posted on April 08, 2010 19:30
KPMG, a national audit, tax and advisory firm, surveyed large cities for the cost of doing business. Tampa was at the top of the list because of low office leasing rates, low taxes and low-cost labor. The cheapest cities, hardest hit by the economic downturn, are expected to recover fastest because of their ability to attract new businesses wishing to save on operating costs. This is already happening in the Tampa Bay area.
BB&T, which acquired Colonial Bank’s assets from the FDIC last August, has signed a 10-year deal for office space in the 36-story Park Tower building worth $11-million. Reliant Recoveries Inc. call centers is going to relocate from Everett, Washington to Pinellas Park and hire 90 employees here. Blackstone Group has completed a joint venture giving it majority ownership of Westshore Plaza. The Port of Tampa has increased its container terminal size from 25 acres to 40 acres and eventually to 160 acres, expecting more business from Latin America and Asia as the Panama Canal expansion is finished. Humana will be adding 140 employees to its Humana Cares national integrated health care management program in Saint Petersburg. And the recently renovated Janus Landing in Saint Petersburg had its grand re-opening last weekend and was sold to Knight Global Entertainment, Inc.
Not everything is rosy, however. The 225-room Ramada Plaza hotel in Winterhaven is set to be auctioned to the highest bidder on April 19 because of financial difficulties. Saddlebrook Resort in Wesley Chapel has seen year-to-year overall revenues drop 42% and is now operating in the red. Also in the red is Deer Valley Corporation, a Tampa-based company making manufactured homes, which saw revenues drop 60% from a year ago.
examiner.com | April 1st, 2010