Florida giant announces job cuts, land sale
Florida’s largest private landowner announced last month it would release more than 75 percent of its workforce and sell about 100,000 acres of land. St. Joe’s 800,000 acres of property, most of which is concentrated in northwest Florida, includes 10 master-planned communities, seven commerce parks, six golf courses and three marinas. The company once had plans to redevelop the region.
CEO Peter Rummell denied the decision was based on the state’s worst housing slump in 16 years, which saw statewide sales plummet 41 percent in the second quarter, according to the National Association of Realtors. Florida had 26,203 foreclosures in August, the second-highest total in the country for that month.
St. Joe’s profits declined four of the past six quarters, and sales haven’t risen since the third quarter of 2005. The company’s stock fell 36 percent through October 5, closing three days later at $34.04 per share, the Miami Herald reported.
Bickering delays property-tax compromise
A property-tax plan for Florida that appeared all but ready to go last month fell apart after members of the House and Senate decided to move in two different directions. Both sides said the other’s modifications were deal-breakers, and they do not know when a new deal will be reached, the Miami Herald reported.
The Senate broke the original deal by lowering a break for low-income senior citizens that House leaders had been pushing for. The House retaliated by raising the state’s sales tax one penny to replace homestead property taxes for schools and limiting hikes to non-homestead property values.
House Democrats then made a proposal of their own that called for the senior breaks to be scrapped and for the flexibility for homeowners to transfer homestead savings to new homes. In addition, the revised plan sought an increase in homestead exemptions commensurate with the median value of homes in each county.
Miami-Dade homeowners would get exemptions of $112,000 under that provision, while Broward and Monroe County homeowners would get $106,500 and $218,400 respectively.
Legislators must reach an agreement soon in order to get a constitutional amendment on the January 29 ballot.
South Florida foreclosures skyrocket in September
Foreclosures in Palm Beach County shot up 135 percent in September to 1,196, up from 509 in September 2006. That’s a rate of one foreclosure for every 518 households, based on the latest population report from the Census Bureau.
The number of foreclosures more than doubled in Martin County in the same period from 29 to 65, a 124 percent increase, or one in every 1,123 households. In St. Lucie County, foreclosures more than tripled to 415 from 124 in September 2006, which represents a rate of one in 504 households, the Palm Beach Post reported. The county is home to Port St. Lucie, the one-time fastest-growing city in the country.
But foreclosures in all three counties were down in September from the previous month. In August, Palm Beach County recorded 1,210 foreclosures, Martin County posted 79 foreclosures and St. Lucie County had 524.
Black-owned bank accused of not investing in community
The country’s largest black-owned bank is being accused of taking nearly $70 million in deposits last year at its two South Florida branches and lending that money to borrowers in other states. Miami banking analyst Ken Thomas says OneUnited took the funds out of needy communities like Liberty City and Lauderdale Lakes, and didn’t reinvest that money in the community as mandated by the federal government.
OneUnited had $370 million in total deposits in 2006, according to government data, with $69 million, or about 19 percent, generated from its two Florida branches. But the Boston-based bank made no loans to Florida homeowners last year, while 11 homeowners in California and four in Boston received loans.
Kevin Cohee, chief executive of OneUnited, said the bank was practicing conservative lending in recent years to avoid a reckless market characterized by no-money-down subprime mortgages.
The Community Reinvestment Act of 1977 requires banks to address the credit needs of their communities by providing loans for housing and other purposes, especially in low- to moderate-income neighborhoods. Thomas said these are the neighborhoods OneUnited was established to serve, the Miami Herald reported.
Residents fear gridlock from mixed-use project
South Florida’s first transit-oriented mixed-use development is coming to one of the most congested intersections of Hollywood in Broward County, and residents protesting its size have not been able to slow down the project. Sheridan Stationside Village would add 1,050 residential units, a 150-room hotel and 599,000 square feet of commercial space near Interstate 95 and Sheridan Street.
The County Commission approved the project earlier this summer, but nearby residents fear the resulting traffic will spill into their streets. To address this, the city may add lanes to the intersection, and developer Pinnacle Housing Group has agreed to install traffic lights, left- and right-turn lanes, and speed bumps, the Miami Herald reported.