Silicon Investor (SI) -- The First Internet Community

STOCKTALK

We've detected that you're using an ad content blocking browser plug-in or feature. Ads provide a critical source of revenue to the continued operation of Silicon Investor. We ask that you disable ad blocking while on Silicon Investor in the best interests of our community. If you are not using an ad blocker but are still receiving this message, make sure your browser's tracking protection is set to the 'standard' level.

Strategies & Market Trends : The Residential Real Estate Crash Index -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: John Vosilla who wrote (47588)	1/22/2006 6:47:10 AM
From: Micawber	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 306849

Bull? Who said I was a bull? You've got to get out more. This crowd is really starting to get to you.

To: John Vosilla who wrote (47588)	1/22/2006 11:05:08 AM
From: shades	Respond to of 306849

Wall street is going to privatize roads, parking spaces, infrastructure - etc etc stpetetimes.com Public parking spaces should be guaranteed A Times Editorial Published January 22, 2006 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Clearwater City Council members had an opportunity Thursday to clear up a fuzzy issue in the legal agreement between the city and the developers of a planned Hyatt resort on Clearwater Beach, but they declined. It is hard to imagine why, when fixing it would have been so simple. What is now known as the Hyatt project was the first proposed after the city created Beach by Design, a redevelopment plan for then-moribund Clearwater Beach, and a pool of bonus units to award developers of resort hotels on the island. In exchange for those very valuable extra hotel units, the city wanted the developer to help pay for Beach Walk, a planned gulf-front street and pedestrian promenade, and put 400 public parking spaces inside the hotel's garage to help replace surface parking along S Gulfview Boulevard that will be eliminated by Beach Walk. The binding document setting forth those and other agreements between the city and the developer was signed in 2004. However, the Hyatt project has been delayed by lawsuits and several changes in the property's ownership. Thursday, the City Council was scheduled to vote on amendments to the development agreement desired by either the city or the current developer, Neil Rauenhorst of Tampa. But last week, a few residents and the Clearwater Beach Chamber of Commerce expressed concern that the 2004 agreement didn't ensure that the public parking in the Hyatt garage would, indeed, be available to the public. They worried the Hyatt, which will own and operate the garage, could reserve some of the public spaces for hotel use. Their concern is rooted in a lack of specificity in the agreement's parking references. The agreement states that in the 750-space hotel parking garage, "at least 400 spaces shall be open to the public." It states the hotel project "shall include . . . public parking." But nowhere does it define "public parking" or address what should happen if the hotel needs more than its own 350 spaces. Residents and the beach chamber are concerned that if the hotel has a big convention or wedding during tourist season when most of its 250 hotel rooms are full, the hotel will be tempted to reserve some of the 400 public spaces for hotel use. Then there will be even fewer parking spaces for local beachgoers. Concern is heightened because the city government has not been able to come up with a viable plan to build a public parking garage of its own somewhere on the south beach. Clearwater Mayor Frank Hibbard was concerned, too. Thursday, he said the city needed to find a mechanism to preserve the public's parking. He also wanted some other concessions from the developer, such as more money to cover Beach Walk's spiraling costs. Council member John Doran said that worried residents are saying, "We can't go on faith-based parking." What a nice gesture it would have been if developer Rauenhorst had responded that he was happy to add some reassuring language to the agreement. City Attorney Pam Akin even suggested the language: a line stating public parking was first come, first served, and that public spaces could not be reserved by the hotel. Instead, Rauenhorst said he had already been working on the agreement's language with the city staff for almost a year and he didn't want to negotiate a new provision at the microphone. He said the hotel already was committing to far more parking spaces at far higher cost than it needed for its own use. And then he added, "We don't want to deal with restrictions on who can park there." Really! That comment should have convinced council members that language protecting the public's access to the spaces was not only wise, but essential. Instead, they approved the document without it. Only Hibbard voted "no."

To: John Vosilla who wrote (47588)	1/22/2006 7:35:38 PM
From: Riskmgmt	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 306849

Bull or bear I don't care Show me the money An I'll be there. Ok, so I am no poet.<g> Seriously John: I think one has to be flexible. If you are labeled "Bull" or "Bear" and start to defend that label you filter everything through that slant. While we have been in a bubble market for 4 or 5 years, in our market, here in SE Florida, R.E. investors who stayed alert, have found ways to make some real money in spite of it. In every market there are opportunities. The bubble in the NASDAQ went on for years after the "bears" were calling for a "pop" of the insane P/E,P/S (and every other measure one cared to name) ratios. However, those that took advantage of opportunities made fortunes even up to the end, because if you knew what you were doing you hedged your bets and savvy investors know how to do that. regards Ray All the analyzing is fine but it isn't a replacement for observation and action in the market place.