FLORIDA GROWTH – LOCKED AND LOADED

It sure seems that way lately doesn’t it? Everything Florida is coming up roses it seems these days and there is more growth on the way. Specifically, at the port, Ft. Lauderdale Airport and with tourism of course. The article says that the seaport and hospitality sector, along with the airport are experiencing amazing growth. On Sept. 18th the new runway will open at the airport, which will allow for more crucial international traffic and reduce delays. As is typical for development in South Florida, it runs from the South to the North so when Dade County is full all of that traffic spills over into Broward and Palm Beach Counties. We are well into that time now it seems. The airport growth is critical because the domestic traffic has been flat but the international traffic is growing quickly especially with South America and Europe. The port (that is Port Everglades) will be installing this July a new $73 million dollar ship to rail cargo transfer terminal. It will be the first on port rail yard in the US to process both domestic and international cargo. They are also spending $24 million dollars to renovate Terminal 4, which is dedicated to cruise ships. The ships account for 42% of the port’s revenues. As for tourism, what do we really need to say? We have broken every record this year, with an assist from the terrible weather elsewhere. There are concrete plans in place to start a medical tourism campaign which is all but assured of success. All of the major tourist attractions, Sawgrass Mills Mall, Disney, Universal, and more have expanded and upgraded their facilities. The upcoming rail system will further assist tourists coming from the South to the North. It is really amazing when it seemed like just a few years ago things couldn’t be any worse. We are almost at the point where it can’t get much better! Almost, not quite there yet, but picking up speed. Good times for Florida indeed. As always thanks for reading and have a great day.