Commercial real estate

Ritz to undergo renovations
The owners of the Ritz-Carlton, Sarasota have begun $4.7 million in renovations to the luxury resort - the largest set of improvements in the property's nearly 15-year history.

As part of a “property wide re-imagination,” the Ritz-Carlton is upgrading its lobby, club level, ballroom and meeting areas. It is also renovating each of the hotel's 266 guest rooms with new furniture, fixtures and carpeting. Rooms will be painted in soft blue and purple, and artwork will feature local artists and Ringling College of Art and Design students, according to its website.

The renovations, underway now, are slated for completion in October.

“This enables us to create a sense of place for our guests and truly highlight what this paradise has to offer,” says resort general manager Damien O'Riordan.

The last major renovation occurred in 2009. But other updates — including a $3.2 million conversion of the El Vernona restaurant to the current maritime-themed Jack Dusty, intended to make the property more “approachable,” especially to area residents — took place three years ago.

Brothers Bob and Dan Buford and their children, through Kansas-based SLAB LLC, own the resort, which includes the hotel, a spa, beach club on Lido Key and a golf course near Lakewood Ranch. It is ranked among the top resorts in Florida, having earned a five-diamond rating from AAA and the Governor's Sterling Award for outstanding hospitality operations in 2008.

Tampa buildings going 'green'
Tampa area office buildings are going “green” at a faster rate than most other major cities in the U.S., according to a recent CBRE Group Inc. and Maastricht University survey.

Tampa ranked 17th of 30 markets tracked by the real estate services company, up from 22nd in 2014. That move represented the biggest jump of any market, CBRE notes.

Green properties are those certified by the U.S. Green Building Counsel as having “Leadership in Energy & Environmental Design” status or those that have earned a U.S. Environmental Protection Agency “Energy Star” label. To earn the designations, buildings must meet a rigorous set of energy saving and other criteria.

In all, 31.5% of Tampa office space is considered “green,” up from 27% in 2014. The focus is concentrated, too: The 2.1% of building stock with LEED certification contains more than 11% of the market's total space.