feb 28 issue

FEBRUARY 28 - MARCH 6, 2014 | THREE DOLLARS

SALESJet SettersTo boost camaraderie and collaboration on its sales team, LexJet followed the lead of the Navy SEALS.PAGE 7

MARKETINGHometown SalesDaily deal sites don’t work to gain new clients. What works, Our Town America’s president says, is targeting a niche. PAGE 8

COMMERCIAL REAL ESTATEGrowing like WeedIf approved, medical marijuana could create a boom for Florida’s industrial space market. Just ask Denver.PAGE 9

ENGINEERINGSmall to SurviveWaldrop Engineering held its size steady through the boom and the bust, but it has formed a unique offering to grow again.PAGE 10

FRANCHISINGFlexing its MuscleAfter opening five locations, Naples Flatbread is ready to franchise its flex-casual concept nationwide. PAGE 14

MARKETINGWhat’s Your Brand Worth?A brand’s value may be less tangible than other assets, but that doesn’t make it less important. Learn how to maximize yours.PAGE 17

Pricing | To beat larger competitors, first you need to know everything about them. PG.11

DON’T MISSPAGE 3 Legislative session: Weed yes, gambling no?

PA S C O • H I L L S B O R O U G H • P I N E L L A S • M A N AT E E • S A R A S O TA • C H A R L O T T E • L E E • C O L L I E R

insideBIG PLANSArchitecture firm Fawley|Bryant

draws from the fountain of youth to dropkick the

recession. PAGE 12

Mike Bryant, Steve Padgett and Rick Fawley | Fawley|Bryant

Tampa hospitality fund buys Bonita Springs Holiday Inn Express. 18

Investors buy Beacon Isles Apartments in Tampa for $29.9 million. 20

Helmsley Sandcastle property fetches $27.4 million in sale. 22

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Vol. XVIII, No. 9

3FEBRUARY 28 – MARCH 6, 2014 | BUSINESS OBSERVER BusinessObserverFL.com

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There is always great cynical amusement — and certainly exasperat-ing frustrations — when Florida’s legislators gather for their annual spring fling. You never know what dumb surprises are going to end up becoming law.

If only all lawmakers would follow Naples Sen. Garrett Richter. He says his first priority is: “Do no harm.”

But surely, some of Richter’s col-leagues and supporters may be won-dering why he is the lead lawmaker on three bills that are part of a package that, if approved, could expand gam-bling in Florida — including the open-ing of mega-casino resorts, one each in Miami-Dade and Broward counties.

One reason Richter is shepherding this is the fact that he is chairman of the Senate Gaming Committee. And as such that puts him in the center of the ring to try to craft and steer legislation that would bring Florida’s patchwork gambling laws into a comprehensive set of rules.

And that process has led Richter’s committee to where it will be Thursday, March 3, when it begins consideration of Senate Bills 7050, 7052 and 7054:

• SB 7050: It would create a new sec-tion of the constitution requiring that any expansion of gambling be autho-rized by a constitu-tional amendment or by a legislative act, either of which would require voter approval.

• SB 7052: This is the monster bill, more than 400 pages, creat-ing a new Department of Gaming Control and a Gaming Control Board that would pro-vide oversight for all gambling in the state.

One of the most crucial pieces of this bill is, to allow casi-nos in South Florida, the governor would be required to rene-gotiate the state’s “compact” with the Seminole Indian tribe. That compact gives the Seminoles a nice monopoly on casino gambling in Florida, to the point its Hard Rock casino in Tampa is one of the most profitable casinos in North America.

• SB 7054: It would exempt the Gaming Department from public records laws in the licensing and application process of gaming companies.

Of the hundreds of bills filed for this legislative session, these gambling bills are likely to be among the most emotionally charged. They’ll make for great contro-versy, just as gambling always has.

For the past three decades, permit-ting full-scale gambling in Florida has been as controversial as legalizing marijuana is today. In the mid-1980s, business interests squelched a popu-lar and aggressive effort to bring back

casino gambling. Yes, “bring back.”

Florida since the late 1890s had been a thriv-ing destination of legal and illegal gambling — in the lavish hotels of Henry Flagler and Henry Plant, and later in the Roaring ’20s in South Florida and Sarasota.

In 1959, then Gov. Leroy Collins argued against gambling in a three-page

article in Parade magazine, calling it “poison.” “It kills more business than it generates,” he wrote. “It encourages public corruption and … Worst of all, it saps moral strength and character.”

Those same warnings continue today. The Florida Chamber of Commerce, beacon of free enterprise, has been one of the most vocal oppo-nents of expanding casinos.

“Las Vegas-style casinos … bring economic devolution — a decline in Florida’s quality of life,” Greg Blose wrote for the chamber last December. “How, during a time of such positive growth in Florida, could we justify the expansion of an industry that has an established history of cannibalizing local businesses and offering little by way of sustainable job growth?”

To one extent, you can understand the chamber. One of its long-time sup-porters and members, Walt Disney World, is a staunch opponent of casi-

nos, and for obvious reasons — competi-tion, the loss of con-vention business. But there are many other businesses as well that oppose gambling primarily on grounds of morality and its negative social effects. They’re right — it’s bad.

To another extent, though, how is gam-bling any different than, say, selling tobacco or booze? The social effects and costs of those can be and are damaging as well. But we allow those busi-nesses, and we give consumers the choice — they can drink or not drink, they can smoke or not smoke.

What’s more, Florida is already rife with gambling. The State itself, for goodness sake, is one of the biggest pushers of gambling — with its $4.4 billion (annual revenues) lottery busi-ness. As one lawmaker told us, “We’ve had the lottery, parimutu-els and Hard Rock for years, and we have 19 million people and are still growing. I haven’t seen Florida collapse because of gambling.”

While some people, no doubt, will say

Sen. Richter and his committee are violating his motto of “do no harm” with the gambling bills, they are doing their jobs. It’s not the role of the state to decide what is moral. Every indi-vidual has a rational mind to make that choice. Floridians should have more choices to roll the dice.

reviewandcomment

Weed yes, gambling no?BY MATT WALSH | EDITOR AND PUBLISHER

‘WANNA BET?’Count the ways you legally can gamble in Florida:

Bingo Indian casinosDog races Jai-alaiHorse races Lottery

States that allow casinos Commercial IndianAlabama XAlaska XArizona XCalifornia XColorado X XConnecticut XDelaware X Florida XIdaho XIllinois X Indiana X Iowa X XLouisiana X XMaryland X Massachusetts X XMichigan X XMinnesota XMississippi X XMissouri X XMontana XNebraska XNevada X XNew Jersey X New Mexico XNew York XNorth Carolina XNorth Dakota XOhio X Oklahoma XOregon XPennsylvania X South Dakota X XTexas XWashington X XWest Virginia X Wisconsin XWyoming X


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topstories from BusinessObserverFL.comTAMPA BAYSecond WellCare executive departing

Tom Tran, WellCare Health Plans Inc.’s senior vice presi-dent and chief financial of-ficer, is leaving the company. It was announced he will stay on until another CFO is chosen or until Nov. 30.

“Tom’s contributions to WellCare were instrumental at a time when the company was undergoing great trans-formation,” Dave Gallitano, WellCare’s chairman of the board and CEO, says in a press release. “However, it was mutually agreed that it was an appropriate time for Tom to pursue other opportunities.”

The announcement follows a shake up at CEO late last year. Gallitano was named interim CEO in November, after the board chose to replace Alec Cunningham. At that time, the company said it expected to name a successor CEO some-time during the second or third quarter of 2014.

Bankruptcy court halts Channelside sale

A bankruptcy court in Dela-ware has delayed the Tampa

Port Authority’s plans to buy the Channelside Bay Plaza. The court ruled that the Irish Bank Resolution Corp., which owns the retail center’s build-ings, must do additional due diligence before it can sell the center.

The port owns the land that the 234,520-square-foot plaza sits on and wanted to buy the buildings for $5.75 million.

Irish Bank Resolution Corp. needed the federal court to approve the sale because it has placed many of its U.S. properties under bankruptcy protection.

CHARLOTTE-LEE-COLLIERSource Interlink names new CEO

Source Interlink Media, the publisher of Motor Trend and other specialty magazines, named Scott Dickey as its CEO.

Michael Sullivan, who previ-ously held the position, will be CEO of Source Distribution.

Dickey previously served as CEO of Competitor Group, a company that staged events such as Rock ‘n’ Roll mara-thon series and publishes magazines for runners, cyclists and triathletes. Before join-ing the Competitor Group in

2008, Dickey was president of Transworld Media, a former division of Time Inc., where he led the company’s multimedia expansion.

Bonita Springs chain pinches Tampa area

For its 10th restaurant, Pinchers Crab Shack will enter Tampa Bay, expanding the sea-food restaurant chain’s reach from Key West to Pasco.

The first Tampa-area loca-tion will be at the Shops at Wiregrass in Wesley Chapel in south Pasco County. The res-taurant is scheduled to open in June.

The Phelan family controls Bonita Springs-based Pinch-ers, starting with one restau-rant nearly 20 years ago. The privately held company also owns Island Crab Company in Pine Island, which provides its restaurants with seafood.

SARASOTA-MANATEEBerkshire Hathaway real estate grows

Berkshire Hathaway Home-Services Florida Realty has acquired Sarasota-based Cris-tello & Company Real Estate,

a family-run brokerage with 13 agents. Terms of the deal weren’t disclosed.

Berkshire Hathaway Home-Services Florida Realty, part of Bonita Springs-based devel-oper WCI Communities’ real estate services network, was formerly Prudential Florida Realty. Berkshire Hathaway, run by Warren Buffett, ac-quired Prudential Florida Realty last year.

LWR developer expands to Naples

Kjims Development Co. LLC, with a specialty in luxury homebuilding and multi-family projects in Lakewood Ranch and Siesta Key, has ac-quired Bonita Springs-based Mac Contractors.

Terms of the deal weren’t disclosed. Lakewood Ranch-based Kjims will now take on projects in Marco Island and Naples, in addition to Mana-tee and Sarasota counties.

Jon MacDonough founded Mac Contractors in 2000. It works mostly in the luxury homebuilding and renovation market in Naples and Marco Island. It had about $5 million in annual sales and 35 em-ployees at its peak.

what do 70% Yes

30% Noyou think?

quoteof theweek

“”Thank goodness more inventory has come on the market.Brett Ellis| Re/Max, commenting on the residential real estate market following the recession.SEE PAGE 9

Would the allowance of gambling in Florida hurt or help local businesses? Are women still treated

unfairly in the workplace?

Last week’s question:

Vote at BusinessObserverFL.com/decision


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CoffeeTalkHere’s a good lesson for entrepre-

neurs: Think twice before you decide to let the government be your business partner.

A seemingly offhand remark by Lee County Commissioner Cecil Pender-grass set off a firestorm in the algae world and reignited the debate about taxpayer subsidies for private enterprise.

At a public meeting recently, Pend-ergrass questioned whether Algenol Biofuels had met its requirement to create 108 jobs as part of a $10 million subsidy it received from county tax-payers. The company has been devel-oping fuels from algae at a biorefinery in south Lee County.

The timing of Pendergrass’ remarks comes at a sensitive time for the coun-ty. Lee County commissioners want another firm, Bonita Springs-based VR Laboratories, to reimburse nearly $4.7 million of taxpayer subsidies because it alleges the company has not com-plied with the terms of the agreement

to create jobs and make requirement capital investments.

After hearing Pendergrass’ remarks, Paul Woods, the CEO and founder of Algenol, fired off a press release call-ing Pendergrass’ comments “prepos-terous and defamatory.” Woods says Algenol now employs 127 people and he hosted visitors recently to meet with them at the company’s sprawling campus off Alico Road.

Whatever the outcome, some might say both companies would have been better off without government as their partners.

Former Outback Steakhouse execu-tive David Osterweil is preparing his business, Tampa-based Fitlife Foods,

for a level of serious growth backed by a prominent group of area investors.

The group, with an investment into the millions, includes Stuart Lasher, former chairman of Tampa-based Lifestyle Fam-ily Fitness; Bahram

Akradi, founder and CEO of suburban Minneapolis-based Life Time Fitness; and well-connected Tampa entrepre-neur and philanthropist Bob Gries with Gries Investment Fund. Keenan and Hannibal Baldwin of Tampa-

based Baldwin Beach Capital, a pri-vate equity fund that operates Yogur-tology frozen yogurt stores in Florida, are also part of the investor group.

Fitlife’s five Tampa-area stores sell healthy made-from-scratch prepared meals, snacks and drinks. Osterweil, with the goal of making good food convenient, founded Fitlife in 2011. He and his wife sold their stocks and invest-ments and obtained a Small Business Administration loan with their house for collateral to get funding in the early go-ing. (See Business Observer, Aug. 30, 2012.)

The stores, including locations in Carrollwood, south Tampa and St. Petersburg, have since built a solid

Government makes a bad business partner

Firm is fit for lucrative investment

The fast growth at Datum Corp., a Lakewood Ranch-based IT services and software consulting firm, hit a new stratosphere with its latest executive hire.

