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Construction industry gets data to build on

By Times Wires
Published December 6, 2006

News flash: It's a poor time to build single-family housing in Florida and an even worse time to build condos. Apartments, office buildings and commercial space are a better bet. That's the advice from a quarterly survey of real estate experts conducted by the University of Florida's Bergstrom Center for Real Estate Studies. Wayne Archer, center director, said more than 70 percent of industry executives surveyed warned against new condo construction; 46 percent nixed new single-family home building. The bright spot? Investors are not seeing apartment and commercial properties as high risk because of strong and stable occupancy rates. The other plus for business property, Archer said, was the strength of the state's economy.

It's only a CEO book, but I like it

Mary Key had a rock star guest list for her book launch Tuesday. That is, if local CEOs are your idea of rock stars. Among the Tampa Bay movers and shakers interviewed for the book: Jim Ferman Jr. of Ferman Motor Car Co., Guy King of the M.E. Wilson insurance company, Dr. Kiran C. Patel and others. All were scheduled to appear at the launch of CEO Road Rules: Right Focus, Right People, Right Execution. Key, who leads Tampa-based Mary Key & Associates business consultants, co-authored the book. It examines execs who lead profitable companies while living balanced lives. We should all be so lucky.

Sweetbay swap marks 2006 finale

Kash n' Karry is entering the twilight of its life, and today marks a milestone in its transition to Sweetbay Supermarket. Three Kash n' Karry stores, all in the Tampa Bay area, will convert to Sweetbay stores today: one on 34th Street N in St. Petersburg, another in Hyde Park in Tampa and a third near the University of South Florida on Fowler Avenue, also in Tampa. Their grand openings will be Saturday. They will be the last Sweetbay stores to open in 2006, but 38 more will open next year. Kash n' Karry will be laid to rest by mid 2007. The first Sweetbay launched two years ago in Seminole; there currently are 70 Sweetbay stores, including 36 in the Tampa Bay area.

[Last modified December 6, 2006, 00:32:42]