LWR Commercial
Archive for August, 2008
Florida Commercial Real Estate Loans Seeing Red
Aug 29th
The combined bottom line of commercial banks in Florida flipped into the loss column in the second quarter as banks here join national saving institutions in the red, according to Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. data released Tuesday.
Florida-based commercial banks lost $79 million in the second quarter after pulling in $75 million in the first quarter. About 48 percent of these banks were unprofitable, while just 17 percent saw earnings gains.
In the second quarter of 2007, these commercial banks combined for $200 million in profits. But, that was before the real estate meltdown and the collapse of many mortgages.
As of June 30, Florida-based commercial banks had $2.85 billion in non-current loans, which accounted for 3.34 percent of their total loans. This ratio is up from 2.44 percent in the first quarter and 0.96 percent in the year-ago quarter.
Industrywide, the non-current rate in the second quarter was 2.02 percent – the highest it’s been since 1993.
The non-current loans have risen faster than the reserves banks set up to account for their losses. The combined loan loss reserve of Florida’s commercial banks covered less than half of the non-current loans on June 30. A year ago, the reserve covered the entire amount of bad loans and then some.
The FDIC said the industrywide non-current coverage ratio fell to a 15-year low of 88.5 percent.
Florida commercial banks held $392 million in properties seized in foreclosure as of June 30, compared with $280 million in the first quarter and $77 million in the second quarter of 2007.
Showing 24,154 employees as of June 30, Florida-based commercial banks shed 1,184 workers over the past year, with 910 of them let go in the second quarter.
The results were just as bad at Florida-based savings institutions, which include Fort Lauderdale-based BankAtlantic and Coral Gables-based BankUnited.
According to the FDIC, Florida savings institutions lost $79 million in the second quarter, compared with a loss of $68 million in the first quarter.
About 54 percent of them were profitable and almost 9 percent increased their profits. That’s a nosedive from the $47 million in profits they made in the second quarter of 2007.
Florida’s savings institutions carried $1.74 billion in non-current loans as of June 30. That accounted for 4.25 percent of total loans, up from 3.12 percent in the first quarter and 1.4 percent in last year’s second quarter.
The reserves for loan loss allowance for savings institutions covered just below one-third of their non-current loans.
While their loans soured, the savings institutions picked up more foreclosed properties. They held $258 million in real estate owned on June 30, up from $164 million in the first quarter and $53 million a year ago.
Statewide, these institutions cut 1,413 employees during the year to close the second quarter with 7,704 workers. They dismissed 526 in the second quarter.
While it’s clear there are major issues with some Florida banks, the FDIC doesn’t make public the identity of banks on its “problem list,” which numbered 117 in the second quarter, up from 90 in the first quarter.
“More banks will come on the list as credit problems worsen,” FDIC Chairman Sheila Bair said.
The FDIC also is feeling the pinch as it increases its loss reserves to cover bank failures. The fund’s ratio to insured deposits fell to 1.01 as of June 30 – putting it below the 1.15 percent federal requirement.
In early October, the FDIC will consider a plan to raise that ratio by adding capital to the fund, which would likely include an increase in premium rates for banks, Bair stated.
“We’ll be proposing changes to the current assessment system that will shift a greater share of any assessment increase onto institutions that engage in high-risk behavior to encourage and reward safer behavior,” she said.
Lakewood Ranch Sarasota Continues Economic Boom
Aug 28th
Wednesday, August 27, 2008
More than three million square feet of office space is being added to Lakewood Ranch.
MANATEE COUNTY (Bay News 9) — The rough economy isn’t keeping one Bay area community from expanding.
Lakewood Ranch, the sprawling community in Manatee County is expanding over the county line into neighboring Sarasota.
Sarasota County commissioners just approved plans to bring more than $3 million square feet of office space to Lakewood Ranch.
Todd Yeomans, who works with Fawley Bryant, a company located in the Lakewood Ranch business park, said the location of the area makes sense for more businesses to move in.
“It’s really convenient,” Yeoman said. “There’s a lot of big corporate businesses here that you can make good connections with and develop good relations with.”
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Those opportunities for business relationships are growing.
The corporate park is expanding and will become the largest corporate complex in the Sarasota-Manatee area.
County commissioners just gave a Lakewood Ranch the go-ahead to develop anywhere within the 1,400 acre parcel where the business park will be located.
