Tim hale, a Palm Coast business owner and Hammock resident, argues that Flagler County’s economic future is intertwined with Salamander’s proposed 198-room hotel at Hammock Beach.
Real Estate & Development
Supreme Court May Invalidate Fair Housing Provision Cities Use to Combat Segregation
The Supreme Court has been weakening many civil rights protections for decades. It appears on the verge of gutting the Fair Housing Act. It hears arguments in a case today that will be decided by the end of June.
White Elephant No More: County Approves 5-Year Lease of Costly Ginn Hangar in Deal With New Company
Delta Engineering of New Catle, Del., expanding in Flagler with 10 to 30 high-paying jobs, will fill the old Ginn building that had left the county with a $2 million liability when Ginn went bankrupt.
Projecting $1 Million Saving, Palm Coast Will Build $2.5 Million City Hall Addition Now Instead of 2019
The total Palm Coast City Hall cost rose to $9 million as the council agreed to build an 8,000 square foot addition as part of a broader construction plan that would net the city savings over five years.
Hurricane-Free For 9th Consecutive Season, Florida’s Property Insurers Now Better Braced for Catastrophe
A single Andrew-like Hurricane could wipe out in a day what Florida has taken almost a decade to recoup, but those nine years of calm have also placed the state in a stronger position to face an eventual and inevitable catastrophic storm.
Renovate and Lease Old Courthouse But Don’t Sell or Demolish, Committee Recommends
An advisory committee’s much-awaited findings recommend that county government continue to carry the maintenance costs of the old courthouse until it is able to renovate and rent it to non-profits or office-type concerns.
Demolition Set for Old Palm Harbor Center, As Is Competitive Rebirth of Island Walk
A huge segment of the old Palm Harbor Shopping Center is about to go under the wrecking ball as part of the $41 million redevelopment of the site, which will take over a year, though Publix will remain open there throughout, and move into a much larger store by the end of 2015.
“Epic Moment in Palm Coast’s History” as New City Hall Breaks Ground at Town Center
Mayor Jon Netts celebrated the occasion in words that richly threaded Palm Coast’s nomadic years to Wednesday’s moment, turning symbolism into masonry as he spoke of the building representing unity, diversity and energy.
Palm Coast Sets Special Meeting Tuesday to Consider Tax Breaks for Palm Harbor Shopping Center’s Redevelopment
The unusual special meeting is set to two proposed measures: a tax-break package valued at $52,000 for the Palm Harbor shopping center redevelopment, and a $900,000 purchase of 21 vehicles for the city’s fleet.
Palm Coast and County Close to a Deal 4 Years in the Making, Resolving Conflict Over Airport
The Palm Coast City Council is still not entirely happy with the agreement because of uncertainty over a potential city park, and the county commission hasn’t even seen or discussed the agreement.
Daytona State’s Palm Coast Campus Celebrates Its New Addition at 4 PM Today
The 24,000 square foot expansion is anchored by a stately-looking two level building, a $7.6 million project. The ribbon cutting runs from 4 to 6 p.m. today at 3000 Palm Coast Parkway SE.
Aug. 21 Seminar: The Lowdown on New Laws Regarding Homeowner and Condo Associations
Flagler Beach’s Preferred Management Services is presenting a seminar on new laws affecting homeowner and condo associations on Aug. 21 at the Hilton Garden Inn in Palm Coast, from 1 to 3:30 p.m. RSVP required.
Repertory Theatre Will Keep Its Home in a Favorable Arrangement With City Marketplace
The theater will remain at City Marketplace for at least one more year. City Repertory’s future had been in doubt for months with the departure of Hollingsworth gallery, which had been its landlord until its departure this month.
Daytona State College Celebrating Flagler-Palm Coast Campus Expansion on Aug. 14
Daytona State College will celebrate the expansion of its Flagler-Palm Coast Campus on Thursday, Aug. 14, with a ribbon-cutting ceremony marking completion of a new $7.6 million high-tech classroom and student center that will nearly double the campus’ capacity.
Mounting Cost Overruns Latest Challenges To Bedevil Bulldog Drive Expansion
The Palm Coast City Council will approve doubling “contingencies” to $427,000 for the now-$5 million Bulldog Drive project, after approving change orders on the engineering contract that more than doubled the cost to $845,000.
