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Builders more confident about the future

If you are a regular reader of this blog, you know we have been cautiously reporting some positive factors that seem to be contributing to a slowly-emerging, or improving, real estate market.

None of these things have been dramatic, but all of them have been positive – things like an improving employment picture, continuing low interest rates, and increases in the number of pending home sales.

Here’s one more thing to add to the list – an optimistic report from the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB).

The NAHB reported this week that confidence among home builders is on the upswing when it comes to the construction of single-family homes.  The NAHB says it is the third consecutive month that builders have reported increased confidence in the future of single-family home construction.

 “While builder confidence remains low, the consistent gains registered over the past several months are an indication that pockets of recovery are slowly starting to emerge in scattered housing markets,” said NAHB Chairman Bob Nielsen.

Nielsen had something else to say, also; he noted that new single-family home sales might be even better if lenders were a little freer with their money. Builders and home buyers are both being negatively impacted by tight credit restrictions, he said.

NAHB Chief Economist David Crowe said buyers are still cautious because of the large inventories of foreclosed properties in many markets, and they also worry about continuing high unemployment ands the challenges of selling their existing homes.

Even so, Crowe said, “builders are reporting more inquiries and more interest among potential buyers than they have seen in previous months.”

The area of the country where builders are expressing the biggest boosts in confidence levels? Right here in the South.

Tags: hernando county, home builders, new construction, new home construction, Pasco County, pinellas county

The Hacienda Hotel, once the jewel of New Port Richey, now slowly decays

The 1920s was a decade not unlike the last 10 years here in Florida; the economy was overheated, people (some people, anyway) had plenty of money, and the real estate market was going crazy. Investors were looking for new ways to make money. With all the people who were flooding into the state on vacation, the hotel business seemed like a pretty sure thing.

The Hacienda Hotel, once the jewel of downtown New Port Richey, Fla., now sits empty and forgotten

Hotels popped up all over the state, and some of them are still standing. One of those is the Hacienda Hotel in New Port Richey.

It seems a bit hard to believe now, but some people thought that Pasco County would be a likely spot for a sort of East Coast version of Hollywood. Some actors and movie producers of the day thought the west coast of Florida would be a natural movie-making site, and a number of silent movies were actually shot on location in the area.

Some of those Hollywood types joined with wealthy Pasco County people and hatched an idea for a swanky, Spanish–style, 100-room hotel in downtown New Port Richey, just a stone’s throw from the Pithlachascotee river.

Here is what the St. Petersburg TIMES said about the project in 1925:

The Hacienda's courtyard. That once-beautiful fountain has been seriously vandalized.

“Plans have been set on foot at an enthusiastic meeting of New Port Richeyites for the construction of a 100-room fire-proof hotel. Within a few minutes after the meeting was called to order nearly the entire capital required was subscribed.

“The site selected is a tract overlooking the beautiful Pithlachascotee river, north of the Gulf high school building, and in the exact center of population. The site has the further advantage of being located within a short distance of the proposed station of the West Coast railway, now an assured fact.”

The article said the hotel would be of either Moorish or Spanish-style construction, and would cost about $150,000, pretty big bucks for the day.

A mural on the side of a downtown New Port Richey building depicts a 1920s party in the Hacienda's ballroom

James E. Meighan, one of the Hollywood types, donated the land. The final design called for a $250,000 building housing 50 rooms and including a steam-heating plant, an open-air dining room, and beams in the dining room and lobby. Ground was broken on Aug. 11, 1926, and the Hacienda’s first guests were welcomed 184 days later.

More than 800 people attended the grand opening on Feb. 5, 1927.

Some pretty famous folk visited or stayed at the Hacienda in those early years – Ring Lardner, Mrs. Arthur Hammerstein, attorney Clarence Darrow, and actress Gloria Swanson among them.

The hotel did reasonably well, and it managed to survive the Depression, which came along not too long after the Hacienda opened its doors. It changed hands a number of times over the years. By the time the 1950s came around, the hotel was being sold fairly regularly, and management changes were frequent. 

The Hacienda, from an old postcard

In 1985, the Hacienda was acquired by Gulf Coast Jewish Family Services Inc., and the facility became what would be known today as a group home or assisted living center. Later, it became a home for elderly people with mental disabilities.

