WHO WAS TY COBB? THE HISTORY WE KNOW THAT’S WRONG!

About a talented baseball player, all-around nice guy, the price of fame and reporters who make up false stories to sell their books and articles. 

Ring a bell today?

http://imprimis.hillsdale.edu/who-was-ty-cobb-the-history-we-know-thats-wrong/

LAST HOUSE WANTED BY AUGUSTA NATIONAL SAYS “NO!” TO BUY OFFERS

LAST HOUSE WANTED BY AUGUSTA NATIONAL SAYS “NO!” TO BUY OFFERS

Since about 2001, Augusta National Golf Club, dubbed the most powerful golf club on earth, has spent about $40MM to entice locals to sell their properties and thereby bought up much of the land bordering their exclusive grounds.  BUT there is one holdout on the northwest corner of the club owned by a couple who just celebrated their 60^th wedding anniversary.  The area is a free parking lot, Gate 6A, now bulldozed, that was once a fully lived in neighborhood, where kids happily played in the streets.  The house in question at 1112 Stanley Road is in the middle of Gate 6-A.

Augusta National was designed by Bobby Jones and others and opened for play in 1933, with the Masters starting there the following year.  In Golf Digest’s 2009 list of 100 greatest courses, Augusta National ranked #1. In Golfweek Magazine’s 2011 list of best classic courses for course architecture in the US, it was ranked #10.  The first female members were admitted in 2012, Condoleezza Rice and Darla Moore.  In 1990, African Americans were admitted to this exclusive membership.  There are 10 cabins on the property, one built exclusively for member President Dwight D. Eisenhower after his election, according to secret service specifications.  Famous golfers Ben Hogan and Sam Snead were also members.  Others include Warren Buffet, Bill Gates, Roger Goodell, Sam Nunn, T. Boone Pickens, Jr, Jack Welsh and many other CEOs of top companies.  Membership numbers about 300 and is by invitation only.  Members and tournament winners receive a distinctive green sports coat.

    

Club officials stop by regularly with offers, but the residents don’t want to go.  They raised their family in this 1900 sq ft 3-bedroom house, with everyone coming back for the holidays, which Zillow values at $355,126.  Initial sellers got about $250,000 for their homes.  Built in 1959, on the cusp of being a historic home, it remains the “piece de resistance”.  Their grandson has become a professional, Scott Brown, age 32.  He is a PGA Tour member, not yet making the Masters.  Their brother sold his home, on two acres, and two other homes he owned, for a cool $3.6MM.  The residents owned another property across the street that they sold to the club for $1.2MM.   A nearby holdout wound up settling for $960,000, for a very similar house.

When the Masters is played at Augusta, the area fills up with cars, the rest of the year it is very quiet there.  Fans will stop by and greet the residents, complementing their landscaping and asking for gardening tips.

ALL ABOARD'S BRIGHTLINE TRAINS WILL BE PET FRIENDLY, A MOVE TOWARDS PROGRESS

All Aboard Florida's passengers can include pets on their 32 daily trains from Miami to Orlando. Stops include West Palm Beach and Ft. Lauderdale.  

The West Palm Beach segment has their launch planned for the end of 2017, but that date may be changed, according to officials.

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT SELLING YOUR PROPERTY NOW!

If you live in Florida, you are really in luck. Real estate prices are rapidly increasing due to the low inventories and a hot job market - it is a seller’s market.  Keep your eye on the following factors:

1. Why it's a seller's market.  If the economy in a particular region such as Palm Beach County has bounced back strong since the downturn that began in 2008, home prices will be higher because more people will be coming to that area for employment or to retire and relax. Most of Palm Beach County prices have outreached expectations, sometimes higher than the peak in 2007 and 2008.  It may be that prices are or will be staying more steady in the near future, but they are HIGH now.

2. The price must be right. It is more important than ever to work with an experienced, licensed Realtor who understands your local market trends and issues. You will need to price your home at the going market rate that reflects not only the value of your home but the neighborhood where it is located. Price too high, and there will be little interest in your property; too low, and potential buyers may wonder what hidden issues your property may have.  As a Realtor in Palm Beach County since 2000, I have been asked that question many times… “Why is the price so low?  What is wrong?”

3. Going up... or down.  Mortgage rates have a significant effect on the dollar figure that you use to price your home.  As percentage rates go up, you have to subtract the top dollar amount you had planned to spend to compensate and stick to your budget.  While mortgage rates have been historically low in order to make homes more affordable, this is a trend that may not continue in the near future so it may be prudent to buy while interest rates are low.

