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Archive for June, 2009

Annual Parrot Head party comes to downtown Palm Harbor

Parrothead crowd in Old Palm Harbor

Somewhere around 15,000 Parrotheads turned out in downtown Palm Harbor Saturday to chill out, sip a few cold ones, and enjoy the style of music made famous by the likes of Jimmy Buffet.

Jimmy himself didn’t show up, but the Carribbean Chillers did, and the Jimmy Buffet tribune band put out a Buffet-style sound that had the crowd up and dancing in the street.

Florida Avenue, downtown Palm Harbor’s main drag, was blocked off for the day-long program, which started at around 2 p.m. amd went deep into the night.

As you might expect, there were plenty of loud shirts, parrot headresses and fat cigars. And the beer flowed, as you would expect from a crowd like this and an event sponsored in large part by Budweiser.

More than 30 vendors were on hand, selling everything from food items to t-shirts to parrot-themed products of one kind or another.

The event, officially known as the Palm Harbor Parrot Head Party, is the biggest fundraiser of the year for Old Palm Harbor Main Street, the group of downtown merchants and others who promote the historic district near Alt. 19.

It has grown every year for the past several years, which makes the sponsors happy in spite of the fact that sponsorship costs have gone up steeply as it becomes more difficult in a slow economy to find people to put up sponsorship dollars.

This was the eighth annual Parrot Head party in downtown Palm Harbor. See more pictures here.

Tags: Palm Harbor, parrothead, real estate

Things are happening in Downtown Clearwater

The Rays' Hummer

There’s a lot more to major league baseball than what goes on on the field.

Take the Tampa Bay Rays, for example.  The Rays are a young team, having been formed just 11 years ago. They made it to the World Series last year, but not before nine seasons of last-place baseball. The product on the field simple wasn’t enough to draw fans to the park, so the Rays spent lots of time and money developing community-based efforts that would, hopefully, spark interest in the team.

I saw an example of that effort not long ago in downtown Clearwater.

There is a regular monthly event in downtown Clearwater called Fourth Friday. On the fourth Friday of every month, late in the day, vendors start setting up on Cleveland Street, which has been roped off for just that purpose. People turn out to walk along Cleveland street, buy food and other items from vendors, and just generally enjoy Clearwater’s much-improved downtown.

On the day I was there, the Tampa Bay Rays had their special Hummer there, along with a stage set up to host the Ray’s pre-game and post-game radio shows on WDAE, the Sports Animal. The Rays were actually playing the Florida Marlins in Miami that night, but the live radio programs that opened and closed the game would be coming live from downtown Clearwater.

As workers set up the stage, young Rays employees were busy handing out white Rays t-shirts and other team goodies.

The Rays are always looking for more fans. And Clearwater is always looking for more people to come downtown and enjoy what is offered there.

Tags: baseball, Clearwater, downtown

Shedding a little light on downtown Clearwater real estate

Lamp post in downtown Clearwater

By now you’ve probably figured out that I have something of a weakness for lamp posts. There’s one up at the top of this blog, providing a little illumination for the Pinellas Newsboy. Also, I’ve done posts showing lamp posts in Dunedin, Tarpon Springs, over at Disney and, now in Clearwater.

It’s not just a personal weakness for lamp posts. I think they are good metaphors for the emerging downtowns that we are seeing in North Pinellas County. These downtowns have lived through some pretty steep declines as downtown areas have been allowed to decay as they have been forgotten in favor of suburban developments. But they are roaring back as we come to appreciate what they have to offer in terms of shopping, dining and living.

Downtowns offer something community-wise that simply can’t be matched. We’re lucky to have these areas re-emerging, and we also are lucky to have had residents, business people and political leaders who have been able to share the vision of reinvigorated downtowns.

By the way, this lamp post is one of many that line Cleveland Street in downtown Clearwater.

Tags: Clearwater, real estate

Post office is choice piece of Clearwater real estate

Clearwater Post Office

With all the talk about the current economic stimulus package, we should note that a very similar effort took place in the 1930s in response to the Great Depression. The Roosevelt Administration gets the credit (or blame) for all of the federal spending that took place back then to try to get the economy moving again, but less well known is that federal stimulus spending took place during the previous Hoover administration, as well.

An example of that was the so-called Elliot bill, which greatly increased the amount of federal spending for local building programs.  Up to that time, much of the federal spending on building construction was focused on buildings constructed inside Washington, DC. The Elliot bill bumped up federal spending for building projects from $315 million to $415 million, and most of that extra  money was aimed at building projects beyond Washington.

One of them turned out to be the new post office building in Clearwater, Florida. In 1931, Clearwater officials received a letter from Washington saying that $150,000 in federal funds had been earmarked for a new Clearwater Post Office.