The firm, with more than $30 mil-lion in sales last year, named Rob

Campbell chief strat-egy officer in Febru-ary. Campbell’s busi-ness claim to fame is twofold. He was a product market man-ager at Apple in the early 1980s, where he worked directly for Steve Jobs. He was also a marketing director at Microsoft in the late 1980s, when he worked with Bill Gates. There’s also this nugget: Campbell co-founded a firm in 1983, Forethought, which developed the

programs PowerPoint and FileMaker. Now Campbell will help Datum

grow into new markets, and, eventu-ally, get outside private equity fund-ing. Datum, with clients that include breakfast-brunch-lunch chain First Watch, doubled sales in each of the past few years, says CEO Tom Frost. The 2014 first quarter has been the 11-year-old firm’s best first quarter ever, Frost adds, and it could grow sales up to 40% this year.

Campbell, after being pulled out of semi-retirement, previously helped

run Sarasota-based Voalte, an IT company with a focus on smartphone apps that help nurses communicate better. (Voalte recently announced it received a $36 million capital investment from a New York private equity firm. See page 23.) Campbell mentored Voalte’s co-founder, Trey Lauderdale, and was the firm’s CEO from 2008 to March 2013.

It was a mentor-mentee relationship that connected Frost and Campbell. The pair met through CEO round-table sessions sponsored by GrowFl through the Economic Development Corp. of Sarasota County. They had lunch together a few times, when Frost peppered Campbell with ques-tions. Frost then floated “a trial bal-loon” about a Datum job Campbell’s way late last year. “When he saw the growth potential he decided to come on board,” Frost tells Coffee Talk.

Campbell says he’s received “quite a few” similar requests — not surpris-ing, given his successful track record. But Campbell, 61, says he admires Frost’s ability to build Datum or-ganically and how he’s positioned the business in the marketplace, where it partners with clients on all things IT, not just troubleshoots. Campbell adds that since he’s been where Frost is, he can provide some guidance on how the Datum executive can work on his business, not in it.

“I think I can help Tom avoid some obstacles and find some opportuni-ties he might not see,” Campbell tells Coffee Talk. “My role is to help him look up and look out.”

STAR EXEC TAKES NEW ROLE

See COFFEE TALK page 23

Algenol employees

CAMPBELL

OSTERWEIL

FROST


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The Naples area posted the largest annual-

percentage increase in taxable sales of autos and accessories in the state in November,

up 20.4%.

Every metro area of the Gulf Coast

posted higher annual-percentage

increases in taxable sales of autos and

accessories in November than the state’s 9.6%

increase.

The Cape Coral-Fort Myers posted

the second-largest annual-

percentage increase in

taxable sales of autos and

accessories in the state in November,

up 18.2%.

1

2

5

BY THE NUMBERS

Auto saleseconomicsnapshot

Nov. 2012 Dec. ’12 Jan. ’13 Feb. ’13 Mar. ’13 Apr. ’13 May ’13 July ’13 Aug. ’13 Sept.’13 Oct.’13 Nov.’13June ’133.8

4.0

4.2

4.4

4.6

4.8

$5.0 billion (Florida statewide)

WHAT THE DATA SHOWTaxable sales in this category include the sale of new and used

cars, repair shops, auto-supply stores and taxable sales at gaso-line stations. The latest data are for November.

WHAT IT MEANSThe Gulf Coast scored a trifecta in November with Naples, Fort

Myers, and Punta Gorda placing first, second and third, respective-ly, in the state in the annual-percentage increase in taxable sales of autos and accessories in November. Sarasota was edged out of fourth place by Panama City, which posted a 15.8% increase in this category over the same period. But every area of the Gulf Coast posted stronger annual-percentage increases in taxable sales of autos and accessories in November than the state as a whole (up 9.6%). Only one area of the state posted an annual-percentage decline in this category in November: Vero Beach, down 1.9%.

FORECASTAuto sales should remain strong through the spring as the

economy improves. Employment on the Gulf Coast is rising, the stock market continues its upward trajectory and real estate values are recovering. What’s more, consumers are replacing older cars they bought before the recession. Now, they’re trading in for newer models. Still, auto sales may be vulnerable to rising gasoline prices.

Naples

Cape Coral-Fort Myers

Punta Gorda

Sarasota-Bradenton

Tampa-St. Petersburg

NOVEMBER AUTO SALESAREA % ANNUAL CHANGE

$608.4 10.3%

$31.5 17%

$89.4 20.4%

$165.6 15.7%

$173.7 18.2%

Source: Florida Legislature Office of Economic & Demographic Research

AUTO SALES ($ in millions)


infocus | sales | BY MARK GORDON | DEPUTY MANAGING EDITOR

LORI SAX

LexJet sales team leader BILL WEISER stands with the company’s fiberglass and resin elephant statue on the firm’s rooftop patio in downtown Sarasota. The elephant, say LexJet officials, represents the firm’s theme of fast growth, or “the elephant in the room.”

A Gulf Coast business discovered how to grow — a lot — in a declining industry.

The secret: Think like frogmen.

“”The industry isn’t getting larger. But we are able to take more market share. Bill Weiser | LexJet

in aPODA 45-person sales force that

sells inkjet printing equip-ment and supplies from

cubicle pods seemingly has little in common with Navy SEALs.

But those two sides connect, with excellent results, in Bill Weiser’s world. Weiser heads up the sales team at Sarasota-based LexJet, where annual revenues have jumped 37.7% since 2011, from $55.48 million to $76.4 mil-lion in 2013. The company is a subsidiary of S-One Holdings Corp., also based in Sarasota. S-One owns several subsidiar-ies and brands that work with a host of companies, including independent photographers and Hewlett-Packard.

With more than 100 employees, LexJet markets and sells a com-bination of its own developed products and materials from industry leaders such as Canon and DuPont. Customers use the products in a variety of ways, from event signs to trade show graphics to canvas photo prints. Yet given the print industry’s demise and the move to digitize all kinds of businesses, LexJet, which turns 20 years old this year, could have been on the road to extinction.

“The industry isn’t getting larg-er,” Weiser concedes. “But we are able to take more market share.”

That’s where Navy SEALs come into play, in conjunction with pro golfer and Sarasota resident Paul Azinger, who wrote the book “Cracking the Code” in 2010. The book is a play-by-play of how Az-

inger led the 12-man U.S. team to victory in the 2008 Ryder Cup.

The key: To get a dozen Type-A golfers to play cohesively, Azinger broke the group down into pods of four. It’s a technique emphasized in Navy SEALs training, Azinger learned, where small pods, all part of the same larger squad, eat to-gether, train together and are im-mersed in each others lives. The idea is to develop airtight camara-derie for missions where people’s lives depend on others’ actions.

“Tour players are hardwired to beat the guys next to them,” Az-inger writes, “then one week a year we think they should go against their nature and become a cham-pionship team.”

The Navy SEALs training phi-losophy resonated with Azinger,

and his book resonated with Lex-Jet co-founders Art Lambert and Ron Simkins. Lambert and Sim-kins passed around copies of Az-inger’s book to top LexJet execu-tives, including Weiser.

The concept also clicked with Weiser, who helped turn the 45-person sales staff at LexJet into small pods. The pods, says Weiser, have no bosses and anyone can be a captain or lead a specific sales contest or push into a new prod-uct. That independence, says Weiser, is integral to the overall success because it allows sales-people to think like business own-ers, not mere product pushers.

“There are a few rules by which one must abide in order to capti-vate and cultivate the LexJet cul-ture, and those rules are one, have

fun, two, make money and, three, don’t get in the way of anyone hav-ing fun or making money,” Weiser says. “Seems simple enough (but) that particular modus operandi may not be suitable in other orga-nizations that require micro and macro management tiers.”

Follow Mark Gordon on Twitter @markigordon

The 45-person sales team at Saraso-ta-based LexJet, an inkjet printing equip-ment and supplies firm, has facilitated a major growth spurt at the company. The team works mostly off lead-generated cold calls, where sales personnel, says sales team leader Bill Weiser, are trained to develop relationship-based sales, not just go for transactions.

That training is centered on two key points: • Ask away: Weiser says asking a sales

prospect questions about what they need sounds obvious, yet many sales-people, in all fields, mess it up by ask-ing the wrong ones. “It comes down to asking questions with a strategy,” says Weiser. “The more times you can ask questions, especially in cold calling, the better the relationship you can build. If you ask enough good ques-tions, you won’t have to sell anything.”

• Autonomous approach: LexJet wants its sales staff to work like entrepreneurs, not cubicle dwellers. “We train them to be problem solv-ers,” Weiser says. “Think about the decision you will make as if it’s your business and your money.”

THAT’S COLDHeadquarters: Sarasota. Satellite office in Barcelona and sales teams in multiple other countries, includ-ing Germany, Australia and Japan. Employees: 150Founders: Art Lambert and Ron SimkinsIndustries: Inkjet printing, digital printing, graphic design, media publishing. Subsidiaries: Six. List includes LexJet, which sells inkjet printing equipment and supplies and has cus-tomers in North America. LexJet had $76.4 million in sales in 2013, up

37.7% from $55.48 million in 2011. Another subsidiary is Brand Manage-ment Group, which focuses on the wide format print market and has licensing partnerships with industry giants Hewlett-Packard and Kodak.

Products: S-One, through subsid-iaries, is the exclusive distributor of Tara Materials’ Fredrix line of wide format inkjet canvas. It’s also the exclusive business partner for HP Sign and Display large format printing materials for latex inks, and it has the exclusive trademark licensing agreement for Kodak wide format inkjet media.

AT A GLANCE: S-One Holdings Corp.


infocus | marketing | BY TRACI MCMILLAN BEACH | TAMPA CORRESPONDENT

MARK WEMPLE

Our Town America President MICHAEL PLUMMER JR. says he’s gained most new franchises “through the envelope.” It costs $47,500 to open a franchise, with a $10,000 discount to veterans.

Michael Plummer Jr. plunged into the role of president sooner than expected. Without a formal transition plan in place, he’s managed to grow his company to more than $7 million in revenue.

“”They think the community is reaching out personally. No one thinks it is advertising, but at the end of the day it is. Michael Plummer Jr. | Our Town America

welcomeHOME

Three days after his father’s untimely passing in 2009, Michael Plummer Jr. found

himself sitting in his dad’s office signing payroll checks.

“Sitting in his chair, using his pen, the last check in the book was signed with his signature,” Plum-mer says. It was the hardest mo-ment of his life, but he knew some-one had to keep his dad’s business, Our Town America, rolling. That day, “most checks went out with tears on them.”

Learning from the military “to suck it up and do it,” was the only thing that kept him going.

Plummer’s father, whom he had worked with side by side for the previous eight years, founded the business 42 years ago, sending a one-time personalized packet of coupons to new residents. The packets feature deals from both mom and pop companies and na-tional chains. Our Town America limits its offerings to one type of business in each zip code, so there can’t be two pizza places or two drycleaners in one packet.

A pizza place may offer a free pizza or a salon a free haircut, with the goal of getting new residents to try the restaurant, service or product. “Everyone is trying to get people into the doors — it’s new-customer acquisition,” Plummer

says. “We give people a reason to go into your location over the others.”

Today 37-year-old Plummer is operating his dad’s business, managing 60 employees at the Pi-nellas Park-based corporate office. The company has hired 16 people at the corporate office this year, with a goal to bring on nine more by the summer.

A quarter of the company’s 50 franchisees have launched in the last three years. Last year the company added eight new fran-chisees and experienced 18% sales growth. It costs $47,500 to open a franchise. Corporate handles the analytics and tools, as well as the printing and mailing of the pack-ets, while franchisees handle local sales in their area.

Plummer aims to bring on 12 more franchisees by the end of 2014. Sending packets to more than 7.5 million families last year, Plummer says he brought in more than $7 million in revenue.

His biggest challenge today is helping businesses understand the value of targeting a niche market like the newly moved fam-ily. Daily deal sites have a flawed model, Plummer says, because they are going after changing es-tablished habits. What ends up happening is they find customers

that are “not really loyal, they’re just chasing any discount they can get,” and the sudden rush of busi-ness can push loyal clients out.

Sending an oversized envelope with warm inviting colors and a packet of deals that seem too good to be true brings people back to the days when the neighbors would provide a list of their favorite res-taurants and specialists, Plummer says. “They think the community is reaching out personally. No one thinks it is advertising, but at the end of the day it is.”

Although the model may sound simple and a bit dated, the data running behind the scenes is more complex than it was at its founding.

“It used to be about buying a list and mailing a list,” Plummer says. Now the company gathers information from credit bureaus, utilities providers, magazine sub-scriptions and more, to make sure that each household only receives the welcome packet once.

Local businesses providing deals for the packet pay a month-ly subscription ranging from $50 to thousands of dollars a month, depending on how many people moved into their zip code that month and how many packets were mailed. The company pro-vides an application to business-

es to track the rate of return, re-sponse times and best offers. They also send out follow-up mailings and track social media mentions.