4. List during peak season. Take full advantage of the old rules of supply and demand. When the most people are looking to purchase a home is the best time to put yours on the market. The summer months especially June, July and August, are one of the hottest times for buyers who are planning where to be the following winter, or where to reside when school begins in the late summer and a great opportunity for you to take advantage of potential bidding wars and faster sales.  Fall is a good time as well, and January, February and March are perhaps the hottest selling months.

5. Incentives. Yes, incentives work in a seller's market.  Last year more than a third of all home sellers offered incentives. With a good percentage of the market made up of first-time home buyers and second home buyers, providing incentives could result in higher profit and a faster sale for you. 

Want to chat about the status of the market in our area, and what incentives could help a sale? Connect with me, a luxury homes specialist, today to get started.  Call or text 561-302-3388 or my landline 561-513-6180.

WHY ART CLASSES IN SCHOOLS IS SO IMPORTANT

Arts education paints more than a pretty picture

When schools cut art programs to save money, kids from low-income families pay the biggest price in lost motivation, lost opportunity, and lost life skills.

From GREAT SCHOOLS.

Until recently, 11-year-old Sinai dreamed of playing pro basketball. Now, he also imagines becoming an artist. What makes this shift so surprising is that until last year, the dark-haired, serious fifth grader had never done art. At home he had never finger-painted, colored in a coloring book, or drawn chalk pictures on the sidewalk. His school had offered no arts and crafts either – no Play-Doh, painting at an easel, or making collages with dried macaroni and glitter.

“Before, we didn’t have art and we weren’t creative. Now I want to come to school,” says Sinai, a sixth grader at Taft Community School in Redwood City, California.

When Robyn Miller became principal three years ago, Taft had no art classes.  Despite its proximity to the gated grand estates of Silicon Valley, nearly three-quarters of Taft’s 500 students are eligible for free and reduced price lunch. Like thousands of schools serving predominantly low-income, African American and Hispanic children, Taft eliminated the arts to balance shrinking budgets years ago.

If arts education were simply an extra, like a pretty picture hanging on a classroom bulletin board, then losing it could be written off as just another regrettable fiscal reality. But recent studies show that arts education builds a critical cognitive bridge between acquiring knowledge in school and putting it to use in the real world.

“Art isn’t memorization, it’s a way of thinking, and creativity is often a significant component,” explains James Catterall, a retired UCLA education professor and founding director of the Centers for Research on Creativity. “It encourages asking questions, it encourages taking some risks, and it encourages collaborative work.”

Having art in school is valuable for all students, but research suggests it’s especially critical for low-income children whose parents can’t afford to take them to museums with hands-on art activities or pay for after-school art classes at the community center. These children are often deprived when it comes to artistic activities that teach them a different way of thinking than what they are exposed to in their academic classes.

Miller wanted to restore art at Taft, but the school didn’t have the money to hire a credentialed art teacher. She found an affordable alternative in Art in Action, a non-profit organization based in neighboring Menlo Park, which had been implemented successfully in her previous district.

Schools pay a $200 licensing fee, about $10 per student per year, for each class that uses the program, which focuses on visual arts. For that, they get access to online curriculum with 12 lessons each for Kindergarten through eighth grade. Thanks to a network of thousands of parent volunteers who teach art in their children’s schools, the organization keeps its costs down.

“With this program, we’re getting volunteers who have been trained (and have) the passion and excitement to bring to the kids each week,” says Miller. “We’re giving (students) an opportunity to explore creatively and have their imaginations soar and be innovative, maybe even in solving problems.”

She says Art in Action supports these connections because its lessons are aligned with the new Common Core standards in math, reading, and writing, and can be tailored to fit the curriculum in all other subjects from history to geography.

Math and the Underground Railroad

“What is four times four?” parent Michele Haussler asks Sinai’s class at Taft. “Sixteen,” they answer in unison.

She holds up a small square of pink construction paper and demonstrates how to fold it into four and then into 16 equal squares.

As the students fold their own paper squares, Haussler tells them about the African American artist Faith Ringgold, now 85-years-old, who is best known for her quilts depicting stories of race and racism. Ringgold’s work was influenced by quilts made by slaves in the South that had coded symbols sewn into them.

The kids are rapt as Haussler describes how slaves would hang the quilts on fences as if they were drying laundry, but they were actually signposts guiding runaway slaves to freedom in the North.