City Marketplace Softens Tone Against Tenants, But Sheriff Still Disputing New Fees
John C. Bills, the new owner of City Marketplace, sought to mitigate fallout from bad publicity through a memo to tenants that explains sudden, higher costs without retreating from them.
Bulldog Drive War Over: Palm Coast Settles With Ajram, Paying Him $215,000 More Than It Offered in 2011
Palm Coast agreed to pay GEA Auto owner Gus Ajram $1.15 million for his two properties on Bulldog Drive, $25,000 more than even he was asking three years ago, ending years of acrimony and clearing the way for the city to eventually (and again) widen Bulldog Drive unimpeded.
Lawsuit and Ethics Charge Cite Flagler Commissioner Revels Ties to Business Associate in County’s Old Hospital Buy
A group calling itself the Flagler Palm Coast Watchdogs filed a lawsuit against Flagler County, seeking to stop construction on the old Memorial Hospital property slated to be the sheriff’s headquarters, and alleging that Commissioner Barbara Revels did not disclose owning shares in the bank run by one of the men who sold the hospital to the county for $1.23 million last August.
Palm Coast Council Has No Objection to 10% Rent Increase at City Marketplace Offices
The two sides this week have worked out a lease agreement that would raise Palm Coast’s rent by $2,000 a month, to $22,000, but also reduce Palm Coast’s space modestly, by 1,278 square feet, from a total of 22,200 square feet currently. The agreement will keep Palm Coast from having to look for new digs before its City Hall is ready next fall.
Hollingsworth Gallery Will Leave City Marketplace for Nature Scapes, Closing Curtain on Vibrant Arts and Theater Era
Hollingsworth Gallery and Nature Scapes in Bunnell are near a deal on the gallery taking over a 6,0000-square-foot building to develop new arts programs and a full arts community there, but leaving City Marketplace leaves City Repertory Theatre without a home, and a fourth season beginning in September.
City Markeplace Landlord Stuns Sheriff’s Palm Coast Precinct With 212% Fee Increase
While increasing rent a modest 3%, John C. Bills Properties told the Sheriff’s Office this month that its CAM fee would increase from $420 a month to $1,313 a month, and that the fee would be retroactive to January, adding another $5,400 charge, which a sheriff’s attorney finds inappropriate.
For $600,000, Bunnell Buys Former Heritage Charter School Campus For Its New City Hall
The decision was the result of ma 3-1 vote at a special meeting. Bunnell projects spending an additional $300,000 to prepare the three-building campus for its permanent offices, including the police department, all of which have been spread through three locations around Bunnell for the past five years.
Gouged, Palm Coast Calls City Market Place Lease Demands “Unacceptable” and Looks Elsewhere
City Market Place owner John Bills is asking for a 57 percent increase in rent from Palm Coast government, whose offices have been renting 22,000 square feet at City Market Place for five years. The city needs one more year before moving to City Hall in Town Center. It’s now shopping for other spaces for that year.
As City Market Place Plays Hardball With Palm Coast, Gallery’s and Theater’s Future There Dims
The new owners of City Market Place want to jack up rent on Palm Coast city offices by 33 percent, and slam similar increases on Hollingsworth Gallery and other long-time anchors of the strip mall, making every one of those tenants question whether they will be there much longer–and placing a cloud on the future of some tenants, such as City Repertory Theatre.
Palm Coast Approves Zoning Changes to 749-Home Grand Landings Development on Seminole Woods
Grand Landings is a 749-home, 774-acre development in Seminole Woods, about two miles south of State Road 100 (and less than two miles from the Flagler County Airport), that had fallen into bankruptcy. Its new developers have spurred more new construction activity there than in most places in Palm Coast.
Joint Restaurant Experiment Ends as Palm Coast’s Red Lobster Closes and Olive Garden Grows Larger
Three years after Darden Restaurants opened a combined Red Lobster and Olive Garden restaurant at the Target shopping center, the company announced that it would close Red Lobster as it prepares to either sell or spin off the brand, which has been losing customers.
