Let me indulge your imagination for a moment.  At the risk of being accused of Monday morning quarterbacking, let?s imagine that after two months of negotiating with the Boston Red Sox, our City Manager issued a press release stating that ?Red Sox agrees to be part of deal to develop a multi-cultural facility on Sarasota?s Bayfront.?  Instead, we were treated to the usual disappointment that we had once again failed to land the big one.  Imagine if we had political leadership with enough courage to promote the idea of this type of facility on our Bayfront.  Imagine if our daily newspaper had not issued a stern admonition ?don?t go there.?  Imagine a beautiful facility overlooking the bay that would accommodate the Boston Red Sox during spring training, outdoor concerts for the Sarasota Symphony (especially on July 4 with fireworks), wonderful retail establishments and eateries, and enjoyment of our Bayfront which is currently inaccessible.  Could all of this have happened behind in a stadium squeezed in behind the jail?

If our community was considering an investment in excess of $80 million dollars would it not be prudent to locate the Red Sox in an area that would give us the best return on our money.  Which location could do this best?  A location behind the jail or a location on our beautiful Bayfront?duh!

In this desperate economic climate, it is imperative that when we have the opportunity to bring one of the World?s best known sports franchises, we put our best foot forward.  The economic ripple effects of the bay front location would have been the catalyst for the Proscenium and Bayside developments currently in a state of limbo.

So what do we end up with?  We, the community now owns prime real estate on Washington Blvd which our political leadership was able to spin as being a good buy for the future of the community.  No spring training team, 40 acres of underutilized asphalt that will probably never be developed in my lifetime, and I have a few more years to go.  What a waste of time, effort, money, and energy.  Instead of always striving for mediocrity, let?s hope this will be a lesson for the future.

In today?s economic climate, business is more about survival than expansion.  Despite the gloomy forecast, real estate transactions are occurring.  Albeit these deals may be taking place at a number that is substantially less than what they could have been done 18 months to two years ago but they are being done at a rate that makes sense to the Buyer and/or Tenant.  Does that indicate we are in a Buyer?s market?  Probably, but our responsibility as Brokers is to make deals ? to bring Buyers and Sellers (Landlords and Tenants) together to make transactions.  To do that, we have to know at what level the market will react.  It is this expertise that is most beneficial to our clients in these challenging times.

On a more exciting note, in my capacity as President of the Sarasota Film Festival, it is an honor to be a part of this very dynamic organization that is putting together a world class event that will bring an energy and buzz to Sarasota from April 4-12 that will put our community on the map.  Not only do we have fabulous parties with glamorous Hollywood celebrities, we will also bus in over 10,000 children to enjoy a hands-on movie experience during the festival.  SFF is celebrating its 10th year.  We received over 600 movies which have been whittled down to 200 which will be seen during the 10 days of the festival.  We have movies from every continent including Antarctica.  The festival is rapidly becoming an economic catalyst for our area and I?m delighted to say that these efforts have been recognized by our governor who has agreed to serve as an honorary chair and will be in attendance at the 10th Anniversary Ball at the Longboat Key Club on April 12th.

See you at the movies!

As the owner of a small business, I often wonder if our state, county, and city leadership all got together and decided it would be a good idea to kill off the small business.  First of all, let?s triple property insurance rates and if that doesn?t have an impact, we will actually make it impossible to get any type of insurance for those hardship cases.  Then we should double real estate taxes and come up with relief that only benefits the resident and not the commercial business owner.  Then we will encourage (by not discouraging) the electorate to vote for slowing growth down under the guise of super majority and hometown democracy and let?s put a sign over all entrances to local government offices that says ?let?s see how we can?t make it happen.?

I fail to see the connection between ?slowing growth? and the super majority campaign.  I also fail to see why the proponents of ?slow growth? are resorting to government to assist them in their efforts.  Are they not aware that the market has already taken care of growth for the foreseeable future?  Are they not aware that more people are moving out of Florida than into Florida? Are they not aware the school enrollment is down?  Are they not aware that impact fees have risen to a level where people are going out of business before they even get into business?  Are they not aware that there is a direct correlation to the level of impact fees and the volume of collection?the more you raise it, the less you will collect. 

I hope someone out there in cyberspace will take issue with me and inform me that our ?leaders? are doing everything possible to revitalize our economy.  I have a number of suggestions.  I would start by deregulating the property insurance market.  I recently experienced a 100% increase in premium for a building that I own and was told that I was lucky to even get a quote as there was only one company prepared to write the business.  Of course I had to go with the insurer of last resort?i.e. the state, for windstorm coverage and that is a high premium with little coverage.  Secondly, I would reform the methodology that our property appraisers are mandated to use when assessing real estate.  When are we going to stop taxing fresh air and use current income and expenses to determine the real value that should be taxed.  Thirdly, I would do everything possible to develop a state of the art conference center in the Cultural Park surrounding the Van Wezel.  Now that we have kicked the Reds out of town, this could be the saving grace for our community. 

As one proponent of slow growth suggested, their campaign was all about building ?less crap houses.?  Such ill-informed points of view do nothing to create a feeling that these people really have the best interest of our community at heart and that any compromise in ideology is feasible.  I hope I am wrong.