Chopped to 786 ft., apparently.

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

wat the hell happened!

We're all hoping it's a typo.

:bash:

^ Wow lauderdalegator, that is bad news!!!! :weirdo:

Canadian company buys retail part of Mary Brickell Village

A Canadian shopping-center developer is the new owner of the retail component of Mary Brickell Village, a mixed-used project under construction near Miami's financial district.
Ivanhoe Cambridge, based in Montreal, bought the 192,000-square-foot retail part of the project from Constructa Group and its partners April 20 for an undisclosed amount, said Christopher Suarez, Constructa's marketing manager....

http://www.miamitodaynews.com/news/050428/story1.shtml

Planners seek to restrict Park West commercial growth

By Yeleny Suarez
Miami planners want to restrict commercial growth on nearly 280 acres of the city's Park West neighborhood to enhance its redevelopment potential.
The changes, proposed by the Community Redevelopment Agency and recommended by planning and zoning officials, would increase the intensity of future projects.
"Limiting the freedom of what can be built (would exclude) unappealing parking lots and suburban designs that are incompatible with the community," said Luciana L. Gonz·lez, Miami Planning Department special projects coordinator.....

http://www.miamitodaynews.com/news/050428/story2.shtml

yeah, that is misleading. hopefully the current/upcoming need for office space will result in some projects in park west. that area really needs a pick-me-up.

LAND SALE WAITS: A vote to sell land for a 1,050-unit downtown housing redevelopment might not go before the Community Redevelopment Agency board until June, Director Frank Rollason said. "I am still waiting for legal counsel to advise me. I know it is not on the May agenda, so it might have to wait until June." The agency chose Crosswinds to finish a disputed four-block project bounded by Northwest Eighth and Sixth streets, Interstate 95 and First Court that has been in limbo since 1988. The city auctioned the land in March under a covenant requiring the high bidder to build housing. Miami Arena owner Glenn Straub bid $1.2 million and Crosswinds bid $32,000. Mr. Rollason said the agency won't focus on the higher bid but what is best for the project.
ONE WAY VS. TWO WAY: The Florida Department of Transportation has reviewed the downtown Miami Traffic Re-circulation Study on converting one-way into two-way streets, and a city consultant is to address concerns within the next five weeks, Miami transportation coordinator Jose Gonzalez said. Five alternatives were submitted to the department in October. The study aims to aid redevelopment and improve accessibility between Interstate 95 and downtown. Parsons Brinckerhoff is doing independent analysis to address the state agency's concerns about the development and environmental study. Mr. Gonzalez said that after the analysis is complete, the transportation department and stakeholders will have a meeting to discuss a preferred alternative.
WYNWOOD ART SCENE: Lionstone, which owns Ritz-Carlton, South Beach, says it will build a cultural center to house about 15 art galleries, a restaurant and a cafe in Miami's Wynwood area. Lionstone officials are set to open the complex at North Miami Avenue and Northeast 20th Street in early 2006, said CEO Alfredo Lowenstein. Art Basel Miami Beach creator Lorenzo A. Rudolf is to consult on gallery selection and marketing. "We're betting on his knowledge to put all this together," Mr. Lowenstein said. "Our vision is to have an international gallery center with collections from the whole country and abroad."
BRAZILIAN MATCHUPS: The American Chamber of Commerce for Brazil will hold matchmaking sessions at the Miami Free Zone in Doral at 5 p.m. May 4. The Sao Paulo-based chamber will send 13 Brazilian businessmen to meet with free-zone tenants to check on potential business relationships. The Brazilians will be in town for the Fispal Food Show at the Miami Beach Convention Center.
CAMILLUS TRIES AGAIN: Camillus House officials pulled a bid from the Miami zoning board's April 25 agenda for approval to move their rescue mission from downtown to the Civic Center area. "We are working on another site the city would like to see us on about two or three blocks south of the current site," spokesman Sam Gil said. "The site is a little bit smaller. The only issue would be parking." Camillus House officials have been trying to get permission to move since the 1980s. Mr. Gil said he would have information on a new site within three to four months. If a deal falters, he said, Camillus House officials will ask the zoning board to approve the original Civic Center site.
WINDOWS: Biscayne Boulevard will define downtown to millions of visitors, according to Miami's Downtown Development Authority. More than 100,000 work downtown, about 30,000 live within a mile and 10,000 to 15,000 will move nearby in three to five years, the authority says. "All of these market segments overlap on Biscayne Boulevard," Executive Director Dana Nottingham said. "In that regard, Biscayne Boulevard is our window on the world and will be a window that we will look through in seeing our future in terms of how downtown's position is strengthened as an international hospitality destination and business center."
MARKETING BAYSIDE: Marie Balbuena is new marketing manager at Bayside Marketplace, replacing Jim McMichael. After six years at Burdines, she joined General Growth Properties in mid-April with ambitious expansion plans for the downtown mall. "We don't have anything to announce yet because we are currently putting all divisions in a program," she said. "The mall has so much potential, it is unbelievable."
BIOPARK LEASE SET: Miami-Dade County officials approved a 75-year lease for Poinciana Partners to build a mixed-use pharmaceutical complex that is to bring hundreds of jobs to Liberty City. Town Center Properties is to start building Poinciana Park, a $120 million project on a county Empowerment Trust site near Northwest 79th Street and 27th Avenue. Phase one is to include 1.1 million square feet - 600,000 for office industrial and manufacturing, 60,000 for retail and the rest for 100 apartments. The site is to have an outpatient clinic and a training center for biotech jobs.

