THE REBIRTH OF RIVIERA BEACH BEGINS APRIL 10TH

This one really came out of nowhere! I guess that is how some of the best news arrives sometimes, and that is certainly the case for Riviera Beach. Just a month or 2 ago we blogged about how Riviera Beach held a bulk auction of many blighted homes. It seemed like good progress for a city that has really struggled over the years with everything from crime to corruption. But finally, someone is ready to invest a lot of money to completely change the City. That guy is Bob Healey (along with his brother Bill) and the amount is $336 million. He is the owner of Viking Developers LLC and Viking Yachts. They, along with the City, plan on redeveloping the marina, renovating Bicentennial Park ($4 million for that alone!), adding an event center, farmer’s green market, retail, residential and office space. This will all happen in phases, in a public private partnership with the City. The first $30 million dollar phase starts April 10^th. They are trying to create a village like atmosphere that can be built upon in the later stages. The first phase will include the event center, which will seat 300 people, a full service restaurant, a café and rooftop terrace to the event center and the renovation of Bicentennial Park. This will be extensive and include a covered area for a stage, concession area and an interactive fountain. Everything else will be built in later stages. While this will not transform the City overnight it is a hell of a start. It is true that there is only so much waterfront property out there and there is no reason why this can’t eventually be successful. With all the suffering Riviera Beach has endured, they deserve this and I really hope they get it. Everything seems lined up perfectly and they have money and a good plan in place. If this happens it will put even more pressure on West Palm Beach, who would be the only city in the region struggling.

Viking Developers gearing up to create Riviera Beach waterfront marina village

http://www.mypalmbeachpost.com/news/business/viking-developers-gearing-up-to-create-waterfront-/nfDHK/?icmp=pbp_internallink_invitationbox_apr2013_pbpstubtomypbp_launch

Orin Rosenfeld

President

Rosenfeld Realty Advisors

9858 Glades Rd. Suite 209

Boca Raton, FL 33434

Phone: 561-756-1665

Fax: 561-470-0707

Web: www.rosenfeldrealtyadvisors.com

NATURAL GAS BREAKTHROUGH BY SCRIPPS

OK this might the huge game changing discovery we have been waiting for, some sort of return on the multi-million dollar ($600 million to be exact!) investment that Palm Beach County made in biotechnology with The Scripps Institute in the North part of the County in 2009. A scientist named Roy Periana, who is the head of the Scripps Energy Materials Center in Jupiter, has discovered a more efficient way to make natural gas into fuel. This would lead to lower prices for energy and immediate improvement for the environment with cleaner emissions. Long term, this could have a serious global impact. For starters, in the US this could lead to the abandonment of fossil fuels for natural gas, something we now have more than anyone else in the world thanks to new mining techniques called shale mining. Right now Russia supplies most of Europe with natural gas. With their actions in the Ukraine, Europe is looking for new suppliers of energy especially natural gas. So the potential for this discovery in Florida is truly global and really might lower energy prices, provide cleaner burning fuel and become an export boon for the US. In the US we are already in the process of converting oil based electric utility to natural gas, and it seems like this will continue to increase and is inevitable. But this is not a done deal yet, there is still some work to do. The process to covert natural gas to fuel requires heating to very high temperatures, and building facilities that can do this is expensive. That is 70% of the cost right there, but this new discovery allows for the natural gas to be converted to gas without high temperatures. The next step is for Scripps to create a new company or joint venture with an energy company to continue the studies. The cost of which is estimated at $2 - $3 million per year and would need 3 years. While there is a chance that this could happen here in Florida, there is no guaranty. So we will certainly keep our eyes on this one, as it could be the biggest invention in Florida since IBM discovered the personal computer in Boca Raton in the 70’s. Very exciting stuff, and with so much potential in so many ways.

Natural-gas breakthrough could lead to cheaper fuel

http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/palm-beach/fl-scripps-fuel-discovery-20140314,0,6421523.story

