FORMER A.G. HOLLEY SITE TAKING SHAPE IN LANTANA

FORMER A.G. HOLLEY SITE TAKING SHAPE IN LANTANA

Some exciting stuff here! Perhaps it says something about me when I think that the redevelopment of a 70 acre site that will effectively transform a city exiting, but I am OK with that. Yes for some strange reason this never gets old for me and then you get to read about it. I guess that is how this blog works. Well, onto the news. For those of you who are unfamiliar with this site, it was previously the home to the state’s tuberculosis hospital. It was closed in 2012 and has since been demolished, leaving a large, unsightly vacant plot. The new site will be called Water Tower Commons and will feature 1,000 residential units (a mix of apartments and townhomes) behind big box retail and outparcels. It will become the shopping hub of the area and will be a catalyst for more development around it, which is badly needed. Home values in this area must be shooting up right now, and many jobs will be created by the project. There is no question this is progress and something that is welcomed by all in this area. Usually there are some naysayers for every project but I haven’t read about a single one in this case. Congratulations to Lantana, your rebirth is beginning. Let’s hope that this is the beginning of a new great story about the city. As always thanks for reading and have a great day.

Lantana’s A.G. Holley site to have restaurants, grocery store, retail

http://www.mypalmbeachpost.com/news/news/local/lantanas-ag-holley-site-to-have-restaurants-grocer/njsdY/?icmp=pbp_internallink_invitationbox_apr2013_pbpstubtomypbp_launch#661c9189.3711057.735624

MORE SOLAR POWER FINALLY COMING TO FLORIDA?

MORE SOLAR POWER FINALLY COMING TO FLORIDA?

Sorry there is no picture associated with this article. But I can assure you that this one is worth reading. As you all know, Florida’s electricity is supplied by a monopoly called Florida Power & Light. For obvious reasons they have been opposed to solar power despite our moniker as the Sunshine State. Even more embarrassing is the fact that Florida ranks among the bottom of all states for solar power use. It accounts for less than one third of one percent our Florida’s power. You might ask how can this possibly be? Here is a simple answer: Florida’s power companies have donated $30.5 million dollars to political parties and candidates from 2004 – 2013. But this is finally going to change if voters have their way in 2016. An unusual coalition that is comprised of tea partiers, Libertarians, conservative Christians, Florida’s largest retail association and clean energy advocates is pursuing a petition to get solar on the ballot in 2016. The initiative would allow people to create and sell their own energy as long as it was on their property or next to it. All they need is 683,149 signatures to get it the ballot. Someone please let me know where I can sign this thing! Who wouldn’t want to?? Even more to look forward to in 2016. As always thanks for reading and have a great day.

Unusual coalition seeks Florida ballot measure to expand solar power

http://www.mypalmbeachpost.com/news/ap/florida/unusual-coalition-seeks-ballot-measure-to-expand-s/njnpm/

ROSENFELD RESTAURANT REVIEW – SETTE BELLO

ROSENFELD RESTAURANT REVIEW – SETTE BELLO

Last night I met my cousin for some dinner. We usually meet in Broward somewhere and I went to an old standby to pick a quality place: Zagat, or in this case Zagat.com. In New York this is truly the food Bible and while it is not the same here you can still use it to find good quality restaurants. That led us to Sette Bello, which is located at the Southwest corner of NW 62^nd (Cypress Creek Rd.) and U.S. 1. It is located in a shopping center, which led me to pass it by on my first attempt, despite having looked at a map several times before going.

It was a charming little place, just more than half full. The hostess was very accommodating and repeatedly checked on us after each course. They had a very impressive wine list by the glass, must have had at least 15 choices each for white and red. We started out with some giant shrimps wrapped in prosciutto and also a lightly battered calamari, shrimp and Portobello mushrooms with a marinara sauce which I got spicy. Both were excellent although there were not a lot of shrimp in the fried dish. My cousin then went with the veal marsala, which he really enjoyed, and I went with a fish called corvina. You can’t find this often and it is delicious, a thick, but light white fish not unlike mahi. This was prepared with lemon, tomatoes, spinach, mixed grilled vegetables and clams. I decided to use the spicy tomato sauce with it too which was a good move. It was awesome. I finished up with the chocolate molten cake since they were out of the apple tart. I am glad they were because it was excellent. They didn’t have any desert wines but did offer two ports, and I went with the Cockburn 20 year tawny which is really good despite the painful name. The only problem here was service, which was mediocre at best. That said, I would return here again and would recommend it to others. I would love to hear about your favorite place or one you have tried recently and enjoyed. As always thanks for reading and have a great day.

