The Herald Tribune reports from Florida. "Many of Southwest Florida's home builders continue to struggle with a sluggish market. Pulte Homes announced Wednesday that it was cutting nearly 2,000 jobs nationally in a massive restructuring aimed at saving $200 million annually. The company said that the slowdown has left it with overhead that far outstrips demand for its houses."

"The cuts mean that as many as 25 percent of the 55 employees in Pulte's Sarasota-Manatee division will lose their jobs. Other large home builders in the region have made similar job cuts."

"'We've got to keep up with the competition," said Steve Kempton, Pulte Homes' Sarasota division president."

"'This is tough, but I don't want people to think we don't have confidence in this market,' said Steve Kempton, Sarasota division president. 'We're just trying to right-size our business to position ourselves for long-term success in the Sarasota-Manatee market.'"

"In 2005, Pulte built 560 homes in the region worth about $170 million. The company has five developments in Southwest Florida, ranging from Manatee County town homes to Sarasota County golf communities. Prices range from $218,000 to more than $500,000."

From TC Palm. "DiVosta Building Corp. executives said Wednesday the company will consolidate its Treasure Coast and Palm Beach operations to an office in Orlando and lay off an unspecified number of local employees."

"'My understanding is that DiVosta employees will receive severance packages,' said Beth Cocchiarella, a spokeswoman for Pulte Homes, the parent company of DiVosta."

"DiVosta is the fourth largest builder on the Treasure Coast. Since December, the company's South Florida operation announced three separate layoffs totaling 266 employees."

"'We're resizing the company to better position us to compete in the long-term,' Cocchiarella said. 'This is a result of the continued downward trends in the homebuilding sectors.'"

"'This reflects another step that homebuilders are taking to cut back on production levels,' said Brad Hunter, who follows housing trends on the Treasure Coast and South Florida for Metrostudy's South Florida division. 'As we undo some of the over extension of '04 and '05, naturally some builders have to cut costs and consolidate parts of their administration.'"

"Jack McCabe, CEO of a real estate consulting firm in Deerfield Beach, said the consolidation of DiVosta's South Florida division doesn't bode well for the economy."

"'We're just about to see the domino effects of this,' McCabe said. 'What happens next year is you'll see Circuit City, Best Buy, Brandsmart, all those big box retailers are going to feel that slowdown which was substantially driven by consumer spending and the housing market.'"

"'With the loss in home values, credit tightening up and people saving instead of spending, there will be a substantial loss of jobs,' McCabe said. 'We're definitely heading into a recession with all this pressure.'"

The Orlando Sentinel. "The Donald bails! Back in March I wrote a column on this pipe dream, a 52-story condo with prices starting in the million-dollar range. Did anyone really think downtown Tampa could support something like this? The real estate agent told me people would be moving in by mid 2009."

"I said I’d dive in the Hillsborough River from the top floor if that happened. Looks like my bathing suit stays dry."

"Real estate mogul Donald Trump has pulled out of the $300 million, 52-story Trump Tower condominium project in Tampa, according to a lawsuit filed Friday in U.S. District Court."

"Companies have been distancing themselves from the project. Eric Fordin, a project director with the Related Group, a Miami developer that considered taking over the project, said Wednesday that 'we're not involved in the deal in any way.'"

"Fordin said he was launching a due diligence review for Related Group when 'all these lawsuits started piling up' against Trump Tower and SimDag, and the Related Group never entered into any agreements for acquisition or control."

The Tampa Tribune. "City officials cheered last week when Gov. Charlie Crist approved $2 million for the Riverwalk project. But that euphoria is gone now that the Trump Tower condominium project, which promised to contribute up to $700,000 to build a prominent Riverwalk segment, is on hold while Donald Trump battles the developer in court."

"'If they do not build, then we've got a key connection that is not being made,' said Lee Hoffman, the city's Riverwalk manager."

"For example, the Heights project developers are contributing $4 million to the project. Developers for Venu, a condo project in the planning stages for Kennedy Boulevard and Ashley Drive, promised to build an $800,000 piece."

"SimDag LLC, the Trump Tower developer, was to build a 450-foot piece to connect the southern edge of the Brorein Street Bridge to nearby MacDill Park."

"Mayor Pam Iorio said the city has a couple of options if Trump Tower does not get built. Tampa can build a regular sidewalk connecting the southern and northern ends of the Riverwalk and if a developer for the site comes through later, that developer can build its own Riverwalk segment."

"'Not a very appealing option,' Iorio said."

"SimDag's troubles also could affect the Tampa Museum of Art's new building. SimDag made a three-part pledge to the museum in 2005. The company made its first payment. The company was to make a second payment when the condo was topped off, and a final payment was to coincide with the grand opening."

"An art museum official said Wednesday that the museum wasn't counting on the money."

"Even a power name like Trump may not be enough to save a luxury condo project in Tampa's sluggish downtown real estate market. It takes money. Money from lenders. Money from buyers. In the end, SimDag LLC couldn't come up with enough from either source."

"'In this real estate downturn, Tampa has been one of the hardest-hit markets in Florida,' said consultant Jack McCabe. 'And any time you have a negative stigma like this site has, it takes some time before people are willing to overlook it.'"

"The $300 million Trump Tower Tampa was announced in early January 2005, at time when Tampa's condo market was coming alive. Developers were proposing new projects every month. If any of them would make it, experts said at the time, it would be the one bearing Trump's name."

"Even during the condo frenzy when the Trump tower was announced, lenders typically required developers to sell a set amount of units before getting financing. In the current market, however, some lenders require close to 100 percent sales. Now many lenders aren't lending for condo towers at all."

"National City Mortgage, which is involved in several condo towers in downtown Florida cities, has stopped partnering on others for now, said Paul Ramos, state manager for the company."

"'Banks may still lend on condo projects, but they want to know what your market is going to be,' Ramos said, noting that his mortgage division still works with individual condo buyers but limits the number of units it will finance in each condo project."

"Hillsborough County has enacted a hiring freeze and moratorium on new building construction in anticipation of budget cuts later this year. County Administrator Pat Bean also told employees to expect layoffs."

"Residents will notice the cutbacks, Bean warned. 'The loss in funds means citizens may experience limited access to some services and most programs will likely be scaled back substantially,' Bean wrote."

"The city of Tampa instituted a hiring freeze in April. Hillsborough government is one of the county's largest employers, with a work force of about 6,000 people."

"How long the hiring and new building freezes hold will depend on how much the county's property tax revenue is cut. Officials estimate the cuts at between $46 million and $217 million. The county this year collected about $800 million in annual property tax revenue."

"County Commissioner Al Higginbotham said Bean's moves to freeze hiring and building new projects is prudent. He said commissioners simply don't know how much money to expect next year. 'How can we honestly discuss any new projects?' he asked."

The Post Dispatch. "Many builders have joined...in laying off people and selling excess inventory at discount prices, or at least trying to."

"'The Bank of America in Tampa (Fla.) called me the other day, and asked what kind of discount would you get in the market today,' said a real estate developer. The developer spoke on condition of anonymity."

"'I asked what kind of property, and they said 'a lot of scattered homesites with almost-finished homes, about three or four subdivisions, about 80 lots.'"