The Palm Beach Post from West Palm Beach, Florida • Page D001

PAGELABELTAG The Palm Beach Post I Sunday, July 19, 2015 1 Local Business Business editor: Antonio Fins (561) 820-4439 or pbbusinesspbpost.com I On the web: paimbeachpost.com Legal Classifieds INSIDE D4-6 Irth TOP 5 BUSINESS WEEK City Place bustling with and eateries in downtown West Palm Beach. tlin Beach. IN REVIEW 1 Public radio fans rally around WPM Related Cos. planning Alexandra Clough Business Watch The Related the national real estate company behind downtown West Palm Beach's renaissance, will continue to invest money in the city by adding to its signature project, City Place, with more residences, shops and restaurants. "When people ask the question: 'What in the world is Related, with everything we're doing all over the world, why do we continue to spend all this time in West Palm Because we're corn 4 LORIDA AGRICULTURE more residences, retail mitted to it," Ken Himmel, Related CEO, said in a recent interview.

"We made a commitment, and we know how important the work we do is to this community. You don't walk away from that." Brimming with enthusiasm, Himmel said Related plans to expand City Place north by adding of new store space and residences where the Pub lix supermarket is now. In addition, some 400 apartments, 800 parking spaces and 50,000 square feet of new retail space will be built on the existing site and vacant land just north of it, which also is owned by Related. Negotiations to bring a top national retailer to the site already are underway. The apartment-retail-garage complex would likely rise eight stories above the retail store.

Talks still are underway help push number 10 1 4, '7. I Ir 6- 41? d. el if 4 3,. ,7, -c V.4, 4-i i '40' I ii LI' t- -7, 'k fi--- I .4 i tc -1 --e-127, 4- 1.. tv- -ft, 171e' '''I'l 1.

1.b:.;Y.t..4,-!:.;-4:.,-.:'1',r14Iftirti;...0::,:4"::7L'7..74t:05-15d A 4: 47 r.A,..,..,,,4,--i,,,,;--.I;:,..,,.. 4. :4., -'7. 7: AvP, ,2, '7 i Va- 01. r'.

ri: -'1. I', 1 .40 1:. i r. z. les 4, itill; .1..

.1. 4,. 4 I i dr, kf 1, I -7. .1,, ......6.:. 4,.::,15, it growth Florida train station, and numerous apartment projects planned around it.

Since City Place opened in 2000, the center has undergone many changes. It was designed as a large retail destination, with a number of high-end stores. Then it focused on home furnishings during the real estate boom. It then switched heavily to entertainment and dining when the recession hit. Now Related believes it has a right balance of shopping, dining and entertainment.

The retail component at CityPlace always has been a challenge, with Himmel acknowledging that projects such as CityPlace are not able to compete with the one-stopshopping offered by suburban malls. But Himmel shrugged off Clough continued on D2 a new breed of beekeepers who to the state. to record numbers. Craig Spence, when he's not tending to his own bees, works in information technology. Honey prices are high and pollination services demand $175 per hive for California almonds, Westervelt said.

Eight years ago, beekeepers received just $50 to $60 per hive. A May report found that beekeepers lost 42.1 percent of the total number of colonies managed from April 2014 through April 2015, much higher than the 34.2 percent the year before, the U.S. Department of Agriculture said. Despite the losses, the number of colonies nationwide increased 4 percent to 2.7 million in 2014, and honey production increased to 178 million pounds, up 19 percent from 2013, the USDA said. The USDA counts only beekeepers with five or more colonies.

Florida's honey production reached 14.7 million pounds last year, up from 13.4 million pounds in 2013. Bees continued on D2 ci .0. 'We made a commitment, and we know how important the work we do is to this Ken Himmel Related Cos. CEO with Publix about the proposed move. Related wants to build Publix a building on land Related owns across the street, on the east side of Rosemary Avenue.

Significantly, the north end development finally will link CityPlace with Clematis Street, the city's urban entertainment district that is expanding to the west with the All Aboard of Florida beekeepers who have helped increase the number of colonies in Florida to 460,000, up from 150,000 eight years ago, according to the Florida Department of Agriculture. "It used to be that with most beekeepers, that business was handed down from father to son. Now there's a lot of entrepreneurs," said Dave Westervelt, chief apiary inspector at the ag department in Gainesville. "Bees aren't that hard of a job, even though you are in the heat in 100 degrees. It can be very lucrative, especially if you diversify." Educational Media Foundation, a Christian broadcasting company, is buying WPBIFM and two other stations for $21.7 million, but a group of citizens is looking for ways to stop the sale, either via a protest with the FCC, a complaint filed with the state, or a new buyer.

