Florida Commercial News - Land, Development, Building, Business

Florida's housing industry has been one of the hardest hit in the country, and what happens to Florida housing markets impacts both residential and commercial real estate developments as well as many other sectors of the Florida economy, not the least of which are the banking and construction industries.

Which means that when experts start giving their research results on where housing is heading, there are a lot of people in Florida that are paying attention.  One of those big research studies hit the presses this week, prepared by The Demand Institute, entitled "The Shifting Nature of U.S. Housing Demand." 

Read this new report online here.

Who is The Demand Institute, Author of this Viral Economic Forecast?

The Demand Institute is a newly created organization run by the Conference Board and Nielsen Holdings N.V.  From its website:

The Demand Institute is a non advocacy, non-profit organization and a division of The Conference Board, which holds 501(c)(3) tax-exempt status in the United States. The Demand Institute is jointly operated by The Conference Board and Nielsen. Our headquarters is in New York City, with a presence in Beijing, Brussels, Chicago, Hong Kong, Mumbai, Singapore and Washington, D.C.

Our Mission: The Demand Institute illuminates how consumer demand is evolving around the world. We are on a mission to strengthen the growth and vitality of the global economy by helping public- and private-sector leaders align strategies and investments to where consumer demand is headed across countries, industries and markets....

Which means that The Demand Institute's international membership will be considering the information provided in this new report as they consider investing in the Florida real estate market. It's a rather powerful bunch, this membership.

Given the importance of Florida's foreign investors to our economic recovery, it's important to know what powerful international investment concerns are learning about our present and future real estate climate.  In fact, acknowledging what investors in places like Brazil, Israel, Canada, and other parts of the world are considering doing in the State of Florida may be just as important, if not more important, than what domestic and local investors are pondering as places to put their money. 

Exposure, however, exceeds much more than the Demand Institute's membership.  This thing is going viral.

The report is making the national news in coverage by Bloomberg News and other globally prominent media including TIME Magazine and the Wall Street Journal, which gave great attention to the forecast in this week's article, "Housing’s Future: Renting and Downsizing."  TIME, meanwhile, is crediting the Demand Institute as confirming that the Housing Industry has begun its turnaround in an article entitled, "Report: Housing Market Recovery Has Officially Begun."

What Does the Demand Institute Report Provide?

At least for the next three years or so, we should expect the following in the housing markets:

1. home buyers are looking for smaller houses;
2. the real estate market is beginning to bounce back;
3. the real estate market will not return to its prior glory days in the foreseeable future; and
4. the demand for rental properties will be high.

Here, key to real estate developers and land planners, it is projected that:

• many new apartment complexes and other kinds of multi-residence projects will be built, many in urban areas convenient to shops, workplaces, and schools;
• shadow inventories and distressed properties will be purchased in bulk by the 21st Century's version of a landlord (see our earlier post on national builders moving into this market opportunity); and
• home ownership will be tied to smaller, downsized lifestyles: home ownership remains an American Dream, but it's more of a dream these days than a reality. 

This week, we have no news release from the Diabetes Research Institute to share with you, so we've opted to provide the following facts about diabetes as compiled by DRI:

1. Do you have diabetes?  Almost 26 million Americans have diabetes, including as many as seven million individuals who have diabetes and don’t know it.
2. Diabetes is a killer.  Diabetes kills more people than AIDS and breast cancer combined.
3. Thousands of Americans Die Every Year from Diabetes.  In 2007, diabetes claimed more than 284,000 American lives.
4. Diabetes costs Billions of Dollars each year.  Diabetes costs the American people $218 billion each year, factoring together the total costs of diagnosed cases, undiagnosed diabetes, prediabetes, and gestational diabetes.
5. Diabetes Shows No Favorites.  Diabetes impacts all social, economic, and ethnic backgrounds.
6. What is Diabetes?  Diabetes is caused by the body’s inability to create or effectively use its own insulin, which is produced by islet cells found in the pancreas.
7. What is Insulin?  Insulin helps regulate blood sugar (glucose) levels – providing energy to body cells and tissues.
8. Why is Insulin Necessary?  Without insulin, the body’s cells would be starved, causing dehydration and destruction of body tissue.
9. Is Insulin a Cure for Diabetes?  No.  Injecting insulin is not a cure for diabetes. It is a critical life-saving component of a daily treatment program.
10. Diabetes Shorts Life Span by 33%.  Diabetes is the seventh leading cause of death by disease among adults and reduces life expectancy by one-third.
11. New Diagnoses Every Day.   Approximately 4,110 new cases of diabetes are diagnosed each day.
12. Millions Need Hospital Care Each Year for Diabetes.  Almost three million Americans are hospitalized each year due to diabetes.
13. Most Blindness Caused by Diabetes. Diabetes is the leading cause of new blindness in adults ages 20-74.
14. Diabetes Kills by Heart Attack and Stroke.  Sixty-five percent of deaths among people with diabetes are due to heart disease and stroke.
15. Diabetes Encourages Heart Disease.  Persons with diabetes are two to four times more likely to develop heart disease than people without diabetes.
16. Most Amputations Because of Diabetes.  More than 60 percent of all nontraumatic amputations occur among people with diabetes.
17. Almost All Kidney Failure From Diabetes.  Nearly 44 percent of all kidney failure is caused by diabetes. Diabetic patients are 17 times more prone to kidney disease than people who do not have the disease.
18. Diabetes Main Reason for End Stage Renal Failure.  Diabetes is also the leading cause of end stage renal disease.
19. Diabetes Can Harm Babies and Risk Pregnancies.  Women with diabetes face high-risk pregnancies, which can result in babies born with many health problems.