That was a very big deal at the time. Clearwater’s population had been exploding, and one institution that was really feeling the pinch was the local post office.  The original post office on Cleveland street was really cramped, and when the new Scranton Arcade building was completed the post office was moved into that building. But even that wasn’t adequate — Clearwater was definitely going to need a new post office facility if it was to keep up with the increasing population demands.

So construction got under way right across the street from the Scranton Arcade. A local architect , Theodore Skinner, was hired to design the new building, and a Florida construction company, Walt & Sinclair of Palm Beach, was hired to do the work. The work went swiftly and the new building, made of limestone quarried in the Florida Keys, was dedicated on Oct. 9, 1933.

Then, as now, the federal dollars were meant to stimulate local economic growth. Local architects, designers, builders and materials were specified. The Clearwater Post office is a great exampleof Mediterrean Revival architecture. It was placed on the National Registerof Historic Places in the 1980s.

Tags: architecture, Clearwater, Post Office, real estate

Scranton Arcade was important example of Clearwater real estate

Scranton Arcade

When I posted the last article on Clearwater real estate wall art, I noticed something in the picture that puzzled me a little — a detail in the mural that showed a store front with the words “Scranton Arcade” over the front entranceway. I had never heard of the Scranton Arcade before, so I decided to do a little research.

What I discovered is that the Scranton Arcade building was a very exciting bit of downton Clearwater architecture that was built in the mid-1920s. It covered a whole city block of Clearwater real estate, and it contained everything from Clearwater’s post office (before the current very beautiful Clearwater Post Office was built a few years later) to a bakery to the Clearwater offices of the St. Petersburg TIMES newspaper.

The Clearwater Evening Independent newspaper did a story in 1924 on the construction of the building. It explains quite a bit about the building and the role it was to play in what was then Clearwater’s blossoming downtown:

Clearwater Evening Independent – June 16, 1924

The Scranton Arcade, said to be the largest building of its kind in South Florida, is approaching completion. Blue and buff case tile is now being placed below the large plate glass windows on the Garden Avenue side, and laying of floor tile is to begin this week.

 Construction work on this arcade has been held up, owing to delay in installation of an automatic sprinkler system, with which the entire building is to be furnished, A. M. Perdue, superintendent, said today, but he predicts the arcade will be ready for occupancy within 30 days.
 
The post office is to be located in the extreme southeastern corner of the new building, and everybody is interested in seeing the local postal department in the new quarters, as the present post office, on Cleveland Street, is entirely inadequate for the purpose.

The Scranton Arcade is a beautiful structure, with sidewalls of apricot stucco, ornamented with art stone friezes. It occupies the entire block bounded by Cleveland Street, South Garden Avenue, Park Street and the Atlantic Coast Line Railroad tracks.  This is considered one of the finest business locations in Clearwater.

The construction is entirely of hollow tile ands brick, stuccoed throughout, with elaborate ornamental façade and Spanish tile coping finishing the top of the sidewalls. Wide corridors run through the building north and south and east and west and there is a spacious court under a big rotunda in the center.

Clearwater’s newest business building is divided into very attractive small shops, all of which have large plate glass windows, both on the streets and the arcade. The post office being located in the southeast corner, patrons of the post office will be obliged to pass all of the business places in the building. It is stated that these desirable shops and offices have already been leased.

The main feature of the Scranton Arcade, perhaps, is that its erection opens up a new business district on South Garden Avenue, and is but the forerunner of a number of attractive business buildings.

Other stores in the arcade included the Postal Telegraph Company, the post office, Rellop’s Smoke Shop, Frank J. Booth Insurance, a newspaper office, a beauty shop and the Dutch Kitchen restaurant.

I haven’t been able to find out exactly what happened to the Scranton Arcade building, but the modern Atrium office building now stands at the corner of Cleveland and South Garden.  If you know the fate of the Scranton Arcade, please post something here by clicking on “comment.”

Tags: Add new tag, Clearwater, scranton arcade

Clearwater real estate wall art

If you’ve been reading this blog for the past few weeks, you know I have some interest in wall art and murals. I’ve posted an example or two, and I came across some really nice examples in downtown Clearwater when I visited there a few days ago.

I’ll have to do a post on some of the nice work that has been done in revitalizing downtown Clearwater in the past few years. Not all of it has been all that popular — for example, some people object to the curvy new Cleveland Street roadway, and the enormous black globes that have been placed on the median as decorations. If you miss one of the lefty-righty twists in the road, you could end up up with one of those big globes as a new hood ornament.

Still, downtown Clearwater us much more attractive and appealing than it was just a few years back. There’s some nice new condo housing there, and some nice restaurants and coffee shops, as well. Not to mention some fine examples of wall art that really lends some color and character to what was a very tired and rundown area.

