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Commercial Real Estate Investment Real Estate

So The Topic Of The Day Seems To Be Taxes!

Going through my Google Alerts this morning, I came across so many articles that mentioned Florida and taxes that I decided I needed to blog about it.  Although it is not the only consideration to take when making a move, either as a business or an individual, taxes appear to be taking on a great degree of importance in terms of luring both companies and individuals to a state.

According to an article in the Detroit Free Press, The most tax friendly states for business, Florida ranks 5th.  The states who ranked higher were Wyoming (No. 1), South Dakota (No. 2), Nevada (No. 3), and Alaska (No. 4).  Based on that analysis, it is ironic that business interest groups are trying to reduce a 6% tax on commercial leases.  Supposedly Florida is the only state to charge a tax on leases.

Fox Business News’, Do you live in a bad tax climate state, listed New York and New Jersey as the worst states for businesses when it comes to taxes.

Even luxury yacht owners fare better in Florida than other states, based on KUOW’s, Luxury Yachts Set Out To Sea To Dodge State Taxes.

Since we don’t have a state income tax, and are obviously pretty low on other tax criteria, we need to be careful not to overdue the race to be the lowest tax state across the board.  It is taxes that pay for education and infrastructure, which are extremely important in keeping our state a place where both individuals and businesses want to move.

 

Categories
Brickell/Downtown Miami Commercial Real Estate Florida Life Miami Beach Neighborhood News

New Buildings Mean New Architecture For Many Areas of Miami

With all of the new construction, both currently under way and proposed, comes new architecture.  Here are some new non-residential examples.

Miami Beach Convention Center - proposed by South Beach Ace
Miami Beach Convention Center – proposed by South Beach Ace
Patricia and Phillip Frost Museum of Science
Patricia and Phillip Frost Museum of Science

 

Dadeland Mall - Kendall
Dadeland Mall – Kendall

 

Categories
Commercial Real Estate Investment Real Estate Luxury Real Estate Selling

Miami Real Estate: Foreigners Continue To Invest In South Florida

In case you think that the investment in Miami is starting to ebb, there is an article in today’s Business Monday about Fort Capital Management, a private equity firm, buying up prime South Florida real estate.  Their most recent purchase it the Surf Club in Surfside.

Miami-Dade’s strong rebound in the tourism industry is driving up sales of hotels and fueling construction.

Categories
Commercial Real Estate Florida Life Neighborhood News

PortMiami Plans For Future

[youtube width=”425″ height=”344″]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kKgLx54PABk#![/youtube]Last week’s Business Monday in the Miami Herald featured “PortMiami’s Big Dream” about the port’s master plan.  I really liked their concept for developing the southwest corner. What do you think about making this working port a tourist and business hub?

Categories
Buying Commercial Real Estate Investment Real Estate

Thinking About Investing in Miami Real Estate?

I attended the Realtors Commercial Alliance’s Super Conference today and wanted to share some of the things I heard that may help you decide whether or  not now is the time to invest in real estate.

Dr. Randy Anderson, the Howard Phillips Eminent Scholar Chair at the University of Central Florida:

  • pointed out that no other asset class did better on growth of a $10,000 investment between 1996-2010 than direct real estate;
  • retail sales are higher than before we entered the recession despite low consumer confidence, mostly due to pent up demand.  He believes retail sales will start to level off and stabilize.
  • Most buyers underestimate the cost of owning an office space because they base their projections on a 5-10% vacancy when nationally it is closer to 12-14%
  • Big institutional investors have been purchasing Miami real estate for the last year.
  • Each 1% decline in homeownership is equal to 1.2 million rental households

Dr. Pascal Goldschmidt, Senior V.P. Medical Affairs and Dean of UM Miller School of Medicine:

  • stated that every great city has a great educational hospital
  • projects that when UM’s Life Sciences Center is built out over the next 7 years, there will be 10,000-15,000 new jobs with an average salary of $65,000-$75,000.
  • Miami Dade College is working to train people who live in the area, which is next to Jackson Hospital, to work in various aspects of the medical/health field.
  • Envisions a live work area around Life Science Park.