http://miamitodaynews.com/news/050428/fyi.shtml

damn....art galleries, a 1.1 million square-foot biopark (phase I only), and a possible Bayside expansion....this is great!

Codina plans 1,000-acre industrial parkBy Susan Stabley
South Florida Business Journal
Updated: 8:00 p.m. ET May 1, 2005Armando Codina hopes to build an industrial park on 1,000 acres in northern Palm Beach County owned by engine and rocket maker Pratt &Whitney.

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The land - part of 7,000 acres southwest of the Beeline Highway - has not been bought yet, but Codina said he has an agreement with the landowners. He declined to provide the potential purchase price.

Feasibility studies are under way and work has begun for a development of regional impact (DRI) application, he said. If the deal closes, the Coral Gables-based Codina Group plans to break ground in two years.

The proposal affirms Codina's stance that the recovering industrial market will move north, largely because land sites are evaporating.

"We were looking long before Scripps," Codina said.

The site - underused since Pratt & Whitney moved its military jet engine department to Connecticut in 2000 - includes a rail line to bring in freight.

CB Richard Ellis Senior VP Robert C. Smith said there's no doubt there's a demand for industrial land in Palm Beach County. But the timing of an industrial project and its location are critical to its profitability.

"That far west, right now, is a risk. But to do it in four years, as the county grows and the market strengthens, would be great," he said. "It's a great long-term play, as long as agricultural land isn't turned industrial in more eastern areas."

Codina's park would face competition from his neighbors across the street: the 700-acre-plus Palm Beach Park of Commerce, which has been rebranded as the Florida Research Park to capture the biotech market that may follow in the wake of Scripps.

Industrial land prices throughout the county have increased significantly over the last few years, Smith said, with no solid opportunities further east and properties typically priced from $8.50 to $15 a foot.

Codina's most recent big deal was industrial park Beacon Lakes, considered the last of its kind because of shrinking land supply in Miami-Dade County. Codina said there is no suitable land in Broward.

The Palm Beach project could work in tandem with the 436-acre Beacon Lakes, located west of Miami International Airport. As the park is built out and current tenants require expansion, Codina said they could then be moved to the proposed Palm Beach park - at a potentially lower rate.

And, unlike the Beacon Lakes site, the proposed Palm Beach park isn't outside an urban development boundary line. While he said he's not opposed to development outside the line, Codina has no plans to pursue any more projects outside the Miami-Dade County's UDB.

Instead, Codina said he would focus on infill projects in Miami-Dade, such as the redevelopment of Red Road Commons, a former strip mall in South Miami; Mission Bell Park, a condo community on seven and a half acres near Baptist Hospital in east Kendall; and Beacon City Center, a mixed-use residential project born out of a 1970s-era office park in Doral.

Bullish about Beacon Lakes
Two more buildings are under way at Beacon Lakes, where DHL in January inked a long-term lease for the park's first 206,000-square-foot warehouse.

Codina said he will raise an additional 600,000 square feet by the end of the year, then at least 1 million more in 2006. Beacon Lakes boasts a potential of 7 million square feet at full buildout.

Codina said the ambitious plans are based on a mix of his gut instincts and industry experiences, rather than the results of number crunching and committee studies.

"I know there is a pent-up demand," he said. "We can see it and we can feel it."