Meanwhile, WXEL-TV of the Palm Beaches and the Treasure Coast, and WPBT2, serving Miami-Dade and Broward counties, will merge under a new entity, South Florida PBS, that will blend existing PBS programming with new content. 2 Feds: Ex-Dolphin faces 23 felonies Former Miami Dolphins cornerback Will Allen committed 23 felonies as he ran a Ponzi scheme, federal prosecutors say. The indictment, by the U.S. Attorney's Office in Massachusetts, accuses Allen of 12 counts of wire fraud, six of aggravated identity theft, one of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and four of illegal monetary transactions. Allen pleaded not guilty Monday.

3 Aetna, Humana merger scrutinized The Florida Attorney General's Office will review the proposed merger of health care giants Aetna and Humana, two of the top four players in the state. "A typical merger review looks at the potential competitive effects within the state," said spokesman Whitney Ray. The prospective marriage will get a federal antitrust review as well, with nothing expected to be finalized until well into 2016. 4 New amendment eeats pp ssllrr wwrr A new group has launched a campaign to place a rival constitutional amendment on the November 2016 ballot. Consumers for Smart Solar announced what it calls a "consumer-friendly alternative to the Shady Solar amendment proposed by Floridians for Solar Choice." It would establish the right for consumers to own or lease solar equipment installed on their property to generate electricity for their own use.

Last month, Floridians for Solar Choice filed, seeking an amendment to let producers other than electric utilities sell solar energy. 5 Gas prices down, will keep falling Gas prices dipped slightly, and are expected to keep declining over the coming weeks, AAA said. On Monday, Palm Beach County's average for a gallon of regular was $2.82, down a penny from a week before. Florida's average was $2.65, down 2 cents from a week before. SUNDAY STAT 3 7 A) Percentage of callers to the IRS help line who reached an actual person during the 2015 filing season.

For those who stuck with it, they were on hold an average of 23 minutes. Beekeeper Craig Spence checks on bees at the Bee Healthy Honey Farm in Delray Beach on July10. He is part of have helped increase the number of colonies in Florida to 460,000, up from 150,000 eight years ago, according Bee business is buzzing i .4. i kilt i III.IPIII. 1 'le-Til 'it'''.

17. 57.0.- .4, I ..1. 1 1 il i 2 rc I I 0 1 ltr-, 1 I ir br a Higher honey prices By Susan Salisbury Palm Beach Post Staff Writer At Bee Healthy Honey Farms on a sweltering morning, Craig Spence wears a full-body beekeepers' suit and helmet as he checks the 80 or so hives scattered about in white boxes. He wants to make sure there's a queen in each and that the bees are healthy. "If there is no queen, the hive will collapse and leave," Spence said at the 2.2-acre parcel in a neighborhood west of Delray Beach where bees have access to both wildflowers and vegetable crops at nearby farms.

"My concern is about how I can make it easier for the bees to do what they need to do," Spence said. "For me, it's a love and a passion." A mysterious phenomenon called Colony Collapse Disorder first reported in 2006 has brought more attention to the crucial role bees play in agriculture. CCD is minimal now, but it's had a major and surprising impact on the beekeeping business. The notoriety, and more importantly, higher prices for honey and pollination services have resulted in a record number of registered beekeepers in Florida now at 3,856. Honey is prepared at Bee Healthy Honey Farm.

Florida produced 14.7 million pounds last year. PHOTOS BY BRUCE P. BENNETT THE PALM BEACH POST This summer Spence, who works in information technology, is tending to his own bees and those of Bee Healthy's owner, Stephen Byers. Byers runs both the honey farm and an insurance claims business. Both consider themselves entrepreneurs.

"It started with just a single hive and incredible fascination about bees," said Byers, who started Bee Healthy four years ago. Last year, the farm produced about 2,000 pounds of raw, unfiltered honey. Spence and Byers are part of a new breed of beekeepers.