White House: Land-use limits linked to flat incomes

Jason Furman, chairman of the White House Council of Economic Advisers.

White House economic advisers have produced a stream of studies on America’s puzzling lack of productivity and middle-class income growth, and they have identified land-use regulations as a likely culprit.

Jason Furman, chairman of the White House Council of Economic Advisers, said in a recent speech that zoning and restrictions on land use have put “artificial constraints” on housing development.

A limited supply of housing impedes the mobility of Americans, and increasing their mobility “is going to be an important part of the solution to increasing incomes and increasing incomes across generations,” Furman said, speaking at a conference co-hosted by real estate databank  CoreLogic and the Urban Land Institute.

Tough zoning rules are “actually correlated with those places that have higher [income] inequality,” Furman said.

He cited research by Raven Molly, a Federal Reserve economist, showing that an increase in demand for labor in cities with tough limits on land use will result in less housing development, elevated home prices and lower employment in the long run.

“If you’re not pricing people out of the market, you’re able to attract more people and increase employment more,” Furman said.

He also said the Obama administration’s concern about land-use regulations and housing affordability starts at the top: “It’s something he president is personally concerned about.” [Wall Street Journal] — Mike Seemuth

Canada’s ice hotel is rebuilt every year from 30K tons of snow

Hotel de Glace in Quebec

The Hotel de Glace in Quebec just might be the coolest hotel in the world. Either way, it’s the only ice hotel in North America.

The hotel is a temporary structure that only exists for a few months every year. It was first built in 2001, and has been created every winter since then. This year, it will be around from Jan. 4 to March 28.

The hotel is made of 500 tons of ice, and 30,000 tons of snow. The snow used is man made: churned until it’s extra humid and dense.

Construction begins in December, as soon as the temperatures have been consistently below 32F for a week. Around 50 people work tirelessly for around six weeks to create the 32,000 square-foot, 44-room hotel, which also features a restaurant, hot tubs, a sauna, and an ice bar.

Speculative Singer Island condo under construction

Rendering of Vista Blue Riviera Beach.

Third Palm Capital began construction of a mostly speculative 58-unit condominium on Singer Island, an oceanfront area of Riviera Beach, after pre-selling just four units.

Kevin Spina, an agent with Keyes Company who is marketing Vista Blue, said the developer, Simpsonville, South Carolina-based Third Palm Capital, is funding construction internally instead of obtaining a construction loan.

To obtain a construction loan, condo developers usually must sell half the units before breaking ground. “We are doing things a little bit differently,” Spina told the Palm Beach Post.

Spina also told the Post that Vista Blue was the first construction project on the oceanfront of Riviera Beach since 2007.

Prices at Vista Blue start at $1.6 million for units on the west side of the building and range up to $7 million for a penthouse. The floor plans range in size from 3,368 square feet to 4,131 square feet.

Construction of the project is scheduled to be finished in 2017. [Palm Beach Post] — Mike Seemuth

More wealthy vacationers resort to private islands

Kamalame Cay in the Bahamas.

Private-island vacations are becoming more popular, and while many are prohibitively expensive, even vacationers on a modest budget can afford one.

Jack Ezon, president of Ovation Vacations in New York, told the Wall Street Journal that the market for private-island vacations has increased by more than 25 percent in the last two years.

Two types of private islands draw vacationers: those for the exclusive use of  a group and those with one resort that serves a limited number of guests.

Top-of-the-line locations include an 80-acre island near Grenada called Calivigny, which is rented to one group (as many as 50 guests) at a time for $140,000 a night. Calivigny provides 24-hour service from a staff of chefs, butlers and maids and access to a variety of recreational marine gear, ranging from a 27-foot Boston Whaler to paddleboards.

Private-island vacations have price points high and low. British entrepreneur Richard Branson rents his 74-acre Necker Island in the British Virgin Islands for $78,000 a night. Vacationers on a smaller budget can rent a lake house on Laurel Island in East Hampton, Connecticut for about $125 a night.

At Kamalame Cay in the Bahamas, guests can get to know each other or enjoy the solitude of their own beach. Even during peak season, the maximum number of guests on the cay is 60.

The family that owns Kamalame Cay often invites guests to events there. “Sometimes it’s cocktails, or a luncheon party outside. You meet amazing, really interesting people from all over the world,” Connecticut resident Margaret Gugelmann, a frequent guest of Kamalame Cay, told the Journal. [Wall Street Journal] — Mike Seemuth

Palm Beach house listed for sale at $37.45 million

The pool area at 900 North Lake Way in Palm Beach.

