this thread will be for anything thats breaking new,newspaper articles and any gossip.

miamitodaynews.com

$15 billion of housing planned in Miami

By Yeleny Suarez
With an unprecedented 209 mixed-use developments to house 58,317 residential units planned in Miami at a projected construction cost of more than $15 billion, city officials say the urban building boom shows no sign of slowing.
Of the projects, 32 have been finished at a cost of $1.9 billion, and 31, for $3.6 billion, are rising now, officials say.
Another 59 projects at costs of $7.3 billion have been approved; 21, for $1.9 billion, are in the application phase; and 66, at $376 million, are in preliminary phases.
"Because Miami is an international market, it is very difficult to forecast when and how the market will slow down," said Luciana Lamardo-Gonzalez, city special projects coordinator. "Other municipalities like Chicago have already started to see a slowdown. However, at this time, Miami has shown no signs" of one.
Veteran real estate consultant Michael Cannon of Integra Realty said he is unsure of Miami's future market demand. "There is so much money fueling the market, I can't predict where it's going," he said. "It's going to be interesting to see what is going to happen this year."
The 209 developments do not include tens of thousands of housing units rising or planned elsewhere in mushrooming Miami-Dade County.
Only five mixed-use residential projects in the city have been cancelled.
"Projects can be cancelled for any multitude of reasons, and if so, it is done by the applicant, not the city," said Kevin Walford of the city's planning department. "Projects that come for preliminary review once or twice and are never heard of again can be considered cancelled."
Downtown's future looks promising, with 72 projects totaling 32,732 units at an estimated construction cost of $10 billion. The next-largest clusters are in Wynwood and Edgewater, with 7,240 units in 40 projects at $1.8 billion, and Coral Way, with 23 projects totaling 2,999 units at a projected cost of $277 million.
Seventeen projects are planned for Little Havana, with 2,596 units ($199 million); 12 for Allapattah with 3,238 units ($529 million); 11 each for northeast Miami and the upper east side, 3,053 units ($840 million); eight for West Little Havana, 2,078 units ($247 million); six for Flagami, 3,258 units ($249 million); five for Overtown, 765 units ($66 million); two for Little Haiti, 182 units ($20 million); and one for southwest Coconut Grove and Model City, 176 units ($47 million).
Ms. Lamardo-Gonz·lez said the city can't control when projects are built.
"The majority of the projects approved or seeking approval should be built within the next six years because approvals for projects last two years" and extensions expire at six years, she said.
The city commission must approve permits for projects of 200 or more units. The projects are reviewed for such things as design, historic preservation and urban development, zoning and planning before commissioners vote.
"The true test will come when the current projects that are currently under construction come into the market," Ms. Lamardo-Gonz·lez said. "Then we will have a better idea of how deep the market has been tapped."

Wynwood supporters want city to keep developers at bay

By Suzy Valentine
Zoning changes are needed in the Wynwood Art District to prevent big developers from forcing out trailblazers, says one of the largest investors in the area.
Tony Goldman, a real estate developer and art collector who opened Goldman Warehouse gallery Jan. 9, said that by imposing height restrictions in the area and ensuring that artists can get affordable housing, the district may avoid over-development similar to that in South Beach.
"We need to develop a cohesive plan between the galleries, the museums, collectors and artists," he said. "We need to coordinate."
Artists' rents could be subsidized on a 50-50 basis, Mr. Goldman said. "Some formulas can occur."
Wynwood/Edgewater, in the northwest quadrant of Miami, is bounded to the north by Interstate 195, to the east by Biscayne Boulevard, to the south by Interstate 395 and to the west by Interstate 95. The 2000 Census showed that 37.7% of Wynwood's 6,221 households, making up a population of 14,819, lived on $12,000 or less a year.
Parallels could be drawn between Wynwood and other parts of the county, said another developer and collector.
"When South Beach reached a point where it was difficult for people to be there, they migrated to the northeastern part, right off Biscayne Boulevard and Wynwood," said Dennis Scholl, who has rented space to artists in the art district for $1,500 a month.
Movement of artists into the area would ensure its improvement, said Mr. Goldman, but they could be forced out.
"I've seen the transition and the gentrification and what it actually does - how pure art scenes are in some ways tarnished and changed by the gentrification of the community," Mr. Goldman said.
"Part of that has to be where the arts community and the real estate community have to come together to at least agree on how we can not only create it but how to sustain it."
Miami architect Andres Duany of Duany Plater-Zyberk has identified three waves of gentrification - artists, romantic investors and institutional investors.
Mr. Goldman said he hopes development in Wynwood stops at the first wave.
"How can we guarantee that there's longevity to the creative mix between collections, art spaces, studios, live-work environments?" he said. "There must be commitment to affordable housing for artists within a neighborhood of this kind.
"There should be a discussion as to how that happens," he said. "Community-development corporations should rise out of the Wynwood Arts Association."
Artists have an eye for the next hot spot, said Mr. Scholl. "Talking of art and real estate, if you want to know where the next great urban center in Miami is going to be, just follow the artists," he said. "When my wife, Debra, and I began to invest in South Beach, the only people down there were artists and really sketchy people."
Part of the new district's appeal would come from its accessibility, said Mr. Goldman.
"Wynwood was an opportunity for my son and I to help enhance a neighborhood in the warehouse section as a place for new pedestrianism," he said, "a new place for pedestrian life. The great art scenes occur when you can walk between spaces.
"They need to be created in pockets. There needs to be 24/7 environment to create a really honest art scene.
"We were very successful in creating and stimulating pedestrianism in South Beach," said Mr. Goldman, a pioneer in redevelopment of the Art Deco District. "It's what's missing now in Miami in the pedestrian center. We've bought a critical mass of properties, strategically located to create that pedestrian life.
"Miami has become an urban center," he said. "It doesn't happen by itself unless it has the convergence of an international and sophisticated population."
He predicted that the county's art scene, now in ascendancy, would reach prominence between 2008 and 2010.
"I think you'll see something dramatic happening between three to five years," said Mr. Goldman. "I think you'll see pockets of growth probably every six months."
Details: www.wynwoodartdistrict.com

Agreement reached in Brickell Park dispute

By Suzy Valentine
Deceased members of the Brickell family can rest in peace now that some of their descendants are close to a deal with Related Group of Florida over preservation of one of the Brickell area's last remaining green spaces.
In the deal, made about 45 days ago, according to Related Vice President Bill Thompson, the family agreed to deed about 8,300 square feet of Brickell Park next to the Sheraton Brickell Bay hotel in exchange for 11,000 square feet of bayfront land behind the Sheraton belonging to Related.
It would end a lawsuit over preservation of the area filed more than 16 years ago.
Aside from its recreational value, the park has historical and archaeological connections. It houses a family mausoleum from which most of the bodies of the Brickells buried there have been removed and earlier formed with Miami Circle the site of a Tequesta Indian settlement.
"The parties got into the thicket, and it took some creativity to cut through the thicket," said attorney John Shubin of Shubin Bass, who is refining the agreement.
"Several years ago, a group of affected landowners and many of you in this organization retained our firm," he told members of the Brickell Area Association on Tuesday, "to look into the proposal whereby the Brickell family and the City of Miami would try to resolve litigation pending since 1988."
The substance of the agreement is that Brickell Park except the areas being exchanged between Related and the Brickell family will be transferred to the city with a covenant in perpetuity restricting use to a passive park. It can't be converted to a soccer or baseball field.
Mr. Thompson encouraged members of the Brickell Area Association at their meeting at the JW Marriott on Brickell Avenue to support the deal by a resolution. The association agreed to consider it privately once Related had sent the proposal. It next is scheduled to meet Feb. 8.
Mr. Thompson pledged that improvements to the park would include a review of lighting to make it more inviting to users. Oak trees from the Sheraton site would be uprooted and replanted in Brickell Park.
The hotel, which Related recently purchased for more than $100 million, would remain open for six months longer, he said, after which it would be demolished, making way for groundbreaking this fall or next spring.
Related - one of South Florida's most active high-rise residential developers - would be allowed to use more of the park space during construction but it would remain open, Mr. Thompson said.
A planning application would be submitted shortly, he said.
"That would be helpful in making all things come together," said Mr. Thompson.
The development would feature three towers - one of 45-48 stories, another of 52-55 stories and one of 55-57 stories.
A baywalk connecting the area to downtown is planned "to alleviate traffic congestion," Mr. Thompson said.
Addressing suggestions that one of the buildings might undergo a change of use to office space depending upon the market, Mr. Thompson said Related would have to look carefully at the logistics of providing more parking spaces.
But he said parking for residential use had been considered at the early planning stage and there would be adequate spaces for residents and park users.

www.miamitodaynews.com
American, county to consolidate terminal bidding

By Sherri C. Ranta
American Airlines and Miami-Dade County officials have agreed to consolidate work on the $1.5 billion North Terminal at Miami International Airport into one bid package that engineers estimate will cost at least $300 million.
County and American officials "agreed we needed to conduct business a different way," acknowledging that "what had been done before didn't work," said Carlos Bonzon, the county's interim aviation director. Construction is as much as $158 million over budget and 18 months late.
American will consolidate terminal construction, previously handled piecemeal with multiple bid packages, into one project, Mr. Bonzon said.
American put the work out for bids last month. Bids are to be opened at 10 a.m. Feb. 3. Bids for the North Terminal apron, estimated at $25 million, will be opened Feb. 4.
Felix Pereira, North Terminal program chief, said the large contract will let American make one contractor responsible for schedules, dates and budgets. At one point, American had 100 bid packages for terminal work, he said.
Officials now estimate the terminal will be completed in first-quarter 2008, Mr. Pereira said. Two months ago, their target was in 2007.
Aviation officials expect to ask the county commission to amend the 1995 construction and financing agreement putting American in charge of North Terminal construction.
An amendment would include more cost overruns and delays, Mr. Bonzon said. American officials asked the commission two years ago for an additional $211 million. American officials have said they will seek at least $66 million more.
Another $92 million is needed for baggage-screening equipment required by the federal government, Mr. Bonzon said. The county, he said, will seek 75% of those funds from the Transportation Security Administration.

http://wcsh6.com/assetpool/images/02912143844_Breaking-News.jpg

This thread sucks :)

^^^haha

lool good articles though

New projects to double Miami's tax rolls, officials say

By Yeleny Suarez
Miami's construction boom will double the tax rolls of one of the nation's poorest cities by 2006, officials predict.
The $22.5 billion in taxable property on city rolls today would pass $40 billion if more than $17 billion in projects in the pipeline are completed. Rising taxes on existing property would add to that total.
"If everything gets built, our tax budget would double," Mayor Manny Diaz said.
And the city is forecasting that virtually everything will be completed.
Now, 233 major projects are in process, said Larry Spring, city budget and strategic planning chief, and everything that gets that far typically will be built eventually.
"From 2003 to 2004, we grew $3 billion in taxable value," Mr. Spring said. "Seventy-five percent was due to existing property and 25% on remaining new construction. As more and more new development is completed, the percentage of new construction will rise."
"The total tax roll today is $22.5 billion," he said. "I am currently putting together the budget forecast that will be completed in May. We expect a double-digit increase, another 10% minimum ($2 billion). But this is just a preliminary number. Expectations are that it will be larger."
The city's large-scale development report lists major projects awaiting approval. The number has increased by 24 since October, said Luciana Lamardo-Gonzalez, special projects coordinator for the city's planning department.
Listed are 233 mixed-used projects that would include 66,648 residential units at a projected construction cost of more than $17 billion, Ms. Lamardo-Gonzalez said. Of those, 32 have been finished at $2 billion; 33, for $3.7 billion, are rising now.
Another 64, at a cost of $7.9 billion, have been approved; 25, for $2.7 billion, are in the application phase; and 79, at $724 million, are in preliminary steps, she said.
"Looking at it as a seamless project, it would take about two years before hitting tax rolls," Mr. Spring said. "Next year, we estimate a double-digit gain in tax-base increase at a minimum, 15% over this year. This year was about 17%. Condos are moving strong - we estimate a 12% increase for 2006."
"At this point, there is no evidence of city projects slowing down," Mayor Diaz said. "I've met with developer Africa Israel, who has several plans for the city, and Royal Palm, none of which is yet in the city plan, so we are still growing."
Africa Israel Investments Ltd., an international holding and investment company, plans projects in Park West and the Omni area, the mayor said. The Performing Arts Center Trust is considering a deal with the firm to develop parking.
Much property in Miami is tax-exempt. The preliminary value assessment of sites exempt from taxes last year was a little more than $10.2 billion, or 31.2% of the $32.6 billion in total city property.
Real and personal taxes brought the city $178 million last year, up $22 million from 2003. Next year, Mr. Spring said, he anticipates another rise of more than $20 million. An estimate of growth in 2006 is due in May.
The jump in taxes is not a net gain. Costs rise with growth. "As the city becomes denser," Mr. Spring said, "additional expenses on police and firefighters are necessary."

miami today news

Key Biscayne Sonesta to become condo hotel

By Suzy Valentine
Officials at Sonesta Beach Resort on Key Biscayne announced plans Tuesday to convert the facility to a condo hotel with expectations of netting $650 million on sales of the units.
Fortune International is to market the development.
The existing property, built in 1969, will remain open until 2006 while the project is planned. The resort will close during a two-year construction.
Sonesta has sister properties on Sunny Isles Beach and in Coconut Grove.
The project will allow Boston-based Sonesta International Hotels Corp. an opportunity to double the size of rooms and upgrade to five-star quality, said Roger Sonnabend, the company's executive chairman.
"The rooms are 1960s sizes. They are 330 square feet, and we intend to build rooms of 500 to 600 square feet," he said. "Also, Miami could use an additional first-class hotel."
Neighboring Ritz-Carlton, Key Biscayne, Four Seasons Hotel and the region's only five-star hotel, Mandarin Oriental Miami, are obvious rivals, he said, though the Brickell and Brickell Key properties don't qualify as resorts.
"We're determined to at least equal if not better them," he said. "There is a shortage of truly luxurious hotels, and Key Biscayne lends itself to that quality. Other cities boast a number of five-star hotels, Miami doesn't."
That would be achieved, Mr. Sonnabend said, by offering better service.
"Training of personnel will be even more important. In a five-star property, more service is expected, more service on the beach."
Consumers weren't necessarily becoming more demanding, he said. Rather, others were looking at saving money.
"It goes both ways," Mr. Sonnabend said. "There's also tremendous demand for less expensive hotels with less service - a growth in the budget market."
The 10.5-acre site could accommodate a 930,000-square-foot facility, he said, with 200,000 square feet of public space and 700,000 square feet in guest rooms.
Mr. Sonnabend declined to reveal construction costs, though Fortune is to pay Sonesta $30 million in cash and discharge a mortgage of the same value as part of the transaction. Sonesta is to transfer the four-diamond AAA site to Fortune for $60 million and enter into a 50-50 partnership in the deal, set to close by mid-April.

miami today news

FYI Miami is a weekly feature of Miami Today, keeping readers ahead of the news. Here are highlights from the most current edition.
BUILD IT FASTER: Miami, in the midst of a massive development boom, has created a rapid review for building permits. A Public Works Department study showed a significant demand, and the city commission approved the program Thursday. In-house reviews by a public-works examiner will cost $250 and outside reviews, directed to a consultant by the Public Works Department, will cost review fees plus 15%. "This code change allows the Public Works Department to perform expedited plan reviews on plans submitted to the building department for permit processing only," said Stephanie Grindell, public-works director. "The details are not yet nailed down."
WATSON ISLAND LEASE: The Miami City Commission last week approved spending $20,000 more for legal services from Gunster Yoakley & Stewart on the lease and development on Watson Island by Flagstone Properties LLC. Flagstone's proposed $426 million island project, approved by voters in 2001, includes two luxury high-rise hotels, 50 marina slips and more than 230,000 square feet of restaurant and retail space.
RACE TO SETTLE: Miami agreed to take 40 cents on the dollar from ex-downtown Grand Prix promoter Raceworks, settling a debt of $15,348 for $6,139. In 2002, Raceworks agreed to produce the event and pay fees for all tickets sold. "As you all know, Raceworks will be filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, and therefore, as they say, we are better off getting as much as we can before they call off the leading man and we get X amount of dollars," Commissioner Joe Sanchez said before Thursday's settlement vote. "Just a little business sense - that is why I support the item."
BOWLING: Miami-Dade County, which is to host Super Bowl XXXXI in 2007, is bidding for the 2009 game, too. With a probable economic impact of $330 million, according to industry officials, the 2009 Super Bowl also is attracting bids from Atlanta, Houston and Tampa. Last week, Greater Miami Convention & Visitors Bureau President Bill Talbert flew to New York to meet with National Football League officials. "The NFL presented specifications and requirements to host the Super Bowl," he said. "Since we are hosting the game in 2007, we are very well-versed. I think we have a chance." If the area hosts in 2009, it would tie New Orleans in number of Super Bowls hosted with nine. A decision for 2009 is expected May 27.
BOWLERS: Six members were appointed to the Orange Bowl Advisory Committee at last week's Miami City Commission meeting. Twelve appointees were needed to replace members whose terms expire Monday. Appointed were Ron Stone, Rick Rodriguez Pina, Theodora Long, Arthur Hertz, Jorge Luis Lopez and Lazaro Lopez.
JOINING TRUST: Insurance agent Enrique Bello is the newest member of the Citizens' Independent Transportation Trust, which was created to oversee spending of the half-cent sales tax for transportation approved in November 2002. Mr. Bello officially joins the watchdog group Jan. 31, when he is to be sworn in. He replaces Hermino Lorenzo as trust representative for District 13. His appointment leaves one vacancy on the 15-member trust.
NEWCOMERS: A promotion to gain new business brought 1,000 new customers to BankUnited. The bank ran a contest as part of its 20th anniversary in October, offering clients a chance to win up to $20,000. About 3,400 people participated in the drawing that saw 1,000 open deposit accounts at branches across the state. Boca Raton resident Richard Boulier won the $20,000 grand prize.
TARGET PRACTICE: Before the Miami City Commission passed a resolution allowing the police department to buy 240 tasers Thursday, Commissioner Joe Sanchez had one wry comment: "My recommendation is we try it on the city manager first." City Manager Joe Arriola responded: "Not before I sign a document with city police to make sure they have the right dosage."
STILL PLANNING: Four of the 10 members of Miami's Planning Advisory Board whose terms expired this month were unanimously reappointed last week by the city commission. They are Denis Rod, Arva Moore Parks McCabe, Tamara Gort and the Rev. Guillermo Revuelta. The board makes recommendations to the commission on the city's comprehensive planning program.
MORE JOBS, MORE WORKERS: The state jobs outlook for 2005 may not be as positive as statistics imply, said Bruce Nissen, director of research at Florida International University's Center for Labor Research and Studies. Florida is expected to be a national leader in job growth due to increased construction and personal-service jobs, he said, but the growth may be surpassed by growth of the working-age population. State job growth has failed to beat the growth of working-age population since before the recession of March 2001, he said. "I'll say we are completely out of the hole when that happens."
LIBER HONORED: At the request of Chairman Joe Sanchez, the Miami City Commission last week unanimously named Northwest First Street between 11th and 12th avenues for Moises Liber, who helped found Clinica Cubana in the early 1960s. The request came from daughter Betty Liber and friend Antonio Llano Montes in June. With just $1,000, Mr. Liber opened the clinic that provided medical services at $30 a month to thousands of new Cuban Americans. He died in 1966.
MOVE OVER, MADISON AVENUE: Advertising Age has named Coconut Grove ad firm Crispin Porter Bogusky, 2699 S. Bayshore Dr., its agency of the year. The firm jumped from 40 employees and $40 million in billings eight years ago to 200 employees and $300 million in billings in 2004. Its biggest account is another local company, Burger King.
ART DRIPPO: Rain last week probably accounted for a 30% dip in the number of tours taken during Art Deco weekend, the Miami Design Preservation League's executive director said. "Our tours were down, but sales were up," said Bill Farkas. "It was a significant jump, something like 10%, which was unexpected." With good weather, the league could have expected up to 400,000 visitors, he said, but the number probably was closer to 350,000. Concessions did well, he said. "The vendors were very happy with Saturday and Sunday sales, which is good. It means they'll be back."
FISHERS OF MEN: Getting back to work in the new year proved a little more challenging for one Palmetto Bay teacher than the rest of us. The Rev. Adrian Parry returned to teach at Palmer Trinity School on Tuesday after a two-week stay in Thailand to help the tsunami relief efforts, compounded by a 37-hour return flight. "It shouldn't have taken that long, but my baggage was lost in Chicago," said the priest, who was back in the classroom after arriving at Miami International Airport at 2:45 a.m. The school has set up a fund and hopes to help purchase fishing boats for people whose livelihoods were damaged by the floods.
ARTS CENTER OUTSOURCING: The Performing Arts Center Trust is investigating how it might outsource facility management jobs such as engineering, custodial and security to commercial companies. Members of the Facility Management Task Force are to meet potential bidders Jan. 28. "We're meeting with representatives from about six or seven firms from around the country," said trust president Michael Hardy. "We've got companies who want to do one of those, we've got companies who want to do all of those." The outcome of the talks will determine whether the trust puts the jobs out to bid. Jan. 28 is also the deadline for a sponsorship deal for the flooring in the concert hall.

good article!!

great updates uptown,! u da man

Miracle growth

A new owner wants to transform the former Miracle Center into a vertical, 250,000-square-foot retail mall

BY ELAINE WALKER

ewalker@herald.com


After standing almost completely vacant for years, the former Miracle Center on Coral Way is about to come back to life with large retail stores.

Developer Jim Schlesinger's Talisman Co. bought the property last summer for $15 million from developer Michael Swerdlow and plans to turn it into a multistory retail center similar to Dadeland Station.

Schlesinger says he already has recruited Bed, Bath & Beyond, DSW and PETsMART as new tenants for the project, which will be renamed Miracle Plaza. Bally Total Fitness, currently the center's only tenant, also will remain. Negotiations are underway with additional tenants including Comp USA and Michael's Craft Store.

The 250,000-square-foot project is yet another example of how retailers are increasingly willing to consider nontraditional -- even vertical -- locations in order to find space in a tight urban market like Miami-Dade County. The former Miracle Center is located in the city of Miami, just east of Coral Gables. Residents of Brickell Avenue, Key Biscayne, Coconut Grove, Little Havana and Coral Gables now must drive to Dadeland for this type of shopping.

`UNDERSERVED MARKET'

''This is clearly an underserved market,'' said Schlesinger, who is also a partner in redeveloping the former Cutler Ridge Mall now known as Southland Mall. ``It's a wonderful location. There's nothing else in the area that has a big-box format and parking.''

This won't be the first attempt to renovate the former Miracle Center, which made a splash when it opened in 1989 with its Arquitectonica design but failed to attract a critical mass of shoppers. Moves in the late 1990s to reposition it as a Spanish marketplace called Paseos were unsuccessful.

Swerdlow originally considered a similar plan for big-box retailers, but instead decided in 2000 to market the site as a telecom hotel. When the market busted, the site sat vacant except for the health club.

Schlesinger expects to begin construction in May, with plans to open by Fall 2006.

BUILDING PLANS

The current building will be gutted and redeveloped with three floors of retail and four floors of parking above. On the first floor will be small, boutique-oriented retailers and restaurants. The big-box retailers will be spread over the other two floors.

Plans also call for a major renovation of the parking garage, in order to eliminate the steep entrance ramp long considered a major deterrent to shoppers.

''It's going to be a challenging undertaking,'' said Stephen Bittel, chairman of Terranova. ``But it's doable.''

Michael Finkle, managing director of retail brokerage firm Koniver Stern, believes Miracle Plaza will benefit from South Florida's increasing traffic that makes it more desirable for consumers to be able to shop closer to home.

Schlesinger may face competition from developers Jeff Berkowitz and Ralph Sanchez, who are also working on plans for a similar multistory retail project on the site of the overflow parking lot now used by Ford of Coral Gables. Berkowitz and Sanchez have the property under contract, but they still need government approvals and construction would be about two years away.

Neither group seems worried about the competition.