The analytics help people deter-mine what zip codes bode well for sponsors and which aren’t worth advertising spend, but it all “great-ly depends on the offer,” Plummer says. “A buy-one-get-one is not as good as free.”

Plummer says his sponsors in the auto industry report an 8% to 15% response rate, compared with direct mail campaigns that usually see a fraction of a percent. Restaurants can reach 20 to 30% response rates. National hard-ware retailer Ace is getting a 20% response rate, Plummer says.

Plummer says exclusivity is the company’s key. If he already has a small town pizza restaurant as a sponsor, he has to tell the big chain that “There are areas where local mom and pops lock the big chain out.” If that’s the case, Old Town America doesn’t succumb to a bidding war. Plummer says they apologize and offer a neighboring zip code.

Plummer says his company commits to long-term customers, in an effort to help its sponsors achieve loyal new business. “We are relationship makers. We’re not signing people up for a month.”


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infocus | real estate |

Legalizing drugs isn’t a subject that comes up at commercial real es-tate conferences very often.

But warehouse owners and brokers are buzzing about the possibility of Florida voters approving the medicinal use of marijuana in November.

Consider what’s happened in Denver since the use of recreational marijuana was approved there. “They’re scarfing up space like crazy for grow houses,” says Jim Boback, executive managing partner and broker of iCore Global – Fort Myers, speaking at the CCIM Real Estate Outlook Conference in Fort My-ers recently.

The Denver Business Journal recently reported that marijuana growers in that city leased 1 million square feet or more of industrial space to grow weed. That’s enough space to fill 17 football fields. What’s more, these tenants are paying 30% more than asking rents, often in cash.

Already, industrial warehouse space in Southwest Florida is becoming more scarce. That’s because construction-re-lated trades such as roofers and cabinet-makers are filling up space as a result of the rebound in homebuilding.

Indeed, the vacancy rate for ware-house space in Collier County stood at just 3.2% and in Lee County at 8.3%, according to the latest data from mar-ket tracker CoStar Group. In the three-county area that includes Charlotte,

Collier and Lee, tenants absorbed more than 1.2 million square feet of industrial space in 2013.

Boback says falling vacancy rates and rising rental rates in industrial warehouse space will make it worth-while for developers to start building them again, especially in the 5,000- to 10,000-square-foot range that is seeing the most demand. “I think we’re almost there,” he says.

On the residential side, new-home construction has rebounded as foreclo-sures dwindle and the supply of exist-ing homes shrinks. “We’re getting back to the development of lots,” says Mike Timmerman, senior associate with Fishkind & Associates in Naples, speak-ing to a gathering of the Urban Land In-stitute in Bonita Springs recently.

New-home absorption in Southwest Florida communities Timmerman tracks has risen 60% in 2013 compared with the prior year, pushing prices up 14% annually for the last few years.

Timmerman says he’s not worried that the resurgence of homebuilding may lead to another residential real estate bubble because banks aren’t fi-nancing speculators. “We don’t have banks giving money out for free,” Tim-merman says. “There’s totally different fundamentals this time.”

For this and other reasons, Timmer-man cautions that new-home pricing can’t continue to grow at the double-dig-

it percentage annual rates. “It just can’t,” he says, noting that new-home price in-creases may moderate to around 5%.

Prices of existing homes in Lee Coun-ty have risen at twice the rate of new homes. Speaking at the CCIM confer-ence, Brett Ellis with Re/Max says the

median price of an existing home in Lee rose 28% last year. “Thank good-ness more inventory has come on the market,” he says. “I’m not expecting a 28% increase again.”

Follow Jean Gruss on Twitter @JeanGruss

Smokin’ marketBY JEAN GRUSS | EDITOR/LEE-COLLIER

JIMJETT.COM

MIKE TIMMERMAN, senior associate with Fishkind & Associates in Naples, says conservative bank financing will restrain the residential market.

The market for commercial warehouse space could get a boost if voters legalize medicinal marijuana in November. That’s just one of the reasons real estate executives are upbeat on the sector.

Thank goodness more inventory has come on the market. Brett Ellis | Re/Max


Recessions have a way of clearing a path for entrepreneurs.

Consider Ron Waldrop, a civil engineer who started out as a solo practitioner in Bonita Springs in 2000. Today, Waldrop Engineering has 40 employees stretching from Pasco County north of Tampa to Collier County in the south.

Although he started the civil-engineering business at the start of the real estate boom, Waldrop was careful never to overextend him-self. “We stayed smaller and true to who we were,” Waldrop says.

By the time the bust occurred, he had 15 employees, a number that held steady during the down-turn while his much-larger com-petitors trimmed their payrolls or shut their doors. “We were the only group I know of that kept intact,” says Waldrop, 43.

That’s quite a feat considering many of his clients were residen-tial builders. These included Pulte, Taylor Morrison and Stock Devel-opment, among others.

Waldrop’s family was active in homebuilding in Southwest Flori-da and he had followed them here from Austin, Texas, in 1993. He started as an engineer with Wil-sonMiller in Naples, a well-estab-lished firm that was acquired by Canadian giant Stantec during the real estate bust.

In 2000, Waldrop decided to start his own firm. “I was one guy with a computer,” he chuckles at the memory of starting out.

His first client was big: Lely Re-sort, before the Stock family of Wisconsin took over the Naples development. “We knew compe-tition was going to be the big engi-neering firms,” Waldrop says. “Our big thing is client service.”

When the real estate downturn started taking hold, many of Wal-drop’s homebuilding clients con-solidated their Florida operations and covered more territory with fewer people. That’s how Waldrop ended up doing civil engineering work for them in places such as Tampa and Sarasota. “As they con-solidated, they added geography to their groups,” Waldrop explains. “We saw it as a great opportunity.”

Even as the downturn was tak-ing hold in 2008, homebuilders still needed civil engineering work on structures such as entryways, na-ture trails, playgrounds and club-houses. Waldrop would help build-ers design them to appeal to wary homebuyers. “We do more than just engineering,” says Waldrop.

In 2009, Ryan Binkowski joined the firm to provide landscape ar-chitecture and Alexis Crespo to provide large-scale planning ser-vices. In 2010, Waldrop opened an office in Tampa led by Trent Stephenson, a Heidt & Associ-ates alumnus. The Sarasota office opened one year ago.

With a team in place, Waldrop says he can offer builders a one-stop shop to take a piece of land through the development process. “Right now it’s full steam ahead,” Waldrop says, noting that builders are eagerly planning single-family communities throughout the re-gion. “Our clients are still looking for land,” he says. “The southern area is the most active.”

Waldrop says commercial devel-opment is becoming more active now, too. “Multifamily is starting to get rolling,” he says.

The geography isn’t a challenge, Waldrop says. “There’s not time to micro manage,” he says. “We spend time to make sure we have the right people.”

Follow Jean Gruss on Twitter @JeanGruss

ED CLEMENT

RON WALDROP and RYAN BINKOWSKI performed civil engineering and landscape architecture for the Esplanade Golf and Country Club residential community in Naples.

engineered for theREBOUND

infocus | engineering | BY JEAN GRUSS | EDITOR/LEE-COLLIER

Ron Waldrop grew his engineering firm methodically to reap the benefits of the recovery.

I was one guy with a computer. Ron Waldrop | Waldrop Engineering“”


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infocus | entrepreneurs |

W ine entrepreneur Mitchell Sof-fer spends a lot of time in clan-destine spy mode.

T he ow ner of Sa ra sot a-ba sed thewinetobuy.com, Soffer says he spends seven days a week checking prices, in-ventories and products at his competi-tors. That goes from websites to brick and mortar mom-and-pops to big stores such as Costco and Total Wine & More. Prices at his store range from $15 a bottle to more than $2,000, for something like a bottle of Screaming Eagle.

“I go out snooping,” says Soffer. “I leave no stone unturned.”

Soffer then uses the reconnaissance to make pricing and inventory decisions, both for his website and storefront in the Gulf Gate neighborhood in Sarasota, near Siesta Key. While a relentless competitive analysis tactic isn’t necessarily novel, for Soffer, a 30-year wine industry veteran, it’s produced some delectable results: Annual revenues have exploded, from $100,000 when he bought the business in 2006 to more than $1 million in 2013.

“To me this is like playing a game, a sporting event,” says Soffer. “It’s nice to have a passion for wine, but it’s really about I don’t like to lose.”

That competitive spirit will only grow with news that wine industry experts project a rosy industry recovery. The 2014 Silicon Valley Bank Wine Report, for in-stance, says wine sales should rise 6% to 10% this year over 2013. That would come after three straight years of declines in total industry sales. The report also pre-dicts a demand surge in 2014 for both lux-

ury wines and lower-end bottles priced from $10 to $18.

Soffer saw one side of that projection play out last year. For example, thewi-netobuy.com revenues were up 20% in 2013 over 2012, he says, but the volume of total cases sold dropped, especially in November and December. So customers spend more money, but buy less wine. Says Soffer: “People are upgrading.”

Soffer’s strategy to keep on winning goes beyond competition price checks. One goal is to increase the amount of wine tastings he holds in the store and through partnerships with Sarasota restaurants like Libby’s, in Southside Village and Chianti, on Clark Road. Not that the wine tastings and restaurant partnerships are profit machines. “It’s not something you make money off,” he

says, “but it’s something where you can build camaraderie.”

Soffer also hopes the increased market-ing presence from the tastings will drive in-sale stores, which are more profitable than online sales. About 50% of Soffer’s sales are home deliveries from direct email blasts, while 30% come through in-store purchases and 20% from Inter-net searches.

An obstacle to increasing in-store sales lies in national chains like Potomac, Md.-based Total Wine & More, which oper-ates a busy east Manatee County loca-tion. Soffer attacks that challenge much like a community banker fights Bank of America: through local decisions and down-home, friendly customer service. Says Soffer: “People don’t know the flavor profile of their customers like I do.”

Soffer got into the wine business in the 1980s, when he managed a wine store in his native north New Jersey. He later ran wholesale accounts for American BD, a New Jersey-based wine distributor. Soffer and his wife moved to Florida in Decem-ber 2005, and soon after that he bought the wine business. He’s since moved it twice to bigger locations.

Soffer’s biggest fear, even amid the suc-cess of the past year, remains the big in-dustry giants that can dictate price wars. That’s one of the reasons he’s so vigilant about price checks. “This is really a dirty business,” Soffer says. “The big guys, if they want to destroy you, they can de-stroy you.”

Follow Mark Gordon on Twitter @markigordon

A one-man wine retail and brokerage business hit $1 million in sales last year. The goal now: Continue to stick it to bigger competitors.Spy games

BY MARK GORDON | DEPUTY MANAGING EDITOR

MARK WEMPLE

MITCHELL SOFFER has owned thewinetobuy.com since 2006. The business includes an online wine store and a storefront in south Sarasota.

To me this is like playing a game, a sporting event. It’s nice to have a passion for wine, but it’s really about I don’t like to lose. Mitchell Soffer | thewinetobuy.com


That happens every Friday. Fawley and Bryant, principals behind Lakewood Ranch-based Fawley|Bryant, have lunch ca-tered that day. Then they take off so the staff of 18, including seven employees who joined the firm in the last year, can connect with each other. The employees talk about work, current projects and personal lives.

“The irony of the firm growing older is the staff has really never been younger,” says Bryant. “I think the staff is the best it’s ever been.”

Fawley|Bryant, with a second office in downtown Bradenton, will need to pluck all it can from that spunk. That’s because the firm expects 2014 will be the year it officially dropkicks the reces-sion.

In addition to integrating new hires and likely adding a few more, Fawley|Bryant executives project

annual revenues will double in 2014, from around $2.9 million in 2013 to at least $6 million. That would even be a 33% increase from the firm’s boom-time peak in 2006, when it had $4.5 million in sales. The payroll is also nearly back to pre-recession levels at the firm, which provides planning, architecture, interior design and sustainability strategy services.

“We knew coming out of the recession there would be oppor-tunities,” Bryant says. “There has been four or five years of pent-up demand.”

That demand has stretched to other parts of the Gulf Coast and nationwide. Billings at U.S. archi-tecture firms rose in January over December, for instance, accord-ing to the American Institute of Architects’ Architecture Billings Index. The January index, the first month-over-month increase since last September, was 50.4, up from 48.6. The index’s midpoint between a projected increase or decrease in future projects is 50.

On a more local basis, Doug Whitney, president of WBRC Ar-chitects Engineers, with offices in Portland and Bangor, Maine, in addition to Lakewood Ranch, projects a robust 2014. Whitney says 2013 was mostly f lat over

2012. But he expects gross rev-enues for the firm’s Florida busi-ness to increase 20% in 2014.

Whitney says health care, es-pecially senior living communi-ties, and retail, with a focus on discount stores, is behind most of WBRC’s predicted growth. Re-cent clients include Lakewood Ranch Commercial Realty and Beall’s Outlets stores in 17 states. Says Whitney: “In the last three or four years everything is driven by value.”

