R-G Crown acquisition adds to bad loans at Fifth Third

Fifth Third Bancorp joined the line of banks warning Wall Street about the damage the mortgage crisis will wreak on their bottom line.

The bank said in a Tuesday filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission that it would take a $275 million provision for loan and lease losses, nearly double the $140 million provision it took last quarter to cover bad loans.

That will knock fourth-quarter earnings per share down to the range of 24 cents to 27 cents, the bank said, with full-year earnings per share in the $2.19 to $2.22 range.

Analysts, on average, had expected fourth-quarter earnings per share of 65 cents and $2.71 for full-year 2007.

Losses in home equity loans are the primary causes for the higher provision, Fifth Third said in the filing. Commercial construction and commercial mortgage loans also contributed.

R-G Crown Bank, a Casselberry-based bank that Fifth Third acquired last month, also contributed to the bad loans. Fifth Third said R-G Crown's bad loans would account for $37 million of Fifth Third's nonperforming assets in the fourth quarter, or 5 percent of the expected 49 percent increase in nonperforming assets. Those are mostly in commercial loans.

Cincinnati-based Fifth Third (NASDAQ: FITB) is among the largest banks in the Tampa Bay area. On June 30, prior to the R-G Crown acquisitions, Fifth Third had 40 offices, $1.6 billion in deposits and a 2.17 percent market share in the Bay area, according to the most recent information available from the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. Fifth Third picked up an additional 10 offices with the R-G Crown deal.

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source: bizjournals.com

Centro Ybor owners: Revitalization continues with new tenants

The Centro Ybor retail center has added two tenants in its new owners' efforts to revitalize the once-struggling center.

GRA-FX Design of Tampa is slated to be in 4,000 square feet that has never been leased. It plans to be in the space by March, a release from Chicago-based property owner M&J Wilkow said.

Also, Rock-N-Sports Bar & Grille opened Dec. 14.

Financial terms of the leases were not disclosed.

Centro Ybor has 192,906 square feet of leased space and is more than 90 percent occupied. There is 20,588 square feet of total vacant space, or 9.64 percent, the release said.

Rock-N-Sports initially opened in June 2005 and soon became a relocation spot for many people who moved to Tampa after being displaced by Hurricane Katrina. Its new location in the former Barleyhopper's bar at Centro Ybor has a larger seating capacity than its original location nearby and gives the business two outside dining areas. It has a game room that contains 45 TVs over 6,000 square feet.

GRA-FX Design employs 13 people. It is an interactive media company specializing in print, graphic and Web site design that was founded in 1990. It spent the last 14 years operating in the Ybor Square building in Ybor City.

The firm's arrival adds another creative industries business to the center, which its owners envision to have a "funky, edgy, Bohemian and artsy" image, M&J Wilkow Vice President David Harvey said in the release.

The firm's space design was described in a release as "very high tech" with wide open space, a loft area and 40-foot tall ceilings.

GRA-FX joins Tampa Digital Studios, a large digital media production firm, which relocated its 32 employees in September to 10,000 square feet in Centro Ybor.

The move was part of a vision to turnaround the mixed-use center as a cultural hub for creative industries as well as entertainment, the release said.

Centro Ybor is located at Eighth Avenue between 15th and 17th streets in Tampa's Ybor City.

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source: bizjournals.com

Clayton's first TIF approved for Carondelet Village

The Clayton Board of Aldermen approved its first use of tax increment financing (TIF) for the proposed Carondelet Village in a unanimous vote Tuesday.

Clayton-based developer Mark S. Mehlman Realty's plans in the approximately $128 million redevelopment project include 110,00 square feet of retail space, 110,000 square feet of office space, a 150-room boutique hotel, a movie theater and a 663-space parking garage, according to the project's Web site.

Mark Mehlman, principal of Mark S. Mehlman Realty, presented plans to Clayton officials in December 2006 for a mixed-use development as a second phase to the developer's $72 million Crescent mixed-use project at 155 Carondelet Plaza. The more than 2 acre proposed Carondelet Village site is south of Forsyth and east of The Crescent. All of the structures in the redevelopment area are 35 years of age or older, and the site includes some undeveloped space.

The city's TIF Commission, appointed in September to review the developer's request for a public-private partnership, adopted a resolution at a public hearing Dec. 3 recommending that the board approve the redevelopment plan and associated TIF.

The project must undergo the Clayton Plan Commission's site plan review process, and a redevelopment agreement must be struck setting the project's parameters, including timeline and financing.

The redevelopment is targeted for completion by 2010. About $104 million will be privately financed, according to TIF Commission documents. National City Bank has expressed an interest in financing Carondelet Village, the documents indicate.

The board approved $21.1 million in TIF and $2.9 million in costs covered by Transportation Development District or Community Improvement District revenue.

"Using economic incentives is new to Clayton, but it has become a necessity in the race to maintain economic viability," Clayton Mayor Linda Goldstein said in statement Wednesday. "The incentives not only encourage development, they level the playing field in the competition."

The Carondelet Village development "adds the critical mass" necessary to re-establish Clayton as a shopping destination, city officials said.

The redevelopment's construction phase is expected to create 421 full-time equivalent jobs, with about 505 full-time equivalent jobs located in the finished project.

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Burger King bunker' sold

Burger King Corp. has sold its former backup data facility to Regional Properties for $3.5 million, or about $159 a square foot, said ComReal Miami, which represented the seller.

Regional Properties will lease the 22,000-square-foot facility to the Sunrise Group, a health care company.

Built in 1986, the building, at 11975 S.W. 140th Terrace, earned the nickname "Burger King bunker" after it served as a shelter for dozens of employees and their families during Hurricane Andrew in 1992. It has a concrete roof and walls, a full sprinkler system and a built-in UPS backup and generator systems with heavy electrical power.

In recent years Burger King has leased the facility to Precision Response Corp.

"This is a great real estate property," ComReal's Edward Redlich said in a news release. "It has gone from a data center to a call center, and will now be used for a health care facility. It is rare that so many different types of businesses can all benefit from the same facility with little changes."

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source: bizjournals.com

Herman Miller buying Brandrud Furniture company

Herman Miller Inc. said it's buying Brandrud Furniture Inc., which makes health care furnishings, for an undisclosed price.

Seattle-based Brandrud makes seating products for waiting areas, patient treatment areas and lobbies and waiting rooms, and also sells to higher education and office markets. The company's 2007 sales are expected to be about $20 million. The company was acquired by Lee Falck and Bobby Holt in 2000; both serve as co-presidents.

Zeeland, Mich.-based Herman Miller (NASDAQ: MLHR) makes office furniture and its annual revenues total nearly $2 billion.

The deal is expected to be completed in February 2008.

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source: bizjournals.com