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Skyline shapers, city changers in Florida

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Skyline shapers, city changers in Florida

Across the state, a group of developers are reshaping their cities’ downtowns with a host of innovative projects. This package of stories opens with a look at how UCF's public-private ‘Creative Village’ project will transform the city’s downtown. Full story here.

Also in this series from Florida Trend:
» Jeff Vinik's major stake in downtown Tampa
» Craig Robins is Making Waves in Miami
» Rethinking the Future of Downtown West Palm Beach
» Finally, Progress in Jacksonville's Downtown Developments
» Pensacola's Accidental Developer
» Fort Lauderdale's Skyline Identity

Where South Florida's office growth is headed

Anyone wondering about the future location of new offices in here can learn more by looking at how the mass transit systems are connecting the downtown area of its major cities: Miami, Fort Lauderdale and West Palm Beach. Why? Because the area’s rapidly expanding mass transit system has become a major factor in dictating major office growth of the future. [Source: Globe St.]

Mortgage rates shoot up to highest level in nearly 8 years

Strong employment numbers caused mortgage rates to take off with the 30-year fixed-rate average the highest it has been in nearly eight years. According to the latest data released Thursday by Freddie Mac, the 30-year fixed-rate average jumped to 4.94 percent with an average 0.5 point. [Source: Orlando Sentinel]

Grassroots effort kills amendment to increase homestead exemption

Amendment 1, which would have increased the homestead exemption for homeowners whose houses are worth at least $125,000, was the only one of a dozen amendments on the Florida ballot to fall short. The ballot measure got just over 58 percent of the vote, 2 percent shy of the amount needed to make it a part of the Florida Constitution. [Source: WJXT]

Safety tips for Realtors: forget the taser and spike heels, always follow, never lead a client

Chips Wells, crime prevention specialist for the St. Petersburg Police Department, shared safety tips Thursday in a free "Save Your Life" seminar for real estate agents. Nationally, several Realtors have been killed in the past 15 years, all of them attacked by someone they met at an empty house. In the Tampa Bay area, a gunman pretending to be a prospective buyer robbed two agents in 2015. [Source: ]

STAT OF THE WEEK
$7,500/sq. ft. 
Poolside cabanas at The Estates at Acqualina in Sunny Isles Beach now under construction have presold for as much as $2.5 million, or nearly $7,500 per square foot. That ranks them as the highest-priced property in South Florida on a per foot basis. [Source: The Real Deal]

ALSO TRENDING:

› Southwest Florida real estate market enjoys good times ... for now
Land Solutions Inc. CEO Randy Thibaut contends the real estate market in the three-county area — Charlotte, Collier and Lee counties — is flattening, the result of macro-economic dynamics such as rising interest rates, the potential for a prolonged trade war with China, evolving demographics and time.

› Fewer Sarasota-Manatee homeowners underwater
More Southwest Florida homeowners are keeping their heads above water in 2018. A total of 15,067 homeowners, or 7.7 percent, in Sarasota-Manatee owe at least 25 percent more on their mortgages than their properties are worth, putting them in “seriously underwater” condition, real estate researcher ATTOM Data Solutions said.

› Canadian seller of Boca Raton office building gets 25% more than it paid in 2016
An office building in the Park at Broken Sound in Boca Raton sold for $21.4 million, or 25 percent more than the seller paid in 2016. The seller is an affiliate of Canada-based ICM Realty Group, which had acquired the office building in 2016 for $17.05 million.

› Hotel developer closes on block next to Tampa City Hall for Hyatt project
HRI Properties has closed on its $7.6 million purchase of a city-owned block next to Tampa’s City Hall and says it plans to start construction later this month on a dual-branded Hyatt Place and Hyatt House hotel project.