Another firm with an increase in work is Sarasota-based Hoyt Ar-chitects, founded in 1993 by Gary Hoyt. Hoyt brought on a partner last year, Chris Gallagher, former-ly with Sarasota-based Jonathan Parks Architect, to target more downtown Sarasota commercial projects.

Several other architecture firms in the region, of course, either didn’t survive the recession or have yet to return to glory days. One notable fatality: Once-prom-inent Sarasota-based architecture and planning firm ADP Group went from 44 employees and a new downtown headquarters in 2007 to out of business by 2009.

‘TURN HEADS’Even with the industry rebound,

two components of the survival strategy at Fawley|Bryant are straight-up business basics that go deeper than pent-up demand.

One element was to cut costs, from small, such as paper for the copy machine, to big, such as re-writing insurance polices. Bry-ant says the firm cut expenses 60% in the rough years. “We went through everything,” he says. “We did everything we could.”

The second element was to maintain a diverse mix of public and private clients, so it didn’t over-rely on one sector. A chunk

INDUSTRY UPDATE BY MARK GORDON | DEPUTY MANAGING EDITOR

EXECUTIVE SUMMARYCompany. Fawley|Bryant Industry. Architecture Key. Firm has rebounded to pre-recession levels and is primed for more growth.

young andHUNGRY

Fawley|Bryant, where annual revenues will likely double this

year to at least $6 million, clawed its way back from the architecture industry-crushing

recession. A youthful spirit anchors the rebound.

MARK WEMPLE

We knew coming out of the recession there would be opportunities. There has been four or five years of pent-up demand. Mike Bryant | Fawley|Bryant“”

RICK FAWLEY, standing, co-founded Lakewood Ranch-based Fawley|Bryant in 1994 with MIKE BRYANT, left. STEVE PADGETT, right, was named a principal at the firm in 2012.

Rick Fawley and Mike Bry-ant are the wise grey-beards of the architec-ture firm they founded 20

years ago, but they leave the office when they want the young’uns to really learn something.

Some companies implement the no A-hole rule to keep jerks off the payroll.

But Fawley|Bryant, a Lakewood Ranch-based architecture firm with 18 employees and around $3 million in annual sales, adheres to the no ego directive. Co-founder Rick Fawley says outsized egos suffocate creativity, es-pecially from new employees, of which the firm has several. “Architects tend to have big egos,” says Fawley. “But every day I come in here I try to check my ego at the door.”

Steve Padgett, a principal at the firm, is also big on staying humble. “We are change agents,” says Padgett. “And that can’t happen if you have a big ego.”

STAY HUMBLE


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of the clients, such as IMG Academy in Bradenton and McKechnie Field, spring training home of the Pitts-burgh Pirates, are in the Sarasota-Manatee region. Others go from Tampa to Naples. “We don’t partic-ularly specialize,” says Bryant, “but with 20 years’ experience I don’t know there’s a project we couldn’t do.”

The diversification also allows the firm to spread its expertise to a variety of clients. That inspires em-ployees to reach for new ideas and go after projects Fawley says “turn heads.” Proficiency in multiple ar-eas even gives the firm a financ-ing edge. “It’s a changing world out there,” says Fawley. “You have to be mindful of banks and who will lend money for a project.”

A n ot h e r e l e m e n t o f t h e Fawley|Bryant turnaround leans more counterintuitive. The firm spent more than $250,000 to over-haul its software in 2007 and 2008, from AutoCAD to an electronic drawing system called Building In-formation Modeling. The move was risky given the timing and firm-wide effort to cut costs. But the payback was big-time, in that BIM software redefined how Fawley|Bryant works internally and how it interacts with clients. Now it can show off projects through high-tech programs on iPads and smartphones.

“The days of rolling out a set of plans aren’t gone,” Bryant says, “but it’s really changed.”

STAY FOCUSED While diversification is the firm’s

mantra, one area in particular has been big of late: the sports and fitness industry. In addition to IMG and the Pirates, other sports-themed projects include an Olym-pic-rated BMX Track for Sarasota County; planning for a new Rowing Aquatic Center at USF Sarasota-Manatee; and a facilities assessment of Ed Smith Stadium in Sarasota.

Longtime Fawley|Bryant manager Steve Padgett was promoted to vice president and named a firm princi-pal in 2012, in part to lead the sports surge. Fawley|Bryant itself, much like the sports projects it targets, es-sentially stems from competition. Fawley and Bryant founded the firm in 1994 after each ran his own small architecture business. They crafted their plan over drinks one night at Lost Kangaroo, a downtown Bra-denton bar.

That plan, initially, was to grow locally and then expand statewide. Bryant, a Bradenton native, and Fawley, who moved to Braden-ton in 1983 from Vermont, could see a building industry boom was forthcoming. But competition and breaking into new markets, such as Jacksonville and Fort Lauderdale, proved time-consuming and costly. So the partners re-focused on the Gulf Coast in the late 1990s.

The firm now plans to stay fo-cused on Gulf Coast projects, even during the current growth period, executives say. An aspect Fawley appreciates about the firm’s resur-gence, past the work, is the hires are more tactical now, to fit the firm’s growth strategy. It wasn’t that way in the boom.

“I called it the silly season,” Fawley says. “They weren’t strategic hires. They were just warm bodies” to cover all the work.

New hires range from the young-sters to more experienced architects like Judd Heap, president of the American Institute of Architects’ Gulf Coast chapter. The mix gives Fawley and Bryant confidence in Fawley|Bryant’s long-term stability.

“The youthful enthusiasm in the office has elevated the energy level of everyone like a breath of fresh air,” says Fawley, “challenging all of us to the ‘what-if’ possibilities.”

Projects Lakewood Ranch-based architecture firm Fawley|Bryant has worked on over the last decade include:

• Schroeder-Manatee Ranch corporate headquarters: East Manatee County building, a 33,000-square-foot complex, was constructed in 2006. It’s the first commercial building in Florida certified under the Florida Green Building Council Green Commer-cial Building Designation Standard.

• Manatee County Judicial Cen-ter: Downtown Bradenton project, a nine-story, 300,000-square-foot building, included a parking garage designed to look like an office.

• Lake Erie College of Medi-cine School of Dental Medi-

cine: Project, in 2012, was a 130,000-square-foot addition to the fast-growing medical school.

• Manatee Technical Institute: Project is 209,000-square-foot post-secondary adult, career and technical education center.

• Student residence and multi-use complex at IMG Academy: Dorm, which opened last year, is 105,000 square feet. Complex includes a spa and athletic fields.

Projects under construction the firm is working on include:

• Goodwill Manasota corporate campus: A 69,605-square-foot project in Bradenton.

• Darwin Brewery: A 6,400-square-foot brewery and event center just north of down-town Bradenton.

• IMG Academy Field House: A 40,000-square-foot project sched-uled for completion later this year.

• Country clubs: Projects include remodels and expansions at Tara Golf & Country Club in east Mana-tee County; Sarasota National Golf Course in Venice; and Tampa Bay Golf and Country Club in northeast Pasco County.

FIRM IN FULL


Maybe that’s because owner and veteran restaurateur Ralph Desiano birthed the chain in early 2009 during the depth of the recession. He knew the rec-ipe for success wouldn’t come by using the same old strategy. “We’ve found our little niche,” says Desiano, whose restaurants average about $1 million each in sales annually.

In fact, Desiano has termed his restaurant “flex casual” be-cause of the ability to switch from counter ordering to table-side service depending on the

time of day or the demands of his customers.

With five Naples Flatbread lo-cations in operation, Desiano is now ready to start selling fran-chises in 48 states. He’s aware there’s plenty of competition in the fast-casual segment of res-taurants (see accompanying ar-ticle), but he shrugs it off. “I try not to worry about things I can’t control,” he says.

In the last year, Desiano says 40 to 50 people have approached him about buying a franchise. “It’s f lattering, but it’s not the way I want to do it,” he says. He’s looking for seasoned restaurant operators, preferably ones in-terested in buying a territory of multiple stores in Florida or the Southeast.

A Naples Flatbread franchise costs $40,000. A development agreement for a wider area would cost an additional $10,000 per restaurant. “I’d love to sell a

state,” he says.Desiano and his business

partner, Tulsa, Okla.-based en-trepreneur Jim Wilburn, have spent in excess of $50,000 to hire Monroe Moxness Berg, a Min-nesota law firm, to draft fran-chise documents that spell out the details explicitly. “We sought out the best legal minds,” says Desiano.

After five years and more than $2 million building the restau-rants and perfecting the opera-tions, Desiano says he’s ready to shift his attention to selling fran-chises. “I’m feeling really good, but we have a lot of work to do,” he says.

EFFICIENCY AND A BARDesiano gains an advantage by

equipping his kitchen with easy-to-operate equipment, includ-ing a wood-burning stone oven, panini presses and sophisticated ovens. There are no charbroilers,

fryers or flat grills that are messy and more costly.

That means the restaurant can run with just two people in the kitchen: a manager and an em-ployee. “My underlying thing is to keep things simple,” says De-siano.

So far, Desiano and Wilburn own three restaurants in Naples and two in Tulsa. There are no regional variations on the menus and prices are the same in both markets, proving the concept can work in the heart of the country and in a resort area.

One of the things that make Naples Flatbread different from other fast-casual chains is the bar, which takes up about one third of the total space of the restaurant. For example, at the newest Tulsa restaurant, the bar has 32 seats and the restaurant has room for 150 people inside and another 60 on the open-air patio.

RETAIL BY JEAN GRUSS | EDITOR/LEE-COLLIER

EXECUTIVE SUMMARYCompany. Naples Flatbread Industry. Restaurant Key. Easy-to-use equipment is key to an efficient restaurant.

FLEXCASUAL

Naples Flatbread promises an efficient and flexible operation to franchisees. It took Ralph Desiano five years to perfect the concept.

PHOTOS BY JIMJETT.COM

RALPH DESIANO, co-founder of Naples Flatbread, says he’s ready to franchise the concept after successfully opening five restaurants.

Don’t box Naples Flat-bread.

The fast-casual chain of pizzas, panini sand-

wiches and salads offers table-side service and a liquor bar, two things that set the chain apart from others in the category.

15FEBRUARY 28 – MARCH 6, 2014 | BUSINESS OBSERVER BusinessObserverFL.com13

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We’ve found our little niche. Ralph Desiano | Naples Flatbread“”

Desiano initially served beer and wine, but he says he added liquor to the menu when customers request-ed it. He says the average checks and margins are higher at the bar than they are at the tables and it creates a fun, upscale atmosphere that draws the dinner crowd. Beer, wine and liquor now account for about 25% of the restaurant’s total sales.

SELLING THE FRANCHISEDesiano says the challenge now

is to step away from the operations of the restaurants so he can focus on selling franchises. “I’ve got good young talent that I’m nurturing,” he says. “I’ve learned that I need to

step back a little bit,” he smiles.But finding good managers who

will work alongside the staff is tough. “There’s a lot of office man-agers out there,” Desiano says. “They don’t want to work hard.”

Still, handing off the sales of fran-chisees to someone else could be costly, too. One prospective fran-chise salesman who has experi-ence in this field asked him for a six-figure salary, an expense ac-count and royalties in perpetuity, Desiano laughs.

But Desiano isn’t in a rush and he’s not worried another f lat-bread chain might try to beat him. “There’s plenty of room for us,” he says. “I think we’re primed.”

Desiano is particularly con-cerned about expanding too fast. He prefers to expand the franchise in Florida or in areas such as Atlan-ta or Charlotte, N.C., where success is most likely. “California would be a recipe for disaster,” he says, cit-ing the high costs of doing business

there.“I’ve seen great concepts self de-

struct,” he says, citing Boston Mar-ket and Krispy Kreme as examples of rapid expansions that went wrong. “It’s hard to say no to some-one who gave you a million-dollar check,” he says.

One of the hottest sectors of the retail market is the fast-casual restaurant.

It’s an establishment that offers coun-ter ordering like fast food, but it promis-es higher-quality food in an atmosphere of a casual restaurant. Often, staff will bring your meal to your table after you order it at the counter. Panera Bread is one example of this kind of restaurant.

Many fast-casual chains that expand-ed to the major cities of Florida such as Tampa and Orlando during the real estate boom put their expansion plans for the Fort Myers and Naples markets on hold during the recession.

Now, restaurateurs in Southwest Florida are dusting off those plans.

Commercial real estate brokers say some names scouting the area are eas-ily recognizable, others not so much: Culver’s, Chipotle, Ker’s Wing House, Genghis Grill, Zaxby’s, Noodles & Com-pany, Pollo Tropical, Moe’s, PDQ, How Do You Roll, Papa Murphy’s and Carlos ’n Charlie’s.

“For a long time we didn’t even see a new Starbucks,” says Karen Johnson-Crowther, managing director and princi-pal with Colliers International Southwest Florida in Fort Myers.