''It's a very attractive market and there is no absence of retailers looking to penetrate that market,'' Berkowitz said. ``I wish him well.''

well heres some breaking news, today i had a field trip and we went 2 some place in miami beach,

the bus ride was greating seeing the magic city from the numerous bridges on the 836, it was a kinda hazy day today, but the cranes were great, theres stuff happening @ tenmuseum and marina blue, there were many cranes, those one miami towers are playing a giant role :cheers: :cheers:

MIAballinboi, DID YOU Count The TOWER Construction CRANES ???, Believe it or NOT !!!, There's A RECORD of MOST Tower Construction CRANES in the CITY OF MIAMI Limits ALONE for AT ONE TIME. 23 TOTAL NOW in all the CITY of MIAMI City Limits, THERE's NEVER Been THAT MANY at One Time !!! :cheers:
I went around the WHOLE CITY :) Area on Wednesday and COUNTED Every Tower Construction Crane, Including ALLAPATTAH, Little Havana, Santa Clara, Jackson/U.M. Hospital, Midtown Arts Area, Coconut Grove, Brickell and Downtown MIAMI !!!. :cheers:

it was mind boggling chuck crusing on the 836 both ways, hitting bumper to bumper traffic cause of all the pickup trucks lool, well there was a lot of trucks, and seeing the skyline from the top of the i95 interchange with the wind blowing but the sun shining. lool great day,

i lost count chuck of cranes there was alot near jackson and alot of stuff and groundwork at ten museum marina, those towers, but l also saw that stupid gas station still there lol, and that lil crappy building still @ the 900 biscayne site.

Yep :) , MIABallinboi :) , I hate to say it AGAIN, That BP Gas Station :bash: at 1000 BISCAYNE BLVD, STAYS !!!, Its a DAMN SHAME, And the BUMS :bash: use it every NIGHT, Its always Open to sell Liquor to the Bums :bash: . Those Residents are going to be Shocked when they move into TEN MUSEUM PARK Condo Tower and 900 BISCAYNE CONDO TOWER, Marina Blue Condo Tower will be pissed off , too. SOMEONE HAS TO BUY THAT GAS Station and LEVEL IT FAST :bash: !!!

yup true, that guy must be the luckiest guy in miami the owner,

but dont worry mr trump or jorge perez or some big timer will go in there and fill up his pockets with cash lool to get that station outta there, loool

Since they're going ahead with Met 3, I move that we level the gas station and build my world's tallest Nathan's Hot Dogs on that site. What do you guys think ? :)

^concur,

cant wait til that gas station implodes lool

DALE :) , Yes, Build that NATHANS HOT DOG TOWER :) on that Gas Station :bash: , lol. and Will I ever catch up with your POST's Numbers,lol :cheers:
GO CRANES,. Also Guess WHAT , the Interest Rates are coming down again at 4.97 % at www.interest.com :cheers:
MIAballinboi :) , THE DONALD :) Trump will FIRE :bash: the Gas Station Owner :bash: on Thursday's APPRENTICE, NEXT WEEK !!! :cheers:

- JANUARY 2005 ISSUE
fltrend.com
Real Estate-Industry Outlook

By Lewis M. Goodkin


RESIDENTIAL: Hot, Hot, Hot
The market continues to sizzle. A bubble isn’t likely in most places in Florida, but Miami’s condo market bears watching.

Just six years ago, it seemed like every investor was buying technology stocks. Heavy demand drove shares of some dot-com companies into the stratosphere. But as reality set in with the new millennium, the bubble burst and share prices plummeted.
Since then, residential real estate — especially in Florida — has replaced the stock market as the favorite "get-rich-quick" investment strategy for many Americans. As a result, many new condominium developments in markets like Miami, Fort Lauderdale, West Palm Beach and Orlando report long lines of buyers when their sales offices open. The developments announce "sellouts" within a few days — even though it may be two or three years before those "sales" are actually closed.

In fact, a significant portion of those buyers are investors who plan to reserve several condominium units at preconstruction prices, then resell, or "flip," their units to new buyers at a substantial profit as the project nears completion. At some fast-selling projects, speculators account for as much as 80% of sales.

Today’s speculative buyers are betting:

- Florida’s residential market will continue to boom

- Condominium prices will continue to escalate

- Interest rates will remain low

- There will be no bad news to create an exodus out of the market

Unfortunately, these speculative buyers — as well as many developers of multifamily housing projects — are coming to the market at a very late point in the current real estate cycle. Just as the technology boom of the late 1990s came to a crashing halt, the potential exists for a relatively sudden readjustment in the market, otherwise known as a "housing bubble."

The clear danger is that Florida developers may face serious financial difficulties if thousands of condo units hit the market in 2005-06 and produce something like a giant margin call. If there is not enough demand from buyers at that time, investors could be forced to sell at bargain prices, which developers would have to match. The result could be a series of costly foreclosures or financial "workouts" with lenders.

A cyclical industry
Bubbles resulting from unexpected changes in demand or overbuilding by developers have occurred throughout Florida’s history, although they have usually been confined to relatively limited markets. In the mid-1920s, for instance, promoters of vacant land in Coral Gables generated such strong demand that Northern visitors would sign a "binder" to purchase a lot, then "flip" that contract to a new buyer at a higher price a few days later. In 1926, after two years of frenzied real estate activity, a devastating hurricane burst that bubble.

In the early 1970s, condominium developers built thousands of units throughout the state, only to find themselves with vast quantities of unsold inventory when a national recession hit in 1974. A few years later, oil-rich buyers from Venezuela and other Latin American countries began purchasing multiple condominium units on Miami’s Brickell Avenue. A sudden drop in oil prices left many investors unable to close, forcing developers to resell their units at significantly lower prices.

While some developers today actively court this type of speculative demand, others do their best to discourage it. "We do everything we can to keep out the so-called speculators," says Bruce Weiner, president of Turnberry Associates in Aventura. "We put in safeguards so that the original purchaser has to close on the unit. Of course, what they do afterwards is up to them."

Developers say that lenders are also more stringent on their presale requirements than they were even a few years ago. "The banks want to see sales with at least a 20% deposit, and they count multiple units by a buyer as just one sale," says Daniel Kodsi, president and CEO of Royal Palm Communities in Boca Raton. "We like the idea that they’re trying to keep the market as honest as they can."

A statewide perspective
Looking at the state as a whole, there appears to be little danger of a housing bubble in 2005, barring a huge jump in interest rates or a catastrophic terrorist incident. Estimates predict Florida’s population will increase by about 350,000 in 2005 and add 130,000 jobs.Statewide, the number of housing starts is predicted to be in the 125,000 range. The number could be less if builders in some markets focus on repairing the state’s 50,000-plus hurricane-damaged homes. In addition, higher costs for construction labor, building materials and developable land may cause some developers to reduce their 2005 forecasts.

Continued strong demand and limited supply statistics point to a continued rise in housing prices, although the rate of increase is likely to be lower than in the past two years. According to the Florida Association of Realtors, for the first nine months of 2004 existing-home prices rose 23% statewide to $194,700, despite a third-quarter slowdown as a result of Hurricanes Charley, Frances, Ivan and Jeanne. Just one year earlier, in September 2003, the average resale price was $158,900.

In the Tampa market, median home prices rose 17.8% over the past year to $168,000, surpassing Atlanta’s $156,000.

In another sign of escalating home prices, Broward County recently voted to expand the limits on what qualifies as affordable housing. A family of four earning $48,150, the county decided, now qualifies as low income and eligible for housing assistance. The price of a home that qualifies is now raised to a maximum of $229,000 for new construction and $152,000 for existing.

"As long as Florida’s economic fundamentals sustain themselves, price escalation will be a function of demand," says real estate attorney Ted R. Brown, shareholder at Akerman Senterfitt’s Orlando office. "Restrictions on new development and growth management regulations also act to constrain growth of new housing, making the existing inventory more valuable and pricing it higher."

The rate of price escalation will be a key factor in how the market develops: A volatile situation could occur if the prices of units rise beyond the reach of buyers — particularly in the hottest markets, where speculation is a factor in driving prices upward.

In any Florida market, there is always the possibility that supply could outstrip demand for the short term, says Al Hoffman, CEO of WCI Communities in Bonita Springs, one of the state’s largest developers of high-end single-family and condominium communities. "But the aging of the Baby Boomers and the transfer of wealth between generations is having a real impact on Florida’s second-home and preretirement home markets."

Hoffman says inventories in major metropolitan areas like Tampa Bay and Orlando are in the normal two- to three-year supply range. Since it can take up to five years to win approval for major residential developments, there’s no sign of oversupply.

"I don’t think you’ll see a national or a state housing bubble," Hoffman adds. "National averages show housing has steadily increased in value, and unlike a stock market certificate you just put in the vault, people enjoy their real estate investments. It’s also important to remember that at any given time only 6% to 8% of homes are for sale. It’s very difficult to create a bubble with that low turnover."

Economist Hank Fishkind, president of Fishkind & Associates in Orlando, also believes most housing markets across the state are in reasonable balance, with one exception: South Florida’s new condominium market.

Overbuilding in south Florida?
Historically, south Florida enjoys one of the nation’s most multifaceted condominium markets, with growing primary demand and an expanding international and domestic second home/vacation market. The market has demonstrated its ability to generate new supply and support impressive price appreciation over the past two decades.

However, the magnitude of new development in south Florida today combined with the high level of speculative purchasing poses a serious risk of a bubble in the condominium market. Compounding the problem is that price levels have climbed sharply in the past four years, reducing the number of potential buyers who can afford to buy the speculators’ units.Converting Apartments
If there’s any doubt about a housing boom in Florida, consider that the state leads the nation in conversions of apartments to condominiums. The housing markets in Miami-Dade and Broward counties combined represented 25% of the $6.3 billion in apartment conversions nationwide through the third quarter of 2004, according to New York-based Real Capital Analytics. Southeast Florida conversions made up 50% of apartment complex sales in the last year.
Recent conversions include the 334-unit Floridian in Miami Beach and the 943-unit Oceancrest Club in Hollywood, but conversions aren’t confined to south Florida. Also on the list of recent conversions are Clearwater’s 366-unit Grand Venezia at Bay Watch, the 292-unit Bayside Village in Tampa, The Waverly on Lake Eola in Orlando, the 298-unit River Reach complex in Jacksonville, the 408-unit Monterrey in south Fort Myers and the 108-unit Park Vista Apartments in Sarasota.

— Amy Welch Brill

One of the analysts most concerned about the pace of new condominium development in south Florida is Michael Y. Cannon, managing director of Integra Realty Resources-South Florida in Miami. "I don’t like to use the word bubble, but real estate clearly runs in cycles," he says. "I believe that 2005 and 2006 will be interesting years in our market."

Cannon is keeping a close eye on his firm’s statistics, which show a steady increase in new condominium inventory in Miami-Dade and Broward counties. At year end 2000, for instance, there were 6,340 completed but unclosed condos in the Miami market. That number rose to 8,557 at year end 2003 and passed the 9,000 level in the first quarter of 2004, the most recent available total.

"That inventory figure is creeping up, and I will be more concerned if it goes over 10,000 unsold units," Cannon says.

In Broward, which has a much smaller market for new condominiums, unclosed inventory has risen from 1,616 units at year end 2000 to 2,522 at the end of March 2004, according to Integra.

In south Florida, the risk of overdevelopment is neighborhood-specific, says Craig Studnicky, executive vice president and principal of International Sales Group in Aventura. Studnicky, who manages sales campaigns for a number of local developers, says there are no signs of problems in the Aventura, Miami Beach or Kendall markets. "Inventories are low, and buyers are holding on to their units," he says.

But it’s a different story in downtown Miami, including Brickell Avenue, where as many as 25,000 units are planned or under construction. That’s where Studnicky believes a price adjustment is coming. "There are thousands of units planned with similar floor plans that will be coming online two to four years from now," he says. "We will be flooded with inventory there."

Kodsi believes the location and design of new projects is crucial to their long-term success. "Currently, the market is very healthy," says Kodsi, whose new condominium developments include Paramount Bay, a 46-story, 360-unit development just north of downtown Miami, and Paramount Beach, a 42-story tower with 236 units in Sunny Isles Beach. "We have sites with unobstructed water views that simply can’t be replicated," he says. "Also, we’re targeting the upscale market with bigger units, while the developments geared to investors and ‘flippers’ tend to have more studios and one-bedrooms."

Weiner says Turnberry Associates continues to experience strong demand for its condominium developments, including the 260-unit Turnberry Ocean Colony, whose first tower is under construction after selling out at an average price of $1.8 million. "Florida, especially the southeast region, will see tremendous growth over the next decade," he adds. "In the long run, there will be an acute shortage of housing throughout the state."

However, developers like Hoffman and Weiner believe that at least some major condominium projects announced for downtown Miami will be delayed or canceled. "Today, the lenders require you to have sales before you can build," says Hoffman. "That means firm contracts, not just a 5% reservation deposit."

Cannon adds poor planning and rising construction costs may also lead some south Florida developers to fold their projects, especially if their designs were unsuitable or their unit prices were too low. "Nobody wants to be forced to build if their costs exceed proper returns," he says.

But Studnicky cautions that a problem in the Brickell market could lead to a "temporary black mark" on south Florida from international buyers who might not recognize the difference between Brickell and Boca.

Looking ahead to the next two years, many buyers may find that making purchase decisions based on 15% to 20% appreciation rates is a dangerous play. As the number of unsold units grows and interest rates move higher, real estate will become less attractive as a pure investment — although it will always be necessary to shelter the state’s ever-growing population.
Lewis M. Goodkin is president of Goodkin Consulting, a Miami firm with a marketing alliance with URS Corp., a global consulting company.

Morningside Project Goes to Commission
By Andy Golan
BBT Contributing Writer

Morningside residents hope to stop the construction of two box-like buildings in their residential neighborhood of single-family homes at one of the next city commission meetings, either Thursday, Jan. 13 or Thursday, Jan. 27.

“This fundamentally mistaken project will violate the character and scale of the Morningside neighborhood. It threatens the neighborhood’s integrity and the residents’ quality of life. It belongs somewhere else,” said attorney Andrew Dickman at the Dec. 13 Zoning Board meeting.

Dickman is representing the Morningside Civic Association and individual residents Rod Alonso, Ron Stebbins, Scott Crawford and Elvis Cruz – each of whom has become an authority on urban design and planning in the process of protecting their neighborhood.

In October, Planning and Zoning Department officials approved the two buildings, each nearly 100 feet high. Last month, at the Dec. 13 meeting, the 10-member appointed Zoning Board approved them by a vote of 8-1, Juvenal Pina being the lone dissenter, with member Carlos Martell absent (city staffers speculated he has resigned from the board).

Zyscovich, the architectural firm that produced these cookie-cutter curiosities, is planning to occupy two city blocks facing Biscayne Boulevard between N.E. 55th Terrace and N.E. 53rd Street. If approved by the city commission – which is not necessarily a sure thing – the project would include 105 residential units and 18,783 square feet of retail space with parking garages.

In addition to their sheer bulk, the design of these buildings reminds us that architecture in America has become a lost art. Imagination, creativity, the relationship of buildings to their natural surroundings – all the hallmarks of inspired architecture in the past – are matters considered these days only by college students taking required courses. The designers of the hourly rate motels on Biscayne could have done better a better job.

Eight palm trees will be planted in front of each building. Zyscovich staffers consider that a stroke of genius and “global insight,” but they refused to speak any further on the phone when they suddenly realized they had been discussing classified material. The last sound heard by the BBT was the outraged voice of a thoroughly peeved young British woman: “I have no more time to give you.” A harsh punishment indeed.

It is possible, however, that City Commissioner Johnny L. Winton, whose district includes Morningside, could come to the neighborhood’s rescue.

At the city commission meeting Nov. 18, Commissioner Winton practically single-handedly stopped two similar outsized projects planned for the Boulevard and sent them back to the drawing board – or, as he put it, “wherever the hell they came from.”

Moreover, Winton appears serious about safeguarding the urban environment along the Biscayne Corridor.
As he proposed a motion to send the construction plans to wherever they came from – a motion seconded by Commissioner Jeffrey Allen – Commissioner Winton asserted:

“We have only one chance to get this right….I feel strongly that any development – yesterday, today and tomorrow – has to meet our new SD-9 [Special District 9 overlay zoning, an amendment to the city’s zoning code that effectively lowers height limits on both sides of Biscayne Boulevard from 36th Street to 87th Street]. Period. Any of it.”

His fellow commissioners backed him up unanimously.
Commissioner Winton is originally from New Mexico, a place where folks put greater value on keeping one’s word than it sometimes seems they do here. This month, most likely, Morningside neighborhood residents will attend the city commission meeting at which the proposed box-like structures will be considered.

Will Commissioner Winton stick to his word? Time will tell. It always does.

BBT
Send feedback to
klee@biscayneboulevard.com.

There are very strict rules when it comes to leveling gas stations. There is often times a waiting period because of the underground gas lines, and it is very expensive. Don't look for it to close anytime soon.

Biscayne Boulevard Apartments Give Way to Tivoli Complex
By Marita Thomas
Last updated: January 20, 2005 12:57pm

MIAMI-Thirty Ninth Street Investors Group, a locally based partnership among Thomas W. Fawell, Stephanie Herman and David Hirschfeld, unveiled plans for Tivoli, a residential complex of 112 condo, loft and townhouse units. It will be located on the approximately 3.2 acres of the former Hamilton Insurance Building at 3915 Biscayne Blvd. Completion is scheduled for next winter.

The developers will demolish adjacent apartment buildings at 455 and 521 Northeast 39th St. The architect, Miami Beach-based Kobi Karp, is designing buildings of varying heights. Sale prices for lofts begin just under $300,000. Prices for one-, two- and three-bedroom condo units begin in the mid-$500,000s, and four 2,444-sf townhouses are priced between $999,500 and just over $1 million. Eight penthouse units of more than 2,500 sf with private, 1,500-sf terraces will cost more than $1 million.

The partners would not disclose the construction cost, but say sell-out is estimated at $59 million. Fawell says Tivoli departs from the modern, urban surroundings to reflect a “European-style residential village.” The courtyard, he says, will feature arched pathways, gazebos with climbing bougainvillea, wrought iron staircases with Mediterranean tile risers, fountains, pools and an outdoor spa. Locally based Geomantric Designs has the landscaping contract. The complex will also contain a fitness center, business center and meeting room. All residential units will have private ground-floor parking.
globest.com

i dont like that article, lets hope theres no bubble!

YES YES YES :) Uptown-Midtown :) , Good News There, THE Residential is HOT HOT HOT :) . THERE's NO BUBBLE :bash: here in MIAMI-DADE County, AND Won't be for at least 2 MORE YEARS, Jorge PEREZ :) said, HE's Building NOW !!!, and BUILDING FAST, His LARGEST Projects WILL BE DONE and BUILT, There is NO SLOW DOWN in South Florida. His PLAZA on BRICKELL :) , 2 CONDO TOWERS will BE DONE and Completed the SUMMER of 2007, AND His 500 BRICKELL :) Condo Tower , 3 Blocks Away will BE Completed the SAME TIME, Summer. 2007. HIS 50 BISCAYNE :) Condo Tower will break GROUND in MAY, 2005 and BE DONE at the END of 2007, BUILD FAST :) , He gets his Contractors TO BUILD FAST or GET FIRED, Sounds Like the TRUMP MAN, lol. :cheers:
Also there's the DROP AGAIN in Interest RATES :) , Again , 30 Year loans are now 5.43%, The LOWEST in 4 MONTHS, 15 year Loans are at 4.94 % LOWEST in 5 Months at www.interest.com . ITS happening , GO CRANES :) !!!, There's NO Stoppping MIAMI's 500 PROJECTS . :cheers:

comeon i wish these buldings start rising so if there is a bubble well 2 bad u cant stop now u gotta build it loooll

miaballinboi,thw worst thing to have is a building on hold halfway done and that just suxs


silverton 36st,3 blocks away from midtown,5 blocks away from blue
http://img57.exs.cx/img57/7531/aol55577vy.jpg


soleil-500+ft,office space,218 condos,retail
its a little bit more circular and has the setbacks and spire as we originally saw it
http://img57.exs.cx/img57/302/aol55580lt.jpg

woow some nice buildings.

soleil looks awesome!

is that a spire i see! :cheers: :eek2: :)

yes you do

A spire in Miami ? What will they think of next ?

i dont like that article, lets hope theres no bubble!Ballin...I love all that you do....but you struck my nerve....Real estate moves in cycles. There is no such thing as a real estate bubble. Just because it has been written in the Miami Herald, doesn't make it so. And just because it is written in other media, doesn't make it so either.....I could be wrong. I was once before. But I challenge any research minded individual to find "real estate bubble" in any article PRIOR to the Internet/high tech stock market bubble ( you know, prior to 2000). I know there have been real estate busts and booms....real estate "buyer's markets" and "seller's markets" but bubbles??????? Come on. The NASDAQ dropped 20% in ONE DAY. Does anyone in this forum believe that real estate drops 20% in one day? It's just not that liquid. Please, I implore you, join me on my crusade to make media people stop using the phrase "real estate bubble". Matt Haggman of the Miami Herald continues to use it. He's a very intelligent and nice guy, it's got to be his editor/boss that perpetuates this silliness. A bubble bursts when you touch it....IF, a big IF, people decide to stay in 2 degree weather up north, people stop immigrating, and Miamians stop reproducing, then maybe we will have a down cycle where demand does not meet supply. MAYBE. Down cycle. NOT bubble. :bash:

lol wat u mean i struck ur nerve im just saying lets hope this isnt true, which seems like u agree with me.

true real estate cant just go down like that. especially here

Columba Bush to lead FTAA mission
A group that includes the state's first lady is to leave Wednesday for a two-day mission to Mexico to advocate Miami's efforts to secure the permanent secretariat of the Free Trade Area of the Americas.


Columba Bush is to be joined by Florida FTAA President Jorge L. Arrizurieta and a group of private sector leaders. Bush was born in Leon-Guanajato, Mexico.

While in Mexico, the delegation is to meet with government officials including Eduardo Sojo, public policy chief to the office of the president; Luis Ernesto Derbez, secretary of foreign affairs; and Antonio O. Garza, the country's U.S. ambassador.



© 2005 American City Business Journals Inc.

Lofts seen in future of Lincoln Road spot
Susan Stabley
Lincoln Road, Miami Beach's chic shopping strip, may soon have its first cluster of residences.


Developer Michael Comras and BayView Financial Trading Group are in a joint venture set to buy the Moseley's Linen building at Lincoln and Meridian Avenue.

At the same time, Charles Goldstein of The 24 Collection, a previous tenant of the building, is in litigation with his former landlord.

Although the legal action may not affect the deal's closing, which is expected within days, it complicates the pending sale that marks

the end of two long-time Miami Beach businesses.

The 24 Collec-tion liquidated its posh clothing and accessories assets in October 2003 after an attempt to sell its lease and swap space with a retailer on Collins Avenue. The deal fell through after Goldstein said he was unable to reassign the eight years left on his lease because of the building's owner, Joseph Moseley. Goldstein said he filed suit against Moseley to recoup his losses.

Depositions have already been taken over the matter, but a trial date has not been scheduled.

Moseley couldn't be reached for comment. His family's 70-year-old linen business is in the process of selling its inventory since inking the building sale deal with Comras last year. The family has already closed its Palm Beach location along Worth Avenue.

Comras said he's had his eye on the building for a while. The corner of Lincoln and Meridian is considered the "ground zero" of the pedestrian mall, he said.

The one-story structure with a mezzanine contains about 12,500 square feet of space. Once a Chrysler showroom, Comras said he is uncovering its terrazzo floors and detailed ceilings and wants to restore its exterior to match.

Comras, who owns more than 50,000 square feet along Lincoln Road, has tenants in the area, including The Gap, Pottery Barn and Williams-Sonoma.

Now, trendy clothier BCBG has signed a long-term lease for the space once held by Goldstein. Comras would not confirm reports that an Apple computer store is also poised to move next door, in the spot occupied by Moseley's Linen. En Avance, which offers expensive clothes for adults and infants, will remain. An additional space of about 3,000 square feet facing Meridian is available.

