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SRQ DAILY Jan 26, 2016

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"Demand is strong and inventories are low, particularly in the luxury market."

- Amy Drake, Echelon on Palm
 

[Real Estate]  Demand for Luxury Condos Grows Richer
Jacob Ogles, jacob.ogles@srqme.com

Ground broke last week on Echelon on Palm, just the most recent luxury condominium project under construction in Downtown Sarasota. But real estate agents selling units downtown say the appetite for a high-end urban lifestyle in this beachside community continues. “Demand is strong and inventories are low, particularly in the luxury market,” said Amy Drake, director of sales and marketing for Echelon on Palm. “If you are at this price point and able to write a big check, you want the best of the best," she said." 

The Ronto Group broke ground on Echelon on Palm Thursday, and company officials expect the project to reach completion in early summer of 2017. The 18-story structure will have one town home on the first two floors with each other residence having a full floor dedicated for a single unit. So far, 11 units are already under contract and six remain available, priced from $2.195 million to $4.25 million. Ronto president Anthony Solomon noted that customers have relished the chance to customize the interiors. “It has been great to see such a positive response,” he said.  Also speaking to the nature of the high-end market today, Drake said every transaction so far has been a cash deal, and she expects that trend to continue until the entire building is sold out. That seems to be true around the region. The Realtor Association of Sarasota and Manatee reports that of the 659 sales closed in the entire Sarasota market in the month of December, 325 were cash sales.

And the demand for large, customizable units can be felt in other projects as well. At Sansara, a project, where another 17 luxury units are already under construction in the Burns Court neighborhood, two units span whole floors, and other floors are divided between just two units. All but three units have already been sold, with the remaining unuts priced from $1.5 million to $2.2 million, according to Jonathan Abrams, Sansara head of sales. “The demand is here right now because Sarasota is a global destination now,” he said. And the demand for larger units comes as more buyers choose to make Southwest Florida a permanent home. Snowbirds no more, people who used to buy small units here and live for a few months in Florida while keeping a primary residence up north now seek out units large enough to serve as a home through a bulk of the year. “Now it’s flip-flopping, and we see more people keep a smaller residence in Canada or somewhere up north to spent three to four months, and now the are looking for full-time living spaces in Sarasota,” Abrams said. 

Rendering courtesy Echelon on Palm

[Event]  Author Dorsey to Receive John D. MacDonald Award
Philip Lederer, Phil.Lederer@srqme.com

Tampa author Tim Dorsey will receive the John D. MacDonald Award for Excellence in Florida Fiction today in a ceremony at the Selby Public Library. John D. MacDonald scholar Cal Branche will present the award, followed by comments from the author and a question and answer session with the audience. Beginning at 2:30pm, the event is free and open to the public.

As part of the Sarasota County Libraries and Historical Resources’, ”One Book One Community” ongoing celebration of the 100th anniversary of MacDonald’s birth, the gathering follows last Friday’s kickoff event with Branche and authors John Jakes, James Hall and Don Bruns.

Dorsey will become only the seventh recipient in the award’s 24-year history, joining past winners such as Elmore Leonard and Randy Wayne White. 

[Exec Moves]  Doss Leaving Community Haven

Marla Doss, president and CEO of Community Haven, announced she will move on to new endeavors following 31 years of service with the organization. Doss, who has served in her current role since July 2012, began her work at Community Haven in 1985, when she served as the director of Residential Services, overseeing 60 full-time residents when the agency was known as Children’s Haven and Adult Center. Doss became the development director in 2003. 

Community Haven

[Exec Moves]  Horstmann to Lead Clearwater Sotheby's

Premier Sotheby’s International Realty named Victoria Horstmann as the new managing broker of its Clearwater location in Belleair Bluffs. Prior to her position as managing broker, Horstmann served as a broker associate with the company, which she joined in 2010, helping both local and international clientele with real estate needs in Sarasota and Manatee counties. Horstmann has lived in Southwest Florida since 1998, when she moved to Sarasota after four years in Munich. 

Premier Sotheby�s International Realty

[Recognition]  Weiss Wins National Notice

Weiss Pediatric Care, a Sarasota practice led by pediatrician Dr. Robert Weiss, was recognized by the American Academy of Pediatrics and the National Center for Medical Home Implementation. The organization named Weiss Pediatric Care an Innovative and Promising Practice in Medical Home Implementation. Weiss Pediatric Care is one of only four practices in the nation to receive this honor.  

Weiss Pediatric Care

[Tuesday Tech Talk]  Linking your life: privacy vs. simplicity
Pedro Perez, pedro@nuevoadvertising.com

Staying in control of your digital life and sharing content between all of your devices sounds like a dream come true—until you really look into it. Today, you have the world at your fingertips and can access whatever you need, whenever you need it, at home or in the office. But are you sure you really want to do that? Let’s look at the pros and cons.

For starters, linking your applications among all devices is simple and convenient, eliminates the chances of you missing an important call, text message or email and makes you feel much more in control of your digital life. This connectivity helps you respond to communications in a timely manner, make changes or updates to social networks from anywhere at anytime, or take and upload photos instantaneously to access from any of your mobile devices.

Yet, this simplicity also comes with a drawback: the potential loss of your privacy. For example, say you are using Facebook on your office computer to chat with a friend. You step away from your desk and continue the conversation from your mobile device. If you’ve left Facebook open on your computer browser at your desk, anyone walking by will be able to watch your chat in real time—as it happens—with the text printing right on the screen. Logging out of one device before logging into another reduces this threat to your privacy. Password protect all of your devices with unique, challenging and memorable passwords to safeguard your information and your content.

Take time to decide if your privacy settings are correct before responding to a message in a heated exchange. Do you really want to respond publicly to a work colleague on Facebook who disagrees with a posting you made or would a private message be a better way to get your point across? Think about where your message may end up due to connected applications. Strategize and be aware of acceptable forms of use for the internet at your company. If you are a boss, are you setting a good example? If you are a staff person, do you want to keep your job? Never assume anything. If you are using an application from a mobile device that is linked to all your devices, assume everything you’re doing is accessible to others.

Pedro Pérez is a founding partner of Nuevo Advertising Group, and an adjunct professor of Global Brand Strategies at Ringling College of Art and Design. For over 17 years, he has offered clients his knowledge and expertise. Pérez has always demonstrated a keen analytical sense combined with a good dose of common sense in crafting digital and online marketing strategies as part of an integrated marketing plan. 

For an extended version of this column, follow this link.

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SRQ DAILY is produced by SRQ | The Magazine. Note: The views and opinions expressed in the Saturday Perspectives Edition and in the Letters department of SRQ DAILY are those of the author(s) and do not imply endorsement by SRQ Media. Senior Editor Jacob Ogles edits the Saturday Perspective Edition, Letters and Guest Contributor columns.In the CocoTele department, SRQ DAILY is providing excerpts from news releases as a public service. Reference to any specific product or entity does not constitute an endorsement or recommendation by SRQ DAILY. The views expressed by individuals are their own and their appearance in this section does not imply an endorsement of them or any entity they represent. For rates on SRQ DAILY banner advertising and sponsored content opportunities, please contact Ashley Ryan Cannon at 941-365-7702 x211 or via email

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