Tallahassee Democrat from Tallahassee, Florida • Page 21

MJ Tallahassee March 3, 1991 Tax-free funds, 3 On the Agenda, 4 Jane Bryant Quinn, 5 Publix, Seminole News expanding at Killearn Shopping Center By Rajo Cheblum Democrat staff writer is? Fred A. Schneyer "It was cramped out here," Resha said. "In some points, you'd have to turn sideways to get through. We're still going to pack the store pretty tight But there'll be some room to move about" Resha plans to expand his collection of children's books and buy computer and large-print books items he had to postpone buying for lack of space. The shopping center is run by Branch Associates' Tampa subsidiary, Branch Realty Management The parent company bought the shopping center Jan.

15 from Southmark Property Management also of Atlanta. Branch and Associates owns many shopping centers across Florida, including centers in Tampa, Orlando and West Palm feet by taking over space previously occupied by Hobbit Hoagie Killearn, a sandwich shop, and Alterations Unlimited, a dress store. The expansion increases the grocery store's size to 53,000 square feet, which matches the size of Publix's newest stores that have 40,000 to 60,000 square feet Publix's plans for expansion are still on the drawing board, said Bob McDermott, a spokesman at the Lakeland headquarters. He said he did not know when the Killearn store's expansion would be complete. When completed, however, the store would have bigger produce, meats and deli sections and more check-out counters.

Seminole News is about a month away from completing its expansion. Beach. Killearn Shopping Center is its first acquisition in Tallahassee. "This particular center was very, very successful," said Pam Tomberlin, assistant vice president of property management, for Branch Realty Management The center, being in affluent northeast Tallahassee, "was a very, lucrative project fot 4JS," she said. Branch Realty plans to make the shopping center better, but not necessarily big-' ger, Tomberlin said.

"Apart from the fact that Publix and Seminole Books are expanding, we'll be doing some renovations to improve" the center's appearance," she said. "It will be a face-lift type of renovation. There will be no retail stores added at this time." Pardon the dust at Killearn Shopping Center Seminole News Books Inc. and Publix Super Markets are expanding their Killearn stores. What's more, the shopping center has a new owner, the real-estate firm Branch and Associates, based in Atlanta.

Seminole News is twice as large as before, said its owner, Don Resha. It took over the space previously occupied by Bath House, a bath-accessory store, and now has nearly 3,000 square feet "It's basically the same store in a bigger location with a lot of dust," Resha said. Publix is adding nearly 20,000 square Persistent' Strauss still wants to lure a new store to his mall Tom Strauss tells this story with a grin on his face: It was in August 1988, just after he had hammered out an agreement to buy the aging Tallahassee Mall. Fresh from the apparently intense negotiations, a Cafaro Co. executive described Strauss as "a persistent little bugger." These days, MO the good-natured barb from the mall's former owner has become Strauss' badge of honor.

Strauss has had to call on that persistence often since mid-1986 when he first decided he wanted When grown kids return home, it's time for a sound financial plan Strauss tobuytheTal- By Mary Rowland New York Times A Washington professional in his mid-50s is facing this prospect: His oldest out of work and unable to pay his mortgage, feels he has no choice but to bring his wife and two children to live irv his parent's home while he looks for a 'job. The professional, who refuses to let his name be used, reported mixed feelings at best "As much as I love my children and grandchildren, I'm at a different point in life now," he said. "My wife and I thought we'd be staying out late to have supper together. Now there's the same urgency to get home after work to take care of the chores. These things may seem they become hot buttons." i.

Financial planners say this family's problem has become increasingly common as the recession sets in. "I see a lot more of it than I did before," said Carol Caruthers, partner in charge of personal financial planning at Price Waterhouse in St Louis. Z' "None of us should assume that it can't happen to us. The economy is so insecure that a lot more families will be touched by it." Outplacement specialists say the recession and restructuring in the economy mean that it can take eight months to a year or more to get a white-collar job these days. If everyone is to survive, you must plan carefully.

When adult children move back in with parents, there's a tendency for everyone to revert to earlier family roles, making a stressful situation worse. "The child who has become a friend moves back and acts like a teen-ager, be1 comes passive and expects to be waited on and, in some way, compensated for their misfortune," said Dr. Mio Fredland, a New York psychiatrist John RobergeDemocrat Please see FULL, 3C lahassee Mall and make it a legitimate competitor for Governor's Square. The Panama City shopping-center developer has refurbished the 20-year-old mall and successfully piloted his plan for a expansion through the maze of Leon County's building and environmental regulations. But, Strauss is still far from home free even though that permitting journey is now behind him.

Just like the regulations that seemed to be growing stiffer the closer Strauss got to getting his expansion plan approved, the nation's struggling economy continues to bedevil him. Strauss' challenge, now that construction crews are beginning work on the new mall wing, is to entice retailing companies to lease some of the additional space. His none-too-surprising goal: finding preferably upscale, retailers who are new to the Big Bend market. But, mall leasing is a vexing challenge in a healthy economy. In a struggling economy, it's enough to make you dream of a new line of work.

Here's why: many developers are willing to offer the sun, the moon and the stars to attract tenants. So, when Strauss calls to invite a retailer to North Monroe Street, the retailer inevitably wants to know what kind of inducements are in store for the company if it comes to Leon County. But, that's not all Strauss has to worry about. He and his partners at the mall, First Wes-tinghouse Equities Corp. of Pittsburgh, still have to find permanent financing for the mall fix-up and addition.