Orin Rosenfeld

President

Rosenfeld Realty Advisors

9858 Glades Rd. Suite 209

Boca Raton, FL 33434

Phone: 561-756-1665

Fax: 561-470-0707

Web: www.rosenfeldrealtyadvisors.com

STUART SCOTT

This is a great story that needs to be told, and it can be filed under human interest. I try to stay on point and write about local issues but occasionally I digress. In case you haven’t noticed, I love sports. I watch ESPN (an all sports network if you have been in a cave for the past 20 years) at some point every day and usually am watching sports nightly if I am home. Stuart Scott is a sportscaster who has worked at ESPN since 1993. He is by far the coolest (is it because he is virtually the only black sportscaster? I wonder) sportscaster, full of exuberant phases and sounds. My all time favorite is Booyah! It is a sound made when something happens, usually like a home run in baseball, big tackle in football, a slam dunk in basketball, etc. Anyway, Scott has some serious cancer. It is in his abdomen, where he has a one foot scar. It has gone and come back 3 times. Through it all, he does very vigorous mixed martial arts and cross training to restore the energy he loses from his chemotherapy sessions. Through this entire ordeal, you never hear a word from him about it. But you see him on TV all the time and you would never know that there was a thing wrong with him. It is really amazing and it is inspiring to me. If he can get through this terrible pain and chemotherapy without complaining or even letting on how much it is affecting him, how can any of us complain about our much less serious issues? Strangely it makes you feel better about yourself, first and foremost because you don’t have the same problem, but after that I am not sure how you cannot feel admiration. He has 2 daughters, who I am sure help keep his priorities in order, and provide him with support. It just goes to show you that you really never know what is going on with someone, no matter how well you think you know them. We all wish Mr. Scott the very best in his continuing fight against cancer and look forward to seeing him on TV doing his thing. If you have ever seen him on TV or read this article you just get that feeling like he is going to beat it. He is certainly going to keep fighting no matter what. As always thanks for reading and have a great day.

A Story of Perseverance

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/03/12/sports/espn-anchors-private-battle-with-cancer-becomes-a-public-one.html?_r=0

Orin Rosenfeld

President

Rosenfeld Realty Advisors

9858 Glades Rd. Suite 209

Boca Raton, FL 33434

Phone: 561-756-1665

Fax: 561-470-0707

Web: www.rosenfeldrealtyadvisors.com

ROSENFELD RESTAURANT REVIEW

THE FLASHBACK DINER  

I read about this place and have been looking to try it for a while. I got my opportunity today at lunch since I was in the area. I just picked up a restaurant listing at 2700 N. Federal Highway so I thought it would be a good time to do it. The place is the former Bova’s restaurant on Federal Highway just South of 20^th St. It is 24 hours so I bet they do a good night and late night crowd.

It is setup like a traditional diner, with a counter you can eat at and a refrigerated case of deserts next to the cash register. But you can see that they are trying to go a little more upscale, and the first evidence of that is the fact that they had 6 or 7 beers on tap. They also had a very fancy cappuccino machine that looked like a spaceship of some sort. Since I sat at the counter I could see all this stuff and talk to the people who worked there. They recommended the French toast so I went with that, along with some turkey sausage well done. Aside from the fact that it was served strangely with the sausage in the middle of the French toast, the food was good. I did ask for the sausage well done, and it could have been more so but they clearly tried. The French toast was tasty but rather small. It was pretty busy in there and there seemed to be very good service. I had at least 3 managerial types ask me if I was being helped while I was there. I think it is going to be tough for them to make it unless they are really killing it at night. There are lots of other breakfast type places on Federal so we will have to see what happens. I am rooting for them and would probably go back if the circumstances were right as they were today. I would love to know about your favorite restaurants or a new place you enjoyed. As always thanks for reading and have a great day.

CARL”S FURNITURE TO CLOSE AFTER 73 YEARS

It seems like almost every day there is another company announcing that they are closing their doors. Many of them had been in business for decades, and it feels like we grew up with them. Seeing their commercials, passing and shopping at their stores, etc. This one is personal for me. Carl’s Furniture was a former client, and I put the surgical center in their headquarters location in Coconut Creek in 2006. I got to know the 2 principals of the firm and am still in touch with one of them now. Fortunately they were not hurt by the failure of the business personally, but the same cannot be said for the former employees. They used to have lost of stores, which all closed over the past few years, and were down to just 3. A combination of poor management and the recession served as a one two punch that knocked them out. The furniture business in general has been decimated, has consolidated and is now finally starting to recover. It is a tough business and getting more competitive all the time. You will continue to see Carl’s Patio stores open, as they split from the parent company in 2008. It is sad to see a local fixture go away but I guess it was just their time. Goodbye Carl’s, you will be missed. Since everything has to be sold in the remaining 3 stores you might be able to get one more deal there. Prices are marked down to 70% off so you might want to check it out if you need any furniture. As always thanks for reading and have a great day.

