Instead of building 12 million square feet, the developers of the ambitious Miami Worldcenter project in the city’s Park West neighborhood could lose their property to foreclosure.
Even with the cracks in the economy showing in fall 2008, developers Arthur Falcone, Marc Roberts and Nitin Motwani pushed the city to approve the massive commercial, residential, hotel and entertainment project on 25 acres.
Falcone, the head of Boca Raton-based Falcone Group, talked about including gambling if state law was changed.
Although the special zoning district was approved, some critics questioned the timing of the project. The plunge in real estate values has made going forward difficult. No construction has taken place, and the developers have not completed purchasing all of the property required for a contiguous site.
“It was a though call for them in 2008,” said Adam Greenberg, managing director of Miami-based BayBridge Real Estate Group. “They already had a lot invested in the area with land holdings and planning costs.”
Greenberg believes the developers had contracts to purchase additional properties but didn’t execute them.
Fifth Third Bank filed a foreclosure lawsuit on July 28 against the entities that own most of the land planned for Miami Worldcenter: Park West 3, Park West 5, Miami Auction Prop LLC, 950 NE 2nd LLC, 915 N Miami LLC, 701 N Miami and 100 NE 11th LLC. The mortgages to those companies were last renewed in 2007 and 2008 for a combined $39.3 million.
Orion Bank has a pending lawsuit against 13 Parcels, another Falcone- and Roberts-managed entity that owns land planned for Miami Worldcenter. It concerns an $18.3 million mortgage, although the lawsuit does not call for foreclosure. Unlike the Fifth Third complaint, the Orion Bank lawsuit names Falcone and Roberts, who has since filed personal Chapter 7 bankruptcy.
Since Orion Bank failed in 2009, Iberiabank has continued pursuing that claim after assuming its assets.
Falcone did not immediately return a call seeking comment.
The entities targeted by the Fifth Third foreclosure control the following properties:
Miami attorney Alan Grunspan, who represents Fifth Third in the foreclosure lawsuit, did not immediately return a call seeking comment.
“The project is a good possibility in five to seven years, but prices and demand aren’t there for new construction for that long,” Greenberg said.
Compare health insurance plans and insurance rates on family and individual health insurance. Free health quotes and more.
Despite a very vocal group of detractors, the vast majority of iPhone users love AT&T.
That’s the key finding in a survey released this week by Yankee Group, which reports that 73% of iPhone users are very satisfied with AT&T’s service. That rating compares favorably to how non-iPhone smartphone users feel about AT&T, and even to how non-iPhone users feel about other wireless providers.
The satisfaction rate of AT&T subscribers as a whole is 68%, and only 69% of smartphone users say they are satisfied with their mobile provider, Yankee Group found.
The results are surprising, given the pounding AT&T has taken in the media and on the blogosphere about its service-related issues with the iPhone. On CNNMoney’s recent stories "AT&T and Apple’s marriage made in hell," and "AT&T: The most hated company in iPhone land," reader comments were overwhelmingly negative toward the wireless network.
AT&T’s recent iPad-related security glitch and mishandling of the iPhone 4 launch likely didn’t do much to help its reputation. Plus, iPhone owners pay AT&T nearly $12 a month more for service than the average smartphone user.
Tech analysts like to point out the ways in which AT&T is a drag on the iPhone. Gartner Research Director Carolina Milanesi said last month that AT&T’s network has "limited the iPhone experience." And Drake Johnstone, an analyst with Davenport & Co., forecasted that poor experiences with AT&T would drive as many as 40% of iPhone customers to Verizon once that network gets the iPhone.
So what explains Yankee Group’s conclusion that iPhone users’ love AT&T?
"Consumers transfer the high gloss of their Apple iPhone experience to AT&T," says Carl Howe, Yankee Group analyst and author of the study. "The iPhone creates a halo effect that rubs off."
In other words, iPhone customers’ praise for their network may be a result of the famous "reality distortion field" that surrounds Apple (AAPL, Fortune 500) CEO Steve Jobs and his company’s products.
But AT&T says its network really isn’t as bad as many people think Online payday loans. It’s a perception problem, not a service problem, in the company’s eyes.
"There’s a gap between what people hear about us and what their experience is with us. We think that gap is beginning to close," says Mark Siegel, an AT&T spokesman. "It doesn’t mean we’re perfect; we still have work to do. But that’s no surprise to us, because we have a great network."
AT&T’s ‘problem’ that everyone wants
Meanwhile, AT&T (T, Fortune 500) continues to reap the rewards of being the country’s exclusive iPhone provider.