A few million dollars will be spent on two phases of work, Comras said.

Renovations to the retail space has already begun.


BayView Managing Director Robbie Oppenheim said levels may be added to the back of the building for 16 lofts.

Lincoln Road - pitched as the "Fifth Avenue of the South" - was converted into a pedestrian mall during the 1960s by Miami Beach architect Morris Lapidus. Residences are a rarity there, except for the 40-year-old, 625-unit Decoplage condo where the corridor meets the ocean.

"It will be interesting to have actual people living on Lincoln Road," Comras said. "It's nice to have eyes on the street."

No prices have been set on the units yet, but Comras said he expects them to be likely more than $400,000.

Earlier deal for Sony Building
BayView's previous investment along Lincoln was last year's purchase of the Sony Building at 605 Lincoln Road. Comras worked with BayView to sell some of its space and on the retail lease to Rip Curl.

Since 1992, Comras' Miami Beach company has developed more than 1 million square feet of retail and entertainment projects, including the redevelopment of the Bakery Centre in South Miami into the Shops at Sunset Place and the eight-story Lincoln Place office and retail building at 16th Street and Washington Avenue. He also plans to add about 4,000 square feet to a 9,000-square-foot building at Eighth Street and Washington Avenue that he recently bought for $6 million.

Comras would not disclose purchase price for the Lincoln Road property, but Goldstein said it's nearly $12 million, according to legal documents relating to his suit.

The 24 Collection had been located at the Bal Harbour Shops for 20 years before moving to Lincoln Road in the mid-1990s.

"I'm not getting any younger. It would have been nice to have had the continuity," Goldstein said. "With the interruption, it made it more difficult. We liquidated everything in the course of the closing."

E-mail Miami-Dade real estate writer Susan Stabley at sjstabley@bizjournals.com.

I think this is good news:)

YES GOD BLESS I WAS WAITING FOR A DEVELOPER TO LOOK INTO LINCOLN ROAD LIKE MIZNER PARK IN BOCA AND CITY PLACE IN WEST PALM ALL HAVE CONDOS BUILT WITHIN

There is an article in the Herald today about the Crosswind project in Overtown. I can honestly say I can't understand the locals objections to this project. They keep saying its bad because many current residents wont be able to afford to live in it. The thing is: ITS BEING BUILT ON VACANT PARKING LOTS!!! Its not like they are tearing down existing housing to build it. It just seems to me to be a racist additude of they don't want any of those "other" people living next to their neighborhood. Any thoughts?


http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/10743839.htm

Deal could rejuvenate Overtown

Miami commissioners will vote today on a settlement that could usher in an ambitious redevelopment project in Overtown, but critics say housing may be too pricey for community residents.

BY MATTHEW HAGGMAN AND OSCAR CORRAL

mhaggman@herald.com


The Miami City Commission today will consider a settlement that could pave the way for the biggest development ever in Overtown, a potential building block in the long-desired revitalization of the struggling, historically black neighborhood.

City leaders hope the project will be a catalyst that inspires renewed building and brings homeowners, families, retailers and office workers back to Overtown.

Miami Mayor Manny Diaz said Wednesday that the city, the Southeast Overtown/Park West Community Redevelopment Agency and the project's former developer, Ted Weitzel, have reached a settlement of two lawsuits. That deal could allow a $200 million project with condos, townhomes, shops and offices by Michigan-based developer Crosswinds Communities to go forward.

The City Commission is scheduled to vote on the settlement today.

Miami's unprecedented spate of development has resulted in cranes dotting the city's skyline from the Brickell area and downtown to the shores of the Miami River, Park West and Edgewater. But Overtown has gone almost entirely ignored.

''I really believe that this is the rebirth of that area,'' Miami City Manager Joe Arriola said.

The bulk of the residential units would be sold at market rate but at prices significantly lower than the high-end condos currently marketed across Miami, said Matthew Schwartz, urban development director for Crosswinds.

While cautioning that prices have not been set, Schwartz said market-rate units would go for somewhere between $130,000 and $300,000. ''The intent is to get a market that is affordable for people who earn between $40,000 and $90,000, which is generally not served by current projects,'' he said.

PRICED OUT OF TOWN

But critics fear that the project, which will be built on vacant land, may price Overtown residents out of the market. They say it also could change the character of a neighborhood where boxer Muhammad Ali once lived and the likes of Count Basie and Billie Holiday performed at the Lyric Theatre.

More than half of the community's residents live below the poverty line, according to the 2000 Census, and the area's population has dwindled from about 40,000 in its heyday of the early 1960s to about 7,000 today.

Crosswinds, a privately held developer with projects in six states, proposes building 1,050 residential units in seven buildings ranging from four to 17 floors. It also plans 75,000 square feet of retail and office space.

The mixed-use project would occupy a 3 ½-block area west of Miami Arena. The 9.1-acre parcel is bordered by Northwest Eighth Street, Sixth Street, Interstate 95 and Northwest First Court.

If the settlement is approved, Crosswinds still will need other city approvals before its project will come to fruition.

Diaz and Crosswinds on Wednesday sought to allay fears that the project would gentrify Overtown, declaring that they not only want to attract current residents but also draw former Overtown residents back to the neighborhood.

Under terms of the deal, Crosswinds must sell 20 percent of the units at ''affordable'' rates and give current and former Overtown residents priority in buying the units. Crosswinds would sell 160 of the units, while 50 would be given to the city, which it would sell at discounted prices.

Arriola said the city plans to reinvest money earned from the sale of the 50 units into a fund used to aid other home buyers in the area, creating what he called a ''cascade effect'' of home purchasing assistance.

Ever since the construction of I-95 and Interstate 395 left deep surgical scars through the heart of the community, Overtown has been in decline.

Promises of recovery and redevelopment made by community development corporations, the city and Miami-Dade County, and the Southeast Overtown/Park West CRA have gone unfulfilled, despite tens of millions of public dollars poured into the area over the past two decades.

Developer Weitzel was initially selected by the CRA to develop the Poinciana Village and Sawyer's Walk condo project, then on a four-block parcel. But after building phase one of Poinciana Village, three pink condos that occupy a half-block of the parcel, Weitzel and the city became mired in litigation over the project.

Weitzel declined to comment.

Under the terms of the proposed settlement, Crosswinds would pay $6.5 million to Weitzel in return for him agreeing to drop the litigation. Crosswinds would take his place as the developer.

The Michigan company also agreed to pay $6.1 million to the city of Miami to develop the land but, in lieu of a cash payment, will give 50 units to the city.

The settlement effort had stalled early last year when Arthur E. Teele Jr., the area's commissioner at the time, objected to the deal.

''It will become a large gentrification project,'' Teele said last year.

DIFFERENT PLAYERS

Today, however, the political terrain has changed, with Teele no longer on the commission. Teele was arrested last year on corruption charges, accused of taking kickbacks from contracts awarded by the anti-poverty agency that he chaired, the Community Redevelopment Agency. Teele, who was suspended by Gov. Jeb Bush last year, denies wrongdoing.

The new District 5 commissioner who was appointed last year by the commission, Jeffery Allen, welcomed the possibilities of the development.

''It will enable some of the younger black folks to move into this urban area in Miami,'' he said. ``Most of it is providing jobs and housing opportunities as well.''

Still, the community is divided. Denise Perry, co-director of Power U, an Overtown-based grass-roots organization for environmental justice, said there aren't enough guarantees in the deal for the area.

''It doesn't meet the needs of the current residents,'' she said.

But Del Bryan, vice chairman of the Overtown Advisory Board, who lives in a condominium next door to the proposed Crosswinds site, said the deal is the best thing to happen to Overtown in recent history.

''This is an opportunity for rebuilding,'' Bryan said. ``It brings up the future of the whole area.''

omfg...If this thing doesn't get approved and built...I'm gonna be super pissed.....these types of projects are waaay more important than the luxury high-rises in terms of downtown revitalization. I don't see why anyone would disagree with this, it's bringing in jobs to community that desperately needs it, and there are plenty of units that are "affordable." I think the Gentrification of Overtown would be the best thing for Miami.

I like this project... 7 buildings, ranging from 4 to 17 stories!! Overtown will become a vital, urban, walkable neighborhood.

I hope someone can update the forum as to whether this was approved today!! Thanks!!:)

woow betta get approved!

According to today's herald, the city commission approved it. Here's the link if anyone is interested in reading the whole story: http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/news/10754438.htm

more on crosswind
Overtown Residents Resigned to Crosswinds Project Being a “Done Deal”


Miami City Manager Joe Arriola reacts to a question at a town hall meeting held at Booker T. Washington High School in Overtown. During the meeting Arriola pointed out that Overtown would need more than low cost rentals in order to thrive, hence Crosswinds. Photo by Mitchell Zachs / MagicalPhotos.com

“I see development, but the people employed at those sites don’t look like us.”-- Overtown Advisory Board Chairman Irving McKnight



By Brandon Dane
Staff Writer



Overtown residents and property owners expressed their enthusiasm and grumblings over a future residential project, during a town hall meeting last Saturday at Booker T. Washington Senior High School.

Supporters of the proposed project by Crosswinds Communities, Inc. believe it will help make Overtown, the most impoverished area in Miami, more economically viable.

But critics said Crosswinds provides little affordable housing, doubted it will provide jobs and feared it will begin a gentrification process that eventually will force the poor out.

Yet even detractors at Saturday’s meeting were resigned to the fact that Crosswinds was a done deal.

That wasn’t the case eight months ago. Last May, during a special meeting of the Overtown Advisory Board held with former District 5 Commissioner Art Teele, many Overtown residents expressed displeasure with the Crosswinds project that they said would disrupt the neighborhood’s African-American culture. The project itself was still in discussion and contingent on the City of Miami settling a dispute with developer Sawyer’s Walk/Poinciana Village, which the city contended had never entered into a lease agreement.

Since then, however, “Crosswinds Communities, Inc. has acquired controlling interest in Sawyer’s Walk, Ltd. … [the] Crosswinds initiative will result in a settlement of the longstanding lawsuits between the City of Miami and Sawyer’s Walk Ltd.,” according to the summary provided by the Southeast Overtown/Parkwest CRA and Crosswinds Communities, Inc.

Saturday’s meeting was presided over by new District 5 commissioner Jeffery Allen, who was appointed in October 2004 after Teele was suspended from office last August. Teele’s suspension derived from his alleged assault on a police officer, who the commissioner claimed had followed him and his wife. The Miami-Dade State Attorney’s Office later charged Teele with accepting $135,000 in bribes from a city contractor.


Angry Overtown residents, Rosa Green, center, and Haneef Hamidullah, right, express their views at a town hall meeting held at Booker T. Washington High School in the Overtown district of Miami Saturday. Photo by Mitchell Zachs / MagicalPhotos.com

The 1,050 lofts, townhouses, and live/work mixed-use Crosswinds project is to be built in phases on four vacant, city-owned parcels bordered by NW Third Avenue, NW Eighth Street, NW Sixth Street and Overtown Station. Prices would range from $130,000 to $300,000, according to Crosswinds Communities – up approximately 20 percent from May 2004 estimates.

“The intent from the beginning was to bring mid-range housing to Overtown,” said Matthew Schwartz, urban planning director for Crosswinds. “There will be a significant number of units [earmarked] for lower income [residents], but unfortunately the price of construction doesn’t change whether it’s in Miami Beach, Brickell or Coral Gables.”

The idea for the project, Schwartz said, originated from a series of community workshops during 1979 to 1981. Schwartz was a city planner in Miami for 24 years.

“The residents of Poinciana Village have the most at stake,” Schwartz contended. “We’re happy that the [city] commission, manager and mayor have moved the project forward.”

Poinciana Village is a condominium development adjacent to Interstate 95 that was never fully completed. A development on the scale of Crosswinds would increase property values, according to vested residents.

Del Bryan, vice chairman of the Overtown Advisory Board and president of the Poinciana Homeowners Association, told SunPost that since he bought a residence in Poinciana Village in the 1990s, only one phase of the structure where he lives had been completed.

“[The Crosswinds] project is favorable for Overtown,” he said. “It’s essential that the project move forward.”

Before Crosswinds Communities, Inc, acquired controlling interest in Sawyer’s Walk, Ltd., a 120-day due diligence period was required for Executive Director of the Miami Community Redevelopment Association (CRA) Frank Rollason to approve Crosswinds’ application.

“I’m an implementer, not a policy maker,” Rollason said. “I do whatever the elected officials tell me to do. We have two areas of support. We have the ability to make this [happen] and we can bring the time [it takes to construct, permit, etc.] down.”

Rollason added that if the city had not moved ahead with plans to begin construction by 2007, the terms would have reverted back to pre-Sawyer’s Walk action and the land opened to competitive bidding again.

“We save one year in the bidding process [by settling],” he said.

Along with gentrification, the question of affordable housing has long been a contentious one in Overtown.

“The project’s overall focus will be on creating homeownership opportunities for individuals and families whose respective incomes range from $40,000 to $90,000,” according to the Southeast Overtown/Parkwest CRA and Crosswinds Communities literature. In May, the income-range estimate was $40,000 to $80,000, a 12.5 percent increase on the high end.

Furthermore, 20 percent of the project’s units would be set aside for current or former Overtown residents and/or their families who were qualified buyers, requiring gross income between 80 to 120 percent of the Miami-Dade County mean income, approximately $42,150 to $63,240 for a family of four. Restrictive covenants would be placed on set-aside units not sold to existing or former Overtown residents, for a period of ten years.

Fifty units will “be conveyed by Crosswinds to the CRA or its designee and will be set aside exclusively for the sale to existing Overtown residents whose incomes range between 50 to 80 percent of the Miami-Dade median family income.” That range is $26,350 to $42,150, according to the report. The May estimate was $20,000 to $40,000, a 32 percent increase of the lower threshold.

In addition, the summary contends Crosswinds has agreed to “hire an employment and housing recruiter from the Overtown community” who will link residents to housing, jobs and/or training. Reportedly, the project will generate $200 million in private investment and create, directly and indirectly, and and jobs for Overtown residents.

“This is good overall,” said Reverend Mark Coats, who heads the South Florida Urban Consultants marketing campaign for Crosswinds. “This is the first time in 40 years that there has been substantial investment [in this property].”

With the affordable housing and subsidized housing caveats, Coats said, community leaders and the city hope the project will bring young, black professionals back to the community.

Del Bryan told the panel, which included Miami City Manager Joe Arriola and Miami Police Chief John Timoney, that though there had been many challenges the last few years, now anyone who wanted to live in the community and own a home could.

Reverend Steven Porter, the only non-African-American to sit on the Overtown Advisory Board, disagreed.

“The median income of Overtown residents is $12,053,” Porter said. “[To truly provide affordable housing], the city should be more sensitive to income thresholds.”

City Manager Arriola said that if the city planned to develop only “low income rentals” in the neighborhood, Overtown would never grow or redevelop into the thriving community it once was.

“The truth is that if you only make $12,000 a year, then you are not going to be a homeowner,” Arriola said. “If you only have subsidized housing, there can be no rebirth. You want all three levels [of income] to create a cascade of money reinvested into the community.”

Commissioner Allen interjected that not all African-Americans make such a small yearly income.

“A number of community agencies will be helping [with establishing past and present Overtown residents into the Crosswinds project],” Allen said. “I have been working diligently crunching numbers and trying to find gap financing [to aid Overtown residents with homeownership].”

Overtown Advisory Board Chairman Irving McKnight told Allen and Arriola that he saw plenty of “development,” but not “re-development.”

“I’m thanking you, Commissioner Allen, because you didn’t ‘call in sick,’” McKnight said. “It costs $100-plus per square foot to build. I see development, but the people employed at those sites don’t look like us (African-American). I have photos of those people. I don’t see anyplace [being built] where you can rent.”

McKnight said further that despite the contention of the city and the developers that new construction would bring more jobs, he saw nobody in the area working.

“You’re not helping us. You are giving us bootstraps to pull ourselves up by, then cutting them off,” McKnight said.

Rosa Green, a retired teacher and Overtown resident, implored Allen to keep the citizens’ best interests in mind.

“The people, Commissioner Allen, don’t know what you will say or what you will do,” Green said. “But you must help us.”

RENNER :) , GREAT NEWS About that OVERTOWN Project, Remember About where this PROJECT is at. If you KNOW the SITE like I know it, ITs Really PART of the PARK WEST :) Project that FAILED :bash: 20 years ago, its the empty LOTS south of N.W. 8th street and East of 3rd Ave, and North of 6th St, and WEST of the OVERTOWN METRORAIL STATION. back in the 80's This same are was being RE-DEVELOPED by a bunch of Condos During the Opening of the MIAMI ARENA :) , Many Towers Got Done, BUT the last 3 LOTS DID NOT :bash: . Which are being LOOKED AT NOW With this NEW PROJECT :) . Believe Me , I drive through here almost everyday, Its a Dangerous and Hostile Area, If this gets DONE, :) you'll NEED TOP SERCURITY at ITS BEST !!! A Police Officer :sleepy: will have to be at every corner 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. and the CITY OF MIAMI POLICE :sleepy: HEADQUARTERS :sleepy: is Only a BLOCK AWAY :) , and STILL BAD !!! :sleepy:

High-rises stir high anxiety

Don't look down: Views from the top of South Florida's tallest buildings are not for the faint of heart.

BY CARA BUCKLEY

cbuckley@herald.com


The client was really sweating.

''Listen, relax, we're going to get you out of this,'' his lawyer, Dan Lurvey, said gently. But the client, fighting an impaired-driving charge, stayed frozen in his seat, a grimace twisting his face.

The two were sitting in Lurvey's sun-drenched corner office, hemmed in by floor-to-ceiling glass walls, on the 51st floor of the 764-foot Wachovia Financial Center, Miami's second-tallest building. Paradise yawned before them, with staggering sweeps out to the cerulean sea.

Fighting nausea, the client finally confessed. ''I'm not so worried about the case as I am about falling off the side of this building,'' he said. Lurvey sighed.

For people with a fear of heights, Miami and Fort Lauderdale are becoming ever more daunting cities. Both are experiencing unprecedented growth spurts, and reaching farther toward the sky. In Miami-Dade County alone, six buildings already stand at least 500 feet tall and dozens more of similar stature are in the works.

This can lead to awkward moments. While most people marveled at Lurvey's million-dollar view, it threw a crucial few into a swoon. Lurvey routinely was forced to meet his investigator in the building's lobby on windy days because she loathed heights and refused to come up. He and his firm's partner, Christopher Lyons, debated what to do. Their lease was almost up. Getting to their office already involved the minor hassle of transferring elevators near the top. And in those elevators, to the great anxiety of some, ears would pop.

''One of the things that concerned us was that clients wouldn't hire us because they wouldn't want to sit in the perils of the 51st floor,'' Lurvey said.

Grudgingly, Lyons Lurvey & Exposito traded in their great heights on South Biscayne Boulevard for a 16th-floor office in a Brickell Avenue building, home to decidedly less inspiring vistas of the Metrorail and a few treetops.

WHAT A VIEW

Most people relish a good view. It gives them a sense of perspective and makes them feel above it all. Though Sept. 11 unleashed fresh fears of very tall buildings, lingering anxieties seem to have abated.

America's tallest buildings, Chicago's Sears Tower and New York's Empire State Building, together draw five million visitors a year. Wendy Kallergis, manager of the private Miami City Club on the Wachovia Financial Center's top floor, say guests never blanche at the club's wraparound views. Topmost condos in Miami's tallest building, the 789-foot Four Seasons Hotel & Tower at 1435 Brickell Ave., sold faster precisely because of their height, said Rich Baumert, vice president of Millennium Partners, the building's developers.

But for an unnerved minority, the view from the top is a terrible thing.

Consider Jenny Montes, a secretary at the law firm of Ratzan & Alters, current tenants of the southeast corner of the Wachovia Financial Center's 54th floor.

Nearly all the firm's workers are enraptured by the view, and a few tourists have wandered in specifically to savor it. But Montes hates heights. Looking down makes her head dizzy and her stomach cold. Even after landing the job two years ago, when Ratzan & Alters was on the 29th floor, she fought jitters on the ride up. The firm's move to the 54th floor was nothing short of traumatic.

''Ay yi yi. I had an attack, I was sick about it,'' said Montes, her brow furrowing at the memory. ``I realized if I wanted to keep my job, I would have to tune it out.''

DENY, DENY, DENY

Montes' solution was to heartily embrace denial. She steers clear of the windows, rarely ventures into the corner offices and squeezes her eyes shut when window washers dangle from ropes outside.

A handful of clients share her anxiety, and insist that attorneys meet them downstairs and escort them back up.

At Miami's third-tallest building, the 625-foot Bank of America Tower at 100 SE second St., receptionist Peggy Franco intimately understands Montes' angst. It took Franco, who works on the 43rd floor, six months to muster the courage to approach the office's windows.

''I felt like I was going to fall down,'' she said. ``And in the elevator, the ears pop, you get all that pressure. I felt like I was in an airplane. And I have to take a pill to go in an airplane.''

AT DIPLOMAT

At Hollywood's 39-story Westin Diplomat Resort & Spa, 3555 S. Ocean Dr., Broward County's tallest building, guests in the uppermost presidential suites have hesitated before venturing onto balconies, and groused about ear pressure in the high-speed elevators that whisk them to the top.

But by and large, visitors and occupants in the top floors of all the buildings have found the views magnificent -- and undaunting.

Even at far taller buildings elsewhere, anxiety over heights seems limited to a forsaken few.

In Manhattan, Empire Diamonds, a jewelry company, has occupied a spot in the 1,250-foot Empire State Building since its opening in 1931, steadily working its way up to its current location on the 76th floor.

Over the years, company President Jack Brod recalls having to descend to the lobby to meet clients, diamonds clinking in his pockets, barely half a dozen times.

''They won't come up. This is an affliction, I tell ya,'' Brod said over the phone. ``But it's not widespread at all. Less than one in a million. As a matter of fact, I'm way more wary when I walk down Fifth Avenue.''

`A LITTLE SEASICK'

In the 1,450-foot Sears Tower -- the world's fourth-tallest building -- the Schiff Harden law firm, Chicago's oldest, fills the 66th to 75th floors.

David Milberg, the firm's director of marketing and communications, said clients never get woozy, as far as he knows.

But even he has gotten squeamish when the wind really blows and the building sways to and fro.

''My doors will open and close. The first time I got a little seasick,'' Milberg said. ``We kind of laugh when the building rocks. It's got its charm.''

Lurvey admits to missing his old spectacular Miami view, looking down at news helicopters and Chalks seaplanes and watching turkey vultures nest on nearby ledges.

But there are perks to his new office's less lofty heights: He only needs to ride one elevator to get to work. His clients no longer convulse in fear.

Yet his skittish investigator, alas, still balks.

''Sixteenth floor and she's nervous,'' he said.