The high cost of cutting art

When kids are engaged in high-quality arts education, “not only is there a difference between how they act during art classes and lessons, but it seems to spill over to more engagement in school generally,” says Catterall.

The stats on the importance of arts education confirm Catterall’s observations. Schools with dynamic art programs have higher attendance rates, stronger morale, and better test scores than other schools, according to a 2011 report from the President’s Committee on the Arts and the Humanities.

Catterall’s 2012 analysis of students at high-income and low-income schools with and without arts education found that, across the board, students at schools with strong art programs do better in nearly every respect.

The benefits are especially significant for poor children enrolled in arts-rich schools. Twice as many attended four-year colleges or universities, compared with poor kids at schools without much art. And they were three times as likely to earn a bachelor’s degree. They were also less likely to drop out. Perhaps unsurprisingly, low-income students from arts-rich schools were found to be more engaged overall — more involved in sports, clubs, and volunteering, and more attuned to current events.

Double-edged sword

When teacher Judy Sleeth founded Art in Action in her child’s school district in 1982, arts education had been decimated in California by Proposition 13, the 1978 ballot measure that led public schools to lose billions in funding almost overnight. Today, Art in Action reaches about 50,000 students in more than 200 schools in 19 states, from California to Florida. Over the next three to five years, the program plans to nearly double the number of students it serves. But not all agree that organizations like Art in Action are the best way to get arts education into schools.

“We would never want to see an outside arts or culture organization replace an arts teacher,” says Doug Israel, director of research and policy at the Center for Arts Education, which advocates for professional art teachers in every New York City Public School. Ultimately, however, Israel says Art in Action and similar programs are “a benefit for students and better than no arts.”

Teachers are keenly aware of those benefits. At Taft, fifth grade teacher Jessica Kwa says she’s already planning to use the Faith Ringgold lesson when they start working on fractions.

“It’s definitely easier for them to have something to refer back to,” says Kwa.

Art also has something of a transcendent effect on her students, some more than others. She recalls a boy named Joel who missed homework and disrupted class. Art in Action changed him.

“I was surprised because I hadn’t seen him so meticulous with any work before,” says Kwa. “I immediately jumped on that opportunity to praise him, recognizing his strengths.”

When he got stuck on concepts in math and started to give up, she would refer to art class to remind him of his capabilities. Over time, Joel made those connections instinctively. He became more focused in class, turned in his homework on time, and his grades improved.

WHAT IS JEFF GREENE, BILLIONAIRE REAL ESTATE INVESTOR, DOING NOW?

No doubt you know that he has purchased many West Palm Beach properties for about $300MM, plans to build many new condo developments, and is West Palm Beach’s biggest booster for additional condo units at all prices and sizes.  One or another will appeal to you!  Thinking of movin on up?  Be a little patient!

He recently said, speaking at the Urban Land Institute in West Palm Beach, that his priority is One West Palm at 550 North Quadrille Boulevard.  Arquitectonica of Miami has designed the $250MM project which will take an entire block.  Two 30-floor towers are planned which resemble stacked blocks, an interesting new and contemporary look for West Palm Beach.  We are moving right along into the 21^st century.

Get your buys and reservations in line soon and watch for when you can do that!  You will enjoy the forthcoming shops, restaurants, corner parks, a daycare center and fitness center with indoor and outdoor tennis courts on the ground floor.  One tower will include 340,000 sq ft of Class A office space and the other will house a five-star hotel with 209 guest suites and 84 luxury condo or rental units above that.  Ground breaking is hoped for in the summer or fall.  His own equity and a bank loan will finance this deal. Jeff says, “I am lucky that I do not have to pre-lease.

In the historic Northwood area, north of downtown, he owns 5 acres that will become a grocery store center.  Major suspect  is Publix.  His plan is to have the grocery store lead to the integration of the neighborhood.  Possible: an independent/assisted living facility; a fantastic gym.

He is putting up five high-end condo buildings at once and has submitted a plan for a 12-story 400-unit micro-apartment building at 550 Banyan Boulevard to city officials.  Jeff says,  “West Palm Beach’s economy is driven by tourism and retirees.”  The Norton Museum of Art renovation and construction of a new spring training baseball Astros and Nationals stadium will, “Make the city better and more people will come.”

Stay tuned.

HERE'S YOUR CHANCE TO SEE RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK AGAIN!

THE FESTIVAL OF THE ARTS IN BOCA kicks off on March 4th by showing Spielberg's "Raiders of the Lost Ark" with the ageless Harrison Ford.  The Henry Mancini Institute Orchestra from the U of Miami Frost School of Music will appear live, playing the score at the Mizner Park Amphitheater.  