Demand from companies who want to buy, not lease, has also prompted Codina Group to offer business condos at Beacon Lakes. In a joint partnership with AMB Property Group, the company has launched the Village at Beacon Lakes - 1 million square feet on 56 acres for office and warehouse use at the intersection of State Road 836, the Florida Turnpike and Northwest 25th Street.

Codina said he decided to sell condos instead of the land so he could control the quality of what was built.

Burger King HQ deal still cooking
Codina is still working with Burger King executives on an office building in Coral Gables. Leaders of the Miami-based fast-food empire are exploring taking the company headquarters to Texas, but Miami-Dade officials have scrambled to create incentives.

In the works is a deal for a 16-story tower with more than 200,000 square feet. But even if the company leaves town, Codina said he'd still move forward.

"If we don't get Burger King, we're going to do a spec building anyway," he said.

If Burger King does commit to Codina's project, the project's time frame will be moved forward for a 2007 move-in.

Looks like there is a lot on the commission agenda for the 28th. Opus (yet again), Infinity2, the 496-foot tall version of Paramount at Edgewater Square, and some smaller buildings and more Coconut Grove zoning issues.

http://www.ci.miami.fl.us/Agendas/Commission/05-04-28.pdf




OPUS continued for 2 more months,infinty2 aproved,paramount at edgewater approved,arquitectonica new corporate offices approved

it'll be interesting to see how opus is resolved. hell, it'll be interesting to see if opus gets resolved.

good to see infinity 2 get approved. maybe we'll see some renderings (other than your tv pics, hatter) pretty soon. i get the feeling, though, that it's coming online too late in the game & probably has a slim chance of getting built. but you never know.

Atlanta developer to open real estate office here

By Marilyn Bowden
Hank Bush, who is converting 1000 Brickell Avenue to office condos, is launching a Miami real estate company called Bush Development Group to concentrate on real estate projects throughout Florida.
As principal of EquiProperty of Atlanta, Mr. Bush bought the 144,659-square-foot 12-story building at 1000 Brickell, once headquarters of the Allen Morris Co., six months ago and has sold 70% of its space as office condominiums.
"We felt that in this market, there was a strong demand for this type of product from Europeans and Latin Americans," Mr. Bush said. "Now that we have been in the market for six months, we have specific knowledge that that is the case. We have buyers from Argentina, Venezuela and Spain as well as a decent amount of domestic businesses."
As a result, he said, "we're going to put all our focus on Florida. We are looking at some opportunities in Jacksonville and Tampa. In Miami-Dade and Broward, I think there are opportunities in all areas of development but specifically in the office market.
"Part of the reason for reformatting is that we are seeing a number of people jumping on board with office-condo projects who unfortunately are not familiar with conversion work. I feel it's time for accountability. In the 16 years I've been in the conversion business, this is the first time I've used my own name."
Mr. Bush, who has done conversions in other markets under the name Southern Investment Associates, said he plans another office-conversion project in the area and is negotiating for sites.
Bush Development may do some ground-up construction, he said. One likely site would be the parking lot behind 1000 Brickell, which the company owns. "That would most likely be a lease product[U][COLOR=Sienna]," Mr. Bush said. "But right now, we are more focused on the infancy of the office-condo market."
http://miamitodaynews.com/news/050505/story7.shtml

OPUS FIVE: A possible state land buy near the Miami Performing Arts Center caused the Miami City Commission to delay a development hearing Thursday. Action on Opus, a proposed 408-unit, 58-story condo next to Interstate 395 at 1237 Biscayne Blvd., was delayed for two months - its fifth delay since July. The city requested the first three to correct a defect in plans, and the developer sought the next two. "The justifiable reason is we may not have to have a hearing because the state may buy the property. So why go through an entire lengthy hearing when we don't have to?" said Lucia Dougherty, Greenberg Traurig attorney representing Opus. Developers have been negotiating with Florida Department of Transportation officials, who fear Opus would disrupt efforts to improve I-395.


HOME FREE: A bid to limit a proposed Home Depot at US 1 and Southwest 32nd Avenue to 70,000 square feet fizzled at the Miami City Commission meeting Thursday. "We don't want to put lipstick on the pig," said Commissioner Joe Sanchez, "but the law is the law, and we must obey it whether we like or not." Commissioner Tomas Regalado questioned the size - the original plan was for a 133,000-square-foot store to replace Milam's, a grocery that still holds a four-year lease. "In the American economy, money talks," responded City Attorney Jorge Fernandez. "If it doesn't fit, they have to quit, like the famous O.J. Simpson trial." Meanwhile, city officials are to meet with Coconut Grove activist attorney Tucker Gibbs to find ways to limit the size of future big-box stores in the Grove - but not Home Depot.


