SPACE COAST: Back to Earth

Barbara Miracle | 4/1/2008

DAYTONA BEACH

Car Boom (Daytona Beach) Lesa France Kennedy » Lesa France Kennedy, president of International Speedway Corp., leads the development of Daytona Live!, a project that will include a 2,500-seat multiscreen theater, 200,000 square feet of retail/dining/entertainment space, a 160-room hotel, 222,000 square feet of office space and 450 condos/lofts. [Photo: Kelly LaDuke]

Questions about the impact of the economic slowdown on tourism are offset by optimism around a major expansion of the Ocean Center convention center, several new entertainment venues and the weak U.S. dollar. In February, domestic travel to Daytona got a boost when U.S. Airways began three daily round-trip flights to Charlotte, N.C., and AirTran launched daily round-trip service to New York.

LEADER

» Larry Fornari, chairman of the Halifax Area Advertising Authority, is active in promoting Daytona tourism. He serves on the board and is a past president of the Hotel Motel Association of Volusia County. For the past year, since selling the Palm Plaza Oceanfront Resort and Beachside Motel, he has been a hospitality consultant. Of Daytona’s redevelopment, he says, "We’re seeing a lot of renovation of older product into newer product."

HOUSING TREND / DAYTONA BEACH

Condo prices in Daytona Beach held their own in 2007, rising 2%, compared with a statewide decline of 3%. While prices were up, condo unit sales were down, falling to 1,015 units in 2007, down 12% from 2006, according to the Florida Association of Realtors and the University of Florida Real Estate Research Center. Single-family home sales were down 24%, a little better than the 29% sales drop statewide. The median sales price was down 9% to $197,300, putting the city in the bottom half of Florida metropolitan areas in terms of single-family housing prices.

EMPLOYMENT TRENDS / VOLUSIA COUNTY
Industry	2007	2015*	Percent change
Professional and business services	21,914	28,819	3.94%
Education and health services	30,709	37,720	2.85
Leisure and hospitality	21,684	24,851	1.83
Other services	8,639	9,883	1.80
Information	3,019	3,404	1.59
Government	24,376	27,314	1.51
Trade, transportation and utilities	33,709	37,101	1.26
Financial activities	8,376	9,184	1.21
Construction	13,618	14,614	.91
Manufacturing	10,692	11,020	.38
Agriculture, forestry, fishing, hunting	2,136	2,305	-0.59
* Projection Source: Florida Agency for Workforce Innovation, Labor Market Statistics, September 2007

Tags: Space Coast