Real estate developer Craig Menin and his wife Rochelle listed their lakefront Palm Beach house for sale with a $37.45 million asking price.

Menin told the Palm Beach Daily News, “There’s nothing like it. It was built on the coral ridge [next to] the Palm Beach Country Club, so the property slopes nine feet from south to north.”

Built in 1986 on almost an acre of land at 900 North Lake Way, the house has seven bedrooms, 10 bathrooms, six half-baths and 19,286 square feet of living space, some of it outdoors.

Among the interior features are an arched bamboo ceiling in the living room, a walnut floor, a lapis stone-covered bar and large windows facing the lake. The wine cellar has limestone floor and a custom-made mahogany storage system for as many as 3,000 bottles.

The outdoor space includes a swimming pool, whirlpool spa, sheltered pizza kitchen, cabana, barbecue area, boat dock and koi pond that extends beneath the walkway to the front door.

Menin said the architect who designed the house, New Jersey-based Milton Klein, tried to ensure that all major rooms have views of the water.

“What’s most important to me, Milton built he house to fit the land,” Menin told the Daily News.

The Menins listed their home with agents Paulette Koch and Dana Koch of the Corcoran Group. [Palm Beach Daily News] — Mike Seemuth

Donald Trump explains the give-and-take of deal-making like only he can

Donald Trump (credit: Mike Nudelman/Business Insider)

Real-estate tycoon Donald Trump has a decidedly Trump-like approach to the give-and-take of deal-making.

“It’s give-and-take,” the Republican presidential front-runner told Business Insider.

He then immediately added: “But it’s gotta be mostly take. Because you can’t give. You gotta mostly take.”

Trump, who frequently touts his deal-making prowess, gave his thoughts on the matter last week during a wide-ranging interview in his Trump Tower headquarters.

Business Insider founder Henry Blodget questioned Trump on how he would work with Congress given the fact that he couldn’t simply fire them for not performing.

“I’ve been dealing with politicians all my life. All my life. And I’ve always gotten them to do what I need them to do,” Trump replied.

He then listed some of his New York real-estate projects that required working with the local government.

“The West Side Rail Yards, 6,000 units on the West Side. Everyone said, ‘You gotta be kidding me, you’ll never get it.’ I got it. People said, ‘S—,'” he continued. “In fact, it’s now being finished up right along the West Side from 72nd Street to 59th Street, right? So people said, ‘You’re never going to get that zoned.’ I got the land cheap.”

“You make deals,” Trump explained, “and you get ’em to do what you have to do.”

Lamborghini dealership set to open soon in Davie

Larry Zinn, general manager, Warren Henry Auto Group. (Source: LinkedIn)

South Florida-based Warren Henry Auto Group is preparing to open a new 28,000-square-foot Lamborghini dealership in Davie next month.

The new dealership’s location is 4644 Southwest 148 Avenue, near Interstate 75 and Griffin Road.

Warren Henry Auto Group also is developing a new six-story headquarters in Miami at Biscayne Boulevard and 151 Street. The six-story building with indoor parking will become the new home of the company’s Infiniti, Jaguar, Land Rover dealerships on State Road 7 just south of the Miami-Dade County border with Broward County.

Larry Zinn, general manager of Warren Henry Auto Group, told the Sun-Sentinel that Lamborghini dealerships across the United States typically sell one to five models of the Italian-made luxury sports car each month. Prices start at about $200,000.

“We certainly would like to sell five a month,” Zinn told the Sun-Sentinel, “but it is going to take us some time to get there.”

Warren Henry Auto Group also plans to open an Audi dealership in Gainesville late next year. [Sun-Sentinel] — Mike Seemuth

Falling popularity of golf forces a change of course

The Bonaventure golf course.

Florida has more than 1,000 golf courses, more than any other state, but the sport is undergoing an upheaval that has shrunk some courses and closed others. In South Florida, developers are building houses and condos on the former grounds of some golf courses.

Nationwide, 130 to 160 golf courses are closing every 12 months, and the trend will persist for the next several years, according to the National Golf Foundation. The foundation calculates that the number of golfers in the United States has fallen by four million in the last decade.

Many private golf clubs have stayed in business by reducing membership fees, reducing the number of golf holes, and introducing non-golf amenities.