Only now, at Lurvey's insistence, she rides the elevator up.
http://www.miami.com/images/miami/miamiherald/10700/114494332500.jpg

:cheers: :cheers:

http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/news/10696196.htm

Developers could be slowed by lack of construction workers, pros say

By Tom Harlan
Groundbreaking on some high-rise condominiums could be delayed by a shortage of construction workers in Miami-Dade County, industry observers say.
The county's construction industry will have a stellar year because so many projects are going on line, said Pepe Cancio, president and CEO of Supermix. Construction has started on such major projects as Met Miami, 50 Biscayne and the Plaza at 900 Brickell in the past couple of weeks, he said.
Overall, 233 major projects are being developed in Miami and other work in the county swells the total.
But future projects may face construction delays because many workers migrated north to repair homes damaged by last year's flurry of hurricanes, Mr. Cancio said.
"It was their opportunity to start a business," he said. "It was guaranteed work."
"Generally we are finding construction to be very strong statewide, especially in areas affected heavily by the hurricanes," said Warren May, communications director for the Florida Agency for Workforce Innovation, the state's labor department.
Construction jobs in Miami-Dade County grew to 4.3% last month from December 2003, Mr. May said, led by 4.3% growth in specialty contractors.
"Looking out to the future, we see a slightly lower rate of growth," he said, adding that the agency is updating its statistics. "But general contractors are still at 3% annual growth."
South Florida's labor force was affected by the hurricane season, said Jay Fraser, vice president and general manager of Turner Construction Co.'s Miami office. Based on the number of residential projects coming on line, he said, construction workers who stayed here will be highly sought.
"There does not appear to be enough qualified, capable labor to effectively manage the amount of construction out there," Mr. Fraser said.
Subcontractors and vendors will raise prices because of a short supply of workers, he said.
Construction companies must make sure subcontractors can handle their workload during contract negotiations, said Brad Meltzer, president and owner of KM Construction Co. "We need to do our due diligence when rewarding subcontractors with contracts."
Clients should measure the cost and time parameters of their projects against what is available in the market, Mr. Fraser said. After considering design, management and construction labor, he said, developers may not have enough resources for their projects.
"It's a very significant challenge facing the industry in South Florida," he said.
Last year's major challenge - a shortage of materials - isn't weighing as heavily on developers now, Mr. Fraser said.
At the end of 2003, materials such as steel and cement were in high demand in Asia and China, creating a low supply in South Florida, industry experts said. The low supply led to higher building costs and construction delays. The industry had sticker shock, Mr. Fraser said, but has adapted to higher prices.
Mr. Meltzer also said the concerns of 2004 such as higher concrete prices are not bothering developers as much now. Prices will continue rising but at a more leveled pace, he said, adding that developers have had a chance to change sale prices accordingly.
Construction in China, which industry experts said consumed a large percentage of supplies last year, is expected to slow in the middle of this year, Mr. Cancio said.
But, he said, the industry may face an aggregate supply shortage in the middle of the year.
Miami-Dade County supplies about 62% of the state's aggregate supply but there aren't enough quarries to meet demand, he said.
And after discussing the outlook of the 2005 construction market with the Gulf Coast Builders Association, Toni Pacelli-Hinkley, executive vice president of the Builders Association of South Florida, said some builders are concerned there will be a shortage of roofing tiles.
The tile shortage and a labor shortage, she said, are likely to be the two biggest problems facing builders in Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach counties this year.
But construction experts are optimistic about the future of the South Florida construction industry.
Mr. Fraser said South Florida will continue to lure people to the high-rise residential market.
"We've seen tremendous activity over the past few years," he said. "But it doesn't appear that things are going to slow down anytime soon."



http://www.miamitodaynews.com/news/050127/story7.shtml

High-rises stir high anxiety

Don't look down: Views from the top of South Florida's tallest buildings are not for the faint of heart.

BY CARA BUCKLEY

cbuckley@herald.com


The client was really sweating.

''Listen, relax, we're going to get you out of this,'' his lawyer, Dan Lurvey, said gently. But the client, fighting an impaired-driving charge, stayed frozen in his seat, a grimace twisting his face.

The two were sitting in Lurvey's sun-drenched corner office, hemmed in by floor-to-ceiling glass walls, on the 51st floor of the 764-foot Wachovia Financial Center, Miami's second-tallest building. Paradise yawned before them, with staggering sweeps out to the cerulean sea.

Fighting nausea, the client finally confessed. ''I'm not so worried about the case as I am about falling off the side of this building,'' he said. Lurvey sighed.

For people with a fear of heights, Miami and Fort Lauderdale are becoming ever more daunting cities. Both are experiencing unprecedented growth spurts, and reaching farther toward the sky. In Miami-Dade County alone, six buildings already stand at least 500 feet tall and dozens more of similar stature are in the works.

This can lead to awkward moments. While most people marveled at Lurvey's million-dollar view, it threw a crucial few into a swoon. Lurvey routinely was forced to meet his investigator in the building's lobby on windy days because she loathed heights and refused to come up. He and his firm's partner, Christopher Lyons, debated what to do. Their lease was almost up. Getting to their office already involved the minor hassle of transferring elevators near the top. And in those elevators, to the great anxiety of some, ears would pop.

''One of the things that concerned us was that clients wouldn't hire us because they wouldn't want to sit in the perils of the 51st floor,'' Lurvey said.

Grudgingly, Lyons Lurvey & Exposito traded in their great heights on South Biscayne Boulevard for a 16th-floor office in a Brickell Avenue building, home to decidedly less inspiring vistas of the Metrorail and a few treetops.

WHAT A VIEW

Most people relish a good view. It gives them a sense of perspective and makes them feel above it all. Though Sept. 11 unleashed fresh fears of very tall buildings, lingering anxieties seem to have abated.

America's tallest buildings, Chicago's Sears Tower and New York's Empire State Building, together draw five million visitors a year. Wendy Kallergis, manager of the private Miami City Club on the Wachovia Financial Center's top floor, say guests never blanche at the club's wraparound views. Topmost condos in Miami's tallest building, the 789-foot Four Seasons Hotel & Tower at 1435 Brickell Ave., sold faster precisely because of their height, said Rich Baumert, vice president of Millennium Partners, the building's developers.

But for an unnerved minority, the view from the top is a terrible thing.

Consider Jenny Montes, a secretary at the law firm of Ratzan & Alters, current tenants of the southeast corner of the Wachovia Financial Center's 54th floor.

Nearly all the firm's workers are enraptured by the view, and a few tourists have wandered in specifically to savor it. But Montes hates heights. Looking down makes her head dizzy and her stomach cold. Even after landing the job two years ago, when Ratzan & Alters was on the 29th floor, she fought jitters on the ride up. The firm's move to the 54th floor was nothing short of traumatic.

''Ay yi yi. I had an attack, I was sick about it,'' said Montes, her brow furrowing at the memory. ``I realized if I wanted to keep my job, I would have to tune it out.''

DENY, DENY, DENY

Montes' solution was to heartily embrace denial. She steers clear of the windows, rarely ventures into the corner offices and squeezes her eyes shut when window washers dangle from ropes outside.

A handful of clients share her anxiety, and insist that attorneys meet them downstairs and escort them back up.

At Miami's third-tallest building, the 625-foot Bank of America Tower at 100 SE second St., receptionist Peggy Franco intimately understands Montes' angst. It took Franco, who works on the 43rd floor, six months to muster the courage to approach the office's windows.

''I felt like I was going to fall down,'' she said. ``And in the elevator, the ears pop, you get all that pressure. I felt like I was in an airplane. And I have to take a pill to go in an airplane.''

AT DIPLOMAT

At Hollywood's 39-story Westin Diplomat Resort & Spa, 3555 S. Ocean Dr., Broward County's tallest building, guests in the uppermost presidential suites have hesitated before venturing onto balconies, and groused about ear pressure in the high-speed elevators that whisk them to the top.

But by and large, visitors and occupants in the top floors of all the buildings have found the views magnificent -- and undaunting.

Even at far taller buildings elsewhere, anxiety over heights seems limited to a forsaken few.

In Manhattan, Empire Diamonds, a jewelry company, has occupied a spot in the 1,250-foot Empire State Building since its opening in 1931, steadily working its way up to its current location on the 76th floor.

Over the years, company President Jack Brod recalls having to descend to the lobby to meet clients, diamonds clinking in his pockets, barely half a dozen times.

''They won't come up. This is an affliction, I tell ya,'' Brod said over the phone. ``But it's not widespread at all. Less than one in a million. As a matter of fact, I'm way more wary when I walk down Fifth Avenue.''

`A LITTLE SEASICK'

In the 1,450-foot Sears Tower -- the world's fourth-tallest building -- the Schiff Harden law firm, Chicago's oldest, fills the 66th to 75th floors.

David Milberg, the firm's director of marketing and communications, said clients never get woozy, as far as he knows.

But even he has gotten squeamish when the wind really blows and the building sways to and fro.

''My doors will open and close. The first time I got a little seasick,'' Milberg said. ``We kind of laugh when the building rocks. It's got its charm.''

Lurvey admits to missing his old spectacular Miami view, looking down at news helicopters and Chalks seaplanes and watching turkey vultures nest on nearby ledges.

But there are perks to his new office's less lofty heights: He only needs to ride one elevator to get to work. His clients no longer convulse in fear.

Yet his skittish investigator, alas, still balks.

''Sixteenth floor and she's nervous,'' he said.

Only now, at Lurvey's insistence, she rides the elevator up.
http://www.miami.com/images/miami/miamiherald/10700/114494332500.jpg

:cheers: :cheers:

http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/news/10696196.htm
HEY Everyone :) , LOOK its MIAballinboi :) IN That PIC looking at Brickell KEY from The WACHOVIA Financial Center TOWER While Taking PICTURES :) for His Thread on a Sunday Looking for More Mexican Construction Workers in the Back Beds of a F.O.R.D. ( Found On Roadside Dead ) or was it ( Fixed Or Repair Dayly ) PICKUP Truck, LOL. :cheers:

I don't know but I'd kill for a view like that! lol

hhahahaha chuck if that was me i wouldnt have that expression on my face, and i would be like 40 years younger lool, with a camera and binoculars taking pictures of everything lool, thats a killer view! so high up!

I've never been to the Wachovia. Are there any restriction to go to the higher floors to take pictures?

NO Restrictions Up there BHK :) , I think you have to take 3 Different Elevators to get there. Anyone can make it past the Security Guards in that Tower, even an Iraqi Look-alike Dressed like DONALD TRUMP :) can go up there, LOL. :cheers:

LOL I'll try to go on Sunday. I wanna take more pictures. Hopefully the building is open on sunday.

loool chuck!!

how does that guy get any work done at all, i would never luk away from my window, id b fired within two days... wat concentration he must have

strikes again with a great set of updates :cheers: :cheers: :cheers:


new arquitectonica hq in coconut grove:approved
http://img171.exs.cx/img171/9853/aol57143vp.jpg
miami riverfront east and west parcels in downtown miami:approved

http://img185.exs.cx/img185/3361/aol57219jp.jpg
http://img177.exs.cx/img177/5431/aol57152vr.jpg
http://img177.exs.cx/img177/1703/aol57165bw.jpg

1390-south bayshore tower:approved
[IMG]http://img185.exs.cx/img185/2528/aol57229xv.jpg
elipse-262ft,wynwood,edgewater:approved
http://img185.exs.cx/img185/7731/aol57240yh.jpg
marquis:approved
miami rivertown:3 towers near civic center:approved
http://img185.exs.cx/img185/9246/aol57252ig.jpg
miami river tunnel strikes again:once again the miami river tunnel screws over the miami rivertown project west parcel in downtown miami, this project is half of a project consisting of 6 towers,the west parcel contains 4 towers.commisioner winton gave a condition that they must wait until the feaseabilty study is done so that they comply with the design of the tunnel,meaning rivertown will have to wait 6months.also the project may not happen at all becuase the tunnel might go right under this project.but after all of this the m.u.s.p was granted.[/

Wow...ballinboi, you pull through for us everytime..thanks alot for the good news!


Is ellipse supposed to be on Bicayne Blvd??


http://img185.exs.cx/img185/7731/aol57240yh.jpg

no prob street, we got the hidden phantom, Uptown-Midtown, doing all the work, i just posted it for him lool


those are some great news and projects!

Hi, new to posting here. I just wanted to say that I have been reading the forum for several months now with interest. I am a former miami citizen and Im happy to see it doing better than when I left (1986). On another not, I too would love to see Uptown come back to the forum because he had so much info and shared it. Uptown talk to the man.

Great news. Thanks Uptown-Midtown and Miaballinboi those are some nice projects.

arquitectonica moving out of the downtown that it helped and is helping to create seems ironic, and into a short stuby building like that, im sure itll b great, but it just doesnt do em justice

Marquis was approved- do we have an official height?

another cool update from him. :)

miamitodaynews,com
Developer asks for more time to review plan for Sheraton site

By Yeleny Suarez
The Related Group on Tuesday asked the City of Miami to defer for the third time its application to build three high-rise towers on the site of the Sheraton Biscayne Bay hotel, a project it calls the largest ever mounted in Miami. Related representatives asked the city's Historic and Environmental Preservation Board to delay action until March 5 on its request to develop in an archeological conservation area so it can complete its development plan.
In a previous interview, preservation officer Sarah Eaton said the board must review the project because it is in the archeological conservation area next to the historic Miami Circle.
"The plan is still premature," Related Vice President Bill Thompson said.
The $100 million, 4.7-acre waterfront property Related purchased in December will be developed with three towers - one of 45-48 stories followed by a 52- to 55-story tower and a 55- to 57-story tower, Mr. Thompson said at a Brickell Area Association meeting Jan. 11.
At the Brickell meeting, an agreement was established with Related to preserve what many call the last areas of remaining green space on Brickell. The Brickell family agreed to deed 8,300 feet of Brickell Park next to the Sheraton to Related in exchange for 11,000 feet of bayfront land behind the Sheraton, a site that had been in litigation since 1988. According to the agreement, the park - except for the area deeded to Related - will be transferred to the city with a covenant restricting use to a private park.
Related, one of South Florida's most active developers, purchased the Sheraton property from Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance. The hotel has 17 floors and 600 rooms.
"The hotel is to remain open for the next six months, and then it will be demolished for groundbreaking this fall or spring," Mr. Thompson said. "A baywalk connecting the area to downtown is also planned to alleviate traffic congestion. This is the largest project ever done in Miami."
Mr. Thompson said a planning application would be submitted soon.



County's housing outgrowing population, expert says

By Tom Harlan
Though Miami-Dade has a record 2.4 million residents and a boom may quickly add 100,000 housing units, county demographers predict population growth of only about 30,000 a year requiring 10,000 units.
Real estate observers, however, say all the planned housing can be absorbed.
The county forecasts a population of almost 2.6 million by 2010. Average yearly growth has ranged from 28,648 to 35,800 in every decade since 1970, according to the US Census Bureau.
Based on 2.9 persons per household, said Oliver Kerr of the county's planning department, the area needs to add about 10,000 housing units a year.
But that doesn't mean housing supply will outpace demand, said Jason M. Robertson, president of Urban Habitats, because population doesn't gauge demand. Foreigners, who aren't counted in population numbers, are buying real estate due to the weak dollar, he said.
"Even though county statistics project new residences to increase by 300,000 over a 10-year period," he said, "it does not address the millions of dollars in real estate that is sold to second-home buyers from the Northeast, Latin America and Europe."
Population can't be compared to planned units, said Brad Hunter, South Florida director of Metrostudy, because projects can be cancelled and it can take years to absorb condos.
Yearly growth of 30,000 may be the 10-year average, Mr. Hunter said, but county single-family housing starts leaped to 8,614 last year despite a trend of about 5,000 over the 10 years.
"That's a huge increase," he said, that coupled with thousands of rising condo units suggests population is growing faster than anticipated. "There's a lot of evidence that seems to point to a faster population growth than 10 years ago or than even a few years ago


[]biscayne park 25-24 st biscayne blvd ----approved
<a href="http://img8.exs.cx/my.php?loc=img8&image=aol57284kf.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://img8.exs.cx/img8/9571/aol57284kf.th.jpg" border="0" alt="Free Image Hosting at www.ImageShack.us" /></a>
http://img8.exs.cx/img8/4677/aol57296im.th.jpg (http://img8.exs.cx/my.php?loc=img8&image=aol57296im.jpg)
http://img8.exs.cx/img8/8206/aol57304qj.th.jpg (http://img8.exs.cx/my.php?loc=img8&image=aol57304qj.jpg)

pointe brickell-another boring white 400footer-approved

http://img8.exs.cx/img8/3696/aol57331lt.th.jpg (http://img8.exs.cx/my.php?loc=img8&image=aol57331lt.jpg)
http://img8.exs.cx/img8/3346/aol57343pw.th.jpg (http://img8.exs.cx/my.php?loc=img8&image=aol57343pw.jpg)
r.i.p. opus----cancelled
http://img8.exs.cx/img8/6594/opus5ep.th.jpg[/

^^biscayne park looks kinda boring (granted that's not a detailed rendering), but the pointe at Brickell, looks quite NICE, IMO:):)

These new projects sound great... thanks for the info. And welcome to the forum rider of rohan, nice to have you here.

Thanks tricky, glad to be here. Where is biscayne park going to be?

i like point brickell- nuttin wrong wit 400-footers, give density, as long as u got a few tall ones mixed in, lol... it really does luk nice and where is biscayne park

uptown u masked rougue u, banned and still helpin us out, ur great man

I JUST FOUND THIS I DONT KNOW IF U GUYS READ THIS ALREADY BUT ANYWAYS IT ABOUT THE SHERATON PROJECT http://www.hotel-online.com/News/2004_Dec_14/k.MIH.1103047739.html

WOW I REALLY LIKE THE POINTE AT BRICKELL THANX VERY NICE. PLEASE DONT DO THAT ABOUT OPUS IM GONNA CRY =(

Bid for airport terminal tops budget by $140 million

By Sherri C. Ranta
The lone bid to complete the $1.5 billion American Airlines North Terminal at Miami International Airport is $140 million more than budgeted and is forcing airline and county officials to rethink their strategy.
Parsons Transportation and Odebrecht Construction, both constructing the South Terminal, jointly bid more than $500 million, far above the $360 million budgeted, said John Cosper, deputy aviation director. Bidding was opened Feb. 3.
Aviation officials hope to have a plan from American within 10 days, he said. Rebidding or subdividing the work is being considered.
"Our goal is to keep the project moving and get the building finished as soon as possible," said Mr. Cosper, an aviation veteran recently hired to coordinate the airport's $4.8 billion rebuilding.
The joint bidders are experienced companies, he said. "The bid was just way out of the ballpark. I was surprised it was that high."
American officials continue to manage North Terminal construction after saying late last year that they wanted to hand it back to the county due to conflicts with then-aviation director Angela Gittens. She resigned shortly after their comments and public conflicts with County Manager George Burgess.
American and aviation officials consolidated North Terminal work into one bid package in late 2004. The county hoped that would enable American to make one contractor responsible for meeting schedules, dates and budgets. At one point, American had 100 different bid packages for terminal work, county officials said.
First-quarter 2008 is the new county estimate for the terminal's completion. County officials expect to ask the county commission for more funds and to amend the 1995 agreement putting American in charge of construction for the North Terminal.
miamitodaynews.com

County to bid out mixed-use development in South Dade

By Suzy Valentine
Miami-Dade County officials will solicit bids for construction of hundreds of mixed-income housing units and retail shops connecting South Dade Government Center to a cultural center, a project that could expand to include an artists village and an amusement park.
County Manager George Burgess is preparing requests for proposals to build a mixed-use residential community as part of a cultural arts village after commissioners approved a resolution last week by Dennis Moss, who represents the area.
"I envision hundreds of mixed-use and mixed-income units," Mr. Moss said. "It's part of the Destination South Dade project, giving people reason to come to the area.
"We're seen as something of a backwater," he said. "We want to cast off the image of sleepy farm town and enjoy some structured economic development."
He said it's too early to talk about exact numbers of units or price ranges. But an area Realtor said single-family homes are selling for $150 to $200 per square foot.
"That's the rate for new construction," said George Cadman III, president of ERA South Dade Realty. "It can be as high as $200 per square foot if the appointments are right. Properties are selling in 45 to 90 days at the moment. There is a lot of development going on."
Though the county commission had a 30-page study on the plan, it concentrated on conceptual issues, said Diane O'Quinn Willimas, the county's director of the planning and zoning.
"The intent is that the development will involve some multiple-family units," she said. "Who will live there, what they'll pay, how they'll pay - that hasn't been finalized.
"We have a lot of retail and commercial planned for the project also," she said. "A hotel is proposed, as is another children's museum."
Specialty retail would be included, said Mr. Moss, but wouldn't directly compete with Southland Mall, which covers more than 1 million square feet and is 87% occupied.
"We want it to thrive," he said. "It could help the mall. We have half a million people and growing. Adding to the rooftops is critical to the area's survival."
"There are 22,000 homes planned for the area," said mall marketing manager Anabel Llopis, "6,000 of them already built. The mall has turned round a bit of traffic in recent months.
"Any additional growth in population will help us," she said. "The area's booming. It is a case of right place, right time."
The mall would be unlikely to face direct competition, Ms. Llopis said. "I assume they're planning a strip center. It's a different retail format."
A landscaped canal walk could figure in the development, said Mr. Moss, together with an artists village.
"South Dade Government Center will be nearest on the eastern portion, while we're furthest west," said Marie Denis, the county's project manager for cultural affairs. "The commissioner sees the project not only of itself but as spearheading development in the area."
A mixed-use, mixed-income development county commissioners approved last week is likely to bring financial support to the South Dade Cultural Center when it opens in 2007.
"Some of the payments to the county could support the cultural center," said Commissioner Dennis Moss, whose district includes the area. "That way, we could bring quality events to South Dade."
The land close to Southwest 211th Street is the site of a large parking lot and other facilities that could be relocated, Mr. Moss said.
"There are some parcels within the section which are just used for parking or not at all," said Marie Denis, project manager for cultural affairs. "Mr. Moss's vision is to make the whole area cultural."
Adding to services would boost the economy, he said. "It will encourage hotels and retail to come," said Mr. Moss, "and that adds jobs."
Development in South Dade would complement a planned expansion of MetroZoo and surrounding areas, he said.
"We're hoping we can have a compatible development," said Mr. Moss. "The University of Miami plans an academic village in the area. It's a live, work, play and educate model.
"I also foresee an amusement park," he said, "maybe a Six Flags, Cedar Park or Paramount. The Gold Coast Railroad Museum is being expanded and there are plans for a Military Museum."
The county received three bids for construction of the South Dade Cultural Center by a Feb. 2 deadline, said Ms. Denis, but two of the bidders did not submit required affidavits. She said the county won't declare the third bidder a winner by default. The county attorney's office was reviewing the matter, she said, and was to decide this week. Until then, she said, the county won't know the value of the bids.

miamitodaynews.com

Camillus House to take attempt to move back to city planners

By Yeleny Suarez
A four-year effort by Camillus House officials to move its homeless shelter from downtown Miami to the Civic Center area is to go before the city zoning board March 14 for another try.
The effort long has been backed by downtown interests who see the shelter as a barrier to the area's rebirth.
Camillus House spokesman Sam Gil said the shelter needs a zoning exception to build on its new site.
Officials of the 44-year-old non-profit want to build a 200,000-square-foot shelter on state-donated land south of Northwest 19th Terrace, north of 18th Street, west of Interstate 95 and east of Seventh Avenue to replace the 29,000-square-foot site at 726 NE First Ave.
For two decades, officials of the shelter operated by the Brothers of the Good Shepherd have proposed new sites so they could expand its services to the homeless. Each time, the city has rejected a move.
Miami Commissioner Angel Gonzalez opposes the current move because it would harm Allapattah, said his chief of staff, Frank Castañeda.
"As Commissioner Gonzalez says, Allapattah has been the dumping ground for the City of Miami for many years, and this will create a more negative environment," Mr. Castañeda said. "The building always has homeless people walking around outside. It will increase crime and drive business away."
In June 2002, the city's Community Redevelopment Agency, which has a mission to revitalize Overtown, denied the move with dissenting votes from commissioners Johnny Winton and Arthur Teele Jr.
"There has been a lot of political and community disagreements, a not-in-my-backyard argument," Mr. Gil said. "This is the first time we go before the zoning board. If we get this special-exception permit, we will be able to move."

