Coffee Talk (Tampa)

Coffee Talk (Tampa)

Never miss an opportunity

The Florida Bankers Association used this month's deadline for filing personal income tax returns to tweak credit unions.

Bankers have been telling anybody who will listen - and, unfortunately for them, that hasn't included many state or federal legislators - that tax-exempt credit unions present unfair competition.

FBA Chief Executive Alex Sanchez tossed a tax-day brickbat.

"We may not look forward to paying the tax bill, but we know the money contributes to our national security, our children's education, and health care for millions of elderly and disabled people," Sanchez says in a statement. "Billion dollar credit unions are getting a free ride with their outdated and out-of-touch tax exemptions. In the world of billion dollar credit unions, April 15th is a day to celebrate."

Ouch. That's harsh.

Sanchez and Pam Ricco, an FBA vice president for public relations, say they don't mind credit unions that serve a limited constituency. They singled out a longshoreman's credit union in Tampa as a good one.

A Good Deal?

Akerman Senterfitt apparently secured a good deal for the Class A space it just leased in the SunTrust Financial Centre. The firm's Tampa managing partner, Joe Rugg, attributes that to the negotiating skills of the brokers at Tampa's CLW Real Estate Services. Trammell Crow Co. represented the owner, Chicago-based CMD Realty Investors.

It didn't hurt that the owner made the deal worth it, Rugg says. The firm leased about 35,000 square feet on the 16th and 17th floors in the 36-story building at 401 E. Jackson St. That's a considerable increase from about 25,000 square feet the firm leases now in the Wachovia Center, 100 S. Ashley Drive.

The firm leased the SunTrust space knowing it won't be able to fill of all it for some time, Rugg says. Over the past several months, more than a dozen partners and associates have left the firm for various opportunities. He attributes the decision to sign the new lease to the firm's long-term growth strategy in the Tampa market.

Although terms weren't disclosed, average asking rents in the SunTrust building range from about $22 to $24 a square foot. So a deal for 35,000 square feet could range from $770,000 to $840,000.

However, the overall office vacancy rate in the Tampa central business district (CBD) still averages around 17%, according to Cushman & Wakefield of Florida Inc.'s most recent market survey. It estimates that CBD asking rents for Class A space average about $20.81 a square foot. That's about $728,350 a year on 35,000 square feet - or a deal worth $7.28 million on a typical 10-year lease contract.

Not that positive on Fourth Street

Banks have become to St. Petersburg's Fourth Street North what automobile dealerships do for Tampa's North Dale Mabry Highway.

Create a lot of visual overload for motorists.

The number of banks hanging out signs on Fourth Street has turned into something of a joke. St. Petersburg Times business pundit Robert Trigaux, a former banking writer, made light of the trend in a recent column. The Fourth Street phenomenon also came up at the April 18 annual meeting of stockholders of First Community Bank Corp. of America in Pinellas Park.

President and Chief Executive Kenneth P. Cherven was outlining his branch expansion plans when a shareholder asked for specifics.

First Community Bank of America already has one office at 6100 Fourth St. N. Another shareholder, apparently in jest, offered that some banks have more than one office on Fourth Street.

For now, Cherven says he won't follow the crowd and will spread his office network across the Tampa Bay area.

Deadline approaches

Judging by the lack of sensational headlines, Hillsborough County Attorney Renee Lee just may sail through her upcoming annual performance evaluation. But then again, this will be the first time the county attorney's evaluation is subject to the fickle whims of the Hillsborough County Commission and not the county administrator.

County Administrator Pat Bean hired Lee last June to replace Emmy Acton, who resigned amid controversies over how she managed the office.

CRA insurance

Bank of America must not be through buying other financial institutions.

The giant Charlotte, N.C. bank has announced that it will funnel $75,000 through a national community development advocacy group to the Tampa Bay area's rundown neighborhoods.

The money is part of a $3 million initiative by B of A to help Local Initiatives Support Corp. get new businesses in depressed urban and rural areas up and running in metropolitan markets from San Francisco to Providence.

B of A has made a commitment to lend $750 billion for community development over the next decade.

A vacation with bite

Exactly what consumer is the Ritz-Carlton, Sarasota targeting? The Ritz's newest offering, called the Predator Package, combines the upscale hotel experience of the hotel, the scientific work of Mote Marine Laboratory and some critters with good-sized teeth. The three-night package allows guests to help Mote scientists attach a satellite tag to a shark on board a research vessel in the Gulf of Mexico.

A financial win-win for the hotel and Mote, guests will pick up the cost to buy the satellite tag and a portion of the trip's costs. The satellite tag will allow Mote scientists to track the shark population. Later on those guests will receive electronic updates on "their" shark.

The package, which cost more than $9,000, also includes an 'I tagged a shark' T-shirt and a polo shirt, dinner, breakfast and other hotel and spa club services.