Tucker Construction has installed a camera to take photos every ten minutes of the construction progress, including the demolition of the Dome, which could begin as early as Friday and continue for several weeks. Click the link! 

Two minor flaws in the report … they tag the turnaround here “Lakeland” (our fair sister city to the west). Oh, and LEGOLAND Florida is in Winter Haven with 1100 + jobs and a waterpark on the way!

It’s no secret that LEGOLAND is great for all of Polk and that is outstanding because the MSA for Lakeland/Winter Haven is actually the combined sum of all that happens in ALL of Polk!

So thank you to Realtor.com. That’s great news all around.

You can read the entire CNN Money report here.

Lauren O. Schwenk

When Lauren went off to the University of Florida and then the University of Central Florida, she had no intentions of returning to Winter Haven. But after receiving a job in Winter Haven and commuting from Orlando each day, she realized how much she missed the sense of community here that she found lacking in Orlando.

In her words, “I am most proud of our very first land purchase by my own company in 2009. I had begun work in land development in 2004. I knew at that time I had found a career that I was passionate about and something I wanted to be a part of throughout my life.” The real estate market came to a screeching halt in 2007 and that is when she made the leap of faith and along with her partners founded their company. Again, in her words, “Today, [our partnership] has grown to 45 rental properties, 156 finished buildable lots and 290 acres of developable land and we have expanded into other areas of real estate management — but that very first land deal that we closed was something I will always be proud of.”

Since returning, her passion for the community has encouraged her involvement in a variety of events, organizations, committees and fundraisers. Among her activities she has worked the 100 Holes of Golf charity event that has raised hundreds of thousands of dollars for the Stroke Center at Winter Haven Hospital. She notes, “Seeing personally how every dollar can affect a person in need is incredibly motivating.”

She is also involved in Wine for Wisdom — the signature event in support of the Polk State College Foundation. She points to Dr. Eileen Holden as a true inspiration. She wrote, “To see how someone can make a difference in one life. Time and time again, I hear stories of how Polk State students are the first in their family to ever attend college — while at the same time working and raising children. This is just one example of the leadership and dedication that so many young Polk County professionals have and having a leader like Dr. Holden foster their personal growth and success is truly amazing.”

Looking to the future she notes, “I now believe that my generation has some of the greatest opportunities that this area has ever seen. From Legoland and CSX to USF Polytechnic to Polk State College, our area is building the groundwork for a strong community built on education and job growth.

“Make a decision, good or bad, but make it and learn from it without letting an opportunity pass by” these are words we can all live by, but they are especially meaningful to this Polk Emerging Leader Award recipient. They are the words of her mentor, Albert Cassidy.

We salute this amazing young professional, Lauren O. Schwenk, partner with Oakley, Rhinehart and Cassidy.

Cypress Station adjacent to LEGOLAND Florida

The property for sale is a 3.8 acre site that houses the building, a fully improved outparcel and a stormwater retention pond. The sale is being conducted by a bid process, and interested prospective buyers should send a note of interest to Blaine Strickland at: info@remorapartners.com. In the email, be sure to include your first and last name, plus an email address that will be used to register your interest.

Once you send an email conveying your interest, Iyou will be logged into the virtual deal room (ShareFile) being used to distribute a large body of information about the property. You will get an email from ShareFile telling you that you have been granted access to the Tier One documents on the website. The ShareFile email may appear as coming from Blaine Strickland, or it may appear as coming from noreply@sf-notifications.com.

You can download those documents and proceed according to your interest in the property. Be sure to check your email, and confirm that the ShareFile email has reached your inbox and not some other folder.

Input Assumptions:

Output Assumptions:

This model produces estimates of economic impact based on the methodology utilized by the RIMS model developed by the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis. The model uses an aggregate of the multipliers for various industries in the Central Florida Region and does not attempt to assign purchases or identify expenditures to specific industry detail. The model is capable of generating economic impacts on a community related to the following types of projects:

- The construction of a commercial facility
- The operation of a business
- Tourism related expenditures

Output Computations:  Summary of Direct and Indirect Impacts

Conclusions:

The overall economic impact of the Landings on the local community is $48.7 million on an annual basis. This figure includes $31.0 million of direct impact at the business site as well as $17.7 million of output created in other industries as a result of operations.

In terms of payroll or earnings, the business provides $18.6 million to workers directly employed at the location and another $5.1 million in earnings are generated across other industries from additional spending in the local community.The facility provides 739 direct jobs at the businesses on site and supports another 220 jobs at other businesses in the community created through additional spending

The magnitude of the retail industry in all of Polk County is approximately $1.4 billion, with annual payroll of about $600 million and 24,000 people employed. Comparing these overall numbers to the estimates generated for the above referenced project indicates that the proposed facility will have a significant economic impact on the local economy.

The development is pending City Commission approval.

Kochan

More than 140 business leaders and Polk State students joined together today to hear both a national and local speaker discuss the economic outlook for 2011.  Both James Kochan and Dr. Carl Brown agree that the housing construction nosedive and mortgage crisis are big factors in the slower than normal economic recovery. Kochan is Chief Fixed Income Strategist at Wells Fargo & Company and Brown is Professor of Economics at Florida Southern College in Lakeland.