 

SPRING TRAINING BASEBALL UPDATE: DONE DEAL?

SPRING TRAINING BASEBALL UPDATE: DONE DEAL?

It is time once again for an update on one of my favorite subjects these days, the proposed new spring training baseball stadium. It is also time for the 2 for 1 blog, and you will see that these articles go together like peanut butter and jelly. In the first, it is announced that the City of West Palm and the County are in talks to finally agree to the land swap that would allow for the new stadium to be built, partly as a result of the competing developer dropping their interest in the site. They said that they were at least 90 days away from making an announcement on a deal but that negotiations were taking place and going well. None of this is new information. This article appeared on January 6^th 2015. In the 2^nd article which appeared January 21, 2015, it sounds as if it is a done deal. The headline is that the teams may consider having some of their minor league affiliates play there, which would mean baseball played there for 8 months of the year. This decision would need approval from the existing teams here. Call me crazy but this is a big leap from whether or not the stadium will be built at all! But there is much more. They also announced that the teams have chosen their respective sides of the site and that the park will be surrounded by a 1.75 mile jogging track. The article closes with the fact that only the vote on the land swap is the only thing standing in the way of building the stadium, and that they hope to break ground this spring so that it will be ready for spring training in 2017. The final paragraph has an excellent quote from Daniel Martell, who is president of the Economic Council of Palm Beach County, to the commission, “Thank you for saving Major League Baseball.” I would say things sound pretty promising here! Stay tuned, they are going to have to have the vote eventually. As always thanks for reading and have a great day.

West Palm Beach, county to cooperate on baseball land swap

http://www.mypalmbeachpost.com/news/news/local-govt-politics/wpb-says-it-will-play-ball-with-county-on-spring-t/njgSs/#90f0c6db.3711057.735619

U.S. QUICKLY EXPANDS TRADE & TRAVEL WITH CUBA

U.S. QUICKLY EXPANDS TRADE & TRAVEL WITH CUBA

This didn’t take long did it? Less than a month after normalizing relations with Cuba new less restrictive rules regarding trade and travel were issued by the U.S. The main thrust is that Americans who want to travel there no longer need a special permit to do so, which will increase travel. On the trade side, Americans can now export telephones, computers and internet technology, all of which are hard to find in Cuba today. This clearly is laying the groundwork for more, which should come soon. You see it is simple. Cuba is a country lacking infrastructure in many areas. They cannot manufacture it themselves so they have to buy it (this also includes food). By normalizing relations U.S. companies will be able to compete for this sizable business, along with the rest of the world. As I said before, this will become a boom for Florida’s economy at some point. Perhaps sooner than later and here is why. Right now there are not enough hotels to accommodate more visitors, and it will take years to build them, assuming something can be worked out with the Cuban government to allow it. But they do have several deep water ports which could accommodate cruise ships, ports that have largely been unused for 50 years. This is how it will begin, and it will further increase port traffic (which benefits Florida). So you can see that Florida is uniquely positioned to benefit from these new relations with Cuba, and that is exciting. And I think it will eventually bring about change in Cuba, which the people there so desperately want (even more exciting!). It just might take a little time, but it is inevitable. As always thanks for reading and have a great day. 

Moving swiftly, US eases travel and trade rules on Cuba

http://www.wflx.com/story/27858460/moving-swiftly-us-eases-travel-and-trade-rules-on-cuba

ROYAL PALM BEACH REJECTS WALMART GROCERY BUT ALLOWS STRIP CLUB

ROYAL PALM BEACH REJECTS WALMART GROCERY BUT ALLOWS STRIP CLUB

 

