Real estate market hot despite pandemic

The COVID-19 pandemic has not cooled off the home-selling market by any means. In fact, homes nationwide are selling like hotcakes and Florida is no exception. Sellers are reporting offers being accepted almost as soon as they are listed. The lowest interest rates in 50 years might have something to do with it. More from the Citrus County Chronicle, the St. Augustine Record, and the Naples Daily News.

"A development opportunity unlike any other in the Southeast"

St. Petersburg officials have formally requested proposals for the redevelopment of an 86-acre swath of municipally-owned property around Tropicana Field, which the city hopes to turn into a “multi-use center” connecting downtown to neighborhoods. On the heels of a $93 million rehabilitation of the municipal St. Pete Pier, a 26-acre development that debuted earlier this summer with shops, restaurants and recreational endeavors, officials are seeking ambitious ideas to further the city’s image as a pedestrian-friendly and amenity-rich urban environment. [Source: Business Observer]

South Florida brokerages go virtual during coronavirus pandemic

“Send me the Zoom meeting invite.” “Let’s talk over Slack.” “Can we do the property tour over FaceTime?” Brokerages in South Florida are starting to close their brick-and-mortar locations temporarily due to the coronavirus pandemic, with reopening dates to be determined. And if they’re not closed yet, agents and employees are encouraged to work from home to reduce the spread of the virus. [Source: The Real Deal]

COVID affects Florida Keys commercial leases

The pandemic has affected and/or altered every aspect of life and society: education, communication, transportation and recreation; medicine, media, politics, relationships — and real estate. But as usual, the landscape looks a little different in the Florida Keys, where geography limits the number of corporate offices and the tourism economy reduces the need for cubicle-lined compounds. [Source: Keys Weekly]

Goodbye, Big Apple. Billionaire Carl Icahn relocates headquarters to the Miami area.

Billionaire Carl Icahn has moved his headquarters from New York to Sunny Isles Beach. Icahn, the founder and majority shareholder of the conglomerate Icahn Enterprises, relocated his firm from the General Motors Building in Manhattan to the 14-story Milton Tower in Sunny Isles Beach. [Source: Miami Herald]

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› What it's like to sell a luxury home in the Upper Keys [The Real Deal]
Made famous in movies and TV shows like the Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall classic “Key Largo” and the Netflix thriller “Bloodline,” the Florida Keys cater to homebuyers who want to escape South Florida’s hectic lifestyle and boat, fish or dive — or simply chill.

› Are property taxes decreasing in West Palm Beach? [Mansion Global]
Municipalities in Palm Beach County are in the midst of determining millage rates for property taxes due next year, but home values are up, said Brendan Lynch, a shareholder at the Florida law firm Lowndes, Drosdick, Doster, Kantor & Reed, who specializes in issues of property tax valuation. “Palm Beach saw an average increase across the county in valuation of 4%-plus year-over-year,” he explained.

› Tampa Bay apartment deals closing despite virus fears [Business Observer]
Despite investment jitters over the potential impact of COVID-19 on the apartment sector in some parts of the country, multifamily rental transactions in the Tampa Bay area continued largely unfazed during the second quarter. CBRE Group’s Tampa-based multifamily team, for instance, closed six deals in the three-month period from April 1 through June 30 in Tampa and St. Petersburg.

› Park Place at San Marco developers push for fourth-quarter groundbreaking [Jax Daily Record]
Developers are moving ahead with a disputed San Marco apartment community now that a Florida administrative law judge recommended in favor of the project. Harbert Realty Services Vice President of Development Bill Ware said Aug. 11 that architectural designs for the 133-unit Park Place at San Marco will be ready for internal review in a few days and will be submitted to the city by early September.