SPOTLIGHT
The 1,285-acre Lightsey Family Ranch in Highlands County, considered one of the most vital “missing links” in the Florida Wildlife Corridor, is going to be preserved forever thanks to a conservation easement. The agreement means the ranch located along Fisheating Creek will continue to operate, but the land will not be developed in perpetuity. The ranch was one of the last remaining links that were needed in the region just north of the Everglades. The property, which includes 850 acres of uplands and 435 acres of wetlands, is home to the threatened Sandhill crane as well as alligators, gopher tortoises and wild turkeys. “This land will always stay green and furthers our work to connect a functional Florida Wildlife Corridor,” says Conservation Florida CEO and President Traci Deen.
ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT
- The Tampa Bay Economic Development Council — the lead designated economic development agency for Hillsborough County and the cities of Tampa, Temple Terrace and Plant City — has named Kacie Blucher chief financial officer. She brings more than eight years of non-profit industry experience to the role and most recently served as vice president of administration and finance for the Tampa Downtown Partnership.
FINANCIAL SECTOR
- Raymond James Financial has named its CFO, Paul Shoukry, as company president, and he is slated to become CEO next year after a transitional period. He’ll be succeeding president and CEO Paul Reilly, who has held those jobs since 2010. Reilly will remain on the company’s board of directors as executive chairman. Shoukry, who was appointed CFO in 2020, will be only the fourth CEO in the investment banking fi rm’s 62-year history.
HEALTH CARE
- Insurance giant Florida Blue has named health care veteran Phil Lee as its next market president for West Florida. Lee’s promotion to the role follows the passing in February of David Pizzo, who led Florida Blue’s West Florida regional operations for nearly 17 years. Lee will be responsible for the company’s business operations in a 14-county region from Hernando County south to Collier County, including the greater Tampa-St. Petersburg area, Sarasota-Manatee, and Southwest Florida regions.
HOUSING
- Affordable housing developer Blue Sky Communities is partnering with local governments to bring two affordable housing complexes to St. Petersburg. It has broken ground on Skyway Lofts II, which will bring 66 units to 34th Street S. A collaboration with Pinellas County and the city of St. Petersburg, it’ll be reserved for those making 80% of the area median income or less, which is approximately $46,000 for an individual. Blue Sky will also partner with the St. Petersburg Housing Authority to build a 95-unit complex to be called The Hartford, located on a 1.35-acre site on 32nd Avenue N.
REAL ESTATE
- The Lakewood Ranch Golf and Country Club has been sold to a Virginia company that owns and runs country clubs with golf courses. Heritage Golf Group, based in Herndon, Va., bought the country club from Schroeder-Manatee Ranch, the developers of Lakewood Ranch, a 33,000-acre master-planned community that spans Manatee and Sarasota counties. The sale price was not available at press time.
- A Coral Gables developer is rebranding its upcoming $750-million redevelopment project in St. Petersburg’s Skyway Marina District. The 34-acre mixed-use district, previously named Skyway Village, is now called Sky Town. It will include 2,084 apartments, 92,000 square feet of retail space, and nearly 120,000 square feet of self-storage space. A Sprouts Farmers Market will anchor the development, which will be built on the site of the former Ceridian o ce park, which is being demolished. The developer, Altis Cardinal, plans to break ground on the apartments in early 2025.
RENOVATIONS
- JPMorgan Chase is planning a sweeping renovation of its Tampa corporate center into a modern corporate campus. The banking giant has about 6,200 employees in the Tampa Bay region, about half of whom work at its 450,000-sq.-ft. main Tampa campus, which hasn’t been updated in at least 25 years. The work is expected to take two years and cost hundreds of millions of dollars and will transform the three-building site, replacing cubicles with open-plan spaces and adding amenities such as wellness areas, a coffee shop and a food hall.
RETAIL
- A Nordstrom Rack is expected to open this fall at U.S. 41 and Daniels Parkway in south Fort Myers. It will be the second one in Southwest Florida, with the first located off U.S. 41 in north Naples. Nordstrom Rack is the discount version of the Nordstrom department store. The company now has six Nordstrom stores and 19 Nordstrom Rack stores in Florida.
TRANSPORTATION
- Construction has begun on a $223-million project to improve congestion at the major interchange of Interstates 4 and 275 in Tampa. Changes include widening the ramp from westbound I-4 to northbound I-275 from one to two lanes; widening the ramp from westbound I-4 to southbound I-275 from two to three lanes; providing a two-lane exit and building an exit ramp bridge from southbound I-275 to eastbound I-4; and changing the eastbound exit ramp from I-4 into Ybor City by relocating access to 14th/15th Streets instead of 21st/ 22nd Streets. The project should be complete by 2027.
- Avelo Airlines announced nonstop service between Lakeland International Airport and Tweed-New Haven Airport in southern Connecticut. Avelo is the first and only airline to serve the Lakeland airport in over a decade. Beginning in mid-June, Avelo will operate this route twice weekly on Thursdays and Sundays.
- A multinational shipping company will lease 33 acres from Port Tampa Bay to create a marine cargo terminal and distribution center. Agunsa USA, which is affiliated with Chile-based Agencias Universales SA and Grupo Empresas Navieras SA, entered into a land deal with the port. Also known as AGS, the company also operates cargo terminals at Seaport Manatee and Port Everglades.
IN MEMORIAM
“Life is too short for pacing. Sprint the whole way dammit. Never slow down. Never forget family. Do not live with regret.”
— Tom Dempsey, developer of the Saddlebrook golf and tennis resort in Wesley Chapel. He died in March at the age of 97.