For example, Mark Schmidt, owner of the Woodmont Golf Club in Tamarac, plans to reduce the 36 holes to 18 and to build a commercial center spanning 4.5 acres plus 152 single-family homes on the property. Schmidt also told the New York Times that his golf club also will be getting a new clubhouse, fitness center and swimming pool.

“Without these adjustments, golf would be in desperate trouble,” he told the Times. “This is an absolute necessity.”

A $50 million renovation of the Boca West Country Club, home to about 6,000 residents, includes construction of a new activities center spanning 150,000 square feet and upgraded fairways.

Michelle F. Tanzer, a Boca Raton attorney whose clients include developers and owners of resorts, told the Times that Boca West is adapting well to the new business reality of golf: “They’re spending a fortune on making the place family-friendly. It’s home run.”

Jay DiPietro, the president and general manager of Boca West, said the problems at other golf clubs center on bad management and a misguided emphasis on “the business of selling houses.”

At Boca West, which charges new members $70,000 to join, “we’re in the people-pleasing business,” DiPietro said told the Times. “These people paid a lot to be here.”

Oliver K. Hedge, a golf course appraiser with Cushman & Wakefield, said many closures have involved public golf courses and semi-private courses that have membership programs but allow non-members to play by paying a fee.

Hedge also said luxury golf courses are experiencing a revival, citing $20 million of renovations at Trump National Golf Club in Jupiter and $250 million of fix-ups at the Doral Golf Resort and Spa in Miami-Dade County, now known as Trump National Doral. Presidential candidate and developer Donald J. Trump added both South Florida properties to his portfolio of golf courses in 2012. [New York Times] — Mike Seemuth

Sale in aisle 5: Where are the biggest price chops?

From the New York site: Shopping for a home this Black Friday?

Seattle-based Zillow came out with a list of the top cities where buyers can snag the best deals on a new apartment or house.

The online real estate company, owner of New York City-based StreetEasy, took into account the city’s percentage of total listings with a price chop, and also factored in how much of a discount was offered.

New York, where properties had a median discount of 4 percent, made the list of the top 10 cities with the biggest discounts. (New York City has seen its share of high-end sales that sold for under the asking price recently, at both One57 and 15 Central Park West.)

Zillow said the biggest median discounts can be found in Detroit (16.7 percent), and Cleveland (7.6 percent), followed by San Francisco (6 percent), Oakland, Calif. (5 percent) and Baltimore (5 percent). New York tied with Seattle for the No. 8 spot.

By Zillow’s calculus, the city with the largest number of total price cuts was Albuquerque, N.M., where 24 percent of listings were discounted. Omaha, Neb., followed with 23.5 percent, and then Baltimore (23.2 percent), Milwaukee, Wis. (23 percent) and Jacksonville, Fla. (21.7 percent).

Hollywood may redevelop municipal golf course

The 240-acre, 36-hole Orangebrook Golf & Country Club.

The City of Hollywood is preparing to ask developers for proposals to redevelop the city’s money-losing Orangebrook Golf & Country Club.

Orangebrook is the largest of three municipal golf courses in Hollywood with 36 holes and spans 240 acres.

But it has become a financial burden for the city. Orangebrook’s costs exceeded revenue by more than $2 million from 2011 to 2014, including a deficit of $419,530 last year alone.

One possible approach to redevelopment is transferring one of the two 18-hole courses to a developer in exchange for an upgrade for the other course.

Voter approval would be required for a redevelopment of Orangebrook to proceed because deed restrictions require that the land remain open space.

The redevelopment proposal could appear on the ballot as soon as November of next year, Raelin Storey, a city spokeswoman, told the Sun-Sentinel.

Hollywood Commissioner Dick Blattner said the city should determine the best use of the land at Orangebrook, located west of Interstate 95 between Hollywood Boulevard and Pembroke Road.

Blattner told the Sun-Sentinel  that golf courses “are closing all over. It has to do with the fact that the property is too valuable to be used as a golf course.”

Blattner also said it makes sense to determine “if we can get someone else to take that over an make it a good course and make it residential mixed-use.” [Sun-Sentinel]  — Mike Seemuth           

Florida Sportsman Best Boat – Keeping it Simple, 18 to 22 foot Center Consoles

If you want a small, easily trailered center console, an all-around boat where you can comfortably take the kids offshore for fishing and diving but still have a boat for the sandbar or pulling water toys, a boat in the 18- to 22-foot range may be the boat you’re looking for. Check these three boats out: Sea Fox 186 Commander, Release 196 RX and the Sea Born LX22.