Despite heavy data demands that drive up AT&T’s cost of servicing each customer, users still make the wireless company $50 more per customer each year than other providers get from their smartphone subscribers, according to Yankee Group. That’s because a higher percentage of iPhone customers buy pricey, top-tier service plans to satisfy their mobile download demands.
The iPhone will be worth $1.8 billion in sales to AT&T this year, and will generate $9 billion in revenue for the provider over the next five years, the study estimates. Yankee Group says that’s $750 million more each year than AT&T would be taking in if it had a different flagship smartphone.
The iPhone is also the gift that keeps on giving: 77% of iPhone owners say they’ll buy another iPhone, compared to 20% of smartphone customers who say they’ll buy an Android phone. (See correction below)
"Our analysis explains why AT&T has bent over backward to keep its exclusive distribution deal with Apple as long as possible," Howe says. "Verizon has been regretting turning away Apple for the last three years."
Free online car insurance quotes. Get insurance rate comparisons, and buy your auto insurance policy instantly.
The World Cup might be over, but for the Los Angeles Galaxy, potential roster moves, or non-moves, are making headlines.
One report from the Associated Press has Major League Soccer commissioner Don Garber saying the league will not entertain transfer offers from overseas clubs for Galaxy captain Landon Donovan.
Donovan has recently gone out on loan to German club Bayern Munich and English club Everton. Donovan's time in Everton, along with his performance at the World Cup have made him a more attractive asset for international clubs.
However, it is the World Cup performance, which included a game-winning goal against Algeria that helped the United States win its group, that makes MLS want to keep Donovan stateside.
"MLS needs soccer heroes, and we have a great American soccer hero playing for us in L.A., holding the torch for the sport in our country, and that's very important," Garber said in the AP report payday loans with no fax.
Another potential roster move for the Galaxy could be the signing of Brazlian superstar Ronaldinho, according to an ESPN report. The report cites a radio interview of Real Salt Lake Owner Dave Checketts on KALL, where he hinted that on the heels of New York's signing of Thierry Henry, another club might be looking to lure an well-known player stateside.
“I would imagine this guy is coming to L.A., and you'll all recognize who he is," Checketts said. The interviewer asked if he was Brazilian, and the response was, "I think he might."
The rumors of Ronaldinho signing with the Galaxy have been off-and-on in recent times.
The Galaxy is owned by Los Angeles' AEG.
The Obama administration says it is increasing border security and cracking down more on drug trafficking and smuggling from Mexico into Southwestern states such as Arizona.
On Friday, U.S. Attorney for Arizona Dennis Burke said the federal government has upped illegal drug case filings by 99 percent since 2008, filed 25,200 illegal immigration cases and boosted wiretaps by 50 percent for cases related to money shipped from Arizona to Mexico and other foreign locations.
On Monday, the White House released additional figures as administration officials met with Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer, Attorney General Terry Goddard, Burke and other state officials.
The White House offered the following stats:
K9 patrol units along the border have been increased to 13 from five.
384 agents were added at Southwestern ports of entry along with five high-tech detection units to the six already deployed at Mexican border crossings.
$85 million in illicit cash was seized along the border over the last 12 months — a 22 percent jump from the preceding 12 months.
Federal agencies seized 1,404 firearms and 1.62 million kilograms of drugs along the border the past 12 months — increases of 22 and 14 percent, respectively.
Former U.S. Attorney Paul Charlton said more resources are being focused on border and immigration cases as well as crimes on Indian lands and white-collar and mortgage fraud crimes since Burke took over as federal prosecutor in 2009 and the Obama took office.
Charlton — now a private attorney for the law offices of Gallagher & Kennedy PA — served as U lowest fee payday loans.S. Attorney for Arizona from 2001 until the end of 2006. Charlton exited from that post as part of Bush administration purge.
After 9/11 there was a heavy focus of federal investigation into national security and potential terrorism cases, he said, adding the Bush administration also focused on child pornography.
He expects federal pursuit of child and illegal sex rings to continue under Obama. “It’s still a very serious problem,” he said. But he said the Obama administration appears to be moving more aggressively and with more resources on white collar and mortgage fraud cases as well as on the immigration front.
The statistics were released as Brewer and U.S. Sens. Jon Kyl and John McCain press for more federal resources along the border. Brewer, in particular, has argued the state is under siege from drug cartels and smuggling rings and says more border walls, air patrols are needed.
“Administration officials continue to say that the border is as safe as it has ever been, yet the feds are posting signs 80 miles from the Arizona border warning Americans to stay away from our public lands,” Brewer said in a e-mail promoting her reelection bid. “We need action from the federal government not signs ceding sovereign U.S. territory to international drug cartels and human smugglers.”
