Grand jury says St. Pete man cheated banks in Carrollwood condo project

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A St. Petersburg salesman is at least the sixth person to face federal charges in connection with a condo conversion project that floundered as the real estate bubble burst.

A federal grand jury indicated Gary Blankenship on charges of conspiracy, wire fraud and bank fraud for his role in efforts to convert The Arbors in Carrollwood from rental apartments to condos in 2008.

Blankenship, who was a sales consultant at DMB Real Estate Group, marketed and sold condo units at The Arbors to buyers as… …read more

Economists optimistic about Tampa Bay jobs, tourism, housing

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Two separate economic reports offer encouraging news for the Tampa Bay area.

Job growth has reignited, regional tourism is gaining strength and housing demand is on the rise, according to a Tampa Bay market outlook from PNC Financial Services Group.

Still, there’s a wage gap, with per capita income in the Tampa metro area about 7 percent lower than the U.S.’s per capita income, PNC cautioned.

Separately, a dip in small business confidence nationwide likely isn’t true in Florida and in Tampa… …read more

Tampa, Sarasota top metros for home-flipping in second quarter

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The Tampa Bay area continues to be a hot market for flipping homes, but overall the trend is on the decline.

The Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater metro was No. 5 in the country for the percentage of homes flipped out of total sales and the Sarasota-Bradenton-Venice metro was No. 7, according to data from RealtyTrac, a data housing source based in Irvine, Calif.

The Tampa metro had 8.9 percent, or 985, of homes flipped in the second quarter of 2015, with a year-over-year decline of 6.3 percent.

The… …read more

Amazon jobs add fuel to Ruskin building boom

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The expansion of e-commerce giant Amazon.com Inc. in South Hillsborough County is redefining the area.

Amazon is adding 1,000 jobs to its Ruskin distribution center, doubling the size of its workforce.

The area has “historically been a bedroom community, but now it’s starting to come into its own,” said Bruce Erhardt, executive director with Cushman & Wakefield of Florida Inc. in Tampa.

That’s driven by both the jobs from Amazon and St. Joseph’s Hospital South, which opened in early… …read more

Luxury townhomes planned in downtown St. Pete (Rendering)

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A cluster of old buildings in downtown St. Petersburg will give way to a new luxury townhouse development in the next year.

NJR Property Investments LLC, based in Tampa, said Wednesday that it is planning to build 20 townhouses at 141 Fourth Ave. N. Demolition of the older buildings on that property will begin in the coming weeks. NJR is project a construction period of less than one year.

The townhouses will be 2,335 square feet in four stories. Each will include a private elevator, three bedrooms,… …read more

Masonite makes second buy in two weeks in UK

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In another sign that the housing market is back on track, Masonite International has made its second acquisition in less than two weeks.

Masonite bought National Hickman, a supplier of door kits and other millwork in the United Kingdom.

The purchase price was $82 million, Masonite said in a statement.

Hickman, with 400 employees at two locations in Birmingham, England and Glenrothes, Scotland, had $110 million in sales in the past year.

Masonite (NYSE: DOOR), a Tampa-based designer and manufacturer… …read more

New Tampa apartment complex sold for more than 2007 price

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An apartment complex in New Tampa has been sold for $49.325 million, above a 2007 peak price of $45 million.

ELRH Investments, based in Jupiter, paid $130,489 per apartment for The 378-unit Preserve at Tampa Palms, at 17220 Commerce Park Blvd., according to Hillsborough County property records.

The seller, New York-based Brookfield Property Group, paid $45 million or $119,045 per apartment in 2007.

The deal represents more than a rebound in prices. Since the Great Recession, there are more renters… …read more

5 things to start the day: Buckhorn flooded with work, and take the TBBJ’s first ‘I Spy’ challenge

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Happy soggy Monday from the TBBJ newsroom. Over the weekend, St. Petersburg College officially opened its Midtown Center building, which local leaders hope will be a new start for that area, the TBBJ reported last week.

Here are five things to start your day:

Flooded roads, more rain

Some of your employees and coworkers may not make it into work today, as roads are closed around the Tampa Bay area due to flooding and more rain expected. Tampa Mayor Bob Buckhorn was out and about Sunday afternoon… …read more

Personal crisis leads to three successful women-owned businesses in Clearwater

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Top executives at a boat business, a spa and a public relations firm in Clearwater each had to go through hard times to get where they are today.

Trisha Rodriguez, owner of Tropic Boat Tour and Clearwater Ferry, is a former mortgage broker who lost everything when the real estate market crashed in 2008, before good timing and coincidence allowed her to buy a Dolphin Cruise company.

After Stephanie Schlageter, owner and director of Radiance Medspa, gave up a career as an engineer for a medical device… …read more

5 game-changing multifamily developments in the works for Tampa

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Multifamily has been the darling of Tampa Bay commercial real estate for close to half a decade at this point, but five of the most recent developments to emerge could be the most meaningful of this real estate cycle.

Plans are in the works that will redefine the waterfront in downtown Tampa and Rocky Point and continue the revitalization of North Hyde Park.

Some of them are expensive construction projects that will be built on expensive land, which means two things: The apartment market is getting… …read more