Palm Coast Calls on Local Contractors to Apply For City Hall Project
The Vendor Roundtables will be held Tuesday, May 13, from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. and Tuesday, July 22, from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. at the Flagler-Palm Coast Campus of Daytona State College. Contractors will be given information on the scope of work for the new City Hall and the anticipated schedule of bidding and construction.
Flagler Seeks, Flagler Wins: Bill Restoring Vacation-Rental Regulation Authority Passes House and Heads for Scott’s Desk
The Flagler County Commission has been leading the fight to overturn a 2011 state law prohibiting the regulation of short-term rentals. Thursday morning, the Florida Senate voted 37-2 to give back some home-rule authority to local governments. The House approved the measure 90-27 on Wednesday, sealing a major victory for Flagler County.
The End: Palm Coast’s Books-A-Million, Flagler’s Only General-Interest Bookstore, Is Closing
Books-A-Million in Palm Coast on Wednesday announced an everything-must-go sale ahead of closure, ending the town’s very brief romance with a bookstore larger than an attic. The company lost money in 2013. There is no known replacement for the store, a mainstay of the Target shopping center.
First Look at Palm Coast’s New City Hall Revives Old Questions About Cost and Taxes
The Palm Coast City Hall plan drew pointed questions about security measures and cost controls as the city administration continued to pledge through accounting sophistry that taxes will not be raised or that property tax dollars will not be used for the project.
Palm Coast Scrambles To Right Its Way After Discovery That Bulldog Drive Is a County Road
Palm Coast has never owned Bulldog Drive, a county road since 1956, though the city is widening the street, has acquired land alongside it and has engaged in an epic battle with business owner Gus Ajram as if the right of way were Palm Coast’s. City and county are speeding toward formalizing the city’s ownership.
Ailing Palm Harbor Shopping Center Poised To Revitalize Itself as Bigger Island Walk
The remaking of Palm Harbor shopping center as Island Walk, with more and bigger stores in the old but semi-vacant heart of Palm Coast, has broad support despite a few unanswered questions, among them the likelihood that the shopping center will have enough tenants to fill the new space.
Discount Tire Store Construction Near Panera Abruptly Halted; Palm Coast Says It Had Nothing To Do With It
Discount Tire is not explaining why it decided to stop construction on its planned store next to Panera Bread on SR100. The decision startled the city, which insists it had nothing to do with it.
Palm Coast’s Ambitions for More Parks Soar, But Development Tax to Fund Them Declines
Palm Coast’s park impact fees levied on new construction are about to decline by a few hundred dollars, though the city’s ambitious plans for new parks and recreational facilities over the next few decades are unchanged.
Palm Coast Unveils Design for a Spruced Up Community Center, With Premium on Visibility
The Palm Coast Community Center on Clubhouse Drive and Palm Coast Parkway would potentially more than triple its current 5,800 square feet (to close to 20,000 square feet), and accommodate up to 200 people, starting with a $430,000 design in 2014 and first-phase construction in 2015.
Palm Coast Council Votes 5-0 For New City Hall in Town Center, With Move-In by End of 2015
In the face of intense opposition, but also just as intense support, the Palm Coast City Council Tuesday said Yes to a new city hall. The 5-0 vote followed three hours of presentations, public comment and discussion before an overflow crowd at the Palm Coast Community Center, the largest crowd to turn up for any issue in recent memory.
The Time Will Come For a New Palm Coast City Hall. This Isn’t It.
Landon and the council want their $9 million city hall the way petulant children want a new toy. But there’s a lot more arrogance than prudence in the city’s approach. So it’s pretty simple. If the city is convinced that this is a good thing for itself and for residents, just ask residents what they think. That’s a yes or no question all of us would welcome.
Burdens and Costs Pile Up for School Board’s Ex-ITT Building on Corporate Drive, Disrupting Community Education
The board bought the 54,000 square-foot building for $3.5 million in 2001 and housed the Flagler Technical Institute’s community education classes and offices there, but the building must be evacuated either by January or by summer and either rebuilt and renovated at costs approaching $5 million or demolished even as the district continues to pay $445,000 in annual debt service on it.