That's when the real fun starts. Borrowers of every variety have complained in recent months that lenders have grown virtually impossible to deal with since the bank system's serious bad-loan problems began last year. Although bankers say they still have money to lend, many borrowers insist that the difficulty of qualifying for a loan under the new requirements represents a de facto moratorium. Strauss and First Westinghouse have run into the crunch head-on. They've worked with one lender who apparently got cold feet and is now out of the picture entirely.

Finally, there's the question of how to attract a new department store to join Parisian, an upscale Birmingham, retailer that already has announced a Tallahassee Mall store. Luring a Dillard's (a successful Little Rock, department-store chain) or a Burdines could make the leasing and financing steps fall into place much easier. Smaller retailers will be much more likely to sign a Strauss lease if they know they'll be in the same mall with either of the two popular stores. And lenders might be a bit easier to work with if they know Strauss' mall will boast either Dillard's or Burdines. Getting a new department store won't be easy either.

It's a significant monetary commitment for a retailer and the competition is stiff. Both Leon County malls are reported to be chasing Dillard's and Burdines. So, the road ahead for Strauss will be a difficult one when it comes to leasing or financing. One thing is clear, though: the "persistent little bugger" is going to need all the resolve he can muster. Researcher: Accords come out on top in bumper-crash tests Pocket change Average far per Revenue passenger Average Average Annual generated to mile fare distance number of Market destination (In cents) (oneway) (in miles) passengers Miami vr $11,569,000 24.78 $101 406 J15.0481 8,166.000 40.49 81 201 100,229 W06.000 42.55 98 236 Atlanta 4,906,000 41.81 94 225 52,268 fa 5.016.000 25.93 103' 399 48.472 West Palm Beach 2,881.000 30.64 114 373 25,258 rWashlngton (National) 4,012,000 23.25 179 770 New York (La Guardiaf 3,582,000 17.67 173 981 20,732 KHagr'e' 21.13 184 871 16 279 Newarf 2,314,000 17.79 170 955 13,651 FBostOrt--- "2,072.000 15.42'' 179 1,160 11,6071 los Angeles' 2.163,000 9.47 214 2.261" 10.147 Philadelphia 1,764,000 20.46; 183 894 9.709 Dallas-Ft.

Worth 21.03 209 994 9,198 rSah Francisco 1.969.000 8.93 217 2.429 9125 Detroit 1,504,000 20.29 171 843 8,833 penverZT" Z' AWfiW 12.61 189 1.499 8.249 1 Charlotte 1,233,000 37.30 155 416 7,957 BaWmora 20.03 165 '824 7.957,1 Naples 600,000" 29.07 104 357 5,840 If you've been playing too much bumper-cars lately, you might want to listen up: You're almost home-free if you're driving a Honda Accord. That's the word from a Feb. 16 report from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, an Arlington, Va, insurance-research company. The company ran four 5-mph crash tests on the bumpers of 23 four-door 1991 midsize cars and found that the Accords suffered the least amount of damage. An Accord owner would have to shell out a relatively cheap $618 to fix up the dents.

The rest of the top five: Chevrolet Cavalier, Toyota Camry, Saturn SL2 and Mitsubishi Galant At the bottom of the IIHS list were the Subaru Legacy ($3,266 damage) and the Hyundai Sonata The IIHS report said that the 1991 Accord's performance was a vast improvement over that of the 1987 version. That Accord suffered the most damage of any car tested by IIHS that year. "Honda has demonstrated how an automaker can improve its bumpers if it chooses," IIHS researchers wrote. Two of the bumper tests were low-speed front and rear collisions with flat barriers and were designed to measure the bumper's overall ability to absorb an impact IIHS also ran the front bumper into an angled ban rier and backed the cars into a pole to measure the bumpers' strength. CUSTOMERS SATISFIED WITH ACURAS AND HONDA Also in car news last week was word from J.D.

Power Associates of suburban Los Angeles that folks who bought an Acura or a Honda in 1987 were still satisfied with their cars. The Power customer-satisfaction survey is an oft-quoted source among car dealers. The latest Power survey of owners of 24 makes of 1987 cars found that the most popular were Acura, Honda, Mercedes-Benz, Toyota and Lincoln. About 75,000 questionnaires were mailed out last fall and nearly 24,000 people responded. A Power executive said the survey focused on performance of more than 80.

operational and functional aspects of the cars, including comfort and reliability. CUCOS EARNINGS FALL Second-quarter earnings at Cucos fell by half while revenues showed a modest advance, the restaurant company an- nounced recently. Cucos executives said the company earned $20,839 during the quarter ending Jan. 13, d6wn from $40,246 the year before. Meanwhile, revenues were up to $3.2 million from $2.9 million a year ago.

Cucos operates 29 Southeast U.S. restaurants, including one In Tallahassee. Our top flight destinations are Tampa and Miami 2r A Ownocfit staff report the most per-mile when they flew to Orlando, according to figures provided by the city's Aviation Department The city figures are based on 1989 data, the latest available. The per-mile cost to Orlando was 42.3 cents. The cheapest per-mile fare was to San Francisco 9 cents.

Airlines officials say the shorter distance trips are more expensive to run because of the fuel consumed in getting an airplane to cruising altitude only to land a hundred or so miles away. Miami and Tampa were the top two destinations for Tallahassee air travelers in 1989, but it was trips from Leon County to Orlando that captured the priciest fares. Also among the top five destinations in addition to Miami and Tampa was Orlando, Atlanta and Fort Lauderdale. Although overall fares were highest on trips to San Franqisco, Los Angeles and Dallas-Fort Worth, Tallahassee passengers paid Please see CHANGE, 4C i.