Both men presented a variety of charts on factors from car sales to unemployment — each displaying drastic downward or upward trends  (in the least desirable directions) but most showing some moderation in the most recent 2010 quarterly reports. Dr. Brown publishes the quarterly “Polk Progress” report. He is awaiting retail sales information to complete the 2010 third quarter report. You can access his economic reports here.

Both speakers predict flat or modest improvement in main indicators through late 2011.

Brown

Justin Bean, student body president at the Polk State Lakeland Campus asked of the speakers, “What can I and my classmates of 2013 and 2014 expect to find when we graduate and enter the workforce. Kochan counseled that students should look to fields where the U. S. holds a competitive edge such as technology and medicine. He also noted that the days of holding one job in a particular discipline for a lifetime are gone.

(Ed. Note: Winter Haven should fare better than average as Merlin Entertainments makes a $100 million + investment in the historic Cypress Gardens property. Furthermore a $140 million project “The Landings” is proposed for the Chain of Lakes complex and adjoining property on the west side of US 17.  The downtown area of Winter Haven is emerging as one of the most sophisticated technology and communication crossroads in the southeast. In addition, The 2007 Industry Cluster Study commissioned by the Central Florida Development Council listed High Tech and Life Sciences and Medical Services among Polk’s primary industry clusters  – both have a big presence in Winter Haven and should be well positioned for our future graduates.)

The program was presented by the Winter Haven Chamber Foundation and sponsored by Morgan Stanley Smith Barney/Winter Haven Branch and Polk State College.

“The extensive infrastructure available at Inland Fiber & Data, its central location, and the close proximity to restaurants, Winter Haven Library and other downtown amenities made it an easy decision to expand our operations here,” said Patrick Wilder, Vice-President of Human Resources and Administration for Nurse On Call. “Winter Haven has a well-maintained downtown area and I know our employees are going to enjoy working there. The recent decision by the City to construct a parking garage was also a factor.”

Mr. Herbert has more than 35 years of legal, real estate, corporate and investment banking experience. He has held officer-level positions with Wells Fargo Realty Finance, Bank of America International and Realty Finance, SunTrust Mortgage and SouthTrust Bank. Herbert has underwritten and structured over $1 billion of transactions during his career. He received a JD Degree from Golden Gate University School of Law in 1975 and was admitted to the California Bar in 1976. He received a MA Degree in Real Estate and Finance from the University of Florida in 2000. Herbert is also a member of the Real Estate Advisory Board of the University of Florida.

“We are pleased to have John on board,” said Carl J. Strang, III, President of 6/10. “As commercial real estate lending starts to come back to life, we feel there is going to be a real need for the expertise and experience that John possesses. It’s a new ballgame out there and we believe John and his associates are going to be very busy.” 6/10 Capital Advisors, LLC will be focused primarily on arranging long-term, fixed rate mortgage financing in the $1-10 million range for owner-occupied commercial real estate properties including office buildings, office-warehouses, warehouses, manufacturing facilities, R&D facilities and mixed use facilities. “Our capabilities also include arranging equity capital of at least $10 million for the acquisition and/or repositioning of office and hotel assets and portfolios in conjunction with local partners,” said Mr. Herbert.

Strang added, “In addition to John’s mortgage brokerage activities, he will be joining the 6/10 management team and assisting us in evaluating and structuring new opportunities.”

About The 6/10 Corporation

The 6/10 Corporation is a Winter Haven, Florida based investment company. Its primary holdings are Florida commercial real estate properties and private equity positions in Florida based operating companies. The 6/10 Corporation’s commercial real estate portfolio includes office, data center, industrial, retail and undeveloped land. Operating companies included in the 6/10 Private Equity portfolio include software, colocation and data center, manufacturing and IT services. Formed in 1985, 6/10 has many years of experience in the acquisition, development, ownership and management of a broad range of investments.

You can read for yourself here beginning on Page 24.

It provides a much more comprehensive look than Florida Trend’s April Economic Yearbook.

Artist concept looking SE from interection of Ave. A and Third St. NW

Winter Haven City Commissioners met today (Friday, March 12) in a Quarterly Planning Workshop designed to discuss potential new projects and review the status of previous priorities.

One primary area of interest involved a proposed downtown parking garage that would be situated on the block where the Ritz Theatre is located. The garage would essentially wrap around the theatre. Conceptual plans call for first floor retail space for urban connectivity and several floors of parking spaces including a top deck. Total number of spaces would number slightly more that 5oo.

Commissioner Jamie Beckett pointed to the new “Business Continuity Center” located in the 610 Plaza building (formerly Verizon) that can accommodate overnight up to 250 workers from a business that has suffered an interruption due to catastrophic circumstances anywhere.  Beckett said his number one question from downtown businesses dealt with parking and he added, “Where will we park those 250 extra workers.” (Also, a developing downtown technology sector now employs approximately 230 people and is projected to employ 500 by 2012.)

City Manager Dale Smith noted that parking garages are never inexpensive but the current economic climate should produce a cost effective climate for building.

The commissioners instructed staff to develop definite plans and recommendations on how to proceed.

The planning workshop lasted three-hours and dealt with a variety of topics. The Commission is also interested in evaluating the need for updating the Community’s visioning document, “Our Future By Design.”