Month: November 2008

Edgewater gets new Conference Center

Beginning this week, the Edgewater Beach and Golf Resort conference center is undergoing a $250,000 plus facelift.  This is the first of several phases of renovations to the resort property which will take place between now and the beginning of 2009.

As one of the largest conference center properties in Bay County, the Edgewater conference center has more than 32,000 sq. ft. of flexible meeting space. The conference center was constructed in 2000 to accommodate the growing demand for meeting facilities in Panama City Beach and currently hosts more than 2,000 meetings, conferences, weddings and sporting events each year.

“Since 2000, our conference center has been utilized by locals and national clients,” said Tom Sparks, general manager of The Resort Collection of Panama City Beach. “We are excited about the completion by the end of November.”

Other renovations on the horizon for Edgewater Beach and Golf Resort include a kid’s pool and water feature, sports complex to include a basketball, batting cages, kids playground, resurfacing of the current tennis courts, exterior improvements to the resort towers and new landscaping.

“The additional features we are adding to the resort property will add more value to our guests,” said Paul Wohlford, vice president of sales and marketing. “The renovations will allow us to maintain a competitive edge in the vacation and meetings market.”

I’ll be here all week, in and out, shoot timelapse of the whole thing – sweet!

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Community Banks Lending Despite Credit Crunch

As regional and national banks eagerly rush to accept government bailout loans in the face of frozen credit markets, local community banks are quickly becoming the go-to source for mortgage loans in Florida. Despite tighter underwriting guidelines from Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae and a secondary mortgage market with little appetite for Florida real estate, local community banks are still stepping in with loans designed to accommodate the local real estate market. These local banks have studied the specific needs of our local market and are offering loans tailored to the unique needs of Bay and surrounding counties.

One example is Panama City Beach. On the beach, the vast majority of properties listed for sale are condominiums which sprouted up all along the coast in the boom years of the first half of the decade. The flurry of condo development was due, in part, to the easy flow of credit and lax underwriting and property standards so prevalent at the time. Now, as investors paint all of Florida with the same broad brush, Beach condos are left with the same stigma as South Florida and labeled as “condo-tels” – a name coined by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to describe a hybrid between a condo and a hotel with resort-like facilities and daily rental desks. Though Fannie and Freddie didn’t seem to draw a distinction between condos and condo-tels in the past, they certainly do now. Financing for these properties has all but evaporated leaving many prospective second-home buyers with no options. Enter the community bank.

With deep roots all along the Florida Panhandle and in their respective markets, community banks understand our unique market and have a vested interest in its success. One such local community bank is Vision Bank. With a sincere belief in the viability of the Beach condo market, Vision Bank is lending its own money by developing portfolio products designed to provide affordable options for the local real estate market and the out of state second-home buyers so crucial to its resurgence. Vision Bank, while adhering to sound lending practices and diligent underwriting, is offering bank-held, fully amortizing mortgage products with no pre-payment penalties and no hidden fees designed specifically for the condo-tel market. Vision knows this market and knows that more condo sales will help stabilize prices and draw even more potential buyers back to the Beach and all of Bay County. That is the essence of a community bank – investing back in the community.

For this and more, visit my blog at www.activerain.com/blogs/hpalmer

Hunter Palmer

PCBDaily.com to Get New Server Home

With increased traffic, come slower load times with the same old equipment.  Over the last couple of months, as we’ve seen tremendous growth, the page load times have gone down the toilet, if you’ve even been able to get the page to load at all.

PCBDaily has been on the same old server for more than 2 years, and it is time for an upgrade.  The new server should allow much faster load times and a much more reliable connection, and we shouldn’t see those pesky “page cannot be displayed” errors any more.

We’ll be switching everything over in the next few days, but we are carefully planning everything out so as to make the transition as seamless as possible.

Thanks for your patience.

New President at Beaches Chamber

Panama City Beach, FL (November 12, 2008) — As of November 12, 2008 the Greater Panama City Beaches Chamber of Commerce has named a new President/CEO, Beth Oltman.

“The role of  President & CEO of the Beaches Chamber is key related to the coordination of communication and efforts required to ensure this region’s continued success,” states Chairman Al McCambry.  “With close to one thousand members, Beth will have the challenge of both continued growth and relationship building with key leaders throughout not only Bay County, but also NWFL.  She has demonstrated that she has the ability to accomplish what is needed.  We received many resumes from all over the country but in the end, felt our most qualified person was right here.  The Board of Directors and staff are very enthusiastic about Beth’s new role.”

Beth C. Oltman joined the Beaches Chamber as Executive Assistant / Office Manager in January 2007.  She was later promoted to the position of Director of Operations and Human Resources, and has acted as Interim Director since July 2008.  Beth relocated to Bay County in 2006 from Hilton Head Island, South Carolina with her husband Brett Oltman, Account Manager of White Cap Construction Supply, and two young daughters Mary Grace 7, and Sadie 3.  Beth graduated from University of South Carolina with a Bachelor of Science degree in Hotel, Restaurant & Tourism, and graduated from Marriott’s Corporate training program in Convention Sales Management.  Her career in the Resort Hospitality industry has covered Convention Services, Catering Sales, Bed and Breakfast Management and working in the Golf Industry.

