Things To Do In SW Florida

A property owner near UCF’s main campus is the latest developer to propose an off-campus student housing project for the area.

Suffern, NY-based Castle Lanterra purchased the 129,087-square-foot University Corporate Center I office building at 3501 Quadrangle Blvd. in 2022 for $24.65 million. On Friday, the developer submitted an application to Orange County requesting approval to build a 638-bed student housing project. A site plan indicates that the community would have 169 units, according to a report in GrowthSpotter.

Under the plan, the office building would remain, while the developer would build the 5-story student housing project on the northern half of the existing parking lot. Since the development would be student housing, the average unit size would be larger than a typical multifamily community. There would be 20 one-bedroom, 20 two-bedroom, 82 four-bedroom, 32 five-bedroom, and 15 six-bedroom apartments. The units would range in size from 587 square feet on the low end for a one-bedroom to up to 1,855 square feet for a 6-bedroom unit. read more

Cruise ships docked at PortMiami can now plug in for power — a way to cut pollution, save fuel and pave a sustainable path.

The world capital of cruising on Monday unveiled what’s called shore power, with executives on hand from five major cruise companies: Carnival Cruise Line, Royal Caribbean International Group, Virgin Voyages, Norwegian Cruise Line and MSC Cruises.

Starting this week, as many as three ships from the five cruise companies can plug into the port’s shore power.

Ships docked at ports usually keep their engines running to stay operational for passengers and crew. Shore power allows ships to shut off their engines and plug into a giant electric outlet while docked.

The port is providing up to 16 megawatts, and each ship is expected to need between 8 and 13 megawatts during its stay, said PortMiami Director and CEO Hydi Webb in an interview with the Miami Herald

The power comes from individual substations built by Florida Power and Light at each terminal. The port also has its own larger FPL substation. read more

The U.S. Supreme Court decided not to hear the Florida online sports betting case Monday, one of the last remaining legal hurdles challenging the Seminole Tribe’s monopoly on online gambling in the state.

The rejection was announced after the justices discussed the case during a private conference Thursday. It was the most likely result, as the Supreme Court rejects over 95% of cases put before it. Still, some experts believed that the court might have taken interest due to the ongoing controversy surrounding the legality of online sports betting and its national implications.

The rejection of the case now paves the way for sports betting to continue unchallenged in Florida for the next several years.

“The Seminole Tribe of Florida applauds today’s decision by the U.S. Supreme Court to decline consideration of the case involving the Tribe’s Gaming Compact with the State of Florida,” Gary Bitner, a spokesperson for the Tribe, said Monday. “It means members of the Seminole Tribe and all Floridians can count on a bright future made possible by the Compact.” read more

By JOSH BOAK and FATIMA HUSSEIN (Associated Press)

WASHINGTON (AP) — The IRS plans to end a major tax loophole for wealthy taxpayers that could raise more than $50 billion in revenue over the next decade, the U.S. Treasury Department says.

The proposed rule and guidance announced Monday includes plans to essentially stop “partnership basis shifting” — a process by which a business or person can move assets among a series of related parties to avoid paying taxes.

Biden administration officials said after evaluating the practice that there are no economic grounds for these transactions, with Deputy Treasury Secretary Wally Adeyemo calling it “really just a shell game.” The officials said the additional IRS funding provided through the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act had enabled increased oversight and greater awareness of the practice.

“These tax shelters allow wealthy taxpayers to avoid paying what they owe,” IRS commissioner Danny Werfel said.

Due to previous years of underfunding, the IRS had cut back on the auditing of wealthy individuals and the shifting of assets among partnerships and companies became common. read more

Andrea Felsted | (TNS) Bloomberg Opinion

Revenge travel is losing its appeal.

After three years of rushing to book trips in the wake of pandemic-era restrictions, sharply higher fares, protests against tourism, fatigue from endless hours spent in airports and incomes squeezed by inflation are all taking their toll on travelers.

Travel demand is far from falling off a cliff. But there are signs that our wanderlust is downshifting from never-ending to a more normal pattern.

For airlines and tour operators, the next few months will be crucial in filling remaining seats and hotel rooms. If demand is strong, they will be able to sell leftover capacity at higher prices. But if consumers hold off, they’ll be forced to discount, something that hasn’t happened in the past three years.

In Europe, many people who were passionate about their vacations booked in January, in order to secure their preferred destination, hotel and even room. But in recent months, some consumers, particularly more budget-constrained families, have been holding off to see how their own finances, and holiday prices, developed. TUI AG, the world’s biggest tour operator, has sold about 60% of the vacations available this summer. That’s broadly in line with last year, but it’s still a lot of sunny breaks to shift in an uncertain environment. read more