The Daily Soak - July 31

Half-built Communities Offer Surreal Environment, Great Deals

Some notions are half-baked, some efforts are half-hearted, and a growing number of Florida housing developments are simply half-built. The News-Press examines the uneasy feeling residents and developers share in communities where sales and construction have come to a grinding halt. Projects like Concordia in Cape Coral and Bella Casa in Fort Myers offer an odd visual juxtaposition of new amenities and unfinished homes which can potentially scare off new buyers. "Unfortunately, with them sitting there like that, it provides a huge negative connotation that this project went bust," says Fishkind & Associates' Michael Timmerman. But the good news for potential buyers with a long-term outlook is that half-built often means half-price...or lower. Units at Concordia that sold for $267,000 just two years ago can now be bought for around $100,000. The News-Press reports larger investors are making offers to purchase all of the remaining units in some unfinished communities for 20 cents on the dollar. (Slideshow)


High 'n' Dry: Florida's Boating Industry Motor Sputtering

Florida has over 1 million registered boats, but you wouldn't know it by looking at traffic on the Intracoastal. NPR interviews several Florida boat owners, dealers and charter captains to assess the impact of the weak economy on the boating industry. "Anchor More. Cruise Less." is the mantra of one Miami owner who forks over $250 just to fill-up his 17' outboard. The owner of the Cozy Cove Marina in Dania Beach, which features boats like the $250,000 Jupiter 34, says sales are down 50% compared to last year. And the Islamorada charter captain of the 43' Yabba-Dabba-Do says "the economy is whittling away customers. People are spending less and fewer now are willing to put out the $1,400 it costs for a full-day of deep sea fishing." HB.com featured the lone beneficiary of the weak Florida boating industry back in May: National Liquidators, the nation's largest marine repo company. The company currently has repo'd boats double-stacked on six 400-foot docks in Fort Lauderdale. (AudioClip)


Orlando Tourist Attraction Goes Into Foreclosure

A Boston bank that loaned $43 million to the developer of Orlando's Church Street Station has filed for foreclosure. Originally built in the mid 1970's, Church Street was bought out of bankruptcy court last year after former owner/boy-band producer/convicted money launderer Lou Pearlman was sent to prison. New owner Cameron Kuhn of the Kuhn Companies sought to revamp the complex with more upscale dining and entertainment alternatives, and the Orlando Sentinel wrote an upbeat analysis just 9 months ago. But business at CSS has been sluggish due in part to construction traffic related to the 55 West high-rise condo across the street. Stores will remain open as usual while Tremont Net Funding works to reclaim the property, and some speculate the opening of a new I-4 off-ramp next month will lure more locals and tourists. (VideoLink: A 1984 home video of CSS when the complex was Florida's 4th-largest tourist attraction after Disney, Sea World and Busch Gardens.)