I’ve found wall art in downtown Dunedun, and a couple of examples on the sponge docks in Tarpon Springs. Still, though, I think the local wall art capital is downtown Clearwater. I’ll be posting a few more examples in the coming weeks.

Tags: Clearwater, murals, wall art

Pinellas County short sales require patience and a good agent

Pinellas County short sales vs. foreclosures, last 10 months

   If you own a property in Pinellas County that you would like to sell, but you owe more on it than it’s worth, you may have thought about doing a short sale.
     A couple of years ago very few people had even heard the term “short sale.” A short sale is where the net proceeds from the sale of the property are not sufficient to cover the mortgage or mortgages and assorted other closing costs –homeowner association fees or property taxes or real estate commissions.
     Although the seller is definitely a party to the transaction, the sale itself requires third party or lender approval.  That approval is based on current market value that the lender determines once an offer is received on the property, along with other documentation provided by the seller as to need and eligibility for the short sale.
     Here’s the biggest question that every seller asks regarding short sales: Who pays all the fees associated with the sale of the property?
     The answer: The lender!
     The process can be lengthy and tedious; to date, the lenders have been slow to respond, but new incentives by the U.S. Treasury Department have caused lenders to reconsider, especially in instances where there may be multiple liens involved.
     Keep in mind that there are other factors involved in doing a short sale, including credit and tax implications. Short sales will not be the answer for everyone.
     Sometimes refinancing alone will work. The Obama Administration is working with lenders to make refinance requirements more reasonable for the current market place.
     Loan modifications are another possibility, and they are growing in popularity and availability.  Finally, foreclosure may be your best or only option.  You need accountants and attorneys to give you that advice, ultimately.
     Lenders know it is in their interest to negotiate short sales and loan modifications rather than allow more foreclosures to take place.
     The graph from the Pinellas Realtor Organization for April shows that bank owned properties are selling for far less than pre-foreclosed properties or short sales.
     Know that you have options if you are thinking about selling, but inaction should not be one of them.
     I have spoken about selling a short sale property, but buying a short sale has its advantages, a lower- than- market –price being the most obvious. But conditions and updates on a short sale property compared to a foreclosure can be significant.
     Short sales for buyers can be arduous.  Finding an agent who is experienced, patient, and willing to lead sellers and buyers through this complicated process is critical.  It can truly make the difference between a successful outcome and being just another one of those short sale horror stories.
     I can help you through the short sale process, whether you are a homeowner interested in selling or a buyer interested in making a short sale offer.
     To explore the possibilities, call me at 727-643-7100, or email me at beth@bethfrederick.com. And make sure you keep visiting www.pinellasnewsboy.com. There’s bound to be new short sale information coming on a regular basis.

Tags: Add new tag, pinellas county, short sales

Tax credit money available UP FRONT — right here in Pinellas County

I’ve written on the blog several times about the $8,000 federal tax credit. Now, the federal government has tinkered with it to make that $8,000 more useable in the form of cash that can be used up-front for down payments.

The tax credit, which is available to first-time homebuyers through Nov. 30, provides up to $8,000. The money becomes available in the following year, when the buyer files his or her tax return.

And that has been the problem.  Most buyers need the $8,000 for the down payment or other up-front costs, but the money actually arrives later, not sooner.

Some states (including Florida) have taken the initiative to provide money that can be advanced or borrowed in time to use it for the down payment, then paid back later when the federal dollars actually arrive. The Florida Legislature just did that, providing a pool of a little more than $30 million that first-time homeowners can draw on in anticipation of the federal tax credit money.

Well, now the federal government has woken up to this issue. First time homebuyers who apply for financing that is insured by the Federal Housing Administration may be able to get cash advances or loans that will provide the tax credit money up front, in time to use for the down payment or closing costs.

Housing and Urban Development Secretary Shaun Donovan says the idea is to “monetize” the tax credit, meaning that the government policy will now change to turn the tax credit into immediate cash money. That’s important, because the government estimates that half of all first-time home buyers, and maybe more than that, don’t possess enough money to cover the down payment on their new home; making that money available up-front could double the number of people able to buy a new home, according to the National Association of Homebuilders.

Here is how the FHA plan will work:

Approved lenders (that is, those lenders who have been approved to do business with the FHA) get authorized by the FHA to provide bridge loans at closing. Those bridge loans are secured
only by the tax credit. And government agencies and nonprofits will be authorized to offer bridge loans or second mortgages, financing that is secured by the value in the property being purchased.

Visit the HUD site at www.hud.gov to learn more. And get in touch with me at 727-643-7100 or at beth@bethfrederick.com – I can provide good professional counsel and advice on how to get and leverage the tax credit to your best advantage.  It’s a good idea to stop back frequently at www.pinellasnewsboy.com, also — as new tax credit developments happen, I’ll post them here.

Tags: Add new tag, Palm Harbor, pinellas county, tax credit