But the park isn’t just a boon for business types.
Darlene Clawson lives and works just east of Interstate 75. She says she rarely has to go into town with the expanding developments in Lakewood Ranch.
“I’ve been pretty much staying out here, you get spoiled with everything,’ she said. “Starbucks is down the street and the movie theater.”
And more is on the way.
Phase Two of the massive office park will provide more than three million square feet of office space. The corporate headquarters also houses a satellite Manatee Community College campus.
“The future of this area is terrific,’ Yeoman said. “It’s really a great place to work.”
Sarasota Young Realtors Social
Aug 27th
Martini Networking with the Sarasota Young Realtors
The Sarasota Young Realtors invite you to join them at Evie’s Tavern for networking and drinks. The event is from 5:30 – 7:00 pm at 1989 Ringling Blvd.
Evie’s Tavern – 1989 Ringling Blvd.
DATE: 8/27/2008
TIME: 5:30pm – 7:00pm
No RSVP Required
Sincerely,
Anthony Homer
Hometown Democracy Not Going Quietly
Aug 7th
WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. (AP) – Aug. 7, 2008 – Supporters of a proposed Florida constitutional amendment requiring voters to approve changes in local growth management plans told a federal judge Wednesday that a host of discrepancies and problems improperly blocked the measure from the November ballot.
Among problems described in testimony before U.S. District Judge Kenneth A. Marra were mistakes in double-counting invalid voter petitions, widely disparate standards used by the state’s 67 election supervisors and suspiciously high rejection patterns in some counties.
“It was just a myriad of problems,” said Barbara Herrin, a former New Smyrna Beach banker who closely tracked the petitions for the Florida Hometown Democracy Inc. group. “Some were human, and some were system problems.”
Herrin said also between 7,000 and 10,000 signed voter petitions the group submitted were not accounted for at several county election supervisor offices.
Florida Hometown Democracy failed to collect enough valid signatures by the state’s Feb. 1 deadline to get its proposed constitutional amendment on the November ballot. State officials said the group was well short of the 611,009 needed at the time.
The count on the state’s web site Wednesday was still short at 599,921, but that’s after subtracting 13,247 revoked signatures – enough to put the initiative over the threshold. A state appellate court in April said those signatures should be counted because a law that allowed people to take back them back was unconstitutional. That ruling, though, is on appeal to the Florida Supreme Court.
The amendment would require voter approval of changes in growth management plans that determine how and where cities and counties expand. It has been fiercely opposed by business interests, who say it would undermine economic growth, while backers say it would place much-needed brakes on sprawl.
Florida Hometown Democracy wants Marra to order the measure placed on this year’s ballot and to strike down the Feb. 1 signature deadline, which was enshrined in the Florida Constitution in 2004 by the state’s voters. The group contends the new deadline violates the U.S. Constitution in a number of ways, including free speech and voting rights guarantees.
Attorneys for Florida Secretary of State Kurt Browning, named as defendant in the case, argued that there is no federal right to amend the Florida Constitution and that it’s up to the state to determine its own rules for proposed amendments.
They also challenged Herrin’s conclusions about problems with the voter petitions, noting that many rejections were correctly for such things as a felony conviction or because a voter had moved to another county.
“You’re not a lawyer, are you?” asked state attorney Stephen Emmanuel.
“No, I’m not,” Herrin replied.
The state’s lone witness, Division of Elections assistant director Sarah Jane Bradshaw, said the agency has no legal authority over the county elections supervisors and can only issue guidelines and suggestions about handling voter petition drives. Bradshaw said she issued a letter calling attention to some of the concerns raised earlier this year by Florida Hometown Democracy.
“The supervisors of elections act pretty much independently,” Bradshaw testified.
State elections officials also do not separately check the accuracy of voter petitions, relying instead on the county supervisors to do that, she said.
Marra did not indicate when he would issue a decision, though time is running short for Florida Hometown Democracy to get on this year’s general election ballot. But if they fail this time, Herrin said the group would aim for the 2010 election.
On the Net: Florida Hometown Democracy: http://FloridaHometownDemocracy.com
Florida Secretary of State: http://www.dos.state.fl.us/
© 2008 The Associated Press, Curt Anderson (AP Legal Affairs Writer). All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