AIRPORT SHOPPING: Retailing at Miami International Airport is to undergo more studies even as requests for proposals seek new retail operators. The Miami-Dade County commission last week voted 9-0 to direct County Manager George Burgess to conduct and update studies on airport retail. The retail program has been a battleground since a 1995 study proposed replacing unheralded shops with upscale, brand-name retailers. Former aviation director Angela Gittens had been heading the program. Commissioner Rebeca Sosa sponsored the order for new studies.
UPSIZE: NAMBIES United, a Coconut Grove group fighting large houses with generic designs by building a smaller house with a design unique to its neighborhood, is adding 1,000 square feet to its home. The group switched from architect George Reed's 2,000-square-foot plans to Mateu Architects' 3,000-square-foot design for its home at 1670 Onaway Dr. to dilute fixed costs. Land and pre-construction costs were $600,000, spokesman Andy Parrish said, creating a difference of $100 a square foot. "It's a compromise to a certain degree on size but not on design."
SECOND HOME? NAMBIES may have switched to Mateu Architect's design, but some members remain interested in Mr. Reed's. "It's definitely buildable," Mr. Parrish said, adding that the group is looking for land that fits the project. And if the 16-person group, which raised $250,000 to buy its first house, had more resources, he said, it would build more of the 12 designs it selected as finalists in a contest last year.
TAXING INVESTMENTS: Flagler Development Co. will roll over at least $41 million in tax deferrals from a sale last year into property investment in Miami-Dade County. The Jacksonville company announced Monday that it had bought Doral Concourse, an office building close to Miami International Airport, and is looking at other acquisitions, some in the county, to offset the balance of $80 million it made from the sale of a project called Section 8. "We're looking across the state, and that includes possibilities within Miami-Dade," said Rosemary Jackson, director of marketing. "It's too early to say because we haven't reached the contract stage."
NEW HOME: Camillus House has a new batch of residences to shelter homeless residents. Opening ceremonies for Brownsville Christian Center, 4700 NW 32nd Ave., will be Wednesday (2/16). The $4.5 million project completed by Miami Supportive Housing includes 74 units at the former Christian Hospital. "Camillus House has one goal and one goal only, which is to end chronic homelessness in the Miami. And today, we made that goal come true for 74 people," said Paul R. Ahr, president of Camillus House. The center currently has 41 tenants. Details: (305) 374-1065.
GROWING AND GOING: Groundbreaking on the Ponce De Leon, a mixed-use residential, retail and office development at 1607 Ponce de Leon Blvd. in Coral Gables, was this week. It will have 50 residential units, 10,000 square feet of office space and 9,000 square feet for retail. Construction is to be finished by early summer 2006. "We opened our sales center in July and are almost sold out," said Charles Treister, a co-developer in the project.
TOWER TWO: New York-based Intell Management has unveiled plans for a 46-story tower at Avenue, a 570-unit, mixed-use condominium with groundbreaking scheduled for March at 1060 Brickell Ave. Work began in September on the project's other building, a 34-story tower. The development includes 24,000 square feet of retail and a 12-story parking garage. Details: www.avenuemiami.com.
DOWNTOWN CONVERSION: More than 100 apartments are being built in the former Pan American Bank Building at 150 SE Third Ave. downtown and are targeted for summer completion, said Dan Rothschild, who moved to Miami to head Philadelphia Management and Co.'s operations. "The plan is currently under construction, but we will give more details in three or four weeks." The Philadelphia company plans a mixed-used development for the 53-year-old, 152,000-square-foot building.
miamitodaynews.com

A Boston-based developer has closed on a $142.2 million construction loan for a luxury 452-unit condominium on the southern side of the Miami River.


Latitude on the River, at 615 S.W. Second Ave. in Miami, received the money from Bank of America.

"This is a relationship loan," said Aidan Hume, vice president at Bank of America, "offered by virtue of our longstanding relationship with the Fish family."

The 2.3-acre site is to include three. Arquitectonica-designed components: the 44-story residential tower, a retail building and an office building with 231,000 square feet of space for sale.

Studios, riverfront flats, tower units and penthouses, all with private terraces, start in the $270,000.

Suffolk Construction is the general contractor and Cervera Real Estate is the exclusive broker for the residences.


bizjournals.com

The man who surprised city of Miami officials by buying and keeping the Miami Arena afloat now plans legal action over the development of a controversial site in Overtown.


Miami city commissioners approved a settlement Jan. 27 that clears the way for a Novi, Mich.-based development company to take over an unfinished housing project, despite the protests of arena owner Glenn Straub, who also owns Palm Beach Polo Club and Broward Yachts.

Moments after officials signed off on the settlement, Commissioner Johnny Winton said in Straub's direction: "Welcome to Miami. Palm Beach, I think, is calling for you."

Straub promised to sue.

He says the city of Miami wasn't getting the fair market value for the property by approving the settlement and the deal wasn't properly noticed to the public.

The settlement dates back to agreements starting in 1988 for projects across four blocks in Overtown, just west of the arena. But the Poinciana Village and Sawyer's Walk projects have been entangled in suits among developer Ted Weitzel, the city and its community redevelopment agency for years. A phase of 65 units was completed, but more than three blocks are still bare.

Under a new deal signed last month, Crosswinds Communities would give Weitzel $6.5 million for his interest in the project. Crosswinds was to pay the city of Miami $6.1 million, but instead will give 50 affordable housing units.

The project, estimated at more than $200 million, is a mix of 1,050 units and up to 75,000 square feet of commercial space, said Matthew Schwartz of Crosswinds. A former city planner and Downtown Development Authority executive director, Schwartz has been working on the project in one capacity or another for more than 30 years.

"The real thrust of this project is to create workforce housing," he said. "This is an important economic tool to stabilize the downtown."

He noted that 232 live/work units are planned. Construction is still about a year away for the Detroit-area development company.

Unit prices have been pledged from $135,000 to $300,000, considerably less expensive than the luxury high-rise condos marketed just blocks away.


Straub has offered to pay $3 million more than what Crosswinds would pay for the parcels and one-third of its units would be offered as affordable housing.

Straub seeks city sites
The Overtown project would be the latest public property to catch Straub's eye.

In August, he outbid parking lot magnate Hank Sopher for the 347,177-square-foot arena.

Sopher - and his $25 million proposition to the city that sparked the auction - had been the presumed future owner and was expected to tear down the 17-year-old facility in a venture with an Israeli conglomerate.

Instead, Straub bought it for $28.01 million and continued operations.

Straub has also eyed a pair of parking lot parcels and a warehouse near the arena that will be auctioned at a future date.

He has also said he is interested in International Links Miami, locally known as the Melreese Golf Course, just east of Miami International Airport. Miami city officials want a developer to build a hotel complex there and take over operations.

Straub said he's worried that his bid may be damaged by any legal action he takes with regard to the Overtown property.

E-mail Miami-Dade real estate writer Susan Stabley at sjstabley@bizjournals.com.

interesting article
southfloridaceo.com



Residential Real Estate
Roundtable

The boom times are upon us but for how much longer and who will be able to afford to live in south florida?
a special report


MODERATOR:
William Plasencia, editor,
SouthFloridaCEO


GUEST SPEAKERS:
Patricia E. Dahne, CEO, Coldwell Banker, Residential Real Estate Inc.

Rosalia Picot, president, Picot & Co., Realty Advisors Inc.

Robert Green, executive vice president for
residential lending, BankUnited

Steven J. Beauchamp, executive vice president, Cypress Creek Capital

William P. Thompson, senior vice president, The Related Group of Florida

Jacques Claudio Stivelman, president, Shefaor Development

Ronald A. Shuffield, president, Esslinger Wooten Maxwell Realtors

Neisen O. Kasdin, shareholder, Gunster, Yoakley & Stewart PA

Gus Gil, president, Gil Development, Latin Builders Association

Leon J. Wolfe, president, Cornerstone Group Development LLC

Lloyd Boggio, CEO, The Carlisle Group

SouthFloridaCEO: There is an unprecedented level of residential real estate development underway from Miami to Fort Lauderdale to West Palm Beach. With so many projects proposed, will all of them be built? How is it affecting your lines of business?

Ronald A. Shuffield: We hope they’re all built, because we’ll get to sell them then. I tell our sales people, “Next time you drive past a crane driver, stop and hug his neck, because it’s inventory for us to sell.” I think that most of the projects that I’m aware of seem to be going forward. We have a lot of discussions about “are we building too much,” and there may be a point out there a couple of years from now where we end up with some extra inventory, but we have such huge demand coming in our direction. Our population in these three counties is a little over 5 million people, yet our market place is about 100 million people: We’re now selling from the southern tip of Chile all the way up to Canada. The baby boomers, too, out in the northeast are probably the big story right now. Droves of those people are coming, and we’re already seeing, this season, even more people coming from those markets than ever before. Will some of these buildings be built? That will depend on the strength of the development, but I think that the market’s there for it.

William P. Thompson: Sales is not the problem. Everybody knows that. What used to take years [to sell] is now being done in days. Getting the building built is the challenge — even for us. We think we can build it faster and cheaper and higher in quality than anybody, but getting it out of the ground, getting a decent price, getting the concrete there on time. … Demand is really out stripping the supply of materials. Will they all get built? They can’t. There’s just not enough material. So some of them won’t get built because of higher prices or delays, or whatever the case may be. The other day we had the discussion that we were breaking ground on six jobs. We controlled every rig in town. We needed more rigs. So another guy just came in from Tampa. There will be an influx of subcontractors that will come. But will they be good enough, will they be able to operate effectively, and how fast will they come? Nobody really knows. It’s a major transition for certain subcontractors to make a move from one area to another area.

SFCEO: You bring up a good point. Certainly there are other hot areas: Sarasota, Fort Myers and Port St. Lucie. Are those areas drawing our resources away?

Thompson: I think it’s the other way around. There’s a subcontractor market over there [but] it’s not as deep as what we have in South Florida, because they’re not building 40-, 50-story towers at the pace that we are. When we go over there, we’re taking subs with us. WCI, for example, brought one of its contractors over to build the Bal Harbour project, and it’s kind of their first venture into the market. It’s very challenging for a contractor to move into a new market, and it means a lot of variables for them and a lot of risks.

Gus Gil: Actually, there are two separate markets — tract homes and high rises — when it comes to contractors. The contractors that do 50-story towers are not the ones that are out there doing tract homes. In Lee County, and all those up there past West Palm, the trend you see is more tract home building. So they’re not really taking away from our sub-base. We probably take a little bit more from them than they do from us, on that end.

SFCEO: Gus, you’re president of the Latin Builders Association, are your members struggling to meet demand?

Gil: What you see now is a lot of the tract homebuilders are becoming high-rise developers, including myself. We’re venturing out and starting to do a tower — a mid-rise out on the bay here. Not having enough land is forcing all these developers to come back inward and start developing these areas. Then it creates a little more competition for the other developers that have mainly done high-rise. For example, Lennar just created their own new division and they’re still doing work out west, but there’s only so much land out there and the urban boundary isn’t going to be moved any time soon, even though there’s a lot of talk about it. There’s a big issue coming out of Tallahassee — the governor’s office is bringing out a growth management bill — which is very interesting. We want to be proactive with it, see if we can open up some of the areas down south to try to create a little bit more affordable homes out there, because prices have gone crazy.

SFCEO: When you say down south are you talking about 8th Street, the Everglades?

Gil: Well, 8th Street that’s pretty much getting to the fringe. I would imagine Chrome Avenue eventually would be the line going out west. Now that’s my personal opinion. I don’t think you’re ever going to see it past Chrome Avenue. But it’s a very hot political issue.

Jacques Claudio Stivelman: Bill [Thompson] emphasized that the problem is supply and demand. I think that the ultimate problem is the cost of construction. That’s what really worries developers a lot. Whoever doesn’t build what they’re supposed to build, will be out of the market. I mean, you cannot just play with everybody and play with your buyers and just not build. Already two or three big developments have cancelled reservations. In my opinion, that’s embarrassing. You have always seen situations where buyers just reserve and then cancel. They want to see what is going on before they go and convert into contracts. But it’s a two-way road, because the developer also can cancel a reservation because of a cost increase. You may see more of that — maybe even the end of the reservation process and instead really going directly to contract, where you will have more control over the prices of your future construction.

SFCEO: That happened on Cabi Developers’ Everglades project. What do canceling reservations really indicate? In the long run, does it really have much of a practical impact?

Stivelman: I think that it does mean something. Yesterday, I was talking to somebody that had a reservation and said, “I don’t want to buy in this building anymore.” It’s just a simple buyer. It does hurt immediately. And by the way, Biscayne Landing did the same. It is a very big development.

Rosalia Picot: I have a boutique real estate company. I will not do reservations, because I tell developers, “We’re not going to sit here and sell things twice.” Unless you have a proven track record, like Related, who can go out and sell reservations every day and convert them. I think their fall-out rate is less than one percent. They have credibility in the marketplace.

SFCEO: Related has their groupies. (laughter)

Picot: Exactly. But there are a lot of other developers that don’t have that track record.

Neisen O. Kasdin: With respect with what Cabi did, though, it may be a sign that they’re a more sophisticated developer than some others. There are other projects, developers not as experienced as Related and some of the other major developers in town, who really don’t know what they’re doing and they haven’t hit that wall, yet. You probably will be seeing, in short order, some of those projects floundering and having to do the same thing.

Stivelman: I agree with that, absolutely.

SFCEO: From the sales side, how does that affect planning and the ability to get purchasers?

Picot: Well, just to go back to the Everglades situation. It just goes to show how wide a market we have, how deep a market, and also how forgiving people can be. I knew that they had returned checks, back in May [2004]. It didn’t hit the newspapers until October, and by that time they had already given back all their monies, and gone back and resold some of those units that they had cancelled. Their first tower is sold-out at contracts now. And now they’re going to the second tower. Some people got very upset, but they had a whole new tier of buyers that went right back in there and just bought the units up at the new pricing. But at least they [Cabi] were smart enough and sophisticated enough to realize that they cannot build the product at the price that they had sold it for, and they went back in there and corrected their mistake. The problem is, there are some other developers who have realized that they cannot build for what they sold it for, and they’re not giving back those deposits. I don’t know what they think is going to happen, but the price is not going to go down.

SFCEO: Has the composition of the South Florida developer community changed? Has the barrier to entry become higher or lower?

Kasdin: Definitely lower. You’re seeing, particularly here, but even in Broward County and to some extent Palm Beach County, a lot of people who, in the past, would not have been in. They’ve been lawyers or architects, and just decided to become a developer. That’s really been a new dynamic in this whole market. It’s a bit of free-for-all, and it’s driving up land prices and putting a lot of product out.

Thompson: There’s a lot of new people into the process, and that’s creating a lot of new ideas, and a lot of creativity and keeps everybody on the cutting edge, and if those people didn’t come in — if the bar wasn’t lower — I don’t think we would end up with as an efficient system as we will have, or as sophisticated a system as we have. So we’re doing more and unique things that we never did before.

Lloyd Boggio: When the stock market was hot everybody thought they could be a day-trader – when monkeys could make money in the stock market. Well, when you saw that, you knew there was disaster coming.

SFCEO: One of the fears is that land prices are being driven up too far and that less competent developers are putting up sub-par product. If that’s being realized, how is that affecting the market in general?

Stivelman: Have you ever sat at a blackjack table with somebody who doesn’t know how to play? It’s crazy. I mean, I’m not such a player, but you sit at the table with somebody who doesn’t know how to play and it changes the whole game.

SFCEO: Eventually everybody gets up from the table.

Stivelman: Right, so that means that hurts the developers.

Shuffield: Our buyers are beginning to ask a lot more questions about the developers. We’re finding that realtors are pushing buyers toward the proven developers. There’s just so many of these buildings that have been started during this rush in the last couple of years that are not finished yet. It’s very important to have the right professionals. As Bill [Thompson] was saying, not only are materials getting hard to find but professionals are getting hard to find, too.

SFCEO: There’s been a flood of people getting credentials to become realtors and agents. With so many more people trying to get listings how is that affecting quality control on the sales side?

Patricia E. Dahne: It’s making the transactions more difficult. You’re ending up with the more experienced knowledgeable realtor trying to do the work for both sides of the deal. But on the new construction side, we’re seeing much more interest in conversions now, and partly for the factors we already talked about: There’s little control over the timing, the pricing, the product. There’s the fear that it’s not going to be built or the price is going to go up. Buyers that probably five years ago never even heard of a conversion are coming in and saying, “Well, can I look at those.” And pricing, too, they seem to be more affordable in a lot of cases.

Boggio: What everybody is talking about is the residue of outrageous demand. I have no idea why I’m here, just getting sick listening to everybody talk about how great it is. We do affordable housing. It’s a federal program that says you have to sell at a price that is tied to people’s incomes. The last three years, incomes haven’t been flat, but it’s pretty close. With the increase cost of land and construction, where does that trend go? No more affordable housing. There’s no issue with financing on affordable housing — the money is there and the demand is there. The problem is the sites we used to think were affordable housing sites, that didn’t work for market rate…now everything works for market rate.

Thompson: Everybody thinks [the sites] work, going in. They find out later, it doesn’t.

Boggio: If I go to a land seller, in most cases now, and say, “This is what I can pay.” He’ll want to throw-up on the table… because there’s somebody behind me that wants to pay twice that. But those people [our buyers] are part of what makes a mixed economy work. I mean, that’s the guy that checks out your groceries in the grocery store, the gal that cleans your teeth at the dentist’s office. Monroe County is a few years ahead of Dade in that same situation: no land, prices shooting off the charts. It’s a small county, that’s land-locked, and it’s kind of a microcosm of what’s happening here. Twenty percent of their teachers turn over every year, because they can’t afford to live down there. They can’t keep cops, they can’t keep firemen, they have a hospital down there that has doctors but no nurses. So they’re actually creating a special surtax to buy land and set it aside for affordable housing. For them affordable housing is like libraries, schools — it’s infrastructure.

SFCEO: What are businesses looking to relocate here saying about the situation?

Dahne: Corporations coming in are concerned about education, transportation, and affordability. People call it the “second mortgage payment” when they count on having to put their kids in private school. They come from a major metropolitan area with a good transportation system, and they go, “What do you mean I can’t get from here to here on any kind of public transportation,” and then they look at the affordability levels. Those are the things that we hear over and over from the corporations that come down and do preview tours of the area. And those are the infrastructure things that, if we don’t make the best of the transportation tax and the bond issue, we are not going to see the support of the economy.

SFCEO: You can afford to build a home on the fringes of Homestead but you’re going to spend three hours a day in your car. That severely affects your quality of life. Is it coming to the point where developers have to be proactive to try to plan for infrastructure or schools for residents?

Stivelman: That’s what we’re doing right now. We can now use impact fee money to build charter schools. We’ve had to take the issue into our own hands for two reasons. One, they are part of our amenities to sell a home. Two, the issue of growth — you can’t get any zoning done or approved when you don’t have sufficient classrooms or student stations. We don’t like the fact that the school board is involved with construction. They should just teach not build schools. They don’t land bank for future. We have to donate the school, donate the land, build the school and yet they still fall behind. But you’re absolutely correct. Corporations call it the hidden tax, because now you have to send a kid to a private school and it’s going to cost you $8,000 or $10,000 a year; you have to transport that child. It’s a huge issue that we’ve had to deal with. The other issue is that taxes now are being assessed at the market level. When we give estimates to the resident or the potential buyer it’s based on good faith of what the market is today. The tax assessment office is going out and, even though you close at $200,000, a year later they’re assessing taxes based [at the time.] It just adds up and becomes more and more difficult for people to buy.

Shuffield: Pat’s right, we never really get a chance with a lot of transferees because we as a community have really beaten our schools up so badly. But there are some wonderful programs in the school system, and not just a couple. My kids have all gone through the public school system. I think [Miami-Dade Public Schools Superintendent] Rudy Crew is a real hope for us. He’s come in, identified 39 schools that are at the lowest levels to bring them up. I think that our business community really has not done anything to help our public system.

SFCEO: What are the prospects then? How are we shaping up in comparison to other metropolitan areas?

Shuffield: It’s going to get a lot more expensive [here]. In Manhattan now, the same condos we’re selling right below us at the Metropolitan Miami for $450 a foot, they’re selling in Manhattan for $1,200 to $1,300 a foot.

Boggio: What I always say about Manhattan is that, remember on 9/11 when all of those firemen and cops got killed and then they were talking about where they came from? None of them lived in Manhattan. The firemen and the cops that work in Manhattan, they drive across the bridge everyday. They live in Staten Island and in Queens. They live in Brooklyn and the Bronx. A bunch of them live in New Jersey. Where’s our Staten Island? Where’s our Bronx?

SFCEO: Where are people moving to here?

ENTIRE PANEL: West Dade, West Miami, Homestead, Kendall, Hialeah….

Boggio: I have three or four housing developments in South Dade. I bought bean fields there for next to nothing. If I go down there and talk to those farmers now, they shoo me away, because they’re getting six times what I pay.

Gil: Hialeah is an interesting market. A lot of people think Hialeah and factories, and so on. I ended up doing a tract home development in Hialeah that had pretty much oversized lots being 75 by 100. You don’t see that in Hialeah – right in the center. I was afraid to go out to market, thinking, this is never going to sell. I put that on the market, and within two or three months I sold 60 to 70 homes at $200,000. It was ridiculous. And the majority of the people that bought were coming in with cash. [Pointing to Robert Green] A lot of them don’t believe in banks, by the way.

SFCEO: On single-family, high-end home sales what’s the appreciation trend?

Dahne: It’s 22 percent so far this year, overall, in the high-end market [in Miami-Dade.] Whether that’s going to continue… I don’t think you can see that continue, not at that rate.

Leon J. Wolfe: I was just going to say, anecdotally, we use to be in Lloyd’s [Boggio] business doing a lot of affordable housing, and we do a lot of rezoning. I would say one out of every two sites that we build on has to be rezoned, land-used in many cases. If you went in there saying the “A” word, which is affordable, it’s like saying the “F” word. And they would curse at you and scream at you. Now it is the mantra of every single county and city commissioner. I mean, if you want to do workforce attainable housing, you still can’t use the “A” word, but you can use attainable or workforce. From the most liberal democrat to the most conservative republican, they say, “Bring in workforce housing. We need it.” We left the business for a variety of reasons. One of them is that it didn’t make any sense anymore. We build a lot of town homes, we built some high rises. For example, the average single-family home price in Palm Beach County is $321,000. Now, that includes Manalapan but it also includes Lantana, Lake Worth, Palm Springs, Riviera Beach and all the other little communities. I mean, we have 700 units in Riviera Beach ranging from $189,000 to $259,000. D.R. Horton is building single-family homes in Riviera Beach for $350,000, and they’ve sold-out 800 units. East of the highway, Singer Island is primarily what is going on. The marketplace in unbelievable.

SFCEO: Commuting is obviously a concern for a lot of people. Are people gravitating to Broward County and areas that are equidistant?

Shuffield: One of the reasons that Hollywood is now becoming so popular is because the leadership there has finally said, “Hey, let’s do something with this great asset that we have.” Miami Shores is a neighborhood that was built before Coral Gables, and my gosh, you go up into the Shores today and they’re adding on, they’re rebuilding. The whole Biscayne Boulevard corridor. The eastern side of both counties is certainly very strong today because people are concerned about the commute. We don’t have the transportation network in place. I mean, obviously there is a plan there for a lot of years down the road, but there also is a move back to what I call “community,” maybe it’s a mixed use building where you can walk downstairs in the morning and have a cup of coffee on the sidewalk and see your neighbors walking past.

SFCEO: Are mixed-use developments proven to be popular, or is the word still out on that?

Thompson: Actually, City Place [in West Palm Beach] is an interesting story. It started out they did a lot of retail there; it didn’t do very well because it wasn’t in a good retail market, but now when I’m up there in the day, at night, it’s a bustling community. It has radically changed downtown. [City Place] was a case where it was a unique opportunity to change something because of the financial incentives that the city decided to do. Sunny Isles is getting there. It used to be a bunch of t-shirt shops and small hotels. They’re not as pro-growth as they were, and in a few years, they’ll probably say, “That’s enough.” And then developers will move to the next community into that cycle. That’s happening in Hollywood right now.

Boggio: A lot of the problems we’re talking about got solved in the past by the business cycle, and that’s the beauty of a market economy. There’s going to be new people in the concrete business, there’s going to be new people looking at quarries and so forth. Entrepreneurs aren’t just in real estate; they’re in other businesses, too. The mitigation of the land-cost problem is higher densities. Everybody knows that. That’s already happening. But, long-term, the threat is what you guys are getting close to now. You start having the backlash.

Picot: That’s already happened in Fort Lauderdale, it’s very anti-development.

