Tuesday July 10th, 2007 - 5:19PM

This week's Big News: Make plans to attend Friday's non-profit Community Maritime Park Associates' Board of Trustees meeting as the "Final Four" make their presentations on the road to landing the Master Developer contract. It's open to the public, so make plans to attend and judge the presentations for yourself!

Also this week: Contractor's Academy planned for Thursday, July 12!

The Final Four are coming to town - don't miss this decisive meeting!

Mark July 13 on your calendar; the "Final Four" candidates for the Master Developer's position will take another step towards winning the job when they make their introductory presentations to the non-profit Community Maritime Park Associates (non-profit CMPA) Board of Trustees beginning at 10 AM in Pensacola City Hall's 2nd floor Conference Room.

The information below is from either the candidates' web site, or their formal presentation in response to the Request For Qualifications. Not all candidates have a web site; in addition to a web site, you should visit the city's site where all of them posted a PDF for review. The address for that is:

http://www.ci.pensacola.fl.us/live/pages.asp?pageID=6480

The descriptions below offer quotes from their response PDFs on file as a Sunshine Act public record noted above.

Developer presentations line-up in reverse order of their rankings. Each will have a 40-minute presentation block, with a 20-minute block to answer questions from members of the Board of Trustees. As with everything involving the non-profit CMPA, this meeting is open to the public in accordance with Florida's Government in the Sunshine Act.

The four firms, listed in the order they will appear are:

Ranked 4th / First to appear: Trinity Capital Advisors ( www.trinityca.com ) / 10 AM presentation start time

Highlights from their web site include: Girard Square (4-million sq. ft. development in downtown Philadelphia); Cassford Corporate Center (125,000-sq. ft. among 5 buildings in Berwyn, PA); Hartefeld National Golf Course (includes full-service country club with 18-hole course); 502 W. Office center drive (50,000-sq. ft. office / lab building in Fort Washington, PA).

Ranked 3rd / Second to appear: Carter Real Estate ( www.carterusa.com ) / 11 AM presentation start time

Highlights from their PDF presentation: Atlantic Station (138-acre environmental redevelopment of the Atlantic Steel Mill at the nexus of I-75 and I-85 in midtown Atlanta); Georgia Tech's Bobby Dodd Football Stadium and Russ Chandler Baseball Stadium; Floyd County (GA) Baseball Stadium (Leased by Atlanta Braves for their minor league franchise, 22-acre site with 5,000-person capacity, 4,100 fixed-seats, 1,000-person berm seating.); USF Technology Center Research and Development Park (Start-up of 1.1-million sq. ft. project on 87 acres; provides facilities for research in all USF colleges including bioscience, satellite mapping and communications, oceanography, microelectronics.)

Ranked 2nd / Third to appear: Hammes Company (this firm has no web site - go to http://www.ci.pensacola.fl.us/live/pages.asp?pageID=6480 and then download their Acrobat PDF presentation entitled "Hammes Company - Master Developer RFQ Response.") / 1 PM presentation start time

Highlights from their PDF include New Meadowlands Stadium; Ford Field in Detroit, MI; Fluno Center (executive education facility combining 40,000 sq. ft. academic environment with overnight accommodations through 100 guest rooms); The Shops at Pabst Farms (700,000+ sq. ft. regional shopping center); Ford Center in Detroit, MI (200,000 sq. ft. of office space, 140,000 sq. ft. of hospitality space, 25,000 sq. ft. of retail space integrated as part of the Ford Field and Ford Field Complex in downtown Detroit).

Ranked 1st / Land Capital Group ( www.landcapital.com ) / 2 PM presentation start time

To see local properties handled by this organization, go to http://www.landcapital.com/TenantServices/Retail/search.aspx and then do a search for Florida properties.

Highlights include: Bayou & 9th Center ; Nine Mile Crossing ; and Fairfield Crossings. In addition to development, the company also has separate divisions for structured finance, asset management, and professional services.

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Calling all aspiring Community Maritime Park contractors - African-American Chamber to Sponsor Contractor Workshop for Community Maritime Park!

The Gulf Coast African-American Chamber of Commerce (GCAACC) is sponsoring a Contractor’s Academy Community Workshop on Thursday, July 12, 2007, at 6:00 p.m. inside the Zion Hope Primitive Baptist Church ( 201 Leonard Street - Hope Center classrooms). The workshop is open to general contractors, sub-contractors, retail businesses, and members of the labor force. Each session is designed specifically to help business owners, laborers, and potential investors prepare to do business with the Master Developer of the Community Maritime Park .

"Pensacola's minority community is presented with an unparalleled opportunity to meaningfully participate in the park's development," says GCAACC Executive Director Darnell Sims.

The Community Maritime Park's "Covenant," adopted by its Board of Trustees, stresses minority participation in all aspects of the park's amenities, including planning, design and implementation. The Contractor Workshop will assist all interested parties in learning about the process, explaining the requirements, and boosting the number of minority-owned businesses submitting proposals.

The four candidates for Master Developer will each make a presentation to the Board of Trustees on Friday, July 13. Master Developer selection and signing of the contract could take place several months from that date. In preparation, the GCAACC, through the Contractor's Academy, will be creating a database of qualified professionals.

The GCAACC, in concert with other consulting entities, can provide (a) executive coaching designed to prepare each participating firm’s management to deal from a position of strength with the Master Developer, and (b) financial management services required in proposal preparation, contract management, and audit preparation and billing services.

For further information, please contact Darnell Sims at 850-433-0593 (office), or 850-512-6252 (cell).

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Don't miss the exciting presentations on July 13 - you will watch history in-the-making!

That's it for this week - next week, we'll pick up on the search for a permanent Executive Director. Until then, "Thanks!" from all your friends . . . who are Friends of the Pensacola Bay Area's Vince J. Whibbs Sr. Community Maritime Park!

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