• The Festival runs to March 16th and includes 
• Performances of Mozart's Magic Flute and Vivaldi's Four seasons
• Herb Alpert in concert and Lani Hall
• Performance of Cirque de la Symphonie 

For more information go to http://festivaloftheartsboca.org/ .

MIZNER 1928 HISTORIC HOME IN PALM BEACH NOW ON MARKET FOR ALMOST $17MM

This property is a historical gem, destined for a lucky new owner who appreciates the architecture, tile work, fixtures, arches, brick walls and Bermuda roof.   The property includes very special renovations galore in keeping with the Mizner style. 

 

With 5 bedrooms, 8 baths and about 6357 living sq ft, 12 Lagomar Road in Palm Beach won the 2012 Ballinger Award given by the Preservation Foundation of Palm Beach. 

Admire the grand living room and terrace, sweeping ICW views from arched-entry terrace, media room, elevator, impact glass, gym, pool and charming outdoor spaces.  A boardwalk leads a short way to the beach and Atlantic Ocean. 

Cielito Lindo, in the estate section of Palm Beach, was subdivided in the 1950’s, and Mizner’s original paneled dining room is preserved and is now the living room.

This is a “historical trophy house” in a lush, luxurious area, surrounded by homes that are also luxurious.

Listing Broker is Christian Angle Real Estate and if you are interested in buying and want your own representation, call Marilyn Jacobs, 561-302-3388 or email marilynfjacobs@gmail.com.

CULTURAL EVENTS, TONS OF SHOPPING FROM EXPENSIVE TO CHEAP, ART & ANTIQUES, HISTORIC HOMES, ELITE RESTAURANTS TO DINERS, WATERFRONT (ICW) VIEWS, MUSEUMS, BIG BOATS GALORE, SYMPHONIES & SHOWS, BEST BROWSING MOST ANYWHERE… NEAR POLO PONY GAMES, NEAR WORTH AVENUE… Something for everyone!

CULTURAL EVENTS, TONS OF SHOPPING FROM EXPENSIVE TO CHEAP, ART & ANTIQUES, HISTORIC HOMES, ELITE RESTAURANTS TO DINERS, WATERFRONT (ICW) VIEWS, MUSEUMS, BIG BOATS GALORE, SYMPHONIES & SHOWS, BEST BROWSING MOST ANYWHERE… NEAR POLO PONY GAMES, NEAR WORTH AVENUE… Something for everyone!

March 5^th… mark your calendar and save the date for the annual Antique Row chic street party with entertainment, food and shopping.  

  

Browse to find that one exquisite 17^th, 18^th, 19th or 20^th C. antique, decorative art piece, vintage or moderne furnishing, lighting and accessory, deco, work of art and much more. 

  

From 6 to 9 pm, head over to Southern Blvd east (I-95 exit 68), left on South Dixie north) and you are there!  Browse and buy from over 40 interesting high quality antique stores, specialty shoppes, antique galleries and dine in award-winning restaurants.

 

Antique Row is heralded by Architectural Digest, The New York Times, Art and Antiques and House Beautiful as one of the east coast’s premier antique shopping districts.  Conde Nast Traveler chose Antique Row as 4^th best shopping in the US.  You will be alongside decorators, avid collectors, antique dealers

 

Look thru the Directory, reserve for a fine dinner, breakfast or lunch.

 

Come and join one of West Palm Beach’s premier evening events.  See you there! 

CONTINUING OUR SERIES ON LOCAL GROWTH, NEW RESIDENTIAL UNITS IN BOCA RATON WILL GROW DOWNTOWN BOCA

Current construction crews are working on:

MARK AT CITYSCAPE, a 12-story building with 208 rental apartments at 11 Plaza Real South near intersection of Palmetto Park Road and Federal Highway – scheduled to be completed in March 2016

VIA MIZNER, also 12-stories with 366 rental apartments, at the corner of Camino Real and Federal Highway; about 1MM sq ft of building reaching 140’ is planned for the rest of the nearly 7 acres.  Designated for open space is about 40% of the area.