“I feel we have a very energetic, innovative chamber of commerce, and such a strong, creative team that believes in this community.  It is the people and the membership that are the treasures of this chamber,” she says.  “I look forward to strengthening these relationships, and working closely with our neighboring chambers of commerce, TDC/CVB and community organizations.”

Beth can be reached via email at Beth@PCBeach.org.  For more information please contact the Beaches Chamber at (850) 235-1159.

Auction at Towne of Seahaven

On December 13th, 2008 an auction will be held on site at Origin, at the Towne of Seahaven.

They will sell 29 condos with over 60 to choose from, including 2, 3, and 4 bedroom options.  It is being advertised as no minimums and no reserves with the auction to begin at 11 am CST.

Registered bidders will be expected to bring a deposit (listed below) and pay a 10% buyers premium on top of the final auction price they purchased at.

Deposit amounts:

Studio: $7,500

1 Bedroom: $10,000

2 Bedroom: $12,500

3 Bedroom: $15,000

4 Bedroom: $20,000

More Information

Tracy Stum to Paint the Streets of Pier Park

This weekend, at the Madonnaro Street Painting Festival in Pier Park will feature returning artist Tracy Stum.  Tracy painted the portrait of the Dalai Lama that when looked at from a specific angle, it appears as though he is actually sitting next to Tracy.

You guys should all come out to Pier Park this weekend to see all the awesome art. Tracy will begin her painting, along with Jeanie Burns, on Friday, and everyone else begins painting on Saturday at 9 am.

Here is some of her other work.

Get the internet from your toilet

I couldn’t pass this up.  As you can imagine, I get email forwards from all over, and pretty much 99% of the time, I don’t even look at them.  But, this was just too darn good.

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TiSP: Going with the flow

Google TiSP (BETA) is a fully functional, end-to-end system that provides in-home wireless access by connecting your commode-based TiSP wireless router to one of thousands of TiSP Access Nodes via fiber-optic cable strung through your local municipal sewage lines.

Installing TiSP

Installing a typical home TiSP system is a quick, easy and largely sanitary process — provided you follow these step-by-step instructions very, very carefully.

  1. Remove the spindle of fiber-optic cable from your TiSP installation kit.
  2. Attach the sinker to the loose end of the cable, take one safe step backward and drop this weighted end into your toilet.
  3. Grasp both ends of the spindle firmly while a friend or loved one flushes, thus activating the patented GFlush™ system, which sends the weighted cable surfing through the plumbing system to one of the thousands of TiSP Access Nodes.
  4. When the GFlush is complete, the spindle will (or at least should) have largely unraveled, exposing a connector at the remaining end. Detach the cable from the spindle, taking care not to allow the cable to slip into the toilet.
  5. Plug the fiber-optic cable into your TiSP wireless router, which has a specially designed counterweight to withstand the centripetal force of flushing.
  6. Insert the TiSP installation CD and run the setup utility to install the Google Toolbar (required) and the rest of the TiSP software, which will automatically configure your computer’s network settings.
  7. Within sixty minutes — assuming proper data flow — the other end of your fiber-optic cable should have reached the nearest TiSP Access Node, where our Plumbing Hardware Dispatchers (PHDs) will remove the sinker and plug the line into our global data networking system.
  8. Congratulations, you’re online! (Please wash your hands before surfing.)

Note: If you have any difficulty installing, operating or simply living with TiSP, we suggest joining the TiSP Help Group.

Advanced TiSP Options

Professional Installation Service
You can also choose to request our professional installation service, which dispatches an army of factory-trained, sub-contracted nanobots from the TiSP Access Node. The nanobots travel with exhilarating nano-speed through the sewer system and into your home to perform the installation service, which should be complete within 15 minutes. Note: For your own physical safety and emotional well-being and in consideration of the nanobots’ working conditions, please make absolutely certain that your toilet is unoccupied at the scheduled appointment time.

In-Commode Package Delivery
With professional installation service, you can also have your Google Checkout purchases delivered directly through the sewage network into your bathroom. Each package comes pre-sealed in a watertight and nanobot-resistant bag made of biodegradable corn-based plastic. For a limited time, TiSP subscribers who sign up for a Checkout account will receive free bathroom delivery on their first ten Checkout purchases.

TiSP for Enterprise
We’re actively developing a higher-performance version of TiSP specifically tailored to small and medium-sized businesses, including 24-hour, on-site technical support in the event of backup problems, brownouts and data wipes.

Foreign Trade Zone Status at New Airport

Panama City, FL (Nov. 10, 2008) – The Panama City – Bay County International Airport Authority has directed Airport Executive Director Randy Curtis to evaluate the options for establishing a Foreign trade zone at the new international airport currently under construction in West Bay.

“The airport board believes it is important to establish a Foreign Trade Zone at the new airport in order to maximize its economic development potential,” said Airport Authority chairman Joe Tannehill.  “Having a foreign trade status at the new airport will put us in another category altogether and be an important differentiator in competing for new jobs and business expansions.”