Palm Coast Again Pitches New City Hall, No Referendum, as Chamber Orchestrates Support
Palm Coast City Manager Jim Landon on Tuesday choreographed a presentation focused on a $9 million city hall in Town Center he said can be built mostly with existing dollars–and without a referendum–as the Flagler Chamber of Commerce and the Palm Coast Observer worked on a letter-writing campaign to sway council members, who may vote on the plan next week.
Fall Kills Roofer Roberto Martinez, 43, As He Worked on a New Plantation Bay House
Flagler County had seen a deep lull in construction-related injuries and fatalities since the end of the housing boom in late 2006. But construction activity has picked up significantly this year. Roofers have the fourth-most dangerous job, going by fatality rates in the industry–after loggers, fishers and aircraft pilots and engineers.
Taking Competition Seriously, FPC Focuses Its Own Promotional Video on Economic Impact
An eight-minute promotional and marketing video about Flagler Palm Coast High School, produced by students, reflects the intense competition even public schools now face to stay relevant, and is catching the eye of economic development officials, who see it as a means of broadening the county’s story and potential to prospective residents and businesses.
Sen. Dorothy Hukill Proposes Cutting Sales Tax on Commercial Rental Property to 5%
Senate Finance and Tax Chairwoman Dorothy Hukill of Port Orange’s proposal could cut $250 million a year from state revenue. Business leaders want the tax, currently at 6%, eliminated altogether as Gov. Rick Scott travels the state on a tax-cutting tour.
Homes Sales and Inventory Decline a Bit in Flagler as Interest Rates Continue to Rise
After July’s buoyant home-sale figures in Flagler County, which hit a post-recession high of 243 closed sales for the month, August’s numbers are somewhat less bubbly, but the trend remains solidly positive even as interest rates creep up.
County Rejects Roma Court for Sheriff’s Office as “Unworkable,” Citing 10 Issues
County Administrator Craig Coffey ended the Roma Court option’s prospects with a 10-point memo listing a series of structural and logistical concerns about the 57,000 square-foot property on Palm Coast Parkway, about half of which would have been leased to the county for the sheriff’s uses in a 15-year arrangement.
Home Sales in Flagler Hit Post-Recession High as Time On Market Declines and Prices Rise
Homes for sale in Flagler County have spent on average just 55 days on the market, also a post-recession low, while the median sale price of $155,000 in July in Flagler improved an impressive 7 percent on June’s median of $144,500, and 19.7 percent on the median price a year ago,
Court Injunction Sought to Stop Palm Coast’s Tree Removal Around Palm Harbor Center
Calling Palm Coast’s tree removal illegal, resident Dennis McDonald filed an injunction in circuit court Thursday seeking to halt removals planned for road-widening and as part of a redevelopment of the Palm Harbor shopping center that may significantly alter the character of the area.
Cool to Sudden Roma Court Proposal, Flagler Sheriff Restates Preferences for Proximity
Flagler County Sheriff Jim Manfre was surprised by an unexpected proposal from the owner of Roma Court, the chronically vacant strip mall on Palm Coast Parkway, to lease the building to the county for sheriff’s operations, and cited several factors that fall outside his preferred options.
Appraisals for Old Hospital Place Value at $1.5 Million as County Moves Toward Acquisition
The county wants to buy the old hospital in Bunnell for $1.23 million and use it as an HQ for the sheriff. Two independent appraisers have placed the market value of the old 81-bed hospital at $1.5 million, and an engineering firm that surveyed the hulking 60,000 square-foot property found no overt issues with the building aside from asbestos. A private consortium bought the building for $750,000 in 2003.
Flagler Homes’ Median Sale Price Up 28% Over Last Year as Investors Keep Buying
Sales closed on 200 single-family homes in June in Palm Coast and Flagler County, half those for cash as investors continue to buy homes. The median price of $144,500 is the best showing since February 2009. The median number of days those homes spent on the market was 71, an increase of eight days from last year.
Home-Flipping in Central Florida Fuels Bubble Fears
The median price of existing-home sales in the core Orlando market has increased from $108,000 at the beginning of last year to $145,000 as of April. A review of 30 flips by a single seller shows a median buy price of $41,178 and resale price of $74,000 — after accounting for repairs and renovations.