Jeffrey Bercow, attorney with Bercow Radell & Fernandez, P.A.

  • believes that Miami-Dade County is under-retailed when compared with Broward and West Palm Beach

If owning the physical real estate does not interest you, consider investing in a Real Estate Investment Trust (REIT) such as Duke Realty or Healthcare Realty.

 

Categories
Commercial Real Estate Investment Real Estate Luxury Real Estate Selling

San Jose Island, Panama: How Big is 11,000 Acres?

San Jose Island, Panama For Sale

Okay, I have already posted that it is twice the size of Key West, but maybe that is still hard to put into perspective.  So, I will compare it in size to other famous islands.   Using AskNumbers.com conversion table, I came up with the following:

Cayman Brac: 14 square miles =8,960 acres

Little Cayman: 10 square miles = 6,400 acres

St. Barts:  10 square miles = 6,400 acres

Virgin Gorda: 8 square miles = 5,120 acres

Basically, 11,000 acres is big enough for you to build your own town, or two! 

 

Categories
Commercial Real Estate

Miami Real Estate – Commercial Construction Also Picking Up

 I have been seeing more commercial buildings going up in Miami as well.  All small signs the economy is improving.

Categories
Buying Commercial Real Estate Luxury Real Estate Selling

Private Islands: What The Rich and Famous Are Buying

The Exhumas, Bahamas is where the rich and famous are buying islands, according to an article in the July 28 edition of the Wall Street Journal. 

Some of the issues that arise with developing these islands, such as importing electricity, cell phone towers, water purifiers,  the building materials and even, in some cases, the palm trees, can make development extremely costly. 

San Jose Island, in the Pearl Islands off the coast of Panama, does not have a lot of these issues.  Granted, at 11,000 acres, approximately twice the size of Key West,  it is a much larger island than the ones in Exuma.  It has its own rivers and streams, providing fresh water, as well as a water treatment facility capable of producing 3,000 gallons of water an hour, and a 10,000 gallon storage tank.  It has a 5000 linear foot landing strip, lots of trees, including palm trees, mooring facilities, and a boutique resort, Hacienda del Mar.

A short 20 minute flight to Panama City, Panama, means you are  in close proximity to world class entertainment and medical facilities, including John Hopkins at Punta Pacifica Hospital.

Compared to the most expensive island for sale in the Bahamas, Cave Cay, at $440,000 per acre, San Jose Island , at $22,545 per acre, seems like a downright bargain.  Oh, I almost forgot…Panama doesn’t have hurricanes!

One of 57 Beaches on San Jose Island

Categories
Commercial Real Estate Investment Real Estate Luxury Real Estate

Ever Dream of Owning Your Own Private Island?

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UMdFQogX7JM[/youtube]

Categories
Commercial Real Estate Investment Real Estate

Student Housing Popular With Investors

An article in CoStar regarding student housing, reinforced what I already know.  Student housing is a good investment and not all student housing is created equal.  As a parent with two students in college, and a third student one year away,  I spend a lot of money on housing.  My first experience was when we arrived in Gainesville four years ago.  We found that student housing is big business and extremely competitive in terms of rental rates.  For less than $600 a month, my son had his own room and bathroom in a fully furnished apartment in a student complex.  It was secure, had tons of amenities and activities geared around the college student.  Even though he wasn’t living in the dorms, I feel like he still had a dorm-like experience.

Our second son is attending college in Fort Meyers and though he is living in the dorms, there is a student housing complex nearby identical to the one my son in Gainesville lived in.  It is expected to be completely rented out in the next couple of months because the university just bought up a large multi-family complex close to their campus to convert into off campus dorms.  In terms of investments, it is no wonder student housing is popular.  Remember, the closer to campus, the higher the premium.