“I think the confidence in the South-west Florida market is returning,”

Johnson-Crowther says. “There was a lot of money waiting to find a home.”

The success of fast-casual restau-rants mirrored the recession, when diners became more conservative about their spending. Typically, someone might pay $7 to $15 at a fast-casual restaurant.

Sometimes a fast-casual restaurant will have a drive-thru window and special parking while you wait for the meal to be delivered to your car. “Everybody’s in a hurry,” says Walt Nelson, senior associ-ate with Trinity Commercial Group in Naples, who has helped Culver’s locate sites throughout the region.

One of the challenges is that munici-palities sometimes confuse the fast-casual restaurants with fast-food chains, especially if there’s a drive-thru window, Nelson says.

That definition can create confusion when it comes to municipal taxes on new construction, also called “impact fees.” For example, in Collier County, such one-time taxes are based on traffic count and could amount to $400,000 for a busier fast-food restaurant, but $200,000 for a fast-casual restaurant. “We had a deal die in Collier County because of impact fees,” says Dan O’Berski, Trinity’s managing director.

FAST AND FURIOUS

Naples Flatbread’s founder believes a key to success is its kitchen design: Each restaurant can run with just two people in the kitchen. In addition, it uses bar space to boost sales.


Lazydays, state fair authority reach three-year promotional partnership

Seffner-based RV dealer Lazydays has reached a multi-year partnership agreement with the Florida State Fair Authority (FSFA), which will provide Lazydays branded events at the fair-grounds for the next three years. The agreement covers the annual state fair and year-round events, including con-certs and festivals.

“There are a number of large RV shows and many other events that are in line with the Lazydays RV lifestyle like equestrian events, boat shows and home shows held throughout the year at the state fairgrounds,” Lazydays Chief Marketing Officer John Lebbad says in a press release. “Through this new partnership, we have a unique opportunity to connect on a broader level with existing and potential customers from across the state and beyond.”

In addition to signage throughout the fairgrounds, Lazydays will display luxury RVs throughout the property during big events.

“Lazydays has been a great neighbor to the Florida State Fairgrounds for many years now, and we are excited to take our relationship to an exciting new partnership,” FSFA Executive Director Chuck Pesano, says in a press release.

Lazydays kicked off the new three-year partnership as the presenting sponsor of Heroes Day on the opening day of the Florida State Fair. The com-pany also offered a one-week stay at an RV Campground.

Brown & Brown board backs $25 million stock buyback

The board of directors of Daytona Beach- and Tampa-based Brown & Brown Inc. has authorized the com-pany to repurchase up to $25 million worth of shares of the company’s common stock over the next two years. The buyback was primarily designed to reduce dilution from the company’s employee equity incentive plans.

These repurchases may be carried out through open market purchases, block trades and negotiate private transac-tions.

Brown & Brown Inc. offers insurance and reinsurance products and services, as well as risk management, third-party administration, managed health care and Medicare set-aside services and programs.

The Busy Buddy relocates office to SMARTstart Dade City Incubator

The Busy Buddy, a Dade City-based business support services company, is moving into the SMARTstart Dade City Incubator in the Dade City Busi-ness Center.

Founded in 2009, The Busy Buddy specializes in consulting for small businesses. It serves industries includ-ing small business law, food products, public relations, telecommunications, engineering and residential cleaning.

SMARTstart is a program, where companies work in a collaborative workspace with other small business-es. SMARTstart residents have access to technical support along with the ability to network with local organiza-tions and community partners. The program, which is managed by the

Pasco Economic De-velopment Council Inc. is the first of its kind in Pasco County.

“It’s wonderful to have a program where a small business like mine can network with other small businesses and participate in workshops and semi-

nars geared to help my business grow,” Kellye Dash, president of The Busy Buddy, says in a press release.

Blalock Walters partner joining hospital board of governors

Blalock Walters’ principal William

Cloud Robinson Jr. Esq. has been named to the Board of Governors of the Lakewood Ranch Medical Center, which is composed of hospital leadership, medical staff members and community represen-tatives.

The purpose of the Board of Governors is to oversee the safety and quality of services of Lake-wood Ranch Medical Center, advise the CEO on hospital operations and represent Lakewood Ranch Medical Center in the community.

Robinson practices in the Bradenton law firm’s land use, local government law and real estate law service areas.

MARCH 4DON’T GO ALONE: Chris Karlo, partner with Mercury New Media, will discuss business partnerships at the Tampa Bay Innovation Center’s Tech Talk. The event will start at 8:30 a.m. at Microsoft Head-quarters offices, 5426 Bay Center Drive, Suite 700, Tampa. There is no cost. For more information call Jen Suereth at 727-547-7340 or email [email protected].

MARCH 5FELLOWS FORUM: Mindy Grossman, CEO and director of HSN, Mike Jackson, chairman and CEO of AutoNation USA, and David Kohler, president and chief op-erating officer of Kohler, will speak at the Univer-sity of Tampa’s Fellows Forum. The event will run from 7:15 a.m. to 9:30 a.m. at The David A. Straz, Jr. Center for the Performing Arts, Louise Lykes Ferguson Hall, 1010 N. Macinnes Place, Tampa. Cost is $20 for members of the Tampa Chamber of Commerce and $40 for others. For more infor-

mation visit ut.edu/fellowsforum.

MARCH 10GET THE GRANT: Laura Rhoad, human resources director at Shaw Development, will discuss how to leverage a Florida quick-response training grant at a South-west Regional Manufacturing Associa-tion’s tour of the Bonita Springs manu-facturer. The event will run from 5:30 p.m.

to 7 p.m. at Shaw Development, 25190 Bernwood Drive, Bonita Spring. For more information visit http://srma.net.

MARCH 12EYES ON ESTERO: Ed McMahon, an expert on sustainable development, will speak to the Urban Land Institute’s South-west Florida chapter about development in the Estero community of Lee County, the future home of Hertz’s corporate headquarters. The meeting will take place from 8 a.m. to 10:30 a.m. at Florida Gulf Coast University, 10501 FGCU Blvd., Fort Myers. Cost is $15 for members and $20 for others. To register, call 800-321-5011 (reference 8118-1403) or email [email protected].

MARCH 19, 20PINEAPPLE TRADE: The International Pineapple Organization will hold a confer-ence in Tampa for growers, importers and transportation providers. Port Tampa Bay is hosting the two-day event at the Marriott Waterside Hotel, 700 S. Florida Ave., Tampa. Cost is $350 per person. For more information call 760-643-1153 or visit http://i-pineapple-a.blogspot.com.

MARCH 21DOWNTOWN DEVELOPMENT: Rob Walsh, former commissioner of the New York City Department of Small Business Services, will be the keynote speaker at a forum presented by the Tampa Downtown Partnership. The event will be held at the Tampa Preparatory School, 727 W. Cass St., Tampa. For more information visit tampasdowntown.com.

FORMER FDIC CHIEF: Bill Isaac, former chairman of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp., will be the speaker at

The Argus Foundation’s Meet the Minds luncheon. The event will start at 11:30 a.m. at the Sara Bay Country Club, 7011 Willow St., Sarasota. Cost is $45 per person. For more information email [email protected].

MARCH 27MEET THE MAYOR: Bob Buckhorn, mayor of the City of Tampa, will be the speaker at a meeting of the Greater Tampa Chamber of Commerce. The event will run from 11:45 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. at the Hilton Downtown Tampa at 211 N. Tampa St., Tampa. Cost is $45

for members and $55 for others. For more information visit tampachamber.com.

MARCH 28UNIVERSITY CHIEF: Jim Towey, president of Ave Maria Univer-sity, will be the feature speaker at the Leader-ship Collier Foundation Alumni Association luncheon. The event will run from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the Profes-sional Development Center, 615 Third Ave.

S., Naples. Cost is $15 for alumni and $20 for others. For more information visit napleschamber.org/events.

APRIL 3PROFESSIONAL ACHIEVEMENT: The Girls Inc. of Sarasota County will honor five philanthropists and entrepre-neurs with the She Knows Where She’s

Going award. Honorees include Ariane Dart, Susanne Wise, Erika Wise Borland, Courtney Wise Snyder and Whitney Wise Verdoni. The luncheon will start at noon at the Ritz-Carlton, Sarasota, 1111 Ritz-Carlton Drive, Sarasota. For more information contact Kay Mathers at 941-366-6646, ext. 207, or email [email protected].

APRIL 8FLOOD INSURANCE: Chris Heidrick of Heidrick & Co. Insurance and Risk Management will discuss the flood-insur-ance crisis at the Real Estate Investment Society’s April luncheon. The event will run from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the Peli-can Preserve Clubhouse, 9802 Pelican Preserve Blvd., Fort Myers. For more information visit reis-swfl.org.

APRIL 17HALL OF FAME: Junior Achievement of Southwest Florida will induct Norman Love of Norman Love Confections and Mark Loren of Mark Loren Designs into the 2014 Business of Hall of Fame for Lee County at an awards banquet. The event will start at 5 p.m. at the Hyatt Regency Coconut Point Resort and Spa, 5001 Coconut Road, Bonita Springs. Cost is $250 per person. For more information visit jaswfl.org.

MAY 2ECONOMIC OUTLOOK: Sean Snaith, director of the University of Central Flor-ida’s Institute for Economic Competitive-ness, will discuss his economic forecast at an Economic Development Corp. of Sarasota County meeting. The event will run from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. at the Hyatt Regency Sarasota, 1000 Boulevard of the Arts, Sarasota. For more informa-tion visit edcsarasotcounty.com.

calendarofevents

GROSSMAN

JACKSON

BUCKHORN

TOWEY

corporatereport |Cutting Loose Salon ranked among top 200 salons, spas

Salon Today magazine, a business publication for salon and spa own-ers, has named Cutting Loose Salon in University Park to the Salon Today 200. Salons are ranked based on best business practices. To qualify, salons or spas must have generated annual service and product sales revenues of at least $250,000 per year since 2011. Owners must also submit statistical information about the business and complete a best prac-tices category essay.

Cutting Loose Salon was recog-nized for its retention and referral programs, recruitment and training and retail and merchandising.

This year marks the fourth con-secutive year that Cutting Loose, owned by Coral Pleas, has received this recognition.

Salon Today is a division of Mod-ern Salon Media, which is owned by Vance Publishing Corp. in Lincoln-shire, Ill.

Cutting Loose owner CORAL PLEAS

BY SEAN ROTH | RESEARCH EDITOR

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The corporate brand is probably the least understood asset in most compa-nies, yet it can be one of the greatest tools for the CEO to build enterprise value.

Since brands are an intangible asset. they don’t show up on the balance sheet and therefore they are often thought of as having no financial value. Yet, over the past 40 years intangible assets have grown from about 20% of the value of a company to 80%. A good portion of this value is derived from the brands of the company.

Here are 10 good reasons that CEOs should pay close attention to corporate brand valuation and to the nurturing and growth of these assets with a long-term view:1. Brand valuation legitimizes in-

vestment. By understanding and defining the value that the brand cre-ates, questions about brand-building investment change from whether to invest to how much to invest. Com-panies that understand this value manage their brand investment to maintain and maximize the value. These companies are characterized as communicating aggressively to shape the landscape of their markets, thus managing their markets to their strengths and reaping the associated benefits.

2. Brand value provides an objective measure of effort. By measuring the impact of brand building, leadership can evaluate the quality of branding efforts without resorting to subjec-

tive opinions or personal perspec-tive. Measurement and metrics add science to the art of creative brand building.

3. Brand valuation creates account-ability. By utilizing a tangible mea-sure of impact, leadership and mar-keting teams can be evaluated by their stewardship and management of a tangible asset over the long term.

4. Brand valuation aligns leader-ship. Creating a common vocabu-lary for a brand gives marketing an appropriate seat at the management table. Because the return for brand-ing can be identified and tracked over time, the effort and return for any de-partment is visible. This permits all senior managers to work together for the optimum total return on invest-ment. When finance and marketing cooperate, working toward defined goals, everyone wins.

5. Brand valuation identifies growth opportunities. Understanding brand value illustrates the opportu-nity to advance a business not only through geographical growth but also through product/service adjacencies.

6. Brand valuation predicts market shifts. By understanding the rela-tionship between brand value and other performance drivers, leader-ship can identify changing market conditions. Intelligence is about understanding where the market is going before your competitors know.

This is usually best done by know-ing the right questions to ask, by re-searching continuously and by cre-ating custom models that zealously seek the answers.

7. Brand valuation identifies com-petitive opportunity and advan-tage. Understanding brand value relative to competitors can drive changes in market-growth strate-gies. By understanding the value of your brand vs. competitors and the dimensions that drive that value, you gain valuable intelligence for creat-ing and maintaining a competitive market advantage in the areas that define business success. Understand-ing the market and opportunity avail-able can point a company in the right direction.

8. Brand valuation informs M&A or strategic alliances. Understanding the value of all business assets will in-form negotiations in mergers, acqui-sitions and partnerships. M&A can be tricky, and emotional attachment to pre-existing entities can be strong. But by understanding the value and dimension of all brands involved, leadership can strategically deploy those brands for maximum impact.