For more information on Florida Sportsman Best Boat, including a full episode guide and access to HD episodes, visit www.floridasportsman.com/fsbb.

More single-family homes listed for resale in Naples

Naples (Credit: Naples Water Tours)

The Naples-area inventory of single-family homes listed for resale increased 4 percent in October, compared to the same month last year, according to the Naples Area Board of Realtors.

Cind Carroll, a real estate appraiser and consultant, said the increased inventory was further evidence of stabilization in the single-family home market.

The Naples Area Board of Realtors reported that the area’s inventory of single-family homes listed for resale increased last month to 2,210 from 2,128 in October of last year. The board tracks homes on the resale market in Collier County excluding Marco Island.

The area’s condo inventory listed for resale dropped to 1,811 units last month from 1,693 in October 2014.

The Realtors board also reported that the overall median closed price of single-family homes in the Naples area rose 14 percent to $302,000 in the 12 months ended in October from $265,000 in the previous 12 months.

Jail for developer who stole from Subway founder

The late Fred DeLuca (left) and Anthony Pulgiese.

Anthony Pugliese, a prominent developer in Delray Beach, is expected to start serving a six-month jail sentence Monday for stealing more than $1 million from Fred DeLuca, the now-deceased founder of the Subway sandwich-shop chain.

Pugliese and DeLuca were business partners in a failed residential development called Destiny on land south of Yeehaw Junction.

According to his 2012 arrest affidavit, Pugliese formed fake companies and sent phony invoices to DeLuca in order to build a reserve account in case DeLuca stopped funding the Destiny development.

Prosecutors said they could prove at trial that Pugliese used the money for personal expenses including a fancy music system for his mansion in Gulfstream.

After DeLuca and Pugliese traded civil suits over the failure of the Destiny development, the criminal case against Pugliese arose from his admission in a civil deposition that he formed fictitious companies.

Just days after Pugliese accepted a plea deal in the criminal case, DeLuca died of leukemia. Pugliese said he wanted to end the case because he himself has been diagnosed with cancer.

Circuit Judge Glenn Kelley sentenced Pugliese Tuesday for grand theft and scheming to defraud.  Pugliese was granted permission to turn himself in Monday at the county jail. [Palm Beach Post]  — Mike Seemuth            

Moishe Mana sues parking authority over land lease

Moishe Mana

Real estate developer Moishe Mana sued the Miami Parking Authority after the city agency agreed to lease land in downtown Miami to another developer.

Mana alleges in his civil suit that the parking authority failed to issue a proper notice detailing the bidding process for leasing land at 240 North Miami Avenue, across from the federal courthouse in downtown Miami. Mana wants a Miami-Dade county judge to undo the land lease to a rival company, Grand Station Partners.

The Miami parking Authority awarded the land lease to Grand Station after the development company proposed expanding an existing parking garage on the site and erecting a 33-story rental apartment building on the site’s remaining vacant land, measuring approximately 37,000 square feet.

Mana owns a lot measuring 14,300 square feet next to the parking authority’s property and wanted to combine both sites for his own development, which would include a bigger expansion the existing parking garage there.

In the suit Mana filed in the Eleventh Judicial Court of Florida, he claims the parking authority’s bidding process was unfair because the agency failed to publish notices in newspapers for a two-week period to disclose an unsolicited offer for the property

After Mana became aware of the unsolicited offer by Grand Station Partners, he proposed his own development of the parking authority’s property. But the authority’s board voted Tuesday to accept Grand Station’s offer, according to Miami Today.

Mana alleged in his suit that Art Noriega, chief of the Miami Parking Authority, approved Grand Station’s proposal because he is a friend of Grand Station executive Oscar Rodriguez.

But Robert Burlington, an attorney for Grand Station, told the Miami Herald that Mana failed to win the land lease because Grand Station proposed a better project: “He didn’t come forward with as good a proposal as Oscar’s and the entire MPA board recognized that. This wasn’t Mr. Noriega’s decision alone.” [Miami Herald]  — Mike Seemuth  

Publix bags Cooper City shopping center for $13M

The Pine Lake Plaza in Cooper City and Publix CEO Ed Crenshaw

Publix is on a South Florida shopping spree: it paid Federal Realty $53 million for a Wellington shopping strip last week, and now the supermarket chain has purchased a Cooper City retail plaza for $12.5 million.

The Pine Lake Plaza has two buildings with 115,306 square feet of space and is located at 10000 West Griffin Road. It was built in 1982 and is anchored by a Publix supermarket. Other tenants include a Dollar Tree, Subway and MetroPCS.