MANDARIN ORIENTAL HOTEL (pictured above to the right) next to Via Mizner will have 164 rooms and 100 condominiums and retail space will be built with connecting adjoining towers

PALMETTO PROMENADE, 9-stories with 378 units, from Northeast 3^rd Street and Palmetto Park Road extending east for 900’, it’s façade gives the appearance of multiple buildings but it is just one structure

THE BOCA LOFTS, 7-stories with 229 rental apartments at 33 SE 8^th Street

TOWER 155, 12-stories with 170 condominiums, in the 100 block of East Boca Raton Road

HYATT PLACE HOTEL, 12-stories with 200 rooms, at Palmetto Park Road and Federal Highway, expected to open in the summer of 2016, will include an 8000 sq ft restaurant, 4000 sq ft of meeting space, and retail space

When Town Center opened, it drew business from downtown Boca Raton, and downtown businesses suffered.  In 2008, the temporary guidelines adopted allowed 12-story buildings whereas previously they were limited to 9 or 10 stories.  Mention was made of a more varied, more graceful skyline.  The new heights encouraged developers to do more than build a cheaper, boxier version of a building, and the new guidelines call for buildings to be farther back from the street opening a light corridor without a canyon effect.

Better views command higher rents and condominium prices.  Downtown will become more vibrant after regular work hours with downtown residents heading to restaurants, spas, boutiques and businesses in the area.

561-513-6180 or email marilynfjacobs@gmail.com.

STAY TUNED FOR MORE INFORMATION ON NEW CONDO DEVELOPMENTS IN PALM BEACH COUNTY

Everywhere we look in Palm Beach County from Boca Raton to the county’s northern outer reach areas, there is new development going on bringing new jobs, new businesses, and sooner or later, new residents.  That says a lot about the improvement in our economy when billionaires and millionaires are “putting their monies where their mouth is.”

Minto Communities is planning a big family-oriented development with a 6 square mile footprint that they have named Westlake, which they say will have an economic impact of $1BB (Yes, BILLION) over the next 20 years.  The property is on Seminole Pratt Whitey Road in The Acreage.  To compare, they say it will be slightly larger than the city of Lake Worth.  Plans include 4546 single family and town homes (which may generate $34MM in property tax revenue), 2.1 MM sq ft of commercial development, a 3,000-student university and a 150-unit hotel.  This all will be built on 3800 acres north of Okeechobee Boulevard. 

Impact revenue fee revenues will be generated by Westlake amounting to $58.7MM, with about $42MM for raods and $7.5MM for schools.  Environmental considerations include natural areas and open spaces will occupy over 55% of the property with over 240 acres of parks, 600 acres of lakes and 15 miles of walking and biking trails.  A Town Center will be the social hub.

Those in favor say it is orderly planned grow that will proved a needed economic boost to the area.  The nay-sayers describe it as a traffic-choking idea.  Good for you, Minto, to plan to widen about two miles of Seminole Pratt Whitney Road which will cost them $12MM over the next 18 months.  Some say that people moved to the area to enjoy a rural lifestyle, but sooner or later this and other projects will make the area busy and overcrowded.  Total build out time is estimated to be a decade.  With ground breaking estimated to start in 90 days, residential sales may begin in early 2017.

There is, naturally, both concern and happiness about a forthcoming GL homes community, the Indian Trails Grove project, where 4,000 homes are planned be built on a 3,900-acre tract not far from Westlake.

With over 1000 people a day coming to visit Florida, many of whom will want to move to Palm Beach County, we need to respect and accept progress.  Expansion and new homes and businesses must go west and north to find tracts of land to build on.

"BUILD IT AND THEY WILL COME," especially to Paradise!

LAKE WORTH’S HISTORIC GULFSTREAM HOTEL PROJECT APPROVED

Hudson Holdings can now proceed with their $60MM restoration plan.

Built in the 1920’s, the revival is expected to bring more tourism to the area.  Located near the west end of the Lake Worth Bridge, with walkable shoppes, art galleries, restaurants and antique shops to browse, it may become a mecca for out of towners.  The intracoastal waterway “is right there,” with benches to relax on while watching the boats go by, and the municipal golf course is along the ICW.  Plans include an 87-room hotel with a downstairs restaurant, and  a 2-story parking garage with at least 145 spaces.  Also planned are a champagne room and a rooftop skybar.

The restoration will create 300 jobs and is projected to be finished in 15 months.

Note that in Delray Beach and West Palm Beach investors and developers have plans to update and upgrade those areas with new residential complexes, and new residential buildings have gone up in Boca Raton, and some are in mid-construction.  While these plans bring new jobs, they can also bring congestion to these areas, so these objections are being considered too.  About 1000 people a day move to Florida, and perhaps in a few years, with the new construction in Palm Beach county, more will come.

This historic property, with its new look, will be a mecca for those looking to buy in the area, a great stopping-off place.