LAND NEEDED: Miami-Dade single-family housing starts fell 17% in the first quarter from the first quarter of 2004, says data provider Metrostudy. Demand is outpacing new supply in a number of areas in South Florida, said Metrostudy office director Bradley F. Hunter. In Miami-Dade, he said, the depletion of land approved for housing has ignited a heated discussion regarding moving the urban service boundary westward.


NEW HOME BASE: A South Florida landowner with $1.5 billion in projects in the pipeline has moved its office from New York to Miami to be closer to its developments. Leviev Boymelgreen has moved to the seventh floor of 3050 Biscayne Blvd., 19 blocks north of its 306-unit Marquis condo project that is to replace the Port of Miami Hotel. Residential developments Soleil and Vitri are to add a further 354 units to Miami and Miami Beach. The company, which owns $130 million of completed construction in the region, has interests in New York, Las Vegas and Toronto.


DESIGNING DUBAI: Architect Reinaldo Borges of Borges & Associates, a Brickell designer of several projects in South Florida and Dubai, United Arab Emirates, said the two markets, though distanced, are similar. More than 50,000 housing units are under construction in Dubai, he said, leading to questions of speculative buying and a bubble. Borges & Associates in late 2003 formed an alliance with a 25-person office in Dubai. Borges acts as design architect on projects with local architects doing the technical production.

http://miamitodaynews.com/news/050505/fyi.shtml

borges is the man!

great updates mad hatter

Interesting article in Miami Today. Not really intersted in the whole boom vs bust tone of the article but its stating that a year or two after Four Seasons has opened a whopping TWO units (yes thats 2) in the condo portion of the tower are actually occupied as housing by human beings. Yet the number is much higher for lower price buildings such as Neolofts. It confirms my thought that it is such a waste to build luxury buildings in urban areas, since no one will actually live in them. Cheaper buildings get lived in by real people who live there all the time thus adding to the urban fabric of a city. Luxury buildings are buught as 3rd or 4th homes, investment properties and such and remain vacant for most of the year. See the South of Fifth area of MB versus the cheaper Lincoln Rd area of MB.

p.s.: I love Winton's comment on whether the market can absorb all these new high priced developments: "Build 'em," was Mr. Winton's sage advice. "If they fail, we're going to end up with affordable housing."


http://www.miamitodaynews.com/news/050512/story-viewpoint.shtml

Will killer B's sting Miami's housing boom? Experts waffle

By Michael Lewis
Will Miami's housing market keep booming or bust? Expert panelists last week agreed that it will.
What they couldn't decide is which.
Everyone recognized skyrocketing prices. Nobody pointed to a retreat. But nobody denied one might be just around the corner.
That aligns panelists at Thursday's Florida International University event with most observers of Miami-Dade County's housing surge. While the three killer B's - balloon, bubble and bust - are in everyone's active vocabulary, so is that rosier "B" word, boom.
The rationale for the boom continuing is the nature of Greater Miami, which panelists see shielding us from trends including rising interest rates that will constrict housing demand throughout the US.
Real estate is becoming a more important global investment but so far represents less than 10% of all equity, attorney Neisen Kasdin told guests at FIU's MetroForum breakfast at the Miami City Club. The shift from stocks and bonds to real estate, he said, is paramount...

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South Florida Business Journal - 12:13 PM EDT Thursday
Burger King to stay in Miami-Dade
Susan Stabley
Coral Gables will be the new home of the Whopper.

Burger King Corp. announced Thursday it will move into a 250,000-square-foot building at 2701 S. LeJeune Road in late 2008, consolidating all employees into one location.

Burger King workers are currently split between offices in Dadeland and at Waterford at Blue Lagoon near Miami International Airport.

The new tower will be developed and owned by Codina Group in a joint venture with JPMorgan Asset Management SSPF Fund.

The new headquarters will include a test kitchen, employee cafeteria, dining room and parking garage.

"I'm excited," a beaming Coral Gables Mayor Donald Slesnick said as he clapped Codina Group CEO Armando Codina on the back before the morning press conference.

State and local incentives totaling $8.68 million were used to keep the fast-food empire and its 600 employees, which nearly opted to move operations to Houston.

Founded in Miami in 1954, Burger King boasts $12 billion in annual systemwide sales.