The action taken by the Airport Authority is in consideration of extensive statistics documenting the importance of foreign trade to the Florida economy. It noted that establishing a Foreign Trade Zone at the new Panama City – Bay County airport would make the new facility one of 10 airports in Florida.

Airport board members agreed that Foreign Trade Zone in West Bay would benefit the community and the region by facilitating and expediting international trade, providing special customs procedures as a public service to help firms conduct business, encouraging and facilitating exports, attracting offshore activity, assisting state/local economic development efforts and creating employment opportunities.

The action taken directs Airport Executive Director Randy Curtis to begin immediately preliminary work to create a Foreign Trade Zone at the new international airport in WestBay.

Specifically, the board asked Curtis to develop options for the airport board to consider concerning the size and boundaries of the trade zone, including a discussion of the costs and benefits associated with each option presented.  Further, the board asked Curtis to investigate public/private partnerships to stimulate intermodal infrastructure development.

Florida Trade Facts:

The U.S. is the world’s largest trading nation, exporting nearly $1.3 trillion in goods and services and more than one-fifth of the growth in U.S. GDP depends on exports. (1)

Manufacturing exports support an estimated 5.2 million jobs, including 1 in 5 manufacturing jobs, and jobs supported by goods exports pay 13-18% higher than the average wage. (2)

More than 30,000 companies export from Florida locations, including more than 28,000 small and medium-sized businesses. (3)

Florida’s export shipments of merchandise in 2007 totaled $45 billion, up 80 percent from $25 billion in 2003, ranking sixth among the states in terms of total exports in 2007, and exporting to 222 foreign destinations. (4)

1 – Office of the United States Trade Representative, 2005 data (latest available).
2 – Office of the United States Trade Representative, 2002 data (latest available).
3-  International Trade Administration and Bureau of the Census, Foreign Trade Division (2006 data).
4 – Revised Origin of Movement State Export Series, Bureau of the Census, Foreign Trade Division (2007 data).

Contact:
The Panama City Bay County International Airport
Randy Curtis, Executive Director, 850-763-6751 ext. 203

Shores of Panama Selling at Near Auction Prices

In an effort to drop inventory levels, The Shores of Panama Condominiums in Panama City Beach are selling brand new condos at like-auction prices.

Just to save you some time scrolling (since that is inevitably what you will do first to find the price), I’ll just give you the price up front:  $253 per square foot, on average.  Now, let me tell you about why I think this is a great deal.

If you haven’t been to Shores of Panama, you really have to check it out to appreciate it.  Short of going to Edgewater or Boardwalk, it really is one of the few ‘true’ resorts in Panama City Beach.  Featuring resort amenities such as 2 full service spas with massages, facials, steam rooms, and saunas, two tiki bars serving lunch and dinner, conference areas, a 14,000 square foot pool, indoor heated pool, and tons more.

The sense of arrival is spectacular as you pull into the covered grand portacache.  The scene includes elegant fountains and a quaint cafe with the entrance being accessed through oversized solid doors.  The colors are warm and the mood relaxing.

As you walk into the large lobby, you have a view directly onto the lushly landscaped pool area and out into the emerald green Gulf of Mexico.  The lobby is finished off with huge chandeliers and large-tile floors.  The granite counter tops are large and majestic, and the furnishings look and feel expensive.

This expensive look and feel isn’t just skin deep, either.  The entire709  condominium building was constructed using concrete tunnel form, firmly planting the entire structure on the beach.  With an all concrete structure, residents can stay, and own with the peace of mind that their property is safe.

As you walk out into the pool area, you are greeted with palm trees and other native plants to this area.  The 14,000 square foot pool weaves in and out of the various nooks and crannies that give this huge pool character.  Flowing under two bridges, the pool gives the swimmer constant views of the Gulf of Mexico and is serviced by two tiki bars.

The 2 full service spas, separated for men and for women,  provide massages, facials, steam rooms and saunas and are available to guests and residents.  There is a spa located on each side of the U-shaped building. The fitness center features high-end Life Fitness brand cardio equipment, fitted with individual flat panel TV’s.

The large indoor heated pool and hot tub offers residents and guests an opportunity to enjoy a swim regardless of the weather.

With 3 elevator systems, you never have to walk too far to get up to your floor.

Centrally located in Panama City Beach, Pier Park, restaurants, Wal-Mart, and pretty much everything else you’d want while you were on vacation are just a few short minutes away.

Ok, so we’ve established that the Shores of Panama is a true resort, but lets talk numbers.

Recently, beachfront condos have sold for around $200/sq ft at auction.
The price here is $253 per square foot, but you get so much more.  I walked around some of the other condos that have sold at auction, and they simply just don’t compare to the package you get at the Shores of Panama. Others that have recently sold, really are just a building with a pool.

As far as rentals, the pros at Oaseas Resorts have you covered.  Last season, 65% of the guests who visited the property re-booked for next year.  With an Oaseas Resorts office on site, getting in touch with them should be no problem.

For more information: