Business Briefs

Published: Jul 26, 2007

TAMPA BAY AREA

Sembler Co. Pitches Mini-City Project

The Sembler Co. is preparing to embark on its most ambitious mixed-use development. The St. Petersburg company's $1 billion Briarcliff proposal would transform 107 acres of Atlanta into a mini-city with 3,700 residential units, two hotels and 1.5 million square feet of retail, company spokeswoman Amber Overby said Wednesday.

The plan, with 1,000 affordable housing units and 300,000 square feet of office space, needs zoning approval from the DeKalb County Commission. It would dwarf the company's current large-scale development: a 1.15 million-square-foot shopping village in Winter Garden that's opening this fall.

Briarcliff also continues to solidify Sembler as a major developer in the Southeast, with more than 2.1 million square feet of new projects or expansions in 2006. That year, Sembler was named the nation's sixth-fastest growing developer by Chain Store Age magazine.

NATION

Economy Is Climbing Out Of Rut, Fed Says

The economy registered modest growth in the early summer even as consumers and some businesses were buffeted by high gasoline prices and the sour housing market, according to a Federal Reserve region-by-region survey released Wednesday.

The report, which will be discussed at the central bank's meeting Aug. 7, also showed that the economy is emerging from a rut at the beginning of the year and is now growing, albeit slowly.

Consumer spending continued to grow in the early summer, though many Fed regions reported that high gas prices restrained purchases.

Five of the Fed's 12 regions said retail sales of housing-related items - such as furniture and home repair materials - were weak or declining.

The economy has rebounded and is expected to show growth of about 3.2 percent for the April-to-June period. Second-quarter results will be released Friday.

The Fed survey noted that manufacturing activity grew in most Fed regions. Reports from across the country on spending for most business services were generally positive. Strong gains were noted by consulting, advertising, health care, scientific and telecommunications companies. Tourism reports also were mostly positive.

Employment, meanwhile, continued to increase "in most locations and in many sectors of the economy," the Fed said. The nation's unemployment rate is at 4.5 percent, low by historical standards.

A staff and wire report

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