This week, there were lots of news announcements and press releases regarding first quarter reports being released from all sorts of companies that do business in Florida and impact Florida real estate investment and Florida land development -- St. Joe's for example, reported a net loss for the first quarter of 2012. 

However, for this week's "news release of the week," we're not choosing among all those financial reports and instead looking to the public sector, where Florida Governor Rick Scott has announced that you and I can read his emails and most of Florida' government worker bees online, for free.  Given that Governor Scott has been very active in the Florida economy, and particularly Florida real estate investment and development, this news may come to be a big deal for the Florida real estate industry.

Here from the Office of the Governor for the State of Florida on May 2, 2012:

Project Sunburst Gives Citizens and Media Easy Access to Executive Staff E-mails

In order to further the goal of government transparency, Governor Rick Scott announced Project Sunburst. E-mails to and from the Governor will be accessible to the public through an online, read-only e-mail viewer. In addition, e-mails to and from 11 members of the Governor’s Office leadership team, who currently constitute more than 80 percent of the public records requests for e-mails, will be available. This unprecedented step gives the citizens of Florida and members of the media an open and transparent window into how their state government works.

“Since my first day in office, I have committed to making sure the citizens of our state have access to the information they need to hold their state government accountable,” Governor Scott said. “I invite Floridians to view my e-mails, as well as those of my leadership team, to learn more about how we are working to make Florida the best state for businesses to grow and expand and create jobs.”

E-mails are available with search capabilities on the Governor’s website at www.flgov.com/sunburst through Microsoft Outlook Web Access. Individuals can access the Sunburst system by using the user name and password sunburst.

Governor Scott emphasized that Project Sunburst does not replace the current process for public records requests and that all public records requests will continue to be honored.

The Governor’s Project Sunburst policy requires e-mails to be posted within seven days of receipt or creation unless permission has been granted for an extended deadline. However, the goal is for e-mails to be available within 24 hours.

Sunburst participants will categorize e-mail, and the Governor’s Office of Open Government will review withheld e-mail and make all public records available online. Any exempt items that require redaction will continue to be available through a public records request.

In the coming months, Project Sunburst will be expanded to include other agencies within the Executive Branch.

Last year, Governor Scott launched the website FloridaHasARightToKnow.com that gave the public access to state employee salary information, state pensions with annual benefits of $100,000 or more and information on the review of state rules and regulations.

Contact Governor Scott

Executive Office of Governor Rick Scott

400 S Monroe St

Tallahassee, FL 32399

(850) 488-7146

###

Sure, it's ironic, but the reality is that Florida, despite being surrounded by water on almost every side, is a peninsula that must carefully protect and control water provided for human consumption as well as farming, etc.  That takes hard work and lots of money; however, how much money is budgeted to these efforts changes over time.

Major Money Cuts for Florida Water Management Districts in 2012

Last year, we began monitoring the State of Florida budget cuts approved by Governor Rick Scott over the Florida Water Management system as current economic conditions forced lots of items to be slashed off the state budget.  Once the state coffers were offering less money, the Florida Water Management Districts were forced to take a hard look at their internal budgets, cutting back - in some cases, making drastic cuts. 

For more, read our June 2011 post entitled "Big Florida Water Management Districts Changes Signed into Law by Governor Scott Yesterday."

2012 and Florida Experiencing Record-Making Drought

Add to this hit to the Water Management Districts the drought that has slammed Florida statewide this year and things are very stressful for those involved in water management in our area.  In fact, experts are reporting that 2012 was the 11th driest winter for the 16 counties covered by the Southwest Florida Water Management District, nicknamed "Swiftmud" since they started keeping track of Florida weather patterns (in 1915).

Swiftmud Serves a Huge Area in South Florida

The Southwest Florida Water Management District (Swiftmud) was created in 1961 as a 6000 square mile flood control project in response to the massive damage created by Hurricane Donna.   Over time, Swiftmud grew as the Water Resources Act was passed in 1972, and a statewide water management system evolved, designed to manage and to protect Florida's natural water resources. 

Swiftmud: Is It a Water Management District in Trouble?

Today's harsh realities of less water to meet growing need coupled with a lot less money to do the job means that lots of concern is being raised about Swiftmud.  In this week's Herald Tribune, a long article discusses the situation, which involves Swiftmud's shoestring budget resulting in permanent harm to restoration and increasing the likelihood of expensive environmental cleanups. 

Included as examples of concern in the reporting by Kate Skinner, entitled, "Water district cuts may undo decade of work" are:

• expansion of Peace River regional water supply facility
• spending regarding construction of a desalination plant on Tampa Bay to provide more drinking water
• and budget plans for several projects, e.g.,  expansion of the nearly 500-acre Robinson Preserve (Manatee County); the Dona Bay restoration (Sarasota County); and both stormwater runoff improvements and conservation land restoration throughout the District.  

Meanwhile, an interesting article also appeared this week over in the Tampa Bay Times:  seems that an piece by Lee Logan appearing in both the Times and the Miami Herald asks, "Ron Oakley: Can he take credit for Swiftmud budget cuts?" and points to Oakley's own political mailer, where it states:

"Ron Oakley voted to reduce the Water Management District's budget by 58 percent in the four years he served on the board. His conservative leadership protected local taxpayers over government bureaucrats."

According to Mr. Logan, while Oakley's did vote on the 2011 budget cuts, most of the cutbacks happened when he was leaving office, so Logan doesn't give as much credit to Oakley as he does to the Tallahassee politicians overall. 

One wonders who will be taking credit for the Swiftmud budget cuts in upcoming years....

Florida water management districts are having to do with a lot less money and we're going to be hearing more and more about bad things happening because Swiftmud and the other Districts aren't meeting current and future needs .... It's just starting.