The new owner of Anna Bannana’s in Moiliili has received his liquor license and plans to rename the bar Anna O’Neil’s after renovating and remodeling the pub.
The Honolulu Liquor Commission recently transferred the liquor license from former owner Banyan Tree LLC to Anna O’Brien’s Inc., headed by Bill Comerford. He also owns Honolulu establishments O’Toole’s Irish Pub, Kelley O’Neil’s and Irish Rose Saloon.
Comerford said he plans to close the bar for about a month for renovations and hopes to reopen later this summer under the new name. He declined to say how much he’s investing in the renovation.
“We’re just trying to make everybody understand that by changing the name we are honoring the past by keeping ‘Anna’ in it and trying to give a little bit of our own influence by putting the ‘O’Brien’s’ on it so they know who’s operating it,” he said.
He said he will continue to offer a mixed bag of live music that is a popular draw at Anna Bannana’s.
Austin Community College President and CEO Stephen Kinslow is reportedly retiring after 34 years serving the school.
The Austin-American Statesman reported Tuesday the community college’s top executive stepping down after his contract expires June 2011. Kinslow’s filled the role for six years, previously working as interim chief, assistant dean and in other positions.
Kinslow was originally appointed to the position in 2005 for a two-year term after former president Robert Aguero abruptly left, having served only nine months with the school. ACC’s leaders appointed Kinslow to help the college stabilize before searching for a new president, but instead renewed his contract at the end of the two years.
The college is now beginning a nationwide search for his replacement, possibly hiring a search firm to lead the hiring.
Prior to working in Austin, Kinslow, 60, taught public school in Big Spring, Texas and for the Dallas County Community College District. He earned his doctorate from the University of Texas, his master’s from Southern Methodist University and his bachelor’s from the University of Texas at Arlington.
He currently serves on the board of directors for the Austin and Round Rock Chambers of Commerce, the Leadership Round Rock board, the Texas Association of Community Colleges board of directors, the ACC Center for Public Policy and Political Studies, the E3 Alliance board and as vice chair of the Texas Campus Compact.
Dividend investors are enjoying fatter payouts again, to the tune of $10 billion per year.
The reason? More than one-quarter of companies in the Standard & Poor’s 500 have increased their quarterly payouts over the past 5½ months, with just two cutting dividends.
But President Barack Obama and Congress are almost certain to approve higher taxes on dividend income.
In fact, investors in the top tax bracket could see dividend taxes more than double next year to 39.6 percent, up from the current 15 percent. For most taxpayers, a more likely scenario is a rate of around 25 percent, rather than 15 percent.
Whatever increase Washington settles on, it will change the math for dividend-paying stocks and mutual funds with a strong dividend tilt in their portfolios. They’re big draws for retirees and others who prefer a steady income stream, not just potential paper gains from appreciating stock prices.
Still, market pros say the recent surge in companies reversing dividend cuts appears to have staying power. Here are five things to know about dividend investing:
1. It can only get better, and it is: When stocks tanked in late 2008, companies that had reliably raised quarterly dividends year after year suddenly cut them, opting to hold on to extra cash to ride out the recession. It was a matter of survival for many, especially bailed-out banks that had been among the most dependable dividend payers.
This year’s turnaround has been sharp, particularly last month. The list of 25 companies announcing increases in April included IBM, Exxon Mobil, Procter & Gamble and Johnson & Johnson.
2. Watch the taxman: Expect a quick end to the historically light tax bill dividend investors have faced in recent years. Taxpayers in all but the lowest two brackets currently pay 15 percent on dividend income.
Obama proposed an increase to 20 percent. But a proposal that cleared the Senate Budget Committee last month would go further, with steeper increases for those in the middle tax brackets, and a 39.6 percent rate for those in the top rung. The House is expected to begin debate this month.
The outcome: A $1 dividend paid this December would leave an investor with 85 cents after taxes. But in January, when the new rates would take effect, it could be closer to 70 cents or 60 cents, depending on your income.
3. Expect bank dividends to come back — if you’re patient. Financial stocks like Bank of America and Citigroup have historically been among the most reliable dividend payers, but that changed in 2008. The market meltdown hit bank stocks especially hard, and they cut dividends deeper than those in other sectors.
Many financial companies are still restricted from paying dividends as a condition of government bailouts. But even those no longer facing restrictions are cautious. They’re uncertain how tougher financial regulations will crimp business.
4. Dividends could be safe harbors if the market drops again. Dividend-paying companies typically have more cash on hand and steadier income than growth-oriented companies that instead plow profits back into their operations.