The city of New Port Richey acquired the property in 2003. It has been vacant since 2006.

The old hotel looks pretty sad today. It would make a great boutique hotel, but restoration costs would probably be very high. If you know of any plans to resurrect the old Hacienda, please let me know.

Tags: hacienda hotel, historic, hotel, New Port Richey, Pasco County, real estate

Colorful murals adorn New Port Richey real estate

If you’ve spent any time at all on this blog, you know that I like murals.  There’s quite a few of them to be found throughout Tampa Bay, and especially in the various communities of Pinellas County. I’ve written about them before.

Dancers in the Hacienda Hotel in the 1920s, as depicted by mural artist Chad Leininger

Today, I found several of them in an unexpected place.

I live and work in North Pinellas County, and that’s where I do most of my real estate work — Palm Harbor real estate, Tarpon Springs real estate, Dunedin real estate, Clearwater real estate. I also list and sell Pasco County real estate, but I spend less time there than in North Pinellas County.

This morning, however, I had to go north to New Port Richey in Pasco County to look over a house that I may be listing for sale.  After that, I drove a few blocks to downtown New Port Richey, a place I haven’t visited for awhile.

Wha surprise — it was a treasure trove of murals.

One of them featured the Hacienda Hotel, a 1920s-era hotel that was very popular in its day but which has not served any guests for more than the past decade. I need to do a little research on the Hacienda, and when I do I’ll post a story. I like old hotels almost as much as I like murals.

This particular mural was painted on a side exterior wall of Juan’s Black Bean Cafe by a young artist named Chad Leininger. According to an old newspaper article, there are a total of six murals painted on various walls in downtown New Port Richey.

Most of the characters in the mural are local folk. But the artist included himself and some of his family members as well as actress Greta Garbo and baseball legend Babe Ruth. Can you spot them?

Tags: murals, New Port Richey, Pasco County, real estate

Caposey’s Restaurant

 It’s been a while since I posted a restaurant review, but this is a good time because I had breakfast this morning in a place I really like.

Caposey’s is up in New Port Richey, a little north of us, in Pasco County. It’s a Mom & Pop operation that puts out really good food at really good prices. If your idea of a good restaurant is a small, family-run place with great but simple fare and a lot of down-home charm, this might be the place for you.

John and Nancy Caposey were working in a restaurant in Palm Harbor about five years ago when they decided to go out on their own. John cooked at that other place, and Nancy waited on tables.
We remember them from those years at the other place, which later gave way to a fancier place and then went out of business.
Anyway, the Caposeys moved further up US19 and found a good site. They’ve been working hard at it ever since.

“We’re going to have our fifth anniversary on March 5,” Nancy told us this morning. “They say that if you can make it for five years in the restaurant business, you’re going to be all right, so we’re pretty excited about this birthday.”

This morning we had pancakes, which are about the best around here. I’m really fussy about pancakes and I won’t order them out most of the time, but these were really good.

So give it a try. Caposey’s is a little hard to spot when you go up US19 because the restaurant is actually located at 5250 Green Key Rd., a little east of US19. But you can spot it from US19 if you look hard, and the big sign helps. If you see a sign that says “Pioneer Title” on the east side of US19, it’s time to slow down and turn.

Call them at 727-842-4307 if you need directions.

Tags: Pasco County, restaurant

Are lower taxes in Pasco County’s future?

Could property taxes actually be headed down in Pasco County?

That’s the way it looks, even though most property owners have experienced recent tax increases as the value of their properties has gone up.

So why should property taxes be headed down? Because the county’s tax base has been headed steeply up, driven by the continuing upswing in development. All that new construction has resulted in a much more valuable tax base, up an estimated 27 percent in 2006 over 2005.

Mike Wells, the Pasco County tax appraiser, says the tax base was $19.9 billion in 2005, but will be an estimated $25.3 billion this year. That is the biggest one-year tax base increase ever recorded in the county.

When the tax base has grown in the past, county officials have responded by dropping the millage rate, and many of them are predicting that another drop in the tax rate should be coming up, thanks to the expanding tax base.

County officials say that if the millage rate is not dropped, the broadened tax base should generate an additional $87 million or more in new tax revenues.

Tags: Pasco County, taxes