Southeast - Taking Center Court
 Scheduled to open in April 2012, the new 37,000-seat Florida Marlins ballpark is expected to be the nation's first LEED-certified stadium with a retractable roof. [Photo: Florida Marlins/Populous] |
Basketball icon LeBron James did more than help the Miami Heat close out season ticket sales in a single night when he proclaimed in July 2010, "I'm taking my talents to South Beach." For many, he validated Southeast Florida's position as a global community with limitless growth potential.
Tourism leaders envisioned a spike in travel. Real estate agents pictured the commissions they would earn from the sale of mega-homes to James and his fellow superstars. Developers hoped for an upsurge in residential and retail growth. And while all of this may come to pass, James' announcement won't be the sole reason Southeast Florida is headed skyward.
Renewed infrastructure and tourism
Recent events in Miami — groundbreaking for the $900-million Port of Miami Tunnel in spring 2010, continued construction on the Florida Marlins' $642-million, retractable-roof ballpark and the resurgence of life in 22,000 downtown Miami condos — bode well for Southeast Florida's economic future. Tunnel construction is expected to bring 400 jobs over the next four years. Downtown, almost 50 retail establishments have opened in the past year, fueled in large part by a surge in urban core population since 2000.
"> Demographics for the Southeast Region can be found at Business Florida's interactive map of Florida. |
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Throughout this region, tourism remains vital to economic viability. In 2010, Key West International Airport opened a new 30,000-square-foot terminal building to accommodate the 450,000 passengers passing through each year. In Marathon, Spottswood Companies Inc. is nearing completion of its $20-million Holiday Inn Express & Suites property, the only new hotel to be built in the Florida Keys in 2010.
Norwegian Cruise Lines' Norwegian Epic arrived at the Port of Miami in summer 2010. Royal Caribbean Cruises docks its two largest vessels — the 5,400-passenger Oasis of the Seas and sister ship, Allure of the Seas — at Port Everglades. And not to be out-maneuvered, Carnival Cruise Lines has inked a deal with Port Everglades to deliver $500 million from 25.5 million passengers over the next 15 years.
Regional cooperation attracts business
A new "Job Creation Tool Kit" aligns Martin County with area non-profits and others to spur job growth, says Ron Bunch, executive director of the Business Development Board of Martin County Inc. Collaboration among economic development offices in Martin, Okeechobee, St. Lucie and Indian River counties as well as area workforce organizations is helping to advance this region as "Florida's Research Coast."
In Miami-Dade County, "Miami: Where Worlds Meet" is a collaboration of the Greater Miami Convention & Visitors Bureau, Beacon Council (Miami's economic development organization), regional health provider Baptist Health South Florida, the Miami Downtown Development Authority, American Airlines and others, to promote the area's "live, work, play" mantra in specific U.S. target markets, Brazil and Canada.
The Beacon Council also is partnering with the Greater Fort Lauderdale/Broward Alliance and the Business Development Board of Palm Beach County in an ongoing campaign, "South Florida: Your Global Business Connection." The program has distributed multilingual economic development materials in Spanish, French, Italian and German; Portuguese and Mandarin versions are planned.
All-natural products distributor Great Healthworks has moved closer to Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport, funded in part by its share of the new $450-million Florida Mezzanine Fund. The company will add 200 new jobs paying up to $50,000 each, up from 16 employees two years ago, says Jeff Roman, vice president of business development.
 The Broward Center for the Performing Arts in downtown Fort Lauderdale offers a full slate of dance, music and theatrical performances year-round. [Photo: Visit Florida] |
New avenues of economic development
Life science, biotechnology and energy research are capturing attention across the region, and no wonder. Florida's bioscience hiring outpaces the national average, up 18% from 2001 to 2008, compared to just under 16% nationwide, according to a joint study from the Biotechnology Industry Organization and economic research firm Battelle.
Growth begets growth, says Joe Reagan, vice president of Hanover, Md.-based Wexford Science & Technology LLC, which is constructing the first of three buildings at the new University of Miami (UM) Life Science & Technology Park. First tenant — the UM Tissue Bank — will have 200 employees when it opens in 2011, and, says Reagan, more firms will follow. "By putting Miami on the intellectual property map, we're fertile ground for pharmaceutical companies, venture capitalists and technology companies."
