Focus of inaugural Tampa Bay Design Week: The power of design

By Alexis Muellner

Tampa Bay is set to celebrate design.

The inaugural Tampa Bay Design Week is scheduled Nov. 5-8 in Tampa. The event brings together designers, enthusiasts, leaders and citizens to celebrate, inspire, showcase and grow Tampa Bay’s creative community, a statement from the American Institute of Architects Tampa Bay chapter said.

Nine different events are scheduled to take place centered on Franklin Street in downtown Tampa. Design Franklin Street, a pop-up street festival on Franklin Street between…

Source:: BizJournal Real Estate

Thom O’Bryant takes over at GTAR

By Chris Wilkerson

Thom O’Bryant Jr. begins as the CEO of the Greater Tampa Association of Realtors next week. He takes over for Carol Austin, who is retiring from her post on Dec. 31.

Originally from St. Petersburg, O’Bryant most recently was the chief operating officer at the Greater Ft. Lauderdale Association of Realtors, where he served since 2011.

Austin has been the CEO at GTAR for 20 years and on the staff for 44 years.

GTAR represents about 7,300 real estate professionals, according to its website.

Source:: BizJournal Real Estate

5 questions Lockheed Martin’s CEO will ask you in a job interview

By Jill R. Aitoro

We’ve all gone through the torturous process of job interviews. And we’ve all prepared for the standard questions about our strengths and weaknesses, and maybe the curveball about the last book we read (as if any of us really answer that one honestly).

But what if the questions came from the CEO of the biggest defense contractor in the world?

Lockheed Martin’s Marillyn Hewson shared her top questions to candidates in her latest LinkedIn Influencer post. And yes, most were ones we’ve heard (and…

Source:: BizJournal Real Estate

5 things to start the day: Walmart’s online pricing, Villages visionary, and how the money followed LeBron (Video)

By Pam Huff

Wal-Mart is considering whether to match online prices during the holiday shopping season, a move the retail giant has long resisted but that many of its competitors have embraced. The move is one of several Wal-Mart could implement this year, though company officials are concerned such a nationwide program would cut too deeply into earnings, according to the Wall Street Journal. Beyond matching online prices, the company also said it would cut shipping fees and guarantee delivery by Christmas Eve…

Source:: BizJournal Real Estate

Moore succeeds with cultural, economic diversity

By Alexis Muellner

Title, company: Senior vice president, chief operating officer, Tampa Housing Authority

Years in his role: 16

Education: University of Memphis

College years: Active in TV production for community access station

Downtime: Loves ocean fishing

Hot button: Indecision

First paid job: Working in cash control at the “Liberty Land” theme park. He spent the day counting cash.

Music preferences: A little blues and a lot of jazz, especially jazz singers such as Sade. “Her voice is an instrument.”

A…

Source:: BizJournal Real Estate

SkyHouse Channelside tops out, half-way done

By Alexis Muellner

In a lunchtime event, Batson-Cook Construction is celebrating the “topping out” of SkyHouse Channelside.

The milestone signals the building is halfway to completion.

The 23-floor, 320-unit luxury apartment building is on 12th Street between East Washington and East Whiting Streets.

The high-rise is on track for delivery in May 2015, a release said. The development team of Novare Group and Batson-Cook Development Co. broke ground on the high-rise in February.

The tower is one of 11 SkyHouse-branded…

Source:: BizJournal Real Estate

Two strong quarters in a row for GDP, but economy still a little soft (Video)

By Kent Hoover

The Federal Reserve’s confidence in the economy was rewarded by a better-than-expected report on economic growth in the third quarter.

Gross domestic product increased at an annual rate of 3.5 percent in the third quarter, according to an initial estimate by the Bureau of Economic Analysis.

We can thank personal consumption, exports, nonresidential fixed investment and government spending for this jump, according to the bureau.

The strong third quarter followed 4.6 percent GDP growth in the second…

Source:: BizJournal Real Estate

Cypress Falls at Palm Harbor hits the market

By Alexis Muellner

The Palm Harbor apartment complex Cypress Falls is on the market.

It was originally completed as a 432-unit apartment community and converted into condominiums in 2005.

Following a national trend, Tampa Bay apartment communities are in high investor demand, driven by high occupancies and demand from renters that continues to push up rental rates. Investors are chasing all levels of the properties — from brand-new, top-tier communities to older ones that need some work.

Current ownership of Cypress…

Source:: BizJournal Real Estate

Metropolitan Ministries and Hillsborough County to build new school for Miracle Place kids

By Jo-Lynn Brown

Metropolitan Ministries and the Hillsborough County Schools District are partnering to build a new school for the children that call Miracle Place their temporary home.

The new 20,000-square-foot educational facility will have eight classrooms that will collectively fit up to 150 students grades kindergarten through fifth grade, according to a statement.

The school, to be named The Patricia Sullivan Metropolitan Ministries School, will be located at 2202 N. Florida Ave., Tampa.

“What we are witnessing…

Source:: BizJournal Real Estate

This CEO sold her house to fund her company

By Caroline McMillan Portillo

Jody Porowski is the co-founder and CEO of Avelist , an online platform for people to find and share information — all in list form. She and her co-founder, Josh Jodrey, launched the company in 2012, and it has now grown to 42,000 regular users a month.

Porowski developed Avelist while working full-time at SAS (short for Statistical Analysis System), a company offering business analytics and intelligence software that came in at No. 2 on Fortune’s “2014 Best Places to Work” list. In 2013, Porowski…

Source:: BizJournal Real Estate