Locally, the company said, 60 new jobs will be created in the next three years.

The private global company committed an investment of $68 million for the new facility.



© 2005 American City Business Journals Inc.

Gallery Boom
Developer Plans ‘Art Complex’ in Wynwood

“We see that the city supports the arts, something that has been proven by the many different art events that take place here throughout the year, like Art Basel.”—Alfredo Lowenstein, CEO of Lionstone


By Omar Sommereyns
Staff Writer


While it still appears to be rather dreary and ominous, Wynwood may be poised to become Miami’s respected art district as more and more gallery owners and developers target the area.

Lionstone, a development company that has projects in Miami and the Caribbean, is in the process of planning a new art complex on North Miami Avenue between NE 20th and 21st streets, where, potentially, a restaurant, a special exhibition space for curated shows and up to 15 art galleries will be housed.

The project could be quite a significant addition to a prime real estate neighborhood that’s already becoming a noteworthy home for Miami’s emerging art scene, says Mark Coetzee, the director of the Rubell Collection, which is located within a warehouse the family purchased 12 years ago.

“We’ve watched collectors of incredible stature and alternative galleries and the now the bigger commercial galleries moving into Wynwood,” says Coetzee. “It’s moving so quickly, like a fire out of control. When you have a density of art institutions, there’s a plurality of voices, which is very exciting. This new project is just adding to the momentum.”

Alfredo Lowenstein, the CEO of Lionstone, says the $12 million project (he won’t reveal a name since it isn’t registered yet) is being financed with private funds and he envisions Miami becoming a top culture and entertainment destination in the future, citing the art gallery boom in the last 10 years.

“The growth is like the condominiums – they’re going up at such a fast pace,” he says. “The location is great because it’s between downtown and Miami Beach. We see that the city supports the arts, something that has been proven by the many different art events that take place here throughout the year, like Art Basel. And there has been a really positive response.”

Lowenstein, whose wife owns Diana Lowenstein Fine Arts near the Gables, hired Juan Lezcano, a local architect who designed the MTV Networks offices in Miami Beach and Jaguar restaurant in Coconut Grove, for the project. Lezcano says they are still working out zoning requirements. A 1930 building at 2043 N. Miami Ave (not a designated historic landmark) will have to be demolished in order for the development to go up. Lezcano claims they couldn’t use that edifice for the project since it’s dilapidated. “It’s in bad, bad shape,” he says, “with a lot of cracks and a delicate roof that would fly off during a hurricane. It would be a major headache to deal with.”

The new structure, he explains, will have “a special façade so that people stop, look in awe and want to go inside, but it’s not going to be an exaggerated design.”

And then there’s the art. According to Lorenzo Rudolf, a consultant taken on by Lowenstein (he was the director of Art Basel for almost 10 years, helped conceptualize Art Basel Miami Beach and was CEO of the Frankfurt Book Fair), only topnotch galleries will be selected. He didn’t want to comment on what international names he’s considering, although he has a full list of establishments that he still needs to approach.

When asked about the Wynwood area gaining international attention, Rudolf says, “Wynwood has become a destination – every collector who came to Art Basel directly went to see the collections and galleries there. Surely, it doesn’t yet have the dimension of Chelsea [in New York], but people know it’s an art district and, in the future, there’s going to be more of a clear concentration [of art] in Wynwood.”

However, while the Lionstone complex may draw much outside attention to the budding art district, it could also shroud smaller local galleries in the area. Even so, Rudolf is certain it will benefit the community and promises there will be Miami-based galleries included in the complex, mentioning the Ambrosino Gallery and Gary Nader Fine Art as possible candidates.

“A lot of people are concerned that this district is driven by real estate,” Coetzee says, “but these aren’t just empty warehouses showing art. There are people making long-term commitments here and many have actually bought their properties. Even if gentrification moves on, it’s not like the art world will be pushed out.”

Lowenstein hopes his complex will be ready by Art Basel Miami Beach 2005 in December, though it might not open until the beginning of next year, he says. “We prefer to be late, but do it right.”

Comments? E-mail omar@miamisunpost.com.

so it loks like they're gonna move fast with this one...great for the area

This thread has been moved to Development news, since it is almost completely filled with development news.

And then additionally, it will be closed, as the entire point of having a development news forum was not to cram all of the development articles into one thread, where it would be difficult to discuss them and keep track of them....

Feel free to create a bew "news" thread in the main forum that is for other kinds of local news NOT related to development.