Boggio: If we, as a development community, don’t take into consideration that traffic can bite you on the ass, and that school problems can come back and bite us, that will shut down this boom. Maybe the business cycle is over for residential housing in South Florida, I don’t know. Maybe the demand is so great that the cycle is going to be up, or a little less low. Maybe it’s different now, but what you’re going to have is politicians winning on the basis of “Those damn developers – we gotta shut ‘em down.” If that happens, then you got a whole different situation.

Steven J. Beauchamp: That happened in Fort Lauderdale, and you were the recipient of the backlash. When George Platt was pulled out of office and Cindi Hutchinson became the commissioner and we went through this process where they’re trying to protect all the pieces of the land they could. It would be nice to see something besides that old Hyde Park shopping center that’s been closed down. It’s kind of spun the other way a little bit and they’re starting to realize they got to build more density into downtown, and they’re already talking about adding maybe 12,000 to 14,000 more units in the core downtown. And of course we get right back to the issue of how are we going to service those people. They’re trying to come up with a long-term solution with a light rail of some sort, to tie, in a very unique way, Broward County to downtown to the airport.

SFCEO: Miami Beach and Miami are moving forward on a light rail system.

Wolfe: Since we have two developments on the FEC line, I think that’s going to be like manna. I don’t know how many people realize the FEC line runs from West Palm to downtown Miami through almost every major city along the east coast. I mean, you can’t get from Aventura to downtown Miami in under an hour at almost any point of the day. Aventura is two blocks away from the FEC line.

SFCEO: I’ll believe it when I see it.

Wolfe: [Coral] Gables has the trolleys, and it works — a lot of people use it.

SFCEO: But at some point almost all of those people using the Coral Gables trolley drove their cars and parked them somewhere. Where do you put the parking if land is at a premium?

Kasdin: If you view it as a spine with hubs, you can. You’re not going to connect everybody. The notion that you can send a Metrorail line out to far southwest Dade and efficiently pick up people isn’t true, but you take our concentrated urban core areas — downtown Miami, Fort Lauderdale, Hollywood, West Palm Beach — and you create sufficient densities and put a finer-grain transit system. A streetcar system, just like we’re doing in Miami Beach and Miami. And in that fashion you can actually get a lot of people moving around within the urban core without even having to use their car.

SFCEO: What trends are you seeing in the activity in terms of financing residential projects?

Beauchamp: There’s just a constant flow of people that have never done something before that are coming in and looking for money, and there are banks out there that will give them the money. We just finished a condo project in Tampa with a developer who has been in business for 25 years. He’s built probably 15 condos. It’s two towers on Tampa Bay and he needed $5 million of equity. He started out with three banks vying for the business. By the end of the day, one bank offered him a construction loan and the first deposits, 10 percent he got credit for, the second, with a bond, he got credit for, and he got total credit for the appreciation of the land, which doubled from $40,000 a unit to $100,000 a unit in six months. He doesn’t need equity anymore. He doesn’t even need his country club equity sources. That’s how interesting the market has become.

How are these developers evolving? Well, they’re developing into regional and maybe almost national organizations to diversify their risk, because land is in short supply down here, and to diversify themselves on a geographic basis, so that they can take the rolling economy, if we still have such a thing in our country, where one coast or the other coast is down, and the middle is up.

SFCEO: What about consumer lending trends?

Robert Green: Well, the total mortgage market has shrunk from 2003 at $3.6 trillion, 2004 at $2.5 trillion, down to $1.7 trillion projected for 2005. But origination buying is greater than ever. Most of it has just shifted into the purchase market. What we’re also finding is that it really is about affordability. There is no Brooklyn or Bronx here. But as lenders we’re getting more creative. Seventy percent of our production is in monthly adjustables with low start rates. People are stretching to buying the bigger houses, but they’re looking at really affordability — getting 40-year ARM’s instead of 15- or 30-year ARM’s, and they’re really moving away from fixed-rate products. Rising interest rate environments, also, have really had very little impact on the mortgage markets. So demand is probably as strong as ever. And again, it’s still early, but also credit quality is better than ever as well. We’re really not suffering either way.

SFCEO: People still need to buy.

Green: They still have to buy and they’re finding ways to do that.

Boggio: [To Green] What do you mean credit quality’s better than ever?

Green: Performance of the loans on the residential side is extremely good.

Boggio: Ok, you don’t mean the credit of the perspective buyers? Defaults are down?

Beauchamp: But that’s a function of low interest rates at this point in time. As rates rise and credit cards demand to get their payment, those [default rates] go up.

Thompson: It’s also a factor of rising prices, because nobody is going to default on their mortgage when they can sell it for a profit, so that’s what it is.

Boggio: You lose your job and you can’t pay your mortgage, but there’s a guy ready to give you $50,000 profit, you don’t default. Nobody defaults when you can flip it. The reason I asked you [Green] was because one of the big issues with affordability — for-sale affordability — is that there’s a very high percentage of people in lower income status making $30,000 or $40,000 a year that have credit problems. The kind of credit problems where Fannie Mae won’t buy their mortgage.

Green: Fannie Mae’s goals have changed. Fifty-six percent of their total lending has to be affordable but there is no affordable housing for people left, so they’ve really loosened.

Wolfe: There are zero-percent down mortgages now.

Boggio: But that doesn’t fix the credit [problems].

Green: But there’s a lot more tolerance, outside of sub-prime. Fannie Mae is really starting to try to compete with sub-prime lenders — putting a lot of pressure on the lenders to put more people in affordable housing.

Shuffield: Before we leave here thinking that there is no affordable housing: 72 percent of the sales of condos are still under $200,000 dollars, in Broward County. In Dade County it’s 51 percent. At the other end of the spectrum, in single family, one of every six houses on the market in Dade County today is priced over $1 million. In Pinecrest, 60 percent of the homes are priced over a million dollars. The average price of a home on the market this morning in Key Biscayne is $3.78 million.

SFCEO: On the luxury end, how are these deals being financed?

Picot: Every single developer has cash-only contracts, and if it’s new construction, you take 20 percent down, and most people that buy $1 million units – they put $200,000 down, they’re not going to walk away from it, so they either buy cash or they finance it. Today, every single project has preferred lenders that they work with and those people are ready to qualify right then and there and get them a loan commitment.

Green: We’ve made it very easy with all of our [no-document] and stated income and stated assets, so it makes it very easy to qualify today.

SFCEO: How is that affecting, if at all, foreign buyers?

Green: We do a good percentage of foreign nationals borrowing. Those loans actually perform phenomenally, and that’s over a long period of time.

Picot: With the exchange rate with the Euro now, our real estate market, no matter how expensive it is to us, for them, it is still inexpensive. I have one project alone where 60 percent of my sales came from Ireland and England, and we asked them for 10 percent deposits and they said, “No, we’re going to give you 20,” right off the bat.

Green: Well, it’s safe-haven for their money.

Picot: But what I have found, depending on whether my buyer is from Europe, they’ll stick with 10 or 20 percent down. If you’re from South America, they feel that there’s a greater chance for default, so they’ll ask 30 percent from a South American, or 35 percent.

Dahne: Global redlining…(laughter)

Stivelman: I think that’s another trend in the industry. Developers are going to begin to ask for 30 percent down because of the potential for increased cost and interest rates. I’ve already seen some, and I myself, in my next development, am going to ask for 30 percent.

Green: And you don’t think that will affect sales?

Stivelman: I just launched a project with 235 units where I got 430 checks in two weeks.

SFCEO: Where are those buyers coming from?

Stivelman: Everywhere. We have the world market. There’s an expectation that the euro will reach $1.50. Unbelievable. I got a call from a friend of mine from Belgium, because he’s buying a house for $2.5 million, but he thinks he can go to $3.5 million. I mean, it’s a million dollar different.

SFCEO: Thank you everyone for participating in our roundtable discussion.

The Marquis

LOCATION:
1100 Biscayne Boulevard
Miami

DEVELOPER:

Leviev Boymelgreen
Shaya Boymelgreen, President

New York developer Shaya Boymelgreen and Africa-Israel Investments, a Tel Aviv-based publicly traded investment conglomerate, joined forces as Leviev Boymelgreen to develop Marquis. Marquis will be the company's flagship Miami building, as well as the first project in Leviev Boymelgreen's $1.5 billion plan for residential, commercial and office development in downtown Miami and the surrounding areas.

DESCRIPTION:

A 65-story residential tower overlooking Biscayne Bay, Marquis in downtown Miami will offer dazzling water and city views. Marquis includes a 306-unit residential condominium, 56-room all-suite boutique hotel, street-front retail shops and ample parking. Ideally located at the crossroads of downtown Miami and Miami Beach, Marquis is within easy walking distance of downtown's office towers, retail shops and a fast-growing array of cultural and recreational facilities. Designed by Arquitectonica, Marquis will feature gracefully intersecting and overlapping volumes in crystalline glass, a Japanese-inspired water garden surrounding the swimming pools, lounging islands on the amenities deck and a nine-story opening in the tower that will provide sweeping views of Biscayne Bay and beyond. Interiors will be designed by award-winning Sand Studios, a cutting-edge San Francisco-based firm. Floor plans range from a one-bedroom plus den to a 7,500-square-foot, one-of-a-kind penthouse. Exquisite residences will include private elevators to most units, imported marble finishes, luxurious European kitchens with the finest fixtures and cabinetry, expansive private balconies complete with glass railings, and floor-to-ceiling sliding glass doors.

Amenities:
A 56-room attached boutique hotel that will provide both hotel guests and condo residents with room service, valet parking, concierge services, housekeeping and other services
An amenities deck with water garden, swimming pools, and lounging islands
Gourmet destination restaurant
8,000-square-foot world-class spa
Street-front retail shops
Residential parking
Expansive private balconies with glass railings, and floor-to-ceiling sliding glass doors
Private elevators to most units
Choice of imported marble and limestone finishes
Luxurious European kitchens with Viking appliances and choice of rich Teak or Zebrano wood cabinets
Top-notch, custom-made kitchen and bath area
CONTACT:

www.marquismiami.com / 305-374-9933

NUMBER OF UNITS: 306
SQUARE FOOTAGE: 1,200 - 7,500
PRICE RANGE: $500,000 to more than $7 million
OPENING DATE: Completion slated for early 2008


Paramount Bay
LOCATION:
2066 North Bayshore Drive
Miami

DEVELOPER:

Royal Palm Communities
Daniel Kodsi, President & CEO

Royal Palm Communities was founded in the late 1970s and has since grown to boast a portfolio of completed projects with a market value of $750 million. More than 3,000 units have been developed, with an additional 2,000 planned or under construction in the State of Florida. Headed by President & CEO Daniel Kodsi, Royal Palm Communities is constantly looking to mold itself to fit today's public demand. In doing so, the company has established a new brand of properties, under the name Paramount to cater to the affluent market.

DESCRIPTION:

The newest addition to the Royal Palm Communities “Paramount” portfolio of fine lifestyle options, Paramount Bay lives up to its name in location, amenities and residential features. All superior and inventive, the offerings at this 350-unit, mixed-use condominium rival what is found in the Miami market. From flow-through floorplans to 10-foot ceiling heights, in-residence wireless concierge panels and private elevators, the developers are ushering in a new standard, one that is hip and stylish yet retains an air of distinction and privilege. Residents who buy into the new generation of luxury are privy to breathtaking water and city panoramas. Indulgences like multiple pools, a comprehensive L.A.-style fitness center, white-glove concierge and valet services, and a high-end restaurant, among other onsite conveniences are all enveloped in a private setting within the urban fold of the Arts District, Miami's hottest address. Plus, residents of all Paramount properties gain access to the Paramount Club, which extends their life of affluence outside of the condominium's doors.

Amenities:
Full-service health spa
State-of-the-art fitness center with sauna and steam rooms
Bayview pool deck housing infinity-edge pool and sunset swimming pool, outdoor living rooms and cabanas
Paramount Club with billiard table, plasma TV, full-kitchen and bar facilities, comprehensive audio/visual system that streams out onto pool decks
High-tech, in-residence concierge panel which accesses building amenities and services from the home
2,000 square-foot rooftop terraces above the 31st floor
Valet and assigned covered parking
Separate air-conditioned bicycle room
Concierge service
Neighboring Edgewater Square, a pedestrian, retail complex with daily conveniences and outdoor cafes surrounding a European-style bayfront plaza
Historic “Mary House” converted into renovated restaurant
Pre-wired for high-speed internet
Private elevators to each residence
Minimum of 10-foot ceilings
Designer Kitchens by EuroKitchens, featuring Wolf and Sub Zero stainless steel appliances and high-end fixtures
Lavish designer baths with Rain-style shower

CONTACT:

www.paramountmiami.com / 305-438-1004

NUMBER OF UNITS: 350
SQUARE FOOTAGE: 1,200 - 2,230
PRICE RANGE: from the $600s to more than $2 million
OPENING DATE: March 17, 2005


Avenue

LOCATION:
1060 Brickell Avenue
Miami

DEVELOPER:

Intell Management and Investment Company
Gary Barnett, President

Gary Barnett is president of Intell Management and Investment Company, the New York-based firm that developed the swank W Hotel Times Square and is currently developing the highly anticipated InterContinental Boston Harbor condo-hotel project. To develop Avenue, the company has assembled a team of award-winning architects and designers to deliver all of the elements of Miami's urban lifestyle – great design, diverse floor plans and must-have features.

DESCRIPTION:

Every great metropolitan city has its Avenue - the place to see and be seen. In Miami, it's Brickell Avenue - where urban living is now pushed to new heights with the introduction of Avenue, a new 570-unit, mixed-used condominium development. Avenue's amenities include a state-of-the-art fitness center with sumptuous spa treatment rooms, a virtual golf room, a billiards room, a business center, a wine and cigar lounge and a home theater. The pet-friendly building will also feature advanced “Smart Building” technology and high-speed wireless Internet capabilities. Residences range from 570-square-foot studios and lofts to 2,500-square-foot duplex penthouses, with prices from the low $200,000s to more than $1 million. All roads lead to Avenue, the new standard for high-life city living.

Amenities:
Retail and restaurants located on ground floor
Lushly landscaped resort deck featuring temperature-controlled pool and whirlpool, sun deck and recreation spaces
State-of-the-art fitness center including advanced cardiovascular and weight training equipment, sauna, showers and locker rooms
Spa treatment rooms and yoga/aerobics room
Game room with billiard table and home theater offering multimedia capabilities
Business center with conference rooms offering high-speed data, video and voice capabilities
Family room with large children's play area and lounge and party room with catering kitchen accessible from pool deck
Virtual golf room featuring sophisticated indoor golf simulator
Wine/Cigar lounge outfitted with temperature-controlled wine storage cabinets and personal humidors
Mail and package receiving area

CONTACT:

Fortune International
www.AvenueMiami.com / 305-329-1060

NUMBER OF UNITS: 570
SQUARE FOOTAGE: 570 - 2,500
PRICE RANGE: Low $200s to more than $1 million
OPENING DATE: Completion Early 2007


Skyline at
Mary Brickell Village

LOCATION:
900 S.W. 1st Avenue
Miami

DEVELOPER:

Skyline Equities Realty, Miami, FL
Evangeline Gouletas, CEO
Exclusive Sales: Skyline Realty, FLA, LLC

DESCRIPTION:

Skyline at Mary Brickell Village is a 35-story, 369-unit luxury condominium residence, set amidst lush landscaping and romantic loggias, within the much anticipated retail venue, Mary Brickell Village.
One of its most striking amenities will feature a 23,000-square-foot lavishly landscaped private recreation deck with meditation pavilion, gazebos and cabanas, resort-style Olympic-sized swimming pool and spa with cascading waterfall and an elaborate hydrotherapy treatment area. Mary Brickell Village, just footsteps away, will consist of numerous retail, restaurant and entertainment options including a Publix Gourmet Market, P.F. Chang's, The Oceanaire Seafood Room, Blu la Pizzeria de Sole, Blue Martini, Starbucks, an upscale Bally Total Fitness, and many more, creating an exciting urban community.

Amenities:
Dramatic porte-cochere entry
Mediterranean-style luxurious lobby
Club room with home theater
Lavishly landscaped private recreation deck with meditation
pavilion, gazebos and cabanas
Resort-style Olympic-sized swimming pool and spa with hydrotherapy feature
State-of-the-art fitness center
Pet friendly
Expansive terraces
10 foot ceiling heights in penthouses
European designer floor in foyer, kitchen and bathrooms
Apartments of the Future technology
High-speed Internet and satellite television
GE stainless steel kitchen appliances
Granite countertops and backsplashes
Custom European kitchen cabinets
5 foot European oversized tub
Elegant fixtures and accessories in bathrooms


CONTACT:

www.skylinemarybrickell.com
305-285-7272

NUMBER OF UNITS: 369
SQUARE FOOTAGE: 860 - 2103
PRICE RANGE: $284,000 - $1.2 million
OPENING DATE: Spring 2007

BAP/GGM
Development

BAP/GGM Development

DEVELOPER:
BAP DEVELOPMENT
2601 South Bayshore Drive, 10th floor
Miami, FL 33133
Tel: 305.859.2050


GGM DEVELOPERS
Turnberry Plaza, Suite 901 A
2875 NE 191 Street, Aventura, FL 33180
Tel: 305.933.8889


Description:
BAP/GGM Development is a partnership venture formed by BAP Development and GGM Developers, LLC. A leading authority in South Florida development, BAP/GGM is credited with commercial and residential achievements that have transformed the skylines of many South Florida cities. The development partners pride themselves on the richly detailed interiors and superb architectural design of their residential buildings.
BAP Development is an acknowledged pioneer of “new” downtown neighborhoods, as evidenced by the success of 610 Clematis - one of the fastest-selling residential projects in Palm Beach. Recent Miami projects include the Aston, a luxury condominium in Coral Gables, Summit Brickell, a mixed-use residential high-rise with ground-floor retail for restaurants and Boutiques, Douglas Grand in Coral Gables featuring a Publix super market, office space and luxury apartments and Brickell View, a 37-story high-rise residential tower.
GGM is the US Company founded by Argentina's leading urban redevelopment pioneer, who in 1995 spearheaded the dramatically successful revitalization of an abandoned port in Buenos Aires called Puerto Madero.
BAP/GGM projects include Onyx, Onyx 2, Harbourside at Jupiter, Premiere Towers at Brickell Village and other luxury condominium residences in South Florida's urban centers.


Projects:

ONYX ON THE BAY is a 28-story residential tower with luxury condominiums located at on Biscayne Bay in Miami's Arts District. It features one-, two-, and three-bedroom residences and double-height lofts. 665 NE 25th Street, Miami, FL 33137.
Number of Units: 118
Square footage: 912 to 3,359
Price range: $363,000 to $2,000,000
Opening date: Completion Summer 2006
CONTACT:
Tel: 305.860.1662
www.onyxmiami.com


ONYX 2 ON THE BAY is a 50-story waterfront residential tower featuring flat units and double-height lofts, located in the heart of Miami's Art District. 462 NE 28th Street, Miami, FL 33137
Number of Units: 117
Square footage: 1191 to 4709
Price range: $500,000 to $2,800,000
Opening date: Completion Summer 2007
CONTACT:
Tel: 305.860.1662
www.onyx2miami.com



PREMIERE TOWERS AT BRICKELL VILLAGE features two 53-story towers located in the urban landscape of the Brickell Business District across from Mary Brickell Village. 850 South Miami Avenue, 33130
Number of Units: 560
Square footage: 825 to 1,750
Price range: $250,000 to $600,000
Opening date: Completion Summer 2007
CONTACT:
Tel: 305.860.1662
www.premieretowers.com



HARBOURSIDE AT JUPITER is a mixed-use project in the exclusive city of Jupiter offering residential units, commercial units, a marina and private parking. Located at the Northwest corner of Indiantown Road and Federal Highway, on the Intracoastal Waterway.
Number of Units: 194
Square footage: 890 to 2,140
Opening date: Completion Summer 2007
CONTACT:
Tel: 561.659.0555

Infinity at Brickell

LOCATION:
60 SW 13th Street off Brickell Avenue
Miami

DEVELOPER:

Colonial Development Group, LLC
Fort Lauderdale, Florida
Joseph Cook, CEO; Daniel Adache, President;
Lawrence Duprey, Chairman; Jerrold Krystoff,
Executive Vice President
Sales: Colonial Realty, LLC, Maura Landers

DESCRIPTION:

There is a place where there is no end - not to the level of luxury attainable, nor the lifestyle options available. It's called Infinity at Brickell, an ultra-luxury condominium in Miami's prestigious financial district. Set to soar 56 stories, this tower is distinguished by its unsurpassed style and offerings, coupled with a competitive price point. 459 studios, one, two and three bedrooms and unique live/work spaces on the ground floor make for an attractive array of livable options, all priced pre-construction for a limited time from $196,000 to over $1 million. Tranquil panoramas of Biscayne Bay are juxtaposed by electric views of the sparkling city skyline; gourmet kitchens feature top-of-the-line appliances and finishes; and designer baths are sophisticated and lavish. The public areas offer an opportunity to retreat from the hip, urban lifestyle, and a sky terrace houses a heated pool, sundeck and garden patio. Residents will also enjoy a billiard and party room.

Amenities:
10 to 20 - foot ceilings
Polished granite counter tops
Top-of-the-line stainless steel appliances in kitchen
Floor to ceiling glass walls in residences with astounding city views
Private wrap-around terraces
Pre-wired for cable television, telephone and computer
Sky terrace featuring a pool, sundeck, whirlpool and sauna
Private “Club Infinity” access
Garden patio
State-of-the-art fitness center
Poolside lounge
Billiard room
Party room
24-hour concierge service and doorman
Air-conditioned storage lockers
Enclosed and secured garage parking and valet parking
Full security - monitored security surveillance
7,000 sq ft. of retail space


CONTACT:

www.infinityatbrickell.com / 305-400-6144

NUMBER OF UNITS: 459
SQUARE FOOTAGE: 488 - 2,734
PRICE RANGE: $196,000 to more than $1 million
OPENING DATE: Spring 2007

Mondrian

LOCATION:
333 NE 24th Street
Miami
Located east of Biscayne Blvd. in the Miami Arts District

DEVELOPER:

H&H Development Co.
Harvey Hernandez, CEO
4535 Ponce de Leon Blvd.
Coral Gables, FL 33146
Sales and Marketing: Related Cervera Realty Services
Harvey Hernandez has been active in South Florida’s multifamily real estate scene for ten years. As a developer for the past four years, his company, H&H Development Co., has amassed a portfolio of seven development projects in various stages of planning, development and completion.

DESCRIPTION:

Mondrian, inspired by the late internationally known artist Piet Mondrian, is a contemporary, cutting-edge building themed around the arts. The 19-story, 182-unit project, defined as “Bohemian with a 21st century twist,” will encompass studios used for the creation of art, lounges to celebrate art and galleries to showcase art. Almost every unit will have a work studio with an oversized window for inspiration. With eight different one- and two-bedroom and loft floorplans to choose from, buyers enjoy innovation as much as they do variety. Mondrian is located in Miami's most exciting neighborhood – the Arts District, filled with restaurants, art, furnishing venues and trendy shops.
Dadeland Project:
Another exciting H&H project, unveiling this spring, is destined to be Dadeland's premier condominium surpassing all others. Dadeland Mall, a variety of retail boutiques, the convenience of the Metrorail, and a supermarket are all within steps of the 12-acre community.

Amenities:
Colorful and lavish sun deck
Expansive infinity-edge 75-foot heated lap pool
Chic, serene cabanas along the pool deck
Exotic lava rock sauna
Alluring outside bar with poolside service
Soothing spa with whirlpool
Elegantly manicured meditation garden
Lounge billiards table and state-of-the-art entertainment center
Espresso bar
Media room
High-tech fitness center with yoga/Pilates studio
Art studio
Art gallery/library
Wine cellar
24-hour valet parking, security and secured gated entry
Contemporary Italian kitchens with stainless steel appliances
Jacuzzi tub in select residences
Large terraces
Master bath contains contemporary Italian cabinetry in addition to imported natural stone counter top with bathtub and shower in sleek units
Secondary bath contains Italian cabinetry with solid counter tops and imported tiles

CONTACT:

www.mondrianmiami.com / (305) 576-7711

NUMBER OF UNITS: 182
SQUARE FOOTAGE: 750 - 1,300
PRICE RANGE: $250,000 to $500,000
OPENING DATE: Completion December 2006

^^^bizjounals.com

Uptown you keep giving the wrong links all that info is from
http://southfloridaceo.com/

^^my bad got confused with another article

FAST FOOD


Burger King may leave S. Florida

The fast food chain may soon be packing up its Whoppers and French fries. The company is in the market for a new headquarters.

