Friday’s Afternoon Update – Florida Trend
Affordable housing is ‘top priority’ for state lawmakers
The demand for housing in Florida continues to grow as more people move to the sunshine state. State lawmakers are attempting to address the crisis with new legislation that would increase affordable housing development programs. Safe and attainable workforce housing is the core of the live local act. The nearly 100 page bill aims to increase affordable housing options in the state. As housing costs soar in the sunshine state lawmakers are putting the issue at the top of their to do list. More from WFLA.
Cancer-fighting companies merge in trans-Atlantic alliance
OncoBay Clinical, a subsidiary of Tampa-based Moffitt Cancer Center, and Clinscience, a clinical research firm based in Warsaw, Poland, have merged following several years of working closely together in an effort to disrupt how clinical research organizations operate. OncoBay Clinical CEO Krystyna Kowalczyk will lead the combined organization, which will have nearly 420 employees on both sides of the Atlantic and be better positioned to compete for talent and clients. More from the Business Observer.
Orlando office sector sees muted sales, low asking rents compared to peer markets
Office real estate in Orlando is seeing lagging metrics for sales and asking rents compared to some of its peer markets nationally and in the South. That’s according to a new report from CommercialEdge, which is part of Santa Barbara, California, real estate data company Yardi Systems Inc. The report details still-rising vacancies and declining sales throughout the U.S. office market, and notes some troubling metrics for Orlando, in particular. More from the Orlando Business Journal.
CSX will outperform U.S. economy in 2023, CEO says
The U.S. outlook for 2023 is uncertain, with economists predicting a possible recession or at best a year of minimal growth. However, CSX Corp. Chief Executive Officer Joe Hinrichs said the railroad’s business will outperform the nation’s gross domestic product, the broadest measurement of the overall economy. Hinrichs points to the Jacksonville-based company’s improved service performance and increased staffing as reasons for optimism. More from the Jacksonville Daily Record.
Boston Red Sox name new GM for Florida operations
Sports and entertainment executive Shawn Smith has been named general manager of Florida Operations and JetBlue Park at Fenway South for the Boston Red Sox. Smith will manage all community, facility and event operations for JetBlue Park, including Red Sox Spring Training, as well as oversee all capital improvement projects and business development of JetBlue Park and the adjacent Fenway South parcels. More from the Business Observer.
Business Beat – Week of Janua
Get top news-to-know with Florida Trend’s headline-focused video news brief, hosted by digital content specialist Aimée Alexander.
Florida Dining
Can Miami handle Detroit-style pizza? This new Design District pizzeria thinks so
The legend of Detroit pizza — square in shape, airy in crust, sauce on top — says that the pies took on their appearance because intrepid pizza makers baked them in the blue steel industrial pans favored by the city’s auto workers. The pizzas at Square Pie City, the new pizzeria in the Design District, don’t use blue steel pans. But Chef Jeremiah Bullfrog does make what he calls “hybrid” pizzas that mimic his favorite Detroit practices.
» Read more from the Miami Herald.
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