Leadership Pasco still strong after 25 years
Leadership Pasco unveiled its Class of 2015, bringing together 41 emerging and existing community leaders, chosen from a competitive pool of applicants. The 10-month course includes full-day program sessions, tours and candid conversations with community leaders, as a way to broaden local understanding of the ever-changing needs of the county. Participants this year include Andrew Baxter, Jackie Bennett, Susannah Caum, Tracy Clouser, Kimberly Collins, Rebecca Corrigan, Michael Cox, Cundee Dornblaser, Mel Eakley, Pamela Elliott, Kim Hamm, Becky Hatcher, Susan Hoeller, Alison Janke, Stacey Jenkins, Sean Kline, Billy Knight, Deepthi Kumar, Wendy Longman, Lee Maggard, Tim McClain, John McMillon, Russell Miller, Teri Nichols, Kada Parris, Todd Pillars, Cheryl Pollock, Leslie Porter, Ryan Regensdorfer, Gregg Schoppman, Cindy Schwiebert, Jeremy Simons, Daniel Swing, Randall TeBeest, Lisa Wagner, James Walters, Steve Wells, Mark Wickham, John Willis and Lauren Witmer.
McDonald’s, offices planned for Connerton
People waiting for a new McDonald’s restaurant on the northern part of Land O’ Lakes Boulevard may not have to wait much longer.
Planners are meeting with Pasco County officials this week to build a McDonald’s, as well as a 5,000-square-foot office building on the northeast corner of U.S. 41 and Pleasant Plains parkway. Pasco Investment Land LLC of St. Augustine, and FCPG R E Fund 09-03 LLC of Orlando currently own the 6.5 acres of land.
Pasco Investment Land is affiliated with Hayman Woods, the current developer of Connerton. Charles Mitchell Jr. of Orlando runs FCPG. He is the president and owner of First Capital Property Group, according to an online profile, a company he has owned for a little more than 19 years.
Mitchell is one of the people involved in the development of the property, as well as Stephanie Tyrrell, a construction manager for McDonald’s USA. It’s not clear if this will be a franchise location, and if so, who will own it. Ed Rogers of Heidt Design will function as the engineer of record, according to documents filed with Pasco County officials.
Once opened, this would be the 11th McDonald’s in Pasco, joining one franchised by Brickman Management Co., down the road at Land O’ Lakes Boulevard and State Road 54. This new location would be near a SunTrust Bank, Subway and a Walgreens.
A request for comment to Stew Gibbons with Connerton earlier this month was not returned. No timetable was released on when plans for the restaurant and office building will move forward.
Home sales, prices up in September
It’s nothing but positives in September for the Tampa Bay housing and condominium market, as both sales and median prices have gone up.
The latest report from Florida Realtors shows existing home sales are up 11 percent, and condo sales grew more than 4 percent, compared to a year ago. Median sales for the area that also includes Pasco County also rose more than 3 percent for existing homes, and 10 percent for condos.
In September, the Tampa Bay region sold 3,441 single-family homes and 1,132 condos — second only to the greater Miami area. Statewide, existing home sales were up more than 13 percent to 20,792, while condo sales climbed 2 percent to 8,622.
The median price for those single-family homes was $159,900 locally, compared to $180,000 statewide. Condos in the Tampa Bay region were $105,500, compared to $142,700 around the state.
The interest rate for a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 4.16 percent in September, down from 4.49 percent a year ago, according to Freddie Mac.
Dade City RaceWay sold
After more than 15 years of corporate ownership, RaceTrac Petroleum Inc. has sold its Dade City RaceWay location for $2.3 million.
The buyer of the station, located on a little more than an acre of land at 12310 U.S. 301, is 974 Pasco LLC, managed by West Palm Beach attorney Carolyn Sakolsky. The location was built in 2004 on land RaceTrac purchased in 1999 for $263,000.
Bobby and Dorothy Baker of Zephyrhills originally owned the land.
It’s not clear if the sale of the property will affect the location in any way. A request for comment last week from Atlanta-based RaceWay was not returned.
However, there is a chance the RaceWay might have sold to a franchisee. According to the company’s website, locations owned by corporate use the name RaceTrac, while those owned by franchisees are called RaceWay.
SBA wants to boost women-run business
The U.S. Small Business Administration and the National Women’s Business Council have joined forces in an effort to increase the flow of money by and into small businesses run by women.
The overriding goal, according to a release, is to encourage greater participation by women on the financial and investing side of high-growth entrepreneurship.
Both groups will host a series of roundtable discussions around the country to develop policy recommendations. Over the past year, woman-owned businesses were approved for 341 loans totaling more than $163 million, according to Francisco Marrero of SBA’s South Florida district. That’s up over the previous year, where 317 loans were approved for $133.8 million.
During the next few months, the working groups of 20 will meet with investor and fund managers to discuss ways to increase the ranks of women investors, while developing strategies to encourage investment in companies run by women. The series will culminate with the unveiling of policy recommendations at an investor network meeting next May.
For more information about the Small Business Investment Companies initiative, visit SBA.gov/INV.