5. Dividends are solid long-term. Even after 2009, dividend stocks still have a good long-term record. S&P 500 stock prices ended up the last decade slightly below where they started, after the dot-com bubble burst early on, and the more recent subprime mortgage mess sent stocks tumbling. S&P stocks lost an average 2.7 percent per year over the decade, while dividends returned nearly 1.8 percent.
Chalk up a legal victory for developer Paul McKee and his $8.1 billion NorthSide plan to remake 2 square miles northwest of downtown St. Louis.
Cole County Circuit Judge Patricia Joyce has dismissed the suit that challenged the constitutionality of the state’s Distressed Areas Land Assemblage tax credit. On Dec. 31, the state gave McKee $19.6 million of the credit.
Two St. Louis residents, Barbara Manzara and Keith Marquard, had filed a suit claiming that the never-before-used tax credit was unconstitutional.
Joyce ruled Monday that the law passes constitutional muster. She rejected the plaintiffs’ claim that the credit awarded to McKee shifts the risk of loss away from his project and represents improper use of public money. Instead, the sale of the tax credit benefits the redevelopment area, the judge ruled.
McKee’s lawyer Paul Puricelli said Wednesday that Joyce "covered all the issues" in finding the law valid. "The primary basis for her opinion was that the statute makes it explicit that any proceeds from these tax credits have to be used for the underlying redevelopment," he said.
The plaintiffs’ lawyer, Irene Smith, said she will appeal. Smith said that a tax credit intended merely to assemble property for redevelopment falls short of a legitimate use of taxpayer money.
"It’s the use of public money in a reckless way," she said.
State lawmakers designed the land-assemblage credit in 2007 to encourage lending on speculative projects such as NorthSide. The credit allows full reimbursement for money spent on interest and loan fees to buy at least 50 acres of land in low-income neighborhoods and a 50 percent reimbursement for the cost of land itself.
McKee sold his tax credit in January and used the proceeds to pay down much of his debt to the Bank of Washington, Mo., his main lender so far on the NorthSide project.
"The notion of the land assemblage tax credit is to acquire land," Puricelli said. "It’s appropriate to use the credit to pay off land assemblage costs."
Still pending is a suit claiming the Board of Aldermen and St. Louis officials failed to follow procedure in approving NorthSide’s $390 million tax increment financing, the largest ever in the city. The matter awaits a ruling by St. Louis Circuit Judge Robert Dierker, who finished hearing testimony about a month ago.
To protect Wisconsin’s lakes, streams and rivers from phosphorus runoff beginning April 1, Wisconsin residents can no longer apply turf fertilizer that contains phosphorus to their lawns, except in limited instances, under a new law that affects retailers as well.
The restriction, according to a press release from the Wisconsin Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection, also applies to professional lawn and landscape businesses, golf courses and municipalities.
“The new law makes it illegal for Wisconsin retailers to display turf fertilizer that is labeled as containing phosphorus or available phosphate,” said Charlene Khazae, the Department’s fertilizer program manager. Retailers can post a sign that indicates fertilizer with phosphorus is available upon request.
Fertilizer products carry three numbers that indicate the amount of nitrogen, phosphorous and potash in the product, commonly referred to as N-P-K no fax cash advance. The middle number, which represents the amount of phosphorus ‘P,’ should be zero.
Fertilizer that contains phosphorus can still be used in agricultural production, pastures and home gardens.
Similar restrictions already exist in places such as Dane County, some counties in Michigan and Florida and in the state of Minnesota.
Additional restrictions for all types of turf fertilizer, no matter if it contains phosphorus or not, include: no application of fertilizer can be made to frozen ground or surfaces like driveways or sidewalks
For more information about the turf fertilizer law, visit www.datcp.state.wi.us and search ‘turf fertilizer.’
Gas prices have continued to creep up in Texas as well as nationally, hitting $2.68 for a gallon of unleaded regular today following four week run-up, according to AAA Texas.
In a press release, AAA Corporate Communications Manager Dan Ronan noted that the cost of filling up a typical 14-gallon tank in Texas has reached $37.
However, fears that the cost of crude could put a dent in spring break travel plans are proving unfounded, with a AAA Texas Travel poll finding that 58% of Texans plan on driving to their revelry destination.
Nearly half — 48% — of Texas spring break travelers intend to make their journey to another part of the state personal loans for people with bad credit.
In Texas, the average price for gallon of unleaded regular is up to $2.68 from $2.64, an increase of four cents. Nationally, prices increased three cents from $2.77 to $2.80. Texas continues to remain below the national average, and this week gas prices in the state are 12 cents lower than the national average, according to AAA Texas.
Data from AAA Texas showed the price of gas as of March 18 nationally at $2.80, in Dallas at $2.68 and in Fort Worth at $2.67.
Powered by WordPress -- XHTML 1.0