In Broward County, plans include a $30-million coral research facility for Nova Southeastern University at John U. Lloyd State Park. Just up the beach at Florida Atlantic University (FAU) Center of Excellence in Ocean Energy Technology, the research focus is on energy derived from Gulf Stream turbines, ocean thermal conversion and offshore hydrogen manufacturing.
In June 2010, Max Planck Society broke ground in Jupiter on its 100,000-square-foot Max Planck Florida Institute. Opening in 2012, the facility will be shared by scientists from around the globe, including faculty and students from FAU's proposed new medical school.
In addition, Nova Southeastern University has begun construction on a 75,000-square-foot multi-disciplinary educational center in Palm Beach Gardens to serve students in its pharmacy, mental health counseling, psychology, business and education programs.
Healthcare provider Palm Health Partners expects to break ground on its Institute for Aging Life Science & Research in Jupiter in early 2011. The $62-million, short- and long-term healthcare facility will collaborate with Scripps Florida and others on research into Alzheimer's disease and other neurological and age-related conditions. Slated for completion in 2012, the facility is expected to employ 220 with average salaries of $46,000.
In St. Lucie County, Oregon Health & Science University's Vaccine and Gene Therapy Institute (VGTI) is building a $42-million, 98,000-square-foot laboratory near Torrey Pines Institute for Molecular Studies in Florida Center for Innovation at Tradition. The new VGTI facility is expected to bring 530 jobs.
INEOS New Planet BioEnergy's newly approved facility in Indian River County will generate 8 million gallons of bioethanol annually from renewable biomass, including yard, wood and vegetative waste. The $100-million project will create 150 construction jobs and 50 permanent jobs when it opens in 2012.
Diverse business fills the gaps
Southeast Florida isn't all tourism, trade, technology and team sports, of course. Unique niche businesses are growing, too:
- GeoGlobal Partners LLC will relocate from New Jersey to a 45,000-square-foot facility in West Palm Beach. The $3-million, three-year initiative will create 100 new jobs for the solar products company.
- Extreme Speed Motorsports plans to open a facility in Martin County. The American Le Mans series race team owned by champion race car driver Scott Sharp will hire 31 employees and invest $300,000 in building renovations.
- Developer Dale Sorensen brings his latest project — Ocean Park of Vero Beach — to Indian River County. The luxury town home community near Gloria Estefan's luxurious Costa d'Este Resort features 11 units priced from $2 million to $6 million on 1.5 ocean-front acres, a restaurant and retail shops. Built by Palm Coast Development, the $25-million project is expected to bring 40 jobs and, along with Minor League Baseball's development at the old Dodgertown facility nearby, pump new life into the area, says Sorensen.
Focusing on Florida's Film Future
For movie entrepreneurs John Textor and Greg Hauptner, all the world's a sound stage. Or, at least, Florida is.
Textor has moved the $51-million visual effects studio he acquired from director James Cameron (of "Avatar" fame) from California to Port St. Lucie. Working from temporary space in Tradition while its permanent facility takes shape, Digital Domain Holdings plans to begin active production of digital animation and photorealistic imagery in fall 2010.
 John Textor, chairman / CEO of Digital Domain Holdings, finds fertile ground for filmmaking in Florida. [Photo: Steven Martine] |
Hauptner has opened G-Star Studios and G-Star School of the Arts for Motion Pictures and Broadcasting, an 860-student charter school and active movie studio/back lot, in Palm Springs, Florida.
Both CEOs like the synergies they've found at Ringling College of Art and Design in Sarasota, Full Sail University in Orlando, the Florida State University College of Motion Picture Arts and the new digital media program at Indian River State College. Textor plans to build a digital animation college in the region in conjunction with FSU's Film School; Hauptner sees G-Star as a feeder to these programs, and to a burgeoning Southeast Florida film industry.
"This is becoming an area like Hollywood was back in the '20s and '30s," he says, "when little studios popped up down the street."
Textor credits Florida's lack of a state income tax, plus the tax exemptions available to companies engaged in Florida in the production of motion pictures, made-for-television motion pictures, television services, commercial music videos or sound recordings as reasons to relocate here.
And while some might say that Port St. Lucie is too far removed from the movie industry's California epicenter, Textor scoffs. "Creativity wasn't born in L.A. Why not pick a state that happens to be the epicenter of animation education? I have a chip on my shoulder to prove that."