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Southwest Florida Business Briefs - Sept. 2007
BONITA BAY —
» The city has rejected a plan by the Bonita Bay Group to build 15 homes that would have involved reducing the buffer between eagle nesting areas and development from 1,000 feet to approximately 330. The company is appealing the decision.
BRADENTON —
» St. Louis-based First Banks Inc. plans to buy Coast Financial Holdings, the Bradenton-based owner of Coast Bank of Florida, for $22 million. Coast Bank has had financial and legal problems related to $110 million in loans it made to a St. Petersburg construction company that went bankrupt.
CHARLOTTE COUNTY —
» The county is building a $17-million, 14-mile reuse pipeline to improve wastewater recycling. The county recycles about 24% of its wastewater, compared to 74% in Sarasota and 68% in Manatee County.
» Canterbury Corp., a construction industry recruiting firm, relocated from New England to Punta Gorda.
CLEARWATER —
» The city is seeking a patent on a remote control device that allows police officers to override traffic signals and control them from up to 1,000 feet away.
FORT MYERS —
» The Federal Aviation Administration awarded two grants totaling more than $5 million to Southwest Florida International Airport for improvements and construction of more public-use areas.
» Laboratory Corporation of America Holdings plans to buy DSI Laboratories, a medical reference and toxicology lab in Fort Myers, from NCH Healthcare System for an undisclosed amount.
» Florida Gulf Coast University will buy a waterside parcel in Estero Bay from Norm and Nancy Vester. The $2.75-million property will house the school’s marine science, biological science and environmental science programs.
» Colonial Bank has broken ground on a regional headquarters and employee training center at Daniels Parkway and I-75.
» SmartDisk Corp., which provides portable, network and multimedia storage products, was acquired by Verbatim Corp.
» AIM Engineering & Surveying has broken ground on a $10-million, 60,000-sq.-ft. headquarters at the I-75/Colonial Boulevard interchange.
LAKELAND —
» Publix is testing curbside carryout for deli foods at a Fort Myers store. It has also debuted an in-store Carrabba’s Italian Market at a Sarasota location.
» The Lakeland Downtown Development Authority has assembled 60 acres for a project that will include 450 town homes and condos, including workforce housing units.
NAPLES —
» Allen Systems Group, a business software maker, has acquired New York-based Mobius Management Systems for $211 million.
PINELLAS COUNTY —
» Three companies controlled by Sheila Crump Johnson, co-founder of Black Entertainment Television, agreed to purchase the Westin Innisbrook Resort in Palm Harbor for $35 million.
SARASOTA —
» Developer Mark Kauffman is planning a three-building office, retail and parking complex near Laurel Park at the edge of downtown.
» USA3000 Airlines will operate seasonal service between Sarasota-Bradenton International Airport and Chicago O’Hare, Detroit and Cleveland from Dec. 18 through April 29.
» Cruise Car, which manufactures solar-power electric vehicles, has developed a solar roof kit to make golf carts solar-powered.
ST. PETERSBURG —
» Eckerd College is removing itself from U.S. News & World Report’s annual college rankings because it says the magazine’s selection methods are flawed.
TAMPA —
» Palace Sports and Entertainment sold the Tampa Bay Lightning professional hockey team to former Florida Panthers coach Doug MacLean, south Florida developer Jeff Sherrin and Hollywood producer Oren Koules for $200 million. The principals of Absolute Hockey Enterprises say they do not plan to move the team.
» J2 Engineering received a $100-million Army Corps of Engineers contract for construction services at MacDill Air Force Base.
» The Seminole Hard Rock is undergoing a $20-million expansion.
» Tampa Bay Buccaneers linebacker Derrick Brooks has founded Hillsborough County’s first charter high school, the Brooks-DeBartolo Collegiate High School.
» Port Dolphin Energy is seeking federal approval to develop a deepwater port 28 miles offshore from Tampa to unload and transport liquefied natural gas to Florida customers.
» Schafer Development received approval to build a 1.4-million-sq.-ft. industrial, distribution and business site on 120 acres near Apollo Beach.
» The Beck Group will build a $20-million, 211,000-sq.-ft. green office building called Intellicenter for Koll Development in Tampa’s Telecom Park.
