ARCHITECT HONORED FOR PARKING GARAGE
Jonathan Parks Architect (JPA), designer of the Palm Avenue Parking Garage in Sarasota, has been recognized for the project's design and photography by the International Parking Institute.
JPA's photographs received three of the highest honors out of more than 100 international projects submitted for a photo contest held by The Parking Professional, a trade magazine.
JPA won the grand prize, the cover of the January issue, for a photograph titled "The Concrete Bend," by Elise Swain, of a ballerina inside the structure.
JPA also won for the building's beauty and planning on the site, as captured by photographer Barry Grossman.
JPA is also the architect for the new, 11,000-square-foot Louie's Modern restaurant on the ground-level retail space within the garage.
LIST PRICES UP, NAR REPORTS
While the national number is down slightly, the median list price of homes for sale is up 3.73 percent in Sarasota-Bradenton and 11.17 percent in the Punta Gorda-Charlotte County markets from a year ago, according to the National Association of Realtors.
The Punta Gorda median is $199,000, which means half of the homes in the Multiple Listing Service are priced higher and half are bpriced loser.
In Sarasota, the median is $250,000. The national median is $187,900, down 0.05 percent from a year ago.
Meanwhile, inventories of homes listed for sale by Realtors continue to shrink. The Punta Gorda market has 2,330 houses and condos listed by Realtors, a 19 percent drop from a year ago but a 5.21 percent increase from the previous month. Sarasota-Bradenton's 6,640 listings represents a 20.25 percent year-over-year decline but is 1.44 percent more than the previous month, as high season heats up the market.
Days-on-market, the time it takes listings to sell, is down by 22 percent in both local markets and 9 percent nationally.