BY ELAINE WALKER

ewalker@herald.com


Two and a half years after Burger King moved its corporate headquarters to the Waterford office complex in Blue Lagoon, the fast food chain is once again shopping for a new home, according to three local real estate sources.

Potential new sites for the Home of the Whopper range from as close as Coral Gables to as far away as Texas.

Burger King isn't expected to stay put when its lease at Blue Lagoon runs out in summer 2007, the local real estate sources say. The company has hired Newmark Global Real Estate Advisors as its broker and has been checking out its options for the past several months, sources said.

One option: relocating to Texas, where Burger King's current leaders have connections and where local governments are aggressively recruiting major corporate relocations. Burger King's new chief executive, Greg Brenneman, just moved to Miami last summer from Houston and Burger King's current owner, Texas Pacific Group, is based in Fort Worth, Texas.

Another possibility involves Miami developer Armando Codina building Burger King a new headquarters either in Coral Gables or West Miami-Dade County, according to the real estate sources. Codina has been looking for a site in Coral Gables large enough to accommodate a 200,000-square-foot building for Burger King, the sources said.

Codina did not return four calls seeking comment.

Burger King spokeswoman Edna Johnson declined Tuesday to discuss the possibility of another relocation.

Burger King's decision has to come relatively soon, because constructing a new building will take almost two years from start to finish, real estate sources said.

The Beacon Council has been working on an incentive package to keep Burger King in Miami-Dade, according to real estate and Burger King sources.

''We're in no position to confirm or deny anything at this point,'' said Doris MacPherson, vice president of marketing and communications for the Beacon Council. ``We are working on several projects right now, and hopefully we'll have good news to announce soon.''

If this sounds like déj vu, that's because it is. In the late 1990s when Burger King decided to abandon its longtime corporate campus in South Miami-Dade, the fast-food chain also considered leaving South Florida or at least Miami-Dade County. Before settling on Blue Lagoon after an almost two-year search, Burger King scuttled a deal to move to Coral Gables.

At that time, civic and economic development leaders fought to keep the fast-food chain in Miami-Dade, its home since founder James McLamore and his partner David Edgerton opened the first restaurant in 1954.

Burger King has about 600 employees working out of the 210,000-square-foot Waterford headquarters and another 200 employees at a satellite office in the Dadeland area.
herald.com

Let them build the tallest building in miami. Right on the cbd a 1000 Ft.

That will be their headquarter! :jk: :jk:

This is kinda old (2 wks old) but I thought I'd post it anyway



Posted on Mon, Jan. 31, 2005




OAKLAND PARK


Dowdy downtown gets an extreme makeover

Oakland Park's dreary downtown district is mounting a comeback with help from public investment, new land-use regulations and developers who see a neighborhood on the rise.

BY SAMUEL P. NITZE

snitze@herald.com


For years Oakland Park's drab downtown business district was the subject of wishful talk and hopeful planning among city leaders eager to create something better.

Their desire to replace industrial gloom with a thriving ''Main Street'' -- apartments above shops, tree-shaded sidewalks, outdoor seating, street-side bustle -- met with skepticism at first.

But words and maps are giving way to physical change, fueled in part by public investment in street improvements, utility upgrades, land acquisition, and redevelopment incentives in a nearly 150-acre area north of Oakland Park Boulevard along Dixie Highway.

''We have taken a city in a bad financial situation and turned it into one of the hot spots in Broward County right now,'' Mayor Layne Walls said. ``People are starting to see that it really is happening.''

The city's investment, boosted by an $18.5 million loan from the Florida League of Cities, has spawned results.

The Florida East Coast Railway tracks, once a bare scar cutting through the district, are now concealed behind lush banks of grasses, plants and trees. The city is installing new drains, sidewalks, and lampposts along Northeast 38th Street, a key east-west corridor, and will begin similar work along Northeast 12th Avenue, a major road running parallel to Dixie Highway.

The city (population 31,000-plus) bought two of the grimmest blocks along Dixie and cleared decrepit buildings, leaving grassy expanses ready for conversion into an urban plaza and mixed-use development. The city has acquired about 2.5 acres where a new park will replace a run-down parking lot. The county is expected to reimburse up to $2 million of the roughly $2.1 million land costs.

Private investment has followed.

New shops have opened. Townhomes are under construction. And developers say the city's momentum is drawing interest from would-be home buyers.

''We believe this is one of the last reasonable, affordable places to do new development,'' said developer Scott Brenner, who plans to build 300 townhomes, condominiums and lofts on the site of an old Sears warehouse he bought four years ago. ``And the interest in the community is there. The market studies prove the interest is there.''

GOOD KARMA

Oakland Park is benefiting from trends that have fueled redevelopment in other eastern cities, including continued population growth, a scarcity of vacant land to the west, and new interest in urban living.

The city's proximity to booming downtown Fort Lauderdale, the beaches and Interstate 95, coupled with relatively affordable land, also have boosted demand, City Manager John Stunson said.

Deborah Mayor and her husband, Craig, moved their decorative arts and antiques shop to a Dixie Highway site they bought and renovated last year.

''I knew Main Street was getting ready to do something, that they were pushing for changes,'' Deborah Mayor said. ``I was hoping to get in for the start of it.''

NEW ZONING

City officials recently created a new zoning district around the downtown area, encouraging mixed-use development in place of industrial uses.

New regulations and design guidelines will ensure that builders contribute to public amenities and stick to the ''Main Street'' feeling the city is striving for, Stunson said.

Money for improvements underway has been secured through grants, tax revenue, and loans to be paid back over time, Stunson said.

The League of Cities loan will be repaid over 20 years with money set aside in the general budget and stormwater fund, he said.

''It has already been built into the budget,'' he said, ``and there are not expected to be any other increases.''

The downtown district sits in a 1,000-acre Community Redevelopment Area approved in 2002, making the city eligible to receive money from the county's redevelopment capital program.

If the ''Main Street'' feeling happens, it could benefit longtime business owners like Ellen Cirillo, who opened her restaurant By Word of Mouth 24 years ago, next to the tracks.

LOW PROFILE

The name fit, partly because Cirillo didn't advertise and partly because nobody was likely to stroll past by accident -- not in a neighborhood of low-slung, warehouse-style buildings that shut down after dark.

By Word of Mouth has done well by word of mouth, but Cirillo said she will welcome the passersby she believes are finally coming. ``All of these things come in little mini steps, but it's definitely taking shape. It's definitely happening.''

Link (http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/10776012.htm?1c)

UM, county eye school, homes near Metrozoo

By Suzy Valentine
The University of Miami is working with the county to build a school, a library and homes on 4 acres near Metrozoo.
An academic village in the south area of the county would be part of several developments. Plans could be complete in April.
Plans are to create a school with a math and science focus next to a low- to medium-density housing project in which most units will be for sale. The 136-acre site is on the university's South Campus.
"The land has yet to be conveyed by UM," said school board member Ana Rivas Logan. "It's 4 acres of land, and it will take a few months for the transaction to be processed. We're still at the ideas phase, but anything that relieves overcrowding in our schools is good."
Though prices for the units have not been set, Michael Katz, president of Miami Asset Management Co., a subsidiary of the University of Miami, said he hoped some of the properties would be affordable to low-income workers such as teachers, police officers and firefighters.
The university also plans to set up a branch of its School of Education's Institute for Retired Professionals to provide programs to people older than 50.
"What we're envisioning is a residential community that has education as a core value," said Mr. Katz. "We plan to incorporate a lifelong learning center for seniors and a wellness center similar to that on campus."
The emphasis of the project, said Mr. Katz, would be education, health and environment. The state's Department of Environmental Resources Management would provide 40 acres of natural forest to the community, he said.
"We will have a small amount of retail space to include a bookstore and coffee shop," said Mr. Katz. "There may also be some live/work units."
The University of Miami's plans for an academic village close to Miami Metrozoo's on Southwest 152nd Street is one of several projects in the pipeline for the south end of the county.
Earlier this month, the zoo announced plans to add a water park or roller coaster to raise attendance - a project that, like the academic village, is several years away.
Commissioner Dennis Moss said he hoped the area could attract a Six Flags, Cedar Park or Paramount amusement park. Meanwhile, the Gold Coast Railroad Museum is to be expanded while work on a military museum and the Veterans Memorial of South Florida in a former World War II Navy headquarters can get under way once a portion of the $2 million allocated to it in the county's bond issue is released.
The academic village, which is to include a public school, a library and 1,200 housing units, is at the conceptual stage.
"It hasn't gone to the board for approval yet," said school board member Evelyn Langlieb Greer, whose district includes the site. "There's nothing really concrete nor will there be until the full board has approved it, and I can't say when that will be."
Ms. Greer welcomed the project.
"Students from Districts 7 and 9 really need this," she said. "We're popping apart at the seams. It's one of the most overcrowded parts of the county."
County Commission Districts 8 and 9, drawn along different lines than the school board districts, would be the beneficiaries of the scheme.
"I'm really excited about it," said Katy Sorenson, county commissioner for District 8, which is also targeted for a mixed-use project close to the South Dade Government Center. "A lot of my constituents will directly benefit."
"This is exactly the kind of partners we wanted to build," said Joseph Garcia, chief communications officer for Miami-Dade County Public Schools. "It's a prime example of how we can find other entities in the county and bring to South Dade the kind of specialization found in a Design and Architecture Senior High, a Maritime and Science Technology High or a New World School."
Mr. Garcia likened the emphasis of a school in the academic village to one in New York City. "We're interested to see how a project like the Bronx High School of Science with a big specialization in math can provide new opportunities for students in South Dade."
"It's a several-year process," said Elizabeth Plater-Zyberk of Duany Plater-Zyberk and Company, which has been retained to consider the town-planning aspects of the project. "It requires approval at federal, state and county level."
The project site abuts property owned by the Army, said Ms. Plater-Zyberk, and a land-swap agreement has been sought at the federal level.
"At this point, we're revising the mixes of uses and housing," she said. "We are looking at ways to reduce the dependence on cars within the community and make it more walker-friendly in the manner of a traditional neighborhood."
"Though this is a first for UM," said Ms. Plater-Zyberk, "other universities are also working on developments which in some sense build on the existing character of their institutions."
Other possibilities laid out in a two-page preliminary plan include playing fields, an amphitheater and a day-care/after-school program. The concept of an academic village was conceived by Thomas Jefferson, the document says.
Rudy Crew, superintendent of Miami-Dade Public Schools, also welcomed the initiative.
"He was very supportive," said Michael Katz, president of MAMCO, the university's construction arm. "The school system needs innovative ways to build schools on smaller plots."
UM president Donna Shalala, he said, is dedicated to reaching out to the local community.
"The university has always taken a strong interest in the community," said Mr. Katz. "Now, we're reaching out in a generational way."

-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Miami approves study of Midtown Miami streetcar proposal

By Yeleny Suarez
Miami city commissioners approved spending $550,000 for a study of a proposed streetcar in the Midtown Miami project.
"This is an ongoing study. If we do not address this particular item now, it could impact us anywhere from $5 million to $8 million in the future," said Alicia Cuervo Schreiber, chief of operations for City Manager Joe Arriola.
The money is to come from the city's share of Miami-Dade County's half-cent transit surtax. A revised agreement between the city and the Midtown Miami Community.will supplant an agreement approved Dec. 9 by the commission that includes $613,000 for conceptual and final design services and permit modifications.
The study is to evaluate the feasibility of a streetcar operation between downtown Miami and Northeast 79th Street along a north-south corridor and the redeveloping Buena Vista Rail Yard Area.
Midtown Miami is a 56-acre development planned for Miami's Wynwood neighborhood north of the Performing Arts Center. The Midtown Community Development District is a political subdivision that allows public financing of the project. The city and county approved its creation in late 2003 at the request of developers.
Developer Midtown Group plans a mixed-use project to include 3,000 condos, 900 rental units, office space, retail space and a spa. The first phase of construction is to begin early this year and be completed in 2006.
The second part of the project, the Shops of Midtown Miami, a 600,000-square-foot shopping center, is to be created by Diversified Realty of Ohio.
City Commissioner Johnny Winton said the county should help pay for transportation projects. "This a transit program. They need to be paying for it. They need to be paying for ongoing operations," he said.
"The key point is the county needs to get out of the municipal service business and focus on regional issues. One issue that is crystal-clear and they are directly responsible for is transportation," he said.
"They are giving us part of the sales tax to do that, but the fact of the matter is the more transit, the greater a system we create for transit, the sooner we are going to have a community that will allow us to move around in the city of Miami in particular. We are not going to build any more roads or widen any roads because there are not any more places where we can widen the roads."
Ms. Schreiber said the commission would get a presentation on the streetcar study by the end of next month. "Maintenance and government issues are a discussion that should be ongoing after that," she said.
"The decision on who pays for operating has not been decided and the cost has not been identified," Commissioner Winton said. "When we get the feasibility study, we are going to know, and then we are all going to start working on recruiting this land because it is in fact transit, and transit is a county home."
------------------------------------------------------------------------

Doral Commerce Park conversion to office condos a big hit

By Marilyn Bowden
Doral Commerce Park sold out in seven months after officials converted available space to office condominiums, said Ernesto CambÛ, general partner and principal at Alliance Real Estate Group.
"From last June to the present, we've executed about $28 million in deals," he said, "and a total of about 340,000 square feet." He credited Alliance broker Ernesto Casal with finalizing transactions.
The park, on 36 acres at Northwest 58th Street and 97th Avenue in Airport West, consists of two buildings of about 200,000 square feet each. During the high-tech boom of the late 1990s and early 2000s, Bell Canada leased one of them as a telecommunications data facility. Bell Canada had made about $30 million in capital improvements, Mr. CambÛ said, when the bottom fell out of the telecommunications market and the company left.
To salvage the building for industrial use, Mr. CambÛ said, Alliance hired Guillermo Fernandez of Link Construction Group to remove specialized equipment left by Bell Canada and convert the building to condominium space. The cost of the renovations, he said, was more than $2 million.
Alliance's other building includes leased space and condo space, Mr. CambÛ said. Major lease tenants include Crescent Trading Inc. and Cool Cargo Carriers. Due to strong market interest in condo space, he said, Alliance stopped leasing in June and converted the building's remaining space to condos.
Buyers of the 15,200-square-foot units, he said, include a number of refrigeration and import-export companies such as South Florida International Foods. "The concept works well for them," he said, "because they're able to wrap the cost of the refrigeration equipment into their mortgage."
Mr. CambÛ said Carey Kramer Co. arranged financing for the project with Allstate Financial. Attorneys Dana Clayton and Sue Zabloudil of Akerman Senterfitt handled legal issues.
He said Alliance may look at more opportunities for similar projects in the area.

---------------------------------------------------------------------
County eyes options for dealing with airport cost overruns

By Sherri C. Ranta
All options are on the table to solve problems related to an estimated $256 million in cost overruns at the American Airlines-managed North Terminal construction project at Miami International Airport.
"In no one's view has any option been taken off the table. Clearly, there have been problems in the way that project was managed," Miami-Dade County Manager George Burgess said this week in discussing the future of the $1.5 billion terminal project. He had few answers to myriad questions about the project such as who will pay for current cost overruns, would American remain in charge of the project and would the airline be barred from asking for more money after the current crisis is resolved.
"Those are the precise kinds of issues and questions that we need to deal with the airline directly on and have some resolution," Mr. Burgess said. "American recognizes the issues as much as anyone. They realize the importance of having a solution and the best approach to getting this project done as soon as possible."
Mr. Burgess said resolution of the issues - which eventually would go to the Miami-Dade Board of County Commissioners for approval and additional funding - should be completed "very soon."
Mr. Burgess said he and Carlos Bonzon, the county's interim aviation director, are working with American officials to analyze rising costs. He said he isn't surprised about them.
American said last year that there would be at least $66 million in overruns. "At the time, I didn't believe that $66 million was the end of it," Mr. Burgess said.
County aviation officials said in published reports last week that they estimate $256 million in overruns at the North Terminal. The total includes $70 million for an inline baggage system required by the federal government, $30 million in cost increases for construction materials and $156 million for legal settlements, to fix design flaws and to cover delays.
In related work, American Airlines continues a move to consolidate all remaining work at the North Terminal into one large contract for structural and interior work and a smaller contract for outside apron work.
Miami-Dade North Terminal Development Program Chief Felix Pereira said American opened bids Feb. 11 for the apron work, which carries a $25 million budget. Bidders include Marks Brothers of Medley, $21.1 million; APAC Southeast Inc. of Medley, $28.2 million; and Gilbert Southern of Sunrise, $30.7 million.
The work entails demolishing concourses B and C - built in the 1980s and 1952, respectively - and the existing American Airlines baggage shed and rebuilding of the apron.
"When the concourses come down," Mr. Pereira said, "that will give the North Terminal its linear configuration for 48 gates." American hopes to issue a contract by Friday, he said, and isn't required to go to the county commission as long as the bid is under budget.
American and aviation officials continue to evaluate a lone $500.8 million bid submitted early this month by Parsons Transportation and Odebrecht Construction to complete the remaining structural and interior work in the North Terminal.
The bid is far more than the $388.7 million budget approved by the county and American. Rebidding or subdividing the work is being considered.
The joint bidders, contractors on the airport's South Terminal, are experienced companies, said John Cosper, deputy aviation director. "The bid was just way out of the ballpark," he said last week. "I was surprised it was that high."

www.miamitodaynews.com

UM, FAU plan research park buildings
Brian Bandell
Companies looking to partner with South Florida universities will soon have more options, as the University of Miami and Florida Atlantic University add research park space.


UM identified a site near its medical school in Miami's Civic Center area to build a 40,000-square-foot research park and 20,000 square feet of incubator space for new businesses. Companies in medical fields, such as bioscience research, medical devices and health care software, would be targeted to locate near the university and partner with its faculty and students, said UM VP for real estate Sergio Rodriguez.

"We have demand immediately for 40,000 square feet of [research park] development, based on what the medical school people say they need," he said.

The site being considered is a university-owned 1.2-acre parcel at 1601 N.W. Seventh Ave., which is about five blocks from UM/Jackson Memorial Hospital. UM has a 40,000-square-foot warehouse there.

That structure would be torn down and its function would be incorporated into a research park/incubator development that would total 100,000 square feet, Rodriguez said. He estimates the cost of the project at $20 million.

That site is seen as a faster alternative to the U.S. Department of Transportation-owned vacant lot along I-95 that UM also considered for a research park.

Mel Rothberg, chairman of BioFlorida's South Florida Bioscience Consortium, likes the location near UM's medical school.

Many companies would benefit from being close to a major teaching hospital to utilize, researchers, clinicians and facilities, said Rothberg, executive VP at Plantation-based Viragen, which partners with UM on cancer research.

The project will likely be proposed to UM's board of trustees in the next six months and will also require development approvals from the city.

Meanwhile, FAU is preparing to add a second building to its 12-acre research and development park, which faces I-95 just south of Southwest 10th Street in Deerfield Beach. Boca Raton-based Head Construction, the park's operator, is clearing land.

Construction will start in April on a building roughly the same size as the park's existing 22,000-square-foot building, said Scott Ellington, executive director of the non-profit Florida Atlantic Research and Development Authority. He could not disclose the names of three or four prospects for the building.

E-mail health care writer Brian Bandell at bbandell@bizjournals.com.

awesome! will this be a big indurstrial warehouse kinda thing, or a vertical building? god i luv the civic center, and the research goin on in that area is gonna b crazy in a few years, especially with the 150 million the medical skol just got

Posted on Thu, Feb. 17, 2005
Click here to find out more!

LITTLE HAVANA
Low-cost homes project started

Miami and its partners broke ground in Little Havana on the Latin Q project, which will give 60 lower-income families a chance to own homes.

BY LAURA MORALES
llmorales@Herald.com

Hector Tamarint, 61, looked at the normally empty lot next to his rented Little Havana home Friday morning and saw people in suits holding shovels.

He approached them and found out that he was standing on what could be a future home for himself, his sister Felipa, 70, and their mother Norberta, 95.

Tamarint had walked into the groundbreaking ceremony for Latin Q, an affordable-housing complex that will be built at 420 SW 12th Ave. in the Little Havana Revitalization District.

Its developers hope to put the ''American dream'' of home ownership within the reach of families like the Tamarints with low to moderate incomes.

''This area is where many of us here got started. It's an area we carry in our hearts, and it's very important for us to create revitalization here,'' city Mayor Manny Diaz said to the assembled group.

When built, the 10-story building will include two floors of parking and commercial space and eight floors with 72 condominium units -- 60 of them starting at about $139,000. The remaining dozen, which are not government subsidized, will range in cost between $179,000 and $257,000.

The $14 million project is funded by $1 million in grants from Miami-Dade County's Home Investment Partnership and a $1.8 million Community Development Block Grant from the city.

City Commissioner Joe Sanchez founded the Little Havana Homeownership Advisory Board in 2003 to help revitalize District 3, the area with the lowest home ownership rate in the city.

''As Miami grows, we have to do all we can to assist people in becoming homeowners. It's the key to every great community,'' he told the audience.

Salomon Yuken, president of Prestige Enterprise group, which is developing Latin Q, hopes to bring families back into the inner city.

''People are tired of having to spend hours on the road every day and spending a fortune on gas. We want to attract families back to city neighborhoods that have everything they need,'' he said.

Tamarint plans to keep up with Latin Q's progress and will apply for one of the units.

''We came here from Cuba 30 years ago, and we love this neighborhood. We want to own our home and stay in Little Havana,'' he said, smiling at his family.

Link to article (http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/news/local/states/florida/counties/miami-dade/cities_neighborhoods/east/10910205.htm)

finally affordbale housing

thats wat we need... lots of remotely small projects like that... preferably close to mass transit, and that is wat will make miami urban... dense, affordable housing... hope we hear about lots more like this...

http://southflorida.bizjournals.com/southflorida/stories/2005/02/21/focus3.html

Market slowdown predicted in fourth quarter
Ed Duggan
Can anything stop this market with galloping prices, lines of buyers and a developer frenzy to get a piece of the action?

Real estate expert Jack McCabe, president of McCabe Research & Consulting in Deerfield Beach, has an answer. He sees a slowdown in the fourth quarter, as supply catches up and passes demand.

A breakneck pace of rental-to-condominium conversions and a tidal wave of new projects getting their certificates of occupancy are what he thinks will close the supply gap.

The statistics paint a vivid picture.

There were 637 rental communities with 100 units or more in South Florida at the beginning of 2004, as tracked by McCabe. By the end of the year, 41 of those communities had been converted from rental to sale, representing 11,792 units turned condo.

New rental complexes built during the year totaled 36, so for the first time in a decade there were fewer rental units at the end of the year than at the beginning.

In the first six weeks of 2005, 27 complexes with 8,295 units were already slated for conversion.

"We estimate 14,000 rental units will be converted to condos this year," McCabe said.

He doesn't go so far as to call it a bubble, but says as speculators bail out, overall price increases will be restrained. It won't happen overnight, nor will it happen in all areas.

Like the days preceding the world-changing stock market crash of 1929, when shoeshine boys were giving stock tips to their customers, real estate has become the South Florida speculation du jour early in this new century.

Bartenders, television newscasts and part-time real estate salespeople are the shoeshine boys of our time.

Now, stock market historians are quick to point out that the stock market did not go out of business after the big crash of '29 or the dot-com crash of the last decade, even though scores of stock market firms and technology companies did.

Many euphoric stock speculators and investors were wiped out, especially those with highly leveraged margin accounts or option-driven paper profits.

Minimum deposits and interest-only mortgages may be the real estate equivalent of margin accounts and options.

