Gulf Coast Week

TAMPA BAY

OSI revises pricing
Tampa-based OSI Restaurant Partners, parent company of Outback Steakhouse, is rolling out a lower-priced menu and plans a new advertising campaign to combat softer sales.
Like many other restaurant companies, OSI is coping with consumers who are spending less in casual, sit-down restaurants.
Its new menu features 15 items that are $15 or less. OSI tested the new menu in 30 markets and is now bringing it to its other locations.
A franchisee that owns 41 Outbacks in California, T-Bird Nevada, recently defaulted on $33 million in bank loans and OSI had to cover some of those costs. OSI generated in $3.9 billion in revenue in 2008, but posted a loss of $739 million last year.

Cuba trade pushed
Tampa Port Authority Commissioner Carl Lindell said he would pay for a trip to Cuba himself to prove its value as a nearby trading partner.
But Lindell's five other commissioners, including Tampa Mayor Pam Iorio, decided to delay a vote on a trade package between Tampa and Cuba until the port collected more information.
Lindell, a former car dealer, is a developer. He favors appointing an emissary to go to Cuba and forge a trade agreement with Tampa.

Home prices down 22%
Home prices in the Tampa Bay area fell 22% in 2008, according to the S&P/Case Shiller Home-Price Index.
The decline is 35% from a price peak in the Bay area in July 2006. The index measures home sales in 20 cities. Six cities recorded higher price declines. Those were Phoenix, Las Vegas, San Francisco, Miami, Los Angeles and San Diego.

SARASOTA/MANATEE

Nardelli found guilty
Larry Nardelli, one of four defendants in what some have called the biggest mortgage fraud scheme ever on the Gulf Coast, has been found guilty of federal charges related to the case.
A federal jury in Tampa found Nardelli guilty of six counts of conspiring to commit mortgage fraud, money laundering and making false statements to banks. Onetime Sarasota area developer Michael A. Tringali previously admitted to his role in the scheme and plead guilty, while another defendant, John Yanchek, is awaiting trial.
A fourth defendant and the person authorities believe played a leading role in the scheme, Neil Mohammad Husani, has been detained in Jordan, where authorities could attempt to begin an extradition process.
Federal prosecutors said Tringali and the other defendants defrauded up to seven banks out of $83 million in land sales in Manatee and Sarasota counties that took place between 2004 and 2006.

Quirky resort seized
One of the oldest running businesses in North Port, a resort and quirky tourist attraction known as Warm Mineral Springs, is the latest entity to succumb to the slumping economy: The resort was recently seized by its Naples-based lender, Cypress Lending Group.
The owners of Warm Mineral Springs, which includes a motel and a mineral springs known for its so-called 'healing powers,' had owed Cypress several million dollars.
Cypress, which has a focus in buying and turning around distressed properties, began lending money to the resort a few years ago.
Cypress officials said they would continue to run the resort, which has been operating for 50 years, while they study other options.

Tourism tax hike
Manatee County tourism officials are planning to ask county commissioners to raise the county tourism tax by one cent, from four to five cents.
The county has been taking in about $5 million a year under the four-cent tax, but officials said the recession has increased the need to market the area. A five-cent tax, tourism officials said, could bring in an additional $1 million into county coffers.
Commissioners could vote on the issue by mid-March.

LEE/COLLIER

Airport traffic declines
Passenger traffic at Southwest Florida International Airport in Fort Myers declined 3.9% to 732,851 in January compared with the same month in 2008.
The passenger drop is due in part to fewer flights to and from Fort Myers. The airport reported an 8% drop in takeoffs and landings in January compared with the same month a year ago.
The leading carrier at the Fort Myers airport in January was AirTran, which carried 128,087 passengers. The other large carriers included Delta (89,540 passengers), JetBlue (88,967), US Airways (72,334) and Southwest (71,934).
Southwest Florida International reported more than 7.6 million passengers passed through the airport last year.

Lee's $25 million fund
Lee County's Economic Development Office launched a $25 million incentive fund to recruit companies to the Fort Myers area and help existing firms expand.
To be eligible, companies must operate in targeted industries such as life sciences, aviation and information technology. They must also agree to create 75 jobs within three years that pay at least 125% of the average wage in Lee County. In addition, they must make a capital investment in an amount equal to or greater than the financial incentive.
The incentive was established to counter the economic downturn that has pushed Lee County's unemployment rate to 10%.