Carls Furniture closing all three stores

http://articles.sun-sentinel.com/2014-03-12/business/fl-carls-furniture-closing-20140312_1_carls-furniture-carls-patio-city-furniture

Orin Rosenfeld

President

Rosenfeld Realty Advisors

9858 Glades Rd. Suite 209

Boca Raton, FL 33434

Phone: 561-756-1665

Fax: 561-470-0707

Web: www.rosenfeldrealtyadvisors.com

SPRING TRAINING BASEBALL UPDATE

This is sort of a big one. The deal must be in place by May 3rd, which is when the current session of the Legislature ends for the year. The problems they are negotiating are also becoming clear. They want the $50 million dollars that was set aside for this and to be paid out over 37.5 years cut down to 25 years. That is what a typical bond issue time period is. The idea of local tax money flowing in alongside the state money has been discussed. This would be in the form of a hotel tax. Another idea would be to create a special taxing district that would generate “special” property taxes from the business in the area that would benefit from having the stadium there. Lake Worth, realizing that this probably represents the best growth opportunity for their city ever, had the John Price Park site added back into the list of possible sites, despite initial backlash from residents in the area. The mayor, Pam Triolo, was quoted in the article, saying “Our kids need this. There is no better place.” No city would benefit more from getting the stadium than Lake Worth. Gov. Scott says that solving this issue is a priority and saving the jobs it creates. Since they really don’t need additional money for this deal, just to rework what was already allocated, it should work. But a lot needs to be done and the clock is ticking very loudly now. May 3rd is right around the corner and this is an election year. Think about how the voters in Jupiter would feel if this deal doesn’t get done and they lose their spring training revenue? Same can be said for Port St. Lucie as well. I can promise you that they would not be voting for Scott and that is why this is a priority for him now. I really don’t care what the motivation is, as long as they get the deal done. I promise to follow up with this story as soon as there is another update. As always thanks for reading and have a great day.

Palm Beach County to seek more stadium help from lawmakers; could be ‘heavy lift’

http://www.mypalmbeachpost.com/news/news/state-regional-govt-politics/palm-beach-county-commissioners-want-state-lawmake/nd9rd/?icmp=pbp_internallink_invitationbox_apr2013_pbpstubtomypbp_launch

Palm Beach County OKs pursuing baseball stadium deal

http://articles.sun-sentinel.com/2014-03-12/news/fl-baseball-stadium-palm-20140311_1_palm-beach-county-oks-baseball-stadium-deal-spring-training-stadium

Orin Rosenfeld

President

Rosenfeld Realty Advisors

9858 Glades Rd. Suite 209

Boca Raton, FL 33434

Phone: 561-756-1665

Fax: 561-470-0707

Web: www.rosenfeldrealtyadvisors.com

SBARRO FILES CHAPTER 11 AGAIN

Here we go again. For the 2^nd time in 3 years Sbarro is heading down the Chapter 11 highway. While it is not stated in the article, they must be the largest pizza chain in the country that is not a delivery only model (if not them Pizza Hut?). They have 799 stores in over 40 countries, about half of which are in North America. Last month they announced the closing of 155 US stores. There are 2 reasons cited for the poor company performance. One is the business model, which says that people want food made fresh not something that is pre-made and reheated. They point to rivals like Chipotle and Panera Bread as examples of successful quick casual restaurants using the made fresh model (Subway too). But to this I say that pizza is still very popular and I don’t think the fact that it is sometimes reheated is scaring many people away from it. Maybe they want to eat healthier, hopefully that is the larger reason. But I am just speculating there, probably naively. The other reason is decreased mall traffic which hurts Sbarro because most of their stores are in mall food courts. That is what interests me from a real estate perspective. Yes, the recession has curbed traffic mall traffic and consumer spending in general but both are on the rise again now that the economy is recovering. What I think is the real problem is the high rents that they are paying. Speaking in general terms, a tenant pays on the average about 3 times more for retail space at a mall food court than what they would pay for retail space outside the mall. The reason for this is that there should be at least 3 times more traffic and this can be verified in several different ways. Aside from malls, they have some very high profile locations in tourist areas in major cities around the country. Those leases, probably like most of the mall deals, were signed long ago when the market commanded much higher rents. Now they could probably get much better deals, but not on a bulk basis. Why you might ask? Because the locations have multiple landlords and there is no way to coordinate such a thing. So they close stores and try and reinvent themselves. They are working on a concept, based on a Chipotle style, where people can build their own pizza and have it made for them. Makes sense although not sure that is really the issue, but who knows. I wish them well and hope it works out this time around. We all need more pizza out there and Sbarro’s is not so bad if you are stuck in an airport sometime. As always thanks for reading and have a great day.

Struggling Pizza Chain Sbarro Seeks Bankruptcy Protection Again

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/03/11/business/struggling-pizza-chain-sbarro-seeks-bankruptcy-protection-again.html?partner=rss&emc=rss&_r=0

Orin Rosenfeld

President

Rosenfeld Realty Advisors

9858 Glades Rd. Suite 209

Boca Raton, FL 33434

Phone: 561-756-1665

Fax: 561-470-0707

Web: www.rosenfeldrealtyadvisors.com