Florida travel figures show strong rebound over 2020

The American Automobile Association said Florida travel figures show a strong rebound in travelers compared to the 2020 year-end holiday period. AAA said more than 5.9 million Floridians are forecast to travel between Dec. 23 and Jan. 2. Although that’s 4.5 percent fewer travelers than the record high set back in 2019, it’s still 1.5 million or 35% more than last year. [Source: CBS Miami]

Space agency eyes manufacturing jobs

Florida’s aerospace agency pushed forward with negotiations Tuesday to bring 2,100 spacecraft manufacturing jobs to Brevard County over the next three years. The Space Florida Board of Directors approved a staff request to complete negotiations with a company that is expected to invest more than $300 million in a new facility at the Orlando-Melbourne International Airport. The identity of the company has not been released, with the proposal dubbed “Project Griffin.” [Source: ews Service of Florida]

Column: Aquaculture benefits Florida and our oceans

Offshore aquaculture should not be developed in Florida without rigorously responsible management plans. These should be woven together with science-based technologies to help ensure environmental sustainability to minimize potentially negative impacts to our treasured ocean and coastal ecosystems. The great news is that the bipartisan Advancing the Quality and Understanding of American Aquaculture (AQUAA) Act in Congress, coupled with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s new Aquaculture Opportunity Area Atlas for the Gulf of Mexico, provide the foundation for such a plan. It includes three locations in Florida. [Source: Tampa Bay Times]

Florida ready to provide assistance to tornado impacted regions

The state of Florida is set to send assistance to regions impacted by last weekend’s tornadoes. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and Florida Division of Emergency Management director Kevin Guthrie have spearheaded Florida’s response to support nine states that were impacted. The State of Florida has emergency management personnel, Urban Search and Rescue Teams, ambulance strike teams and recovery disaster specialists to deploy, if requested. The State of Florida also proactively offered assistance for any mutual aid requests. [Source: WTXL]

Florida-based Hard Rock buying The Mirage in Vegas for $1.1 billion

Hard Rock International said Monday it wants to see how a guitar-shaped hotel will play at the heart of the Las Vegas Strip. In what MGM Resorts International CEO and President Bill Hornbuckle called “a significant milestone for MGM Resorts and for Las Vegas,” the companies announced MGM Resorts will sell operations of The Mirage to Hard Rock International in a cash deal worth almost $1.1 billion. More from the  APand the South Florida Sun-Sentinel.

ALSO AROUND FLORIDA:

› Global growth firm moving HQ to Tampa, pledges ‘hundreds of local jobs’ [Tampa Bay Times]
A global expansion services company has picked Tampa for its new corporate headquarters. HSP Group, founded in Naples in 2020 and with offices in New York, London, Barcelona and other cities, expects to create “hundreds of local jobs” in the next three years, according to an announcement by the Tampa Bay Economic Development Council. The company will move into a co-working space and begin hiring locally in early 2022.

› Jacksonville-area home prices climb to $325,000 median; short supply seen lasting into '22 [Florida Times-Union]
Typical home prices in Northeast Florida surged to $325,000 in November, close to one-quarter more than buyers paid a year earlier, data from the Northeast Florida Association of Realtors shows. The median sales price for homes of all types rose $25,000 since June and 23.6 percent since November 2020, according to data the group released last week. Single-family house prices climbed to a median price of $350,000.

› Port Canaveral commissioners OK $21.2M deal for port to take control of Bluepoints Marina [Florida Today]
Port Canaveral commissioners have unanimously approved a deal to take over the lease of Bluepoints Marina. That, in effect, gives the port full control of the land the marina occupies on port property at 726 Scallop Drive, and its operations. Although port staff won't directly run the marina, the port will get the revenue and the profits generated by the marina after a transition period of five years or less.

› Orlando’s Packing District neighborhood opening in 2022 with park, YMCA, apartments [Orlando Sentinel]
A park, YMCA, apartments and other features years in the making within Orlando’s new $700 million Packing District neighborhood are expected to open next year. Buildings are going up in the more than 200-acre project from Dr. Phillips Charities around Princeton Street, Orange Blossom Trail and John Young Parkway. The project is northwest of downtown Orlando and just west of the College Park community.

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› Landmark Bono's barbecue rebuilt after catastrophic fire, a prototype for future restaurants [Florida Times-Union]
Bono's is back. It's been nearly two years since fire destroyed Bono's Pit Bar-B-Q near St. Johns Town Center, but starting Monday, the restaurant once again will serve up plates full of authentic Southern pit-smoked pork, ribs, brisket and more to hungry customers. The original restaurant stood for 20 years at 10065 Skinner Lake Drive off Gate Parkway before the massive, fast-moving blaze gutted the neighborhood mainstay despite the best efforts of Jacksonville firefighters to save the business.

› Port idea floated for Putnam County [News Service of Florida]
Florida lawmakers could take initial steps toward establishing a port along the St. Johns River in inland Putnam County. Rep. Bobby Payne, R-Palatka, filed a proposal (HB 907) on Monday that would give Putnam County until July 1, 2024, to apply for a grant through the Florida Seaport Transportation and Economic Development Council to pay for a feasibility study about establishing a port.

› East Tampa business hub misses cut in $1 billion Build Back Better grant fund [Tampa Bay Times]
The U.S. Department of Commerce on Monday announced 60 finalists for a cut of $1 billion worth of community economic stimulus grants worth between $25 million and $100 million each. Not making the cut: An East Tampa business and manufacturing innovation hub.

› Keys animal hospital rehabbing 20 cold-stunned turtles from Cape Cod [Miami Herald]
Volunteer pilots flew 20 critically endangered Kemp’s ridley sea turtles to the Florida Keys Friday from Massachusetts. The reptiles were cold-stunned by the frigid waters where they were found off Cape Cod. They were taken to the Turtle Hospital, a renowned institution for sea turtle rehabilitation located in the Middle Keys city of Marathon.