9. Brand valuation creates licens-ing opportunities. Understanding the brand’s value permits predictable revenue growth through licensing efforts. A brand on the move creates momentum that can be leveraged. Licensing is a great way to make sig-

nificant income from the brand itself. 10. Brand valuation helps to define

the value of other intangibles. Is it good business to be a good corporate citizen? Sustainable business prac-tices, Corporate Social Responsibil-ity (CSR), philanthropy, and other “goodwill” efforts can be understood and valued. Knowing the amount of impact can help make CSR a good business decision rather than one that is based purely on the goodness of the management of the company.

Brand valuation begins with consis-tently benchmark tracking the brands that are vital to your growth. There are many valuation experts including your accounting firm who can help you set a value for your brand. Your brand is what sets you apart from your competition. As a CEO always remember that measuring, valuing, and managing the corporate brand and your product brands is a key component of managing the financial health of your corporation.

Often overlooked in corporate planning and analysis, your brand’s value is one of your company’s most important assets. Discover how paying attention to it can pay off for your firm.

James R. Gregory is founder and CEO of CoreBrand, a global brand

strategy, communications and design firm headquartered in New

York, with offices in Los Angeles and Tampa. He helps clients develop

strategies to improve their corporate brands and profitability. Gregory has written four books on creating value with brands: “Marketing Corporate Image,” “Leveraging the Corporate Brand,” “Branding Across Borders”

and “The Best of Branding.” Contact him at [email protected].

Ten reasons brand value mattersbrandstorm BY JAMES R. GREGORY | CONTRIBUTING COLUMNIST


DEEDS/MORTGAGESThe following real estate transactions more than

$1,000,000 were filed in Charlotte, Collier, Hillsborough, Lee, Manatee, Pasco, Pinellas and Sarasota county courthouses. The information lists the seller, buyer, amount of sale, mortgage and lender, if available, address and book and page of the document.

CHARLOTTE COUNTYTru 2005 RE I LLC sold to Rare Hospitality

Management Inc., $3,500,000, department stores, Toys“R”Us, 1381 Tamiami Trail, 2240378.

COLLIER COUNTYApril Circle Ltd. sold to Windsong Club Apartments

LLC, $8,400,000, Mortgage: $6,921,000, Keybank National Association, multifamily, 11096 Windsong Circle, 4940064.

GCCFC 2005-GG5 Northbrooke Plaza Drive LLC sold to Shree Mahalaxmi MAA LLC, $6,772,500, Mortgage: $5,257,829, Branch Banking and Trust Co., hotel or motel, 2630 Northbrooke Plaza Drive, 4938543.

610 Development Co. LLC sold to Hazelden Foundation, $5,880,646.69, units 1-12, The Lofts at Six10 condominium, 4941512.

Charlemagne of Naples LLC sold to La Playa Naples Investment LLC, $3,750,000, retirement homes and miscellaneous residences, 3510 Fort Charles Drive, 4940138.

G.F. Riley Family LLC sold to Advenir@Little Marco LLC, $1,530,000, single-family residential, 11776, 11781 and 11811 and Little Marco Island, 4939821.

FL-9 Inc. sold in quit-claim deed to MLB Group LLC, $1,200,000, hotel or motel, 290 Fifth Ave. S., Naples, 4942363.

HILLSBOROUGH COUNTY501 East Kennedy Associates LLC sold to SCIP

501 LLC, $30,360,000, multi-story office, 501 E. Kennedy Blvd., Tampa, 2014044148.

Cardanell Farms I LLC sold to Jen Florida XVII LLC, $12,400,000, pasture land, 85.67 acres, 725 Lithia Pinecrest Road, Brandon, 2014029922.

San Marin Apartments LLC sold to CLP Waters Ave LLC, $9,000,000, Mortgage: $15,350,000, LMREC III Holdings IV Inc., multifamily residential, 8442 Del Lago Circle, Tampa, 2014035072.

J-Squared Holdings LLC sold to Citrus Park Capital LLC, $4,500,000, Mortgage: $2,700,000, Symetra Life Insurance Co., strip center, 7002 Gunn Highway, Tampa, 2014029116.

Village Square West Champ LLC sold to Property Village Lake W LLC, $4,400,000, strip center, 11602 N. Dale Mabry Highway, Tampa, 2014029493.

Zons Property 15 LLC sold to Zons Property 15 LLC (76% interest) and Steven Singerman as trustee of the Bernard L and Georgia Marie Singerman Family Trust (24%), $3,632,845.35, multi-story office, 6701 S. Dale Mabry Highway, Tampa, 2014043199.

Florida Engineered Construction Products Corp. sold to Cast-Crete USA Inc., $3,619,000, mineral processing, 6324 N. 579 Highway and vacant acreage, 6334 579 Highway, Seffner, 2014032372.

Hunter’s Lake LLC sold to Jen Florida XVIII LLC, $3,350,000, pasture, 49.26 acres, 1325 Seffner Valrico Road, Seffner, 2014037862.

Island Center Corp. Inc. sold to 251 CF Aviation LLC, $2,900,000, auto dealership, 11109 and 11111 N. Florida Ave., Tampa, 2014041735.

CVK Investments Inc. sold to Leelevi LLC, $2,351,000, Mortgage: $2,650,000, Homebanc NA, assisted-living facility, 312 E. 124th Ave., Tampa, 2014037818.

Business Property Lending Inc. vs. Sino-Tampa Holdings LLC, et al., sold to Business Property Lending Inc., $1,850,100, restaurant, 2702 N. Dale Mabry Highway, Tampa, 2014031484.

Fremont Building Co. sold to Sun City Center Senior Living Inc., $1,600,000, Mortgage: $7,144,897, Branch Banking & Trust Co., mixed-use office, 105 Commercial Center, Sun City Center, 2014030203.

Dolgencorp LLC sold to Realty Income Properties 13 LLC, $1,503,885, store, 14715 Highway 574, Dover, 2014027681.

Dune FL Land I Sub LLC sold to D.R. Horton Inc., $1,496,000, vacant residential, a portion of 10401 Tucker Jones Road and pasture land, 11911 S. U.S. 301, Riverview, 2014036375.

Tampa Acquisitions Inc. sold to Urgent Care Developers of Tampa LLC, $1,285,000, con-venience store or gas station, 301 N. Dale Mabry Highway, Tampa, 2014034356.

Berkshire Development LLC sold to Shadow Woods Lots LLC, $1,200,000, Mortgage: $1,600,000, Berkshire Development LLC, vacant acreage, 7.25 acres, 3333 Ehrlich Road, Tampa, 2014041975.

FFRP 12 LLC sold to ARC DBPPROPOO1 LLC, $1,194,742, lots 13-16, Block 8, Revised Map of MacFarlanes Addition to West Tampa, 2014029434.

C.E. Mendez Foundation Inc. sold to 601 South Magnolia LLC, $1,167,619, 601 S. Magnolia Ave., Tampa 2014032656.

LEE COUNTYIMT Reflections Apartments LLC sold to Reflections

Property Holdings LLC, $15,800,000, Mortgage: $15,000,000, ACRC Lender LLC, multifamily, 3800-3910 Central Ave. (3891 Solomon Blvd.), Fort Myers, 2014000019812.

Brittany Apartments LLC and Brittany Apartments II LLC sold to Brittany Partners IV LLC, Brittany Roem LLC and Dafr Brittany LLC, $15,350,000, Mortgage: $12,600,000, Arbor Commercial Funding LLC, multifamily, 4000-4058 and 4008-4024 Winkler Ave., Fort Myers, 2014000025188.

IMT The Place Apartments LLC sold to The Place Property Holdings LLC, $12,350,000, Mortgage: $11,725,000, ACRC Lender LLC, multifamily, 1571-1585 Matthew Drive (4757 Barkley Circle), Fort Myers, 2014000019797.

HC3 Ft Myers LLC sold to PH Fort Myers Realty LLC, $2,953,500, Mortgage: $2,640,000, Bank Leumi USA, retirement homes, 1896 Park Meadows Drive, Fort Myers, 2014000024856.

Boos Fund 2-41 Bonita Springs LLC sold to Cole FD Portfolio VII LLC, $1,782,902.26, store, 26875 Old 41 Road, Bonita Springs, 2014000026998.

Family Dollar Stores of Florida Inc. sold to Boos Fund 2-41 Bonita Springs LLC, $1,648,145, store, 26875 Old 41 Road, Bonita Springs, 2014000026997.

Steil Family LLC sold to JMFG LLC, $1,065,000, Mortgage: $1,038,375, Steil Family LLC, warehouse or distribution terminals, 11866 Metro Parkway, Fort Myers, 2014000020225.

Stonegate Bank sold to McGreggor Holdings LLC, $1,050,000, Mortgage: $600,000, The Barbour Enterprises Limited Partnership I, vacant commercial, 13681 McGregor Blvd., Fort Myers, 2014000025247.

RCS-Corkscrew Land LLC sold to Lennar Homes LLC, $1,044,000, lots, 294, 295, 298, 307, 308, 327, 330, 331, 362, 363,366, 410 and 417, Preserve at Corkscrew, unit 6, 2014000023625.

MANATEE COUNTYTaipan Raintree LLC sold to Balsam Fir LLC,

$2,050,000, community shopping center, 2402, 2406, 2414, 2436, 2442, 2438, 2432, 2420, 2418, 2416, 2412, 2410, 2442, and 2446 E. Manatee Ave. (2424 E. Manatee Ave.), Bradenton, 02507-0205.

Oaktree Bougainvillea LLC sold to D.R. Horton Inc., $1,881,000, vacant acreage, 3515 E. 63rd Ave., Bradenton, 02507-2135.

River Landings Medical Center LLC sold to Bradenton Landings Medical Center, $1,550,000, Mortgage: $1,000,000, TD Bank NA,

office condominium or medical, 5440, 5450 and 5460 E. 63rd St. (5460 63rd St. E., unit 8B), Bradenton, 02506-6939.

Sarasota Real Property LLC sold to Praetorian Capital LLC, $1,260,000, light industrial, 7150 E. 15th St., Sarasota, 02507-6562.

PASCO COUNTYHarvest Regency Residence Retirement

Residence LLC sold to NIC 12 Regency Residence Owner LLC, $15,889,600, retirement homes, 6711 Embassy Blvd., Port Richey, 8986-0212.

PINELLAS COUNTYHP Ulmerton II LLLP sold to Wendover Real Estate

LLC, $11,596,000, Mortgage: $7,455,000 and $5,357,000, Hancock Bank, vacant industrial land, a portion of 126th Avenue, Largo also known as lots 10-12, Pinellas Groves, 18284-0208.

Convenience Center Development Associates LLP sold to Caracara LLC, $1,685,000, Mortgage: $1,232,500, USAmeriBank, convenience store, 825 49th St. N., St. Petersburg, 18295-1999.

Fitness International LLC sold to Bridgepoint Church Inc., $1,600,000, Mortgage: $2,000,000, 1st United Bank, bowling alley, pool hall, enclosed arena, skating rink and/or gymnasium, 6690 Crosswinds Drive N., St. Petersburg, 18297-2059.

Harpo Holdings Inc. sold to J Square 2700 Partners LLC, $1,500,000, Mortgage: $4,300,000, American Momentum Bank, single-family, 2730 Willey St. N., restaurant, 2742 Fourth St. N. and vacant com-mercial land, a portion of 28th Avenue North and a por-tion of Willey Street North, St. Petersburg, 18292-1151.

Florida Capital Bank NA sold to USAmeriBank, $1,400,000, financial institution, 710 E. Tarpon Ave., Tarpon Springs, 18284-1941.

SARASOTA COUNTYWest Villages Improvement District sold to Lennar

Homes LLC, $7,190,000, 10.57 acres, Gran Paradiso Phase 1, a portion of Renaissance Boulevard, Venice also known as tract 600 Gran Paradiso, 2014014512.

Civix Sarasota GC LLC sold to D.R. Horton Inc., $7,025,000, residential, 172 acres, 7280 N. Leewynn Drive, Sarasota, 2014009429.

THI IV Sarasota AI LLC sold to RJ Hotels LLC, $6,300,000, Mortgage: $3,436,385 and $2,061,821, (junior lien), First America Bank, hotel, motels or lodg-ing, 5931 Fruitville Road, Sarasota, 2014009597.

AL Investors Sarasota LLC sold to PH Sarasota Realty LLC, $3,000,000, Mortgage: $500,000, Bank Leumi USA, assisted-living facility, 741 S. Beneva Road, Sarasota, 2014012709.

North Port Place LLC sold to Sarall Ltd., $2,800,000, Mortgage: $1,310,000, Iberiabank, retail strip store, 14942 S. Tamiami Trail, North Port, 2014013661.

TT LLC sold in a quit-claim deed to Sabal Palm Bank, $2,550,900, mobile home park, 718 S. Tamiami Trail and commercial, 727 and 728 S. Tamiami Trail, Osprey, 2014013442.

