Viera Bayside, an apartment complex in northeast St. Petersburg, has a new owner. BMF IV FL Viera Bayside, a limited liability company associated with Bridge Investment Group in Utah, bought Viera Bayside for $30.8 million in a deal that closed June 22, according to a deed filed with Pinellas County. The seller, a group led by FREG Bayside Associates LLC, bought the property in 2016 for $20.25 million, Pinellas County property records show. The two-building property, built in 1986, has 208 living units, according to property records. Bridge Investment Group is a privately-held real estate investment management firm with more than $20 billion in assets under management. The company's local portfolio also includes Carrollwood Station in Tampa. Requests for additional information from Bridge were pending return.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has appointed Gretchen Saunders and Ellen Ostman, both of Tampa, to the Board of Chiropractic Medicine. Saunders is the chief business officer with Hillsborough County Public Schools, a position she has held since 2005. She previously held various management roles with Hillsborough County Public Schools, beginning in 1996. Ostman has been a senior attorney with Givens Givens Sparks PLLC, a trial law firm, since 2000. Previously, she served as an attorney with the State Courts of Florida where she was a hearing officer from 1995 until 2000 and a traffic magistrate from 1995 until 2001. Both were named to four-year terms. Their appointments are subject to confirmation by the Florida Senate.
The St. Pete Catalyst has revised our interactive ZIP code map. The map shows the total numbers of confirmed cases of COVID-19 reported by ZIP code since the state started reporting that data in early April. The revised map offers a better representation of the outbreak in Pinellas County. Initially, when there were relatively few cases, our map visually displayed cases in a range of white, pink and red colors, with the ZIP codes with the most cases — more than 30 cases — displaying as the darkest shade of red. As case totals have increased, our map has been updated and it now shows a broader range of cases in white, pink and red. A handful of ZIP codes have fewer than 25 cases and are displayed in white, while the darkest red ZIP codes now have more than 150 cases. Check out the interactive ZIP code map here. The Catalyst updates the case totals each afternoon, after the daily report is available from the Florida Department of Health.
A newly designed Daily Spark will debut Monday. New features include the SparkPlug - a section dedicated to showcasing local social media posts, events with photos, a face lift for Zaps and a visual news post.
Eight additional deaths from COVID-19 were reported in Pinellas County Saturday morning. Pinellas County now has reported a total of 149 deaths and a total of 5,713 confirmed cases of COVID-19 since early March, including 614 newly confirmed cases reported on Saturday. Those new cases, combined with 430 new cases reported on Friday, total 1,044 new cases confirmed in just two days, including both Florida and non-Florida residents, according to data from the Florida Department of Health. Over the past 14 days, the percent of people who have tested positive for COVID-19 has averaged 10.4 percent, with results from 31,834 lab tests received since June 13.
AmSkills and Tampa Bay Works, along with 10 Tampa Bay manufacturers, are offering a free one-day manufacturing workshop Saturday (June 27) at TRU Simulation + Training at 1551 Gunn Highway in Odessa. During the interactive workshop, COVID-19 social distancing protocols will be observed and 20 participants will work individually and as a team to build a hands-on project. Of the 20 participants, the top 16 will be invited to attend a free two-week manufacturing training boot camp July 13-24. Those who complete the boot camp are guaranteed an interview with one or more of the participating employers. As many as 43 entry-level positions are available, paying up to $17 dollars an hour to start. People who are selected will have the opportunity to start working within two weeks.
With the Pinellas County Board of County Commissioners emergency ordinance requiring that citizens wear face coverings in most indoor places, St. Pete-Clearwater International Airport is providing complimentary masks with mask dispensers located at all entrances, TSA Checkpoint entries, and the visitor information booth. Additionally, with increased flights and passengers, the airport team will modify operations as needed. Numerous safety and sanitization measures have been put into effect as the airport plans for its long-term recovery.
U.S. Rep. Kathy Castor demanded the release of the State of Florida’s COVID-19 Testing and Tracing Plan through an official public records request. Castor previously requested Gov. Ron DeSantis release the plan three weeks ago, and has received no response. The State was required to send Florida’s plan to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services before May 25, under the Paycheck Protection Program and Health Care Enhancement Act, which was signed into law on April 24. The plan must include important information that Floridians, state and local officials and public health experts need to make informed decisions and save lives.
Shareholders of Fourth Street Banking Co. will vote Aug. 18 on the sale of the company to Seacoast Banking Corp. of Florida. The special meeting of shareholders to vote on the deal will be held at Freedom Bank at 1200 4th St. N. in St. Petersburg. That's the main office of Freedom Bank, Fourth Street Banking Co.'s subsidiary. Seacoast (Nasdaq: SBCF), headquartered in Stuart and the parent of Seacoast National Bank, announced earlier this year that it would buy Fourth Street Banking and Freedom Bank in a stock deal originally valued at $63.6 million. The bank intends to hold the special meeting in person, but is monitoring the COVID-19 situation and may announce alternative arrangements, it said in a proxy filed June 23 with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.
Floridians filed 93,394 initial claims for unemployment benefits in the week ended June 20, a new report from the U.S. Department of Labor said. That's a slight increase from the previous week, although the week ended June 20 was the second consecutive week that first-time unemployment claims were under 100,000 in Florida. Since mid-March, when the fiscal impacts of COVID-19 began to be felt, about 2.88 million Floridians have filed for unemployment benefits.
Clean Remote LLC in Largo has partnered with LG Electronics USA Business Solutions to provide anti- bacterial/anti-virus remote control devices for hotel televisions. LG is offering hotel operators a free Clean Remote device with every new LG hotel TV. The remote control device has a non-porous, sealed membrane surface that can reduce bacteria and germs by as much as 99 percent compared to traditional remotes, according to a news release. TV remotes are the most touched object in a hotel room, so the Clean Remote device is an attractive option, said Mike Kosla, vice president of hospitality for LG Business Solutions. Clean Remote says it manufactures the top-selling replacement TV remote for the hospitality and healthcare industries. Its sister company, NRI, sells consumer-type remote controls to the public.
Strategic Delivery Solutions has acquired Medical Delivery Services, a Tampa company that manages the transportation of radiopharmaceuticals. Financial terms were not disclosed in a news release announcing the deal. SDS specializes in moving pharmaceuticals from wholesale distributors to pharmacies and from pharmacies to patients. The acquisition of MDS bring SDS into new geographies, builds density in existing locations and provides access to a new healthcare end market, the news release said. SDS Rx is based in Clark, New Jersey and is a portfolio company of HCI Equity Partners, a private equity firm in Washington, D.C.