Sorry there was no photo with this article and the map didn’t make it to the online version, which was not easy to find. I thought this one brought up an important subject: how cities (or a village in this case) decide what is best for their citizens with respect to real estate projects. This one could not be more puzzling and makes for a good case study of a city making a decision that makes no sense at the expense of its residents. The name of the project is called Park Central at Cypress Key and it is located on Southern Blvd. West of 441. Many years ago I was hired to market this site before it went into foreclosure. It has remained vacant and an eye sore since then, and that was 2006. So the project has been approved for a mix of 147 homes and stores. The developer wanted to change the zoning to allow for a grocery store, specifically Walmart Neighborhood Market, which would have been 42,000 SF. For some reason it was not approved by the Village, citing fears of crime. This might make sense had they not approved a strip club recently further East on Southern Blvd. So let’s review: a new supermarket will create crime but a strip club won’t and is OK. After all this time you would think the City would welcome any development on this site, but clearly they are still preventing progress at the expense of the residents. Everyone loses in a deal like this, all thanks to some Village Council members who think they are protecting residents. This passed 3 – 2 so clearly there was no overwhelming voice of opposition. Another embarrassing but true story in the world of real estate in South Florida. As always thanks for reading and have a great day.

 

Royal Palm Beach rejects bid to alter zoning on mixed-use project

 

http://www.mypalmbeachpost.com/news/news/local/royal-palm-beach-rejects-bid-to-alter-zoning-on-mi/njpsX/?icmp=pbp_internallink_invitationbox_apr2013_pbpstubtomypbp_launch#7da2d58d.3711057.735619

 

ROSENFELD RESTAURANT REVIEW – COPENHAGEN RESTAURANT

ROSENFELD RESTAURANT REVIEW – COPENHAGEN RESTAURANT 

It has been a long time since we have done one of these. The reason is that I am somewhat of a creature of habit and really enjoy going to places I know and like. But I am a food adventurer as well and truly love trying and experiencing new foods and restaurants. This was sort of a strange case. This restaurant was formerly known as Fleming & Else Bistro and was in one of the shopping centers I do the leasing for in Boca Raton. They relocated to Boynton and changed the name to Copenhagen. Despite it not being convenient, we wanted to go and see if they still had the same quality as before. It is rare when you find a place operated by a husband and wife that produces really high quality food and provides service that is of the same caliber.

Well they still have the carrot bread that they make every day from scratch. It is really amazing and something I have never seen at any other restaurant. The calamari is also the best I have had, super crunchy but somehow still tender. The Copenhagen salad was very impressive although I didn’t eat it. I went with the snapper blackened and was disappointed. It was not as good as I remembered it but still pretty good. Other diners at my table had mixed reviews: the salmon was overcooked, the chicken marsala was as good as before, as were the Danish meatballs, the steak was OK. The deserts have expanded options now but I promise you that this is the best apple walnut pie you will ever have. The Danish rice pudding was also good but a far 2^nd compared to the pie. The wait staff is excellent and happy to see that they also moved with the restaurant. We will return, but sadly not as often as we would have liked given the new location. I wish them the best and would recommend you give it a try. I would love to hear about your favorite place or one you have tried recently that you enjoyed. As always thanks for reading and have a great day.

NEW CUBAN POLICY HAS POTENTIAL TO BREAK DOWN BARRIERS

Sorry, no photo with this article. You will be hearing a lot about Cuba from me. Aside from the fact that Florida’s economy could potentially see a boom from the new relations, I think it is a great story about freedom and democracy. How you might ask, given that there is still an embargo in place and they are still a communist country? This is true but this article provides a perfect parallel in history, when the U.S. normalized their relations with China in 1978. As told from the Chinese side, it was as if a whole new wonderful world was opened to them. They had been taught that the U.S. was the enemy, to hate Americans and that their capitalism was to blame for the world’s ills. Once that illusion was shattered, China has become an important trading partner, and opened up to foreign investment. I see the exact same path for Cuba now. They are so close to us geographically, and need so many things we can provide. These new relations will bring change to Cuba, hopefully sooner than later. Once they get a taste of the freedom and the fruits that capitalism can provide, I don’t think there will be any way to hold them back. It is in the U.S.’s best interest to establish close relations with Cuba if for no other reason than strategically. Their relations with Russia and other rogue nations are a bit too close for my tastes. We can change all that and I don’t think it will be that difficult. What do you think? As always thanks for reading and have a great day.

Cuba policy brings back strong memories

http://www.pressdisplay.com/pressdisplay/viewer.aspx