BDG Toledo Blade LLC sold to Cleveland Associates I LLC (40% interest) and Nordman Associates I LLC (60%), $2,427,400, store, 1183 N. Toledo Blade Blvd., North Port, 2014013178.

Nisley Properties LLC sold to D.R. Miller Properties LLC, $1,265,000, grazing land, 710 Shilo Road and portions of Shilo Road and Palmer Boulevard, Sarasota, 2014014003.

FCB Hotel LLC sold to Casey Key Venture LLC, $1,200,000, hotel, motel or lodgings, 208, 212 and 216 Casey Key Road, Nokomis, 2014011624.

commercial real estate | TRANSACTIONS | BY SEAN ROTH | REAL ESTATE EDITOR

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commercial real estate | CHARLOTTE-LEE-COLLIER |

Liberty Hospitality Fund I LLC buys Holiday Inn Express & Suites

BUYER: LHF1 Bonita LLC (principal: Punit Shah), Bonita Springs

SELLER: FAC Hotel Limited Partnership LLLPPROPERTY: 27891 Crown Lake Blvd., Bonita SpringsPRICE: $4.25 million

PREVIOUS PRICE: $5.75 million, April 2005LAW FIRM ON DEED: Bond Schoeneck & King PLLC, Naples

PLANS, DESCRIPTION: The private equity real estate

fund Liberty Hospitality Fund I LLC purchased the 108-unit Holiday Inn Express & Suites in Bonita Springs for $4.25 million.

The price equated to $39,352 per unit.

The hotel features a business center, outdoor swimming pool and laun-dry facilities. The new owner plans to renovate and reposition the asset later this year. It will be renovating common areas and adding a breakfast room and fitness center.

The Tampa-based investment firm Liberty Group of Cos. says the hotel was purchased for significantly below replacement cost.

“This was a good strong hotel brand that could benefit from our expertise in managing other hotel properties,” says Matthew Ram, an associate with the Liberty Group.

The Holiday Inn Express & Suites was the Liberty Hospitality Fund I’s second purchase. It occurred as the fund became fully capitalized at $75 million. The fund, which focuses on acquiring upper mid-scale hotels, is scheduled to be fully invested over the next three years. It acquired its first hotel, the 125-room Candlewood Suites in Charleston, S.C., in late 2013.

“Access to capital has provided us a distinct advantage in acquiring hotels since we can offer a quick and certain close, something that few buyers can match,” Punit Shah, president and chief operating officer of the Liberty Group. “Liberty Hospitality Fund I allows us to continue expanding our hotel portfolio and creating operation-

al efficiencies that add value to each of our investments.”

Liberty Group already owns the 80-unit Candlewood Suites in Fort Myers and the 75-unit Hampton Inn in Cape Coral.

New York area companies buy The Brittany Apartments

BUYER: Brittany Partners IV LLC (principal: Solamein Rabanipour), Brittany Roem LLC (principal: David Shweky) and Dafr Brittany

BY SEAN ROTH | REAL ESTATE EDITOR

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LLC (DAFR LLC) as tenants in common, Brooklyn, N.Y.SELLER: Brittany Apartments LLC and Brittany Apartments II LLCPROPERTY: 4000-4058 and 4008-4024 Winkler Ave., Fort MyersPRICE: $15.35 millionPREVIOUS PRICE: $6.73 million and $3.62 million, April 2012LAW FIRM ON DEED: Macfarlane Ferguson & McMullen, Clearwater

PLANS, DESCRIPTION:Three New York-area companies

purchased the 320-unit The Brittany Apartments for $15.35 million.

The price equated to $47,969 per unit. That figure is less than the cur-rent average price per square foot for multifamily space ($70,191) in South-west Florida, according to the CoStar Group.

Built in phases in1999 and 2001, the 324,068-square-foot apartment complex features 26 buildings spread across 18.74 acres. The two-story prop-erty is considered highly stabilized. It had just four vacant units (1.3% vacancy rate) as of the CoStar Group’s last review of the property. Units aver-age 1,013 square feet and range from 771 to 1,444 square feet.

Its community amenities include a fitness center, playground, swimming pool and laundry facility.

The seller, Largo apartment inves-tor Benjamin Mallah, purchased the apartment in April 2012.

The purchase entities, Brittany Partners IV LLC, Brittany Roem LLC and Dafr Brittany LLC, mortgaged the property to Arbor Commercial Fund-ing LLC for $12.6 million.

Cole Real Estate Investments buys Bonita Springs Family Dollar

BUYER: Cole FD Portfolio VII LLC (Cole REIT Advisors III LLC), PhoenixSELLER: Boos Fund 2-41 Bonita Springs LLCPROPERTY: 26875 Old 41 Road, Bonita SpringsPRICE: $1.78 million

LAW FIRM ON DEED: Bryan J. Stanley PA, Clearwater

BUYER: Boos Fund 2-41 Bonita Springs LLCSELLER: Family Dollar Stores of Florida Inc.PRICE: $1.65 millionPREVIOUS PRICE: $595,000, March 2013

PLANS, DESCRIPTION:Cole Real Estate Investments Inc.

purchased an 8,345-square-foot Fam-ily Dollar store for $1.78 million.

The price equated to $214 per square foot. That figure is higher than the two-year average price per square foot for retail space ($140) in Southwest Florida, according to the CoStar Group.

The discount store was built in 2013.Cole, who owns several net leased

investments, recently was acquired by American Realty Capital Properties, creating the largest publically traded net-lease REIT. The company owns $21.5 billion worth of real estate, of which 26.5% are located in the South-east. The combined company owns 29 other Family Dollar locations in Florida, according to its website, in-cluding in St. Petersburg, Tampa, Fort Myers and Plant City.

ETC…• Southwest Florida Workforce

Development Board Inc. leased 9,406 square feet of office space in Renais-sance Center at 9530 Marketplace Road, Fort Myers from The Variable Annuity Life Insurance Co. Randy Mercer and Brandon Stoneburner of CRE Consultants represented the land-lord and Matthew Stepan of Premier Commercial represented the tenant.

• Randy Krise, the broker/ owner of Krise Commercial Group LLC of Fort Myers, was inaugurated as the 2014 President – Elect 2014 for the Florida CCIM Chapter. Krise will serve as the Florida CCIM Chapter President in 2015. The Florida CCIM Chapter en-compasses Florida and Puerto Rico.

• Rani Investments LLC purchased 1.33 acres of vacant land at Creek-side Commerce Park West, Lot 3, 1171 Creekside Parkway, Naples from Creek-side West Inc. for $1.29 million. Clint L. Sherwood of Investment Properties Corp. handled the transaction.

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Construction is rebounding on the Gulf Coast. Find out which companies are leading the way.

Special Issue: March 21

Advertising Reservation Deadline: March 12

Our lineup of 2014 special issues offers an entire year of opportunities to advertise and reach Florida’s

Gulf Coast business leaders. To receive more information or our editorial calendar,

contact Rosemary Felton at 941.362.4848.

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Construction Guide:

Top 50 Contractors

commercial real estate | TAMPA BAY |

State public pension fund buys Pierhouse at Channelside

BUYER: Pierhouse Channelside Inc. (principals: Stephen Spook, Lamar Taylor and Maureen Hazen), TallahasseeSELLER: RD Channelside LLCPROPERTY: 1226 E. Cumberland Ave. also known as 114 and 120 S. Meridian Ave., 110, 125, 128 and 210 S. 11th St., 209 S. 12th St. and a portion of South 12th Street, TampaPRICE: $76.5 millionPREVIOUS PRICE: $6.5 million, December 2010LAW FIRM ON DEED: Greenberg Traurig PA, Miami

PLANS, DESCRIPTION: Florida’s public pension fund pur-

chased the new 356-unit Pierhouse at Channelside apartment development for $76.5 million.

The price equated to $214,888 per unit. That figure is higher than the cur-rent average price per unit for multi-family space ($70,803) in the Tampa Bay area, according to the CoStar Group.

Miami’s Related Group completed construction of the four-story upscale

apartment in August.Although the development still has

a large vacancy rate, 39.9% as of the Costar Group’s last review of the prop-erty, its average asking rent comes in at $1,676. Asking rent starts in the $1,200’s for a 539-square-foot studio and goes up to around $2,500 for the most expensive two-bedroom/two-bathroom units.

Community amenities include a gat-ed parking garage, nautical-themed art park, clubhouse, courtyards, two-story fitness center, swimming pool, spa and

gazebos with fire pits and grilling areas.The state public pension fund invests

10% in real estate, says Dennis MacK-ee, a spokesman for the State Board of Administration. He says the fund invests the majority in core real estate and a smaller portion to enhanced or opportunistic real estate. The fund has 12 apartment investments, but each investment can contain multiple prop-erties, according to MacKee.

Engler Financial Group started marketing the property for sale shortly

after it was opened in September.Heitman is the asset manager for

the fund, and ZRS Management is the property manager for the Pierhouse at Channelside.

Aventura investors buy Beacon Isles Apartments

BUYER: Beacon Isles LLC (principals: Luis Delgado and Erwin Sredni), AventuraSELLER: Related Isles Apartments LLC and CAM Isles Apartments LLCPROPERTY: 6158 Beacon Isles Drive also known as 6202 Sheldon, TampaPRICE: $29.9 millionPREVIOUS PRICE: $2.44 million, May 2011 (25% interest) and $33.79 million, November 2007LAW FIRM ON DEED: Foley & Lardner LLP, Tampa

PLANS, DESCRIPTION:Beacon Isles LLC, an Aventura

investment group led by Luis Delgado and Erwin Sredni, purchased the 484-unit Beacon Isles Apartments for $29.9 million.

The price equated to $61,723 per unit. That figure is lower than the average price per unit for multifamily space ($70,803) in the Tampa Bay area, according to the CoStar Group.

Located in the Town ‘n’ Country area of Tampa, the 31-building apart-

BY SEAN ROTH | REAL ESTATE EDITOR

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COSTAR

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ment development occupies a 27.11-acre site. The 354,946-square-foot apartment complex, formerly known as Camden Isles, was built in 1983. Units average 723 square feet.

Community amenities include a swimming pool, business and fitness centers, laundry facilities, picnic area, tennis and sports courts and a car wash.

The property last sold in November 2007 for $33.79 million. In May 2010, Fannie Mae foreclosed on the prop-erty. After passing ownership of the apartment complex through several related companies, Fannie Mae sold a 25% interest in the property to Related Isles Apartments LLC, an affiliate of The Related Cos. LP in May 2011.

Beacon Isles LLC mortgaged the property to JPMorgan Chase Bank NA for $22.41 million.

Georgia investment group buys, rebranding Mariners Pointe Apartments

BUYER: DWSS St. Pete LLC (principals: Steven Stanley and Richard Willingham), AtlantaSELLER: CRP II-Tarpon Springs LLCPROPERTY: 1175 Pinellas Point Drive S., St. PetersburgPRICE: $11 million

PLANS, DESCRIPTION:An Atlanta investment group pur-

chased the 368-unit Mariners Pointe Apartments in St. Petersburg for $11 million.

The price equated to $29,891 per unit. That figure is lower than the average price per unit for multifamily space ($70,803) in the Tampa Bay area, according to the CoStar Group.

John Burpee and T. Sean Lance of NAI Tampa Bay handled the transac-tion. The seller was a Texas-based fund.

The new owner plans extensive ren-ovations to the property. The brokers report the units will receive complete interior rehabs with new countertops, cabinets, lighting, plumbing and ap-pliances as well as exterior upgrades. The complex will also be renamed and gated.

“The south St. Petersburg submarket provides great value-add opportuni-ties and this property will benefit from an infusion of capital combined with a top-to-bottom renovation and new management,” Burpee says in a press release. “The buyer has extensive experience in turning around chal-lenged properties such as this and the surrounding community will be impressed with the end result once it is completed.”

ETC… • International Stone Quarries pur-

chased a 30,580-square-foot manu-facturing/office/warehouse facility at 4820 122nd Ave. N. Clearwater from David Hartzell as trustee for $900,000. Deron Thomas of Industrial Realty So-lutions Inc. handled the transaction.

• NE Apartments Associates Inc. purchased an 18,000-square-foot

office and retail building at 290 Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. St., St. Peters-burg from Florida Bank for $610,000. Steven Klein of Klein & Heuchan Inc. represented the seller.

• Ronson Recycling Inc. leased a 18,278-square-foot office/warehouse facility at 6203 80th Ave. N., Pinellas Park from Pan American investments Group Delaware LLC. Deron Thomas of Industrial Realty Solutions Inc. handled the transaction.

• HFF has hired Michael Tabor as a director in its Tampa office. Tabor will focus on arranging debt and equity placement transactions in the Southeast. Prior to joining HFF, Tabor was a loan officer and assistant vice president at Walker & Dunlop, where he assisted with managing the Florida capital markets group.

