged acquisition and construction financing with City National Bank of Miami to build Nova Southeastern University's new 75,000-sq.-ft. classroom, lab, library and student center. Nova, which is replacing a 60,000-sq.-ft. facility in Palm Beach Gardens, will buy the $7-million site and building upon completion.
RIVIERA BEACH
» Timeshare owner Marriott Vacation Club opened the first phase of its Marriott's Oceana Palms-The Palm Beaches with a 19-story tower on Singer Island.
SUNRISE
» Body armor company Protective Products of America filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection and agreed to be purchased by Boca Raton-based private equity firm Sun Capital.
WEST PALM BEACH
» ION Media Networks, the former Paxson Communications and owner of the nation's largest TV group, emerged from bankruptcy court protection, with backing from equity funds. ION, free of $2.7 billion in debt and preferred stock claims, operates ION Television, qubo and ION Life networks.