Barbara Williamson sold the property. She’s the daughter of the late Robert T. Williamson, a real estate mogul who built his wealth buying and selling gas stations. According to his obituary in the Sun Sentinel, Williamson sold his entire portfolio for $10 million in the 1950s and retired to Florida. Not too long into retirement, he returned to buying and supplying gas stations.

Barbara took control of the entity that owns Pine Lake Plaza soon after he died in 2007, according to Broward County records.

This is the latest sale in Publix’s campaign to invest $1.3 billion in real estate, renovations and technology by the end of 2015. Last week, the supermarket chain paid a whopping $53 million to the Federal Realty Investment Trust for another Publix-anchored shopping center in Wellington.

Stiles picks up Palm Beach Gardens office for $23M

Palm Beach Gardens office building

An affiliate of Boston-based TA Realty has sold a Palm Beach Gardens office building for $23 million, Palm Beach County records show.

Stiles purchased the 4.5-acre site at 3250 PGA Boulevard through the LLC PGA Gardens Plaza. The bank building spans 96,920 square feet and was developed in 1987, according to property records. It last sold for $25 million in 2006, which means that the building sold at a loss. 

The Gardens Plaza building was valued at $14.5 million, according to the Palm Beach County property appraiser.

Stiles is a real estate development firm with offices in Miami, Fort Myers, Tampa, Orlando and Charlotte, North Carolina. Stiles’ South Florida developments have included The Pointe in Palm Beach Gardens, Biscayne18 in Miami and Coral Landings in Coral Springs and Margate.

Stiles financed the deal with an $18.1 million mortgage. PNC Bank is the lender.

TA manages about 91 million square feet of commercial space and 12,300 residential units across the United States, according to its website. More recently, it sold the Doral Commons office building at 8550 Northwest 33rd Street in Miami for $13.1 million, more than double what it paid to acquire the property.

Fort Lauderdale office plaza sells to investment firm for $18M

One of the four office buildings in Fort Lauderdale’s Lakeshore Business Center

A Kentucky firm just sold off its Fort Lauderdale office center to a local investment company for $18.3 million.

Broward County records show an affiliate of NTS Realty Holdings, a Kentucky real estate company, sold its four-building business center at 3125 West Commercial Boulevard, according to a deed filed last Tuesday.

The property, named the Lakeshore Business Center, includes 235,000 square feet of office space built between the late 1980s and 2000. NTS built all three phases of the plaza.

Records show the buyer is an affiliate of Morning Calm Management, a West Palm Beach real estate firm that buys and manages properties for investors — both private and institutional, according to the company’s website.

The firm announced its plans to acquire Lakeshore last month, but declined to disclose a price at the time. Mukang Cho, Morning Calm’s CEO, said its occupancy rate was 53 percent.

Morning Calm’s purchase equates to about $78 per square foot. The firm financed a huge portion of its purchase with a $16.15 million loan from the RAIT Financial Trust, which primarily issues loans for commercial properties in the United States.

Inside look: Waterfront Palm Island home listed for $9.6M

The founder of a multi-level marketing company has listed his Palm Island home for $9.6 million, or $1,453 per square foot.

Nick and Ashley Sarnicola own the five-bedroom, four-bathroom home at 233 North Coconut Lane. Nick is a co-founder of ViSalus Sciences, a Los Angeles-based company that markets weight management nutritional products, dietary supplements and energy drinks in the United States, Canada and United Kingdom, according to published reports.

Julian Johnston of Calibre International Realty is listing the 6,600-square-foot waterfront home. It features a 1,500-square-foot rooftop deck, polished volcanic stone flooring and floor-to-ceiling windows, according to a press release. It’s also available for rent at $45,000 a month, according to the MLS.

Miami-Dade County property records show that the Sarnicolas paid $6.5 million in 2013 for the home, which sits on a 7,000-square-foot lot. It was developed in 2010.

Palm Island is no stranger to multimillion-dollar residences. In July, a 30,000-square-foot estate at 130 Palm Avenue in Miami Beach sold for $8.6 million. Al Capone’s former mansion, at 93 Palm, is getting a facelift and new life as a production, filming and photo shoot venue, TRD previously reported.  And earlier this year, 10 Palm Avenue was listed for a whopping $39 million. Former Amazon.com executive and hospitality CEO Christian Jagodzinski owns the property. — Katherine Kallergis