• Hackman Capital purchased a former distribution center at 12880 49th St. N., Clearwater from Hostess Brands Inc. for $169,470. Mark Klein of Klein & Heuchan Inc. represented the seller.

• Darryl N. Crowe purchased a 5,000-square-foot office/warehouse facility at 12673 59th Way N., Clearwa-ter from C1 Bank for $240,000. Deron Thomas of Industrial Realty Solutions Inc. handled the transaction.

• Tampa-based RMC Real Estate Services, which contains both RMC Property Group and RMC Ross Realty, recorded total transaction volume of $79.5 million from 1.4 million square feet. It says it handled 279 lease trans-actions encompassing 905,000 square feet for $49.1 million. During the same period, RMC was awarded 53 new exclusive listings totaling 2.1 million square feet and 11 new land listings totaling more than 45 acres.

• Tin and Cao Truong Danh pur-chased an eight-bay former Goodyear automotive facility at 1706 Clearwa-ter Largo Road, Largo from Genrak Holdings Inc. Chris Howell of Klein & Heuchan Inc. represented the seller.

• Highwoods Properties Tampa Di-vision won the Best Landlord award at the National Association of Industrial and Office Properties’ Best of the Best Gala. This is the second year in a row the company received the award.

• ASIEEI Inc. leased a 9,612-square-foot office/warehouse facility at 6911 Bryan Dairy Road, Largo from Inter-laken Fortune 2000 Inc. Deron Thom-as of Industrial Realty Solutions Inc. handled the transaction.

• Dietel Investments LLC, an af-filiate of Orlando based Puff ‘n Stuff Events and Catering, purchased a 31,750-square-foot light-industrial warehouse/office building at 5802 and 5804 E. Columbus Drive, Tampa for $850,000. The new owner plans to renovate the building into a special-ized commissary. The facility will include a high output show-kitchen with chef’s table, warehouse, ex-ecutive offices and a multi-function event space. Nancy Surak of Eshen-baugh Land Co. in Tampa handled the sale.

• Coastal Holdings I LLC purchased a 34,446-square-foot office/ware-house facility at 9937 Race Track Road, Tampa from Military Distributors Inc. for $806,325. Deron Thomas of Indus-trial Realty Solutions Inc. handled the transaction.

• Francesco “Frank” Carriera and Michael Regan, in Marcus & Millic-hap’s Tampa office handled the sale of the 152-unit Rolling Hills Apartments in Tallahassee for $6.44 million.



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Special Issue: March 14

Advertising Reservation Deadline: March 6

Our lineup of 2014 special issues offers an entire year of opportunities to advertise and reach Florida’s Gulf Coast business leaders.

To receive more information or our editorial calendar, contact Rosemary Felton at 941.362.4848.

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The rising stars of legal you need to know, and leading firms in the region.

Law Issue

RaceTrac Petroleum buys land for S.R. 64 store

BUYER: RaceTrac Petroleum Inc. (principals: Max Lenker, Susan Bolch, Robert Dumbacher, Bill Milam, Carl Bolch Jr., Allison Moran, Joseph Akers and Robert Posener), AtlantaSELLER: Edith ButlerPROPERTY: 8100 E. State Road 64, BradentonPRICE: $1.5 million

PLANS, DESCRIPTION: Gas station chain RaceTrac Petro-

leum Inc. purchased 2.76 acres of vacant land on State Road 64 for $1.5 million.

The price equated to $543,478 per acre. That figure is less than the two-year average price per acre for retail land ($893,571) in the Tampa Bay area, according to the CoStar Group.

John Wentz of KW Commercial / Keller Williams Realty of Manatee handled the transaction.

“It was zoned agricultural,” says Wentz. “It took about three years to get it rezoned [for commercial use]. Once we had that it was under contract within three months.”

Wentz says RaceTrac has made acquiring prominent locations along Interstate 75 a priority.

Construction is scheduled to start on the new gas station in the second quarter for a completion before the end of the year.

The Atlanta-based convenience-store chain manages the operations of more than 600 convenience store loca-tions in 12 southeastern states.

Undisclosed Delaware company buys school district’s Checkers property

BUYER: Bradenton 14 LLC, CincinnatiSELLER: The School Board of Manatee County, FloridaPROPERTY: 115 W. Manatee Ave. and 500 W. First St., BradentonPRICE: $1.4 millionPREVIOUS PRICE: $75,000, September 2001LAW FIRM ON DEED: Dye Deitrich Petruff & St. Paul PL, Bradenton

PLANS, DESCRIPTION:An undisclosed Delaware company

purchased a 7,500-square-foot former Checkers Drive In restaurant building on 1.36 acre of land for $1.4 million.

The price equated to $1.03 million per acre. That figure is more than the two-year average price per acre for re-tail land ($893,571) in the Tampa Bay area, according to the CoStar Group.

The two-parcel site is located next to the School District of Manatee County administration building at the corner of Manatee Avenue and First Street West. It was previously used to house the school district’s human resources department.

The school district has been looking to sell the Checkers/Owens property since 2010, but those efforts were elevated after a string of financial mistakes left the school district with a several million-dollar shortfall.

After entering into a contract with Cincinnati-based Route 32 Invest-ments LLC to sell it for $2.07 million, the school district offered to vastly re-duce the price and allow the company to transfer it to another related entity

as long as the deal would close before the end of the district’s fiscal year.

Route 32 Investments and Braden-ton 14 LLC are both represented by Richard Herndon of law firm of Griffin Fletcher & Herndon LLP in Cincinnati.

Route 32 Investments has suggested it would use the property for a future mixed-use, office and retail develop-ment.

Ocean Properties Ltd. closes on Lido’s Sandcastle Hotel

BUYER: Lido Sand LLC (principals: Mark, Michael and William Walsh and Richard Ade), Delray BeachSELLER: Sandcastle Hotel Inc.PROPERTY: 1540 Benjamin Franklin Drive, SarasotaPRICE: $27.4 millionLAW FIRM ON DEED: Richard Critchfield, Delray Beach

PLANS, DESCRIPTION:Delray Beach-based Ocean Prop-

erties Ltd. purchased the 177-room Helmsley Sandcastle Hotel on Lido Beach for $27.4 million.

The price equated to $154,802 unit.Built in stages in 1953, 1957 and 1967,

the 152,546-square-foot resort occupies a 6.13-acre waterfront site. The proper-ty will operate under a new name, the

Sandcastle Resort at Lido Beach. The community features two heated swim-ming pools, a business center, dining room and lounge, shuffleboard and volleyball courts and meeting/banquet facilities.

Ocean Properties is one of the largest privately held hotel operating and de-velopment groups in North America its owns more than 100 hotels and 17,000 guestrooms. Its portfolio includes sev-eral Gulf Coast properties, including the Resort at Longboat Key Club, Hilton in Longboat Key Courtyard Bradenton Sarasota/Riverfront, the Edgewater Beach Hotel in Naples and the Sand-pearl Resort on Clearwater Beach.

ETC…• Lynn Brock as trustee purchased

2831 Ringling Blvd., Suite 221F, Saraso-ta from Schimmel & Schimmel LCSW PA for $49,000. Rico Boeras of Sarasota Commercial Realty LLC represented the buyer.

• F&H Electrical Contractors Inc. leased 6,000 square feet of space at 4580 Ashton Road, Sarasota from Peter Datino. Rico Boeras of Sarasota Com-mercial Realty LLC represented the landlord and Troy Robbins of Robbins Realty represented the tenant.

• Commercial broker James (Jay) Heagerty Jr. has formed The Heagerty Group with Karie Gorgone, a residen-tial specialist at Wagner Realty. The Heagerty Group will focus on commer-cial and residential real estate.

• Fit2Run has agreed to lease 1400 Main St., Sarasota in downtown. The building, formerly home to Floribbean and Patrick’s restaurants, is currently undergoing interior demolition. The new store is scheduled to open in June. Fit2Run currently has 10 locations in Florida.

commercial real estate | SARASOTA–MANATEE | BY SEAN ROTH | REAL ESTATE EDITOR

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following and customer base. The suc-cess also attracted the deep-pocketed group of investors, who plan to help Osterweil with expansion throughout Tampa and into new markets. “Fitlife Foods is a business opportunity that presents tremendous growth poten-tial in this market and throughout the country,” Lasher says in the statement.

Fitlife recently announced plans to open its first franchise location, in Brandon this summer. The firm also serves dozens of companies in the Tampa area with corporate wellness and prepared meals catering.

Former Chico’s CEO’s art on exhibit

Marvin Gralnick will always be known as one of the founders of Chico’s FAS, the women’s retailer based in Fort Myers.

Gralnick and his wife Helene started Chico’s on Sanibel Island with a single store. Today, publicly traded Chico’s operates 1,472 stores in the U.S. and Canada and it has announced plans for stores in Mexico.

Gralnick, who retired from the board of direc-tors of Chico’s in 2006, has been a prolific art-ist since he retired. He’s presented his paintings and sculptures in gal-leries, exhibitions and international art fairs.

The former CEO and entrepreneur plans

a solo show of his art at the Sidney & Berne Davis Art Center in Fort Myers starting March 7 and ending March 28. His art has been described as post-modernist, inspired by such artists as Robert Rauschenberg, a neighbor on Captiva. In fact, Lawrence Voytek,

Rauschenberg’s director of art produc-tion is a collaborator with Gralnick.

Area construction attracts Texas-sized competition

A $420 million construction firm from Houston, one of the 150 largest con-tractors in the country, wants in on the Florida recovery.

Satterfield & Pontikes, No. 148 in Engineering News-Record’s 2013 list of the top contractors in the U.S. by rev-enues, has opened an office in Lakewood Ranch. The firm has offices in Dallas, New Orleans and San Antonio, and is on a select preferred builder list for Wal-Mart in Texas. The company, with a national client list that includes Delta Airlines at JFK Airport, has also been lauded in its home state for its utilization of new technology in construction.

Craig Campbell, a familiar face to many in Sarasota-Bradenton construc-tion circles, heads up the local Satter-field & Pontikes office. Campbell spent more than a decade in executive roles in the area, where he worked for Dooley-Mack in Sarasota and later Palmetto-based Zirkelbach Construction. Satter-field & Pontikes recruited Campbell to Houston in late 2012.

But the firm’s plans changed, quickly, when Wal-Mart executives asked it to bid for work in the Sunshine State. Wal-Mart requires contractors to have an office within 500 miles of a jobsite. So Campbell’s move to Houston became a short stint.

While Wal-Mart was the impetus, Campbell says the goal is to make Sat-terfield & Pontikes a firm that can com-pete with giants like Beck and Skanska. He envisions a split where 30% of the

division’s work is for Wal-Mart, while 70% goes toward other clients, especial-ly in retail and health care. “If Wal-Mart hadn’t spoken to us about expansion, I’d still be in Houston,” Campbell tells Coffee Talk. “That said, this is a regional office.”

Campbell is already back in the

networking game, with organizations like the Gulf Coast Builders Exchange in Sarasota-Bradenton and the Associated Builders and Contractors Gulf Coast chapter in Tampa. He’s close to signing a few deals for work, one in Pinellas Coun-ty and another in Manatee County. He projects a busy summer for the firm.

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CoffeeTalk FROM PAGE 5

News that Sarasota-based mobile health company Voalte received a $36 million capital investment, courtesy of a New York private equity firm, was certainly a big deal for the fast-growing business.

It’s also a big to-do for the Sarasota-Bradenton business community.

Homegrown success stories like Voalte, with a software application that allows nurses and hospital employees to improve communications, aren’t every-day happenings.

Voalte, which stands for voice, alarm and text and is pronounced like “volt,” received its capital infusion from White Plains, N.Y.-based Bedford Funding, a $1.4 billion technology-focused private equity firm.

Trey Lauderdale, Voalte’s co-founder and president, responded to a few questions from the Business Observer by email.

Where does this investment rank in milestones for Voalte?

This investment is a huge milestone for Voalte. When you consider that we launched the company only five years ago, with four employees and funding on a shoestring, it’s clear we’ve come a

long way in a very short time.

How did Voalte develop a relationship with Bedford?

Raymond James Health Care Invest-ment Banking Group served as exclu-sive financial adviser to Voalte in this transaction. This is the first foray private equity firm Bedford Funding is making into the health care industry, with plans to invest $1 billion in this market in the future.

What else do you envision happen-ing with Voalte this year in terms of new clients, expansion and investments?

With 100 hospitals throughout the United States currently under contract with Voalte, we have aggressive plans to continue to expand our customer base in the future. Our staff has tripled in size in the past year and a half, to our current total of 130 employees, and we are continuing to hire in a variety of positions. Our product line is also grow-ing, with the recent launch of Voalte Me, which enables secure texting inside and outside the hospital walls; Motorola MC-40HC, an Android-based mobile computer that provides all-in-one com-munication via Voalte One plus barcode scanning capabilities; and relationships with all the major electronic medical re-cords vendors to tie in with their future mobile applications.

Mobile firm surpasses milestone

GRALNICK

LAUDERDALE


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