Everyone has their favorite story of someone who has speculated or is speculating in real estate and how they made a bundle. Many of those stories are true. Speculators (those who flip a property for a quick buck) and investors (those who buy and hold a property for a period of time for a big buck) are out in force, standing in long lines to buy at any price in any location from any developer's limited liability company.

Even amateurs are in the game, making big scores borrowing from their 401(k)s, refinancing their homes and taking out second mortgage lines of credit. The really giddy leveraged speculators use their credit cards.

Are there enough foreign buyers who want second or third homes to prop South Florida prices up forever?

McCabe doesn't think so. He is fond of saying that "trees don't grow to the sky."

As long as the market rockets ahead, and under the greater fool theory that there is someone to sell to at an ever-richer price, the game will continue Is the real estate sky falling?

No, McCabe says, but it is getting filled with dark clouds and conflicting forces: Interest rates are rising, material and labor costs are up sharply. Land is scarce, rents are lagging and real estate taxes are on a tear.

What will a shakeout do to the real estate market when it inevitably comes?

A few possibilities:

Condominium and single-family home prices will plateau or decline as supply readjusts to decreased demand. Spec and investment buyers will find themselves upside-down (owing more than a property is worth) like many an unhappy or novice automobile buyer has discovered over the years. They will be faced with feeding the dragon until demand comes back into the market, suffering the curse of all gamblers: waiting to get even.
Unsound condominium projects will be cancelled and those that are under way and unable to find buyers will be taken over by their lenders.
Troubled condo properties could become troubled rental projects as lenders seek to eke a cash flow out of wounded white elephants, further depressing rental rates. It happened here in the 1980s.
Is all lost? No, it could be a major opportunity.

i have a feeling that its going to happen before the fourth quarter

I have to agree with Uptown. This may really be the reason for the late start of some of the projects. Maybe they want to wait and see if the market goes down, or push their opening dates way back in hopes the market will rebound before they are complete. Who knows, I hope that it continues for a few years though. If it doesnt well, Miami did get some height out of this boom, and there are some prime cleared spots for future skyscrapers.

Time will tell. Many of the projects that are announced won't be built in the next 24 months. I serioulsly doubt that we will see a lot of projects that come out of the ground half way and die. And the problem of being Upside down...I'm a bit skeptical...it is going to take a very big drop in real estate values for upside down to happen. Pre-construction usually requires 20% down. It doesn't make much sense that the market will go from +20% to a -20% in the time it takes to complete a building.
I know that it happened in the 80's...but that was a time when Saving and Loans would give a depositor 4% on his money and then lend the money to a developer for 11%. That healthy spread lead to some very unprudent lending for some really unprudent projects. The Tax Reform Act of 1986 also put the hurt on real estate here in Miami....then the Miami bankruptcy...
There has always been demand for Miami living, it has only been since the late 90's that developers felt comfortable supplying buildings in Miami to meet that demand.
Knock on wood.
Most good companies will only build with significant pre-sales and back up contracts. Most good investors wont buy real estate from a firm that hasn't built projects before, or doesn't have deep pockets.
Good developers usually have 25% of the equity in a project, the last thing they want to do is to risk that, let alone their reputation.

yea but the problem comes from all the smaller developers especially the ones in uptown which build without selling any presales,and everytime we get a big project we get like 5-10 small projects which are what i think are going to damage are market.

also its projects like midtown,river rapids and that 5,000 unit up by the oleta river which scare me.

Don't be scared. It'll be absorbed. More condos = good. The speculators who build without pre-selling will get burned but that's good news as it deters speculation in the future.

Posted on Mon, Feb. 21, 2005




Winter Festival expected to draw 10,000 gay, lesbian visitors

BY STEVE ROTHAUS

srothaus@herald.com


At the end of the rainbow there isn't a pot of gold, but there is $11 million.

That's how much South Florida tourism officials expect will be raked in during the 12th annual Winter Party Festival, a March 2 to 7 convergence of high-spending gays and lesbians from all over the world.

''Thousand of folks will come in and spend money,'' said William Talbert III, president of the Greater Miami Convention and Visitors Bureau. ``At the end of the day, [Winter Party] is about supporting jobs in our community.''

Winter Party organizers expect 10,000 gay visitors and locals will spend big bucks at a Margaret Cho comedy concert, Art Deco walking tours, art exhibits in South Beach and Miami's Design District, an outdoor ''Movie Under the Stars'' and the festival's signature beach party near 14th Street and Ocean Drive.

Gay tourism has become a big business: American gay men and lesbians represent a $54.1 billion travel market, or an estimated 10 percent of the U.S. travel industry, according to Community Marketing, a San Francisco company that tracks gay travel.

And tourist-hungry South Florida is eager for a big piece of that pie.

The Greater Fort Lauderdale Convention & Visitors Bureau, for example, hosts a gay-oriented Web page called the Rainbow Carpet: ''Welcome to America's top gay resort area,'' the site says.

``Enjoy out and out fun in the sun in Greater Fort Lauderdale with a choice of more than 30 gay-owned guesthouses and gay-friendly properties, plus bars, clubs, restaurants, shops and gyms.''

David Whitaker, the Miami convention bureau's senior vice president for marketing, says that ``gay and lesbian events help define the destination.''

That's why Winter Party is so important. The Miami convention bureau estimates the economic impact will be about $1,100 per person, or $11 million during the five-day period.

Events such as Winter Party help quantify the contribution of the gay and lesbian market to the overall South Florida tourism picture, but it's impossible to count just how many gay visitors this area attracts.

''Am I able to tell you it's 5 percent, 10 percent or 20 percent? There's no way I can say that,'' Whitaker said.

But he adds: ``This market is important to us because so many of our partners say it's important to them.''

With Winter Party, ''we look forward to a large contribution to our resort tax by the people attending from all over the world,'' said Michael Aller, Miami Beach's protocol chief.

Said Whitaker: ``That brand value transcends and exceeds the literal head count on these events. They make us a relevant destination.

``These are giant familiarization events. Any partygoer who has a great experience is apt to return and bring a friend, go back and tell other people, `Hey, I was in Miami Beach and they have really cool things!'

``Word of mouth is the best advertising.''

March's Winter Party is one of several annual gay-tourist magnets in South Florida. Among the best known annual events are the Miami Gay & Lesbian Film Festival in late April; and White Party, the Thanksgiving weekend fundraiser that in 2004 netted about $615,000 for Care Resource, Florida's largest HIV/AIDS service agency.

`EVENT-DRIVEN TOWN'

''We're an event-driven town,'' said Talbert.

''When we're in season and these things are going on, people have more money and they go out more and spend more money,'' said Alison Burgos a co-owner of Ultra and Pandora Events, which specializes in producing women's events.

Winter Party began in 1994 as a $30-per-person local fundraiser for SAVE Dade, the gay-rights group. It quickly evolved into an internationally known event attracting thousands of wealthy gay men from the cold Northeast and other parts of the world.

''I know people from Europe who've come, as far as Australia'' said Miami clothing designer Richard Shon, who co-owns Whittall & Shon, a South Beach retailer where Winter Party tickets are sold.

TICKET INFO

Individual ticket prices now start at $75. Cabana sponsorships are being sold for $5,000.

Traditionally straight clubs and venues also are involved. Winter Party's opening night welcome party will be at Nikki Beach Club on Ocean Drive.

''You can't look at the history of South Beach without noting the contributions of the gays on South Beach,'' said Pequy Homicil, marketing director for Nikki Beach and Pearl restaurant and champagne lounge. ``You can't be part of the community and not do anything for the community.''

Nikki Beach will also host an opening night ''Movie Under the Stars'' presented by the Miami Gay & Lesbian Film Festival.

This year's festival is off to an excellent start -- no more rooms are available at the event's host hotel, according to Charles Robbins, development director of the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force, which owns Winter Party and donates two-thirds of the profits back to gay groups in Miami-Dade County.

http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/10939103.htm?1c

hmm. thats a pretty gay article

eeehhh... tourism is tourism... hope the come, spend thousands, and come bak later with more friends... and spend more money... and the cycle continues...

that new gay club in north miami i think it was that was much celebrated when it opened a month or two ago and a sign of "revitalization of the area" just closed, guess the gay scene in miami just aint wat it used to be

I might head down to Miami this spring break. I wonder if I could hook me a couple bisexual chics :D

hey, u grab some, lemme no, i think ill head over and... ummmm... absorb the culture and the atmosphere... ya...

Miami, South Florida Workforce still hoping for jobs program

By Yeleny Suarez
City of Miami and South Florida Workforce officials are still hoping to complete an agreement to launch Work Miami, a program that is to provide about 1,000 construction jobs to unskilled residents.
"The Miami Works concept was initiated a year ago by a couple of developers after seeing opportunity for employment for people in the city," said David Rosemond, chief of staff to City Manager Joe Arriola.
The pending agreement is to outline how money is to be spent and how the One Stop Career agency will direct the program.
South Florida Workforce is responsible for initiating state and federally funded employee-development programs in Miami-Dade and Monroe counties and helping employers and job seekers with services, labor market information and training for the economically disadvantaged, dislocated workers, refugees and those transitioning from welfare to work. The resources are provided through a network of One-Stop Career Centers throughout the region.
Commissioner Johnny Winton is upset over delays in signing the agreement.
"We got this program going," he said, "we have volunteers working on it and it's been held up over one delay and another delay."
Mr. Winton said he and the manager met with others and all agreed to get Miami Works kicked off during the holiday season.
"It is now February and it didn't get going because South Florida Workforce decided to get an interlocal agreement done," he said.
"My comment to South Florida Workforce is I am ready to start war with them again. I don't care about their stupid interlocal agreement.... They should be making the commitment.... We should have jobs open right now," Mr. Winton said. "This is preventing us from putting people to work that need jobs. I don't care anymore about it being signed or not signed. I want the program rolling. That will put the people on the streets to work that want to go to work getting jobs with the employers that want to hire them."
Mr. Rosemond said the city doesn't want the program to die and will make adjustments to help it succeed.
"The project will be tied to Mayor Manny Diaz's campaign against citywide poverty, educating Miami residents on how to maximize existing resources available," he said.
"South Florida Workforce will take care of the funding for the program but amounts for this program have to be allocated in the given process. [South Florida Workforce] allocates funds at the beginning of the year. We just can't come in and expect them to have funds and a plan for it," Mr. Rosemond said. "The city will provide a gap fund of $60,000 for things like drug testing and character assessments to help the program continue."
The subject of the pending Miami Works public-private partnership arose this month at a city commission meeting when officials repealed an ordinance that granted a 10% local preference to vendors with offices within the city limits. The previous ordinance allowed local contractors to be awarded contracts for more than $25,000 even if their bid was not the lowest - as long as it was within 10% of the lowest bid.
Mr. Rosemond vowed to have a successful report about the Miami Works agreement by today's (2/24) city commission meeting.
"I have worked harder on this than things of more cost. I am excited to give unemployable people an opportunity to turn their life around rebuild a life," he said, "Right now it is in its final draft phase. I was a builder, so seeing this program succeed will be a personal satisfaction."



miami today news

Museums awaiting bond funds, Miami master plan before working on move

By Suzy Valentine
The three future tenants of Museum Park say the Miami city officials needs to complete a master plan for the land and Miami-Dade County officials must schedule release of bond funds before they can move on their projects.
The Miami Art Museum, Miami Museum of Science & Planetarium and Historical Museum of Southern Florida are slated to move into Museum Park, a project planned for Bicentennial Park.
The city has appointed Cooper Robertson to compose its master plan.
"We need definitive dates on the planning process by the city," said Ivette Diaz, publicist for the historical museum, which is to share space with the science museum.
"We will take 25,000 square feet in its space, which will supplement the 40,000 square feet we have downtown," Ms. Diaz said. "The Museum of Science is taking the lead in that part of the project, and we're in the process of developing marketing and promotional plans."
"The key issue is getting the negotiations completed," said Gillian Thomas, science museum president. "We can't do any more appointing until that point. We already have a team installed here, and project management is my area of expertise. We're still waiting for the city to complete its master plan."
"It's an extraordinarily complex and interconnected project," said Suzanne Delehanty, director of the Miami Art Museum. "You have private non-profits in partnership with the city, which owns the land, and the major funder is the county."
"We are still waiting for the county to provide us certainty over the schedule for release of the bond-issue funds," Ms. Thomas said. "We can't do any more accurate planning until then. The funds are subject to inflation, so the longer the county leaves it, the less the money will be worth.
"We have the building planning done, and we're waiting for the final go-ahead. Then the architectural selection can be made."
The county commission this week was to review a Carlos Gimenez-sponsored proposal directing County Manager George Burgess to provide a schedule within 60 days for release of the bond funds.
The science museum is targeted for $150 million.
The $25 million targeted for the historical museum is earmarked for construction costs. Museum officials aim to raise a further $15 million - $10 million to operate the facility and $5 million for the construction and maintenance of exhibitions.
Art museum officials are committed to raising $75 million toward construction and $25 million for operating costs to match the $100 million it has been promised as part of the bond issue.
"The Miami Art Museum and the Museum of Science & Planetarium are just two of 50 recipients in the bond issue," said Ms. Delehanty, "so we can't be certain where we'll be placed in terms of priority.
"Cooper Robertson, which is overseeing the city's master plan, has a good team of landscape architects scheduled to start in March," she said. "The city is seeking a lot of public input and discussions, and there should be a 12-month consultation process. At Miami Art Museum, we will name a project manager in a week or so. We're working on a detailed plan ourselves."
The art museum is to take up 125,000 to 150,000 square feet in the park and to move completely from its downtown location. The county museum building it occupies is in good shape, Ms. Delehanty said, so could be put to good use.
"We're not moving our administrative offices, so this will enable us to bring out more of our collection," said Ms. Diaz. "We will encourage people to do research in the downtown museum, that and provide additional exhibition space."
She said the historical museum's president, Bob McCammon, would assume project management responsibilities.
miamitodaynews

LATEST NEWS
11:08 AM EST Wednesday
Commissioners OK Brickell Avenue condo changes
Susan Stabley
Developer Kenneth Baboun, president of The BBB Group, announced plans to begin work on the $150 million1390 Brickell Bay by mid-year.


The 47-story condominium tower off Brickell Avenue has been revamped from plans approved in 2002. Miami city commissioners approved the changes to the project Jan. 27.

Changes came after developers bought an extra .19 of an acre of land. They increased the number of units to 364 from 347, while dropping parking spaces to 501 from 516.

Developers also added 10,000 square feet of retail, for a total of 21,388 square feet of commercial space. They also added seven stories to the original plans.

The one- and two-bedroom units, plus lofts, are to range from $300,000 to more than $1 million. Two floors offer double-story lofts, which technically makes the project 49 stories.

Baboun said pre-construction sales are more than 80 percent.

There is speculation much of South Florida's real estate boom is due to investors. But Baboun said nearly half of his sales so far are from local residents: downtown executives and young professionals wanting to live close to offices.

Miami's Fortune International is managing sales and marketing. The architect is Bernard Zyscovich, of the same city.

Amenities include a heated pool, sun deck with city and bay views, fitness center and spa. Residences feature nine-foot ceilings, granite kitchen countertops, marble flooring in master bathrooms, full-size washer and dryer and walk-in closets.



© 2005 American City Business Journals Inc

Looks like we will see another addition to the brickell skyline sometime soon!!


http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/business/10974996.htm

Sopher, group buying Brickell parcel

Hank Sopher and Leviev & Boymelgreen's latest real estate prize: a much sought- after property along Miami's Brickell Avenue.

BY MATTHEW HAGGMAN

mhaggman@herald.com


Real estate investor Hank Sopher and development group Leviev & Boymelgreen have won the bidding for a highly prized 3.5-acre property on Brickell Avenue auctioned off by the Venezuelan government.

Price: at least $70 million.

''I am not at liberty to say the price, but you can safely say it is somewhere between $70 million and $80 million,'' Sopher said. The parties signed a contract for the property last week, he said.

The 1101 Brickell Ave. parcel, which includes an 11-story and 19-story office building -- and also houses the Venezuelan consulate -- drew tremendous interest from investors because it is a large lot on Brickell Avenue with views of Biscayne Bay.

Nearly 80 prospective buyers considered the parcel owned by the government-run Banco De Desarollo Economico y Social De Venezuela, or BANDES. On Feb. 2, some 18 bids were filed with the Venezuelan government, according to a source close to the deal.

In a nod to skyrocketing prices amid South Florida's red-hot real estate market, the Venezuelan government initially warned it would not sell the building for less than $37.8 million. That turned out to be an easy hurdle to leap.

''When I learned that this property was going to be made available,'' said real estate broker Edie Laquer, who represented the buyers, ``I reached out to Shaya [Boymelgreen] and Hank because this is the perfect scenario they are looking for.''

There's enough room on the property to construct a third building if the buyers choose, Laquer said. She added the development could include retail and residential components.

''We are beginning to evaluate whether we have to tear down one office building or leave them both up,'' Sopher said. ``The only thing we are convinced of is that the garage must come down.''

Boymelgreen could not be reached for comment.

The Venezuelan government bought the building in 1983 for $31.5 million, according to Miami-Dade County property records. It was represented in the sale by Eddy Dominguez of VR Business Brokers in Coral Gables.

Neither Dominguez nor officials at BANDES could be reached for comment.

The sale represents another bold move by Sopher and Leviev & Boymelgreen, who continue betting heavily that South Florida real estate values will continue their skyward ascent.

Leviev & Boymelgreen, a partnership between Brooklyn developer Shaya Boymelgreen and Tel Aviv-based conglomerate Africa-Israel, burst onto the scene in July when it announced it was buying $130 million in real estate and spending $1.5 billion to develop it. It is marketing its first high-rise on Biscayne Boulevard, Marquis.

Sopher made news several years ago when he started buying up unwanted land in downtown Miami that has since become hugely valuable. More recently, he lost his bid to buy the Miami Arena in the city's auction.

Sopher said the Brickell deal should close after May 1.

whoa the venezulan gov,made almost triple what it paid.

woow nice news, lets get another tower

EVERYONE :) , I know this is NOT about SKYscrapers, BUT :) , Latest NEWS today of TIGER WOODS :) playing at DORAL-Miami FORD Championships Next Week IS GREAT for the T.V. Showing OUR :) Beautiful FAST GROWING CITY of MIAMI :cheers: .
IN FACT, 9 0ut of 10 WORLD BEST :) Players are DUE to Play at the DORAL Ford Championships With Ernie ELS staying out because hes in DUBIN for another Championship. THIS IS Raelly GREAT for MIAMI :) , GO CRANES !!! :cheers:

And they all live in...wait for it...ORLANDO !!! :bash: :cheers:

And they all live in...wait for it...ORLANDO !!! :bash: :cheers:Well naturally...they have a Paris Hilton nightclub, a Jimmy Buffet's Margaritaville and a Gloria Estefan's Bongos. Who wouldn't want to live in Orlando?

Well naturally...they have a Paris Hilton nightclub, a Jimmy Buffet's Margaritaville and a Gloria Estefan's Bongos. Who wouldn't want to live in Orlando?

^ You left out Lulu's Bait Shack.

From yesterday's Miami Herald (http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/news/local/states/florida/counties/miami-dade/cities_neighborhoods/east/10997905.htm)

River House Lofts, LTD applied Feb. 3 for a Class II special permit to build the River House Lofts on the property at 350 West Flagler St. The 29-story mixed-use tower will have 182 residential units, 62,537 square feet of office space, 22,000 square feet of retail space and 513 parking spots.

• Brickell Village Partners, LLC is seeking a special permit to build a 38-story tower on the 1.06-acre property at 1100 South Miami Ave. The Pointe at Brickell Village will include 348 condo units, 11,371 square feet of retail space and 445 parking spaces. The application was filed Dec. 21.

• Pelican Hotel, LLC applied Nov. 5 for a special permit for a 63-story mixed-use project on the 1.117-acre property at 1100 Biscayne Blvd. The Marquis will include 310 residential units, 24 hotel rooms, 5,765 square feet of retail space and 525 parking spaces. The application was approved Jan. 27.

GREAT NEWS JR :) , 3 MORE TALL TOWERS :) and 6 MORE Tower Construction Cranes :) being ADDED to OUR EVERGrowing SKYLINE CITY Of MIAMI :) over the Next 5 Years,, GO CRANES !!! :cheers:

There is a rendering on the link as well:

http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/news/11017835.htm

Overtown to get hotel, condos

Poor in income but rich in history, Miami's Overtown neighborhood is now attracting condo builders -- and an upscale hotel.

BY MICHAEL VASQUEZ

mrvasquez@herald.com


Miami city leaders Monday endorsed a $93 million plan to radically transform a storied block in Miami's Overtown neighborhood -- adding pedestrian-friendly shops and restaurants, a mix of rental apartments and condominiums and a photo gallery chronicling the history of black Miami.

And to top it all off, a Hilton. Overtown would have its very own Hilton hotel.

Miami -- in the midst of an unrelenting building boom -- is changing at high speed, with long-forgotten neighborhoods now firmly in developers' sights. Overtown is one of those neighborhoods, and the proposed 149-room Hilton Garden Inn would be the impoverished community's first hotel opening in decades.

Ten years ago, had someone dared to use the words Overtown and Hilton in the same sentence, the reaction would have been swift and severe, said Stuart Blumberg, president and CEO of the Greater Miami & The Beaches Hotel Association.

'People would have said, `What? Are you crazy?' '' Blumberg said.

Nowadays, Blumberg is optimistic that a hotel adjacent to the under-renovation historic Lyric Theater and a $200 million condo project called Crosswinds can work. The nonprofit Black Archives owns the Lyric and is spearheading the $93 million development effort next door.

Miami city commissioners, acting as the city's Community Redevelopment Agency, unanimously endorsed the proposed mixed-use project, dubbed Lyric Promenade. Miami tentatively chose that plan over four others submitted for the same city-owned square block, framed by Northwest Eigth and Ninth streets between Northwest First and Second avenues. Under the deal, Miami would sell the property -- which has stood vacant for years -- for $3.5 million.

''This is a win-win situation for everyone,'' Miami City Commission Chairman Joe Sanchez said.

A final agreement between city and developer must still be worked out before construction can begin. Should negotiations stall, Miami would be free to entertain other proposals.

Dorothy Jenkins Fields, founder of the Black Archives, envisions crowds at the new-and-improved Lyric Theater, the sounds of B.B. King coming from a blues restaurant included in the planned new development, and people of all colors showing up to take part.

Overtown -- once again -- as the place to be.

Born and raised in Overtown, Fields is old enough to remember it serving as the business and cultural hub for Miami's segregated black community. While Overtown now buzzes about the prospect of one new hotel, in those days it had many, and no shortage of famous entertainers clamoring to stay in them.

''I was a little girl growing up when Overtown was at its zenith,'' Fields remembered. ``I knew Billie Holiday. I knew Nat King Cole. These were people you would just see walking up and down the street.''

In later years, Overtown declined sharply. A key reason: a decision by white politicians to plow through the heart of Overtown in the 1960s to make way for Interstates 95 and 395.

Overtown residents have since heard countless government promises of revitalization and a return to the good days.

Repeated disappointments bred skepticism, and some wonder whether Overtown's current rapid transformation will help those who already live there or simply push them out to make way for wealthier condo buyers.

The Lyric Promenade proposes 160 condos starting at $225,000, as well as 150 affordable rental properties priced between 30 and 60 percent of the county's median income.

Denise Perry, co-director of Power U, an Overtown-based grass-roots organization, said the project will only marginalize the community's poor, despite the inclusion of rentals.

Perry also wondered how many Overtown residents would be able to get jobs at the new Hilton without being bilingual.

''Are they really going to be able to hire people from our community who are not just going to get jobs cleaning a hotel room?'' Perry said.

DOn't know about the design yet...but this would be veryvery great for infill and rejuvenation!:)

http://www.miami.com/images/miami/miamiherald/11021/121468413382.jpg

^ Sweet !

best news in a looooooong time... these kinds of developements are the best around

very nice, its nice to see another big hotel come to Downtown Miami and in the process, attempt to help redevelop a neighborhood in distress.

very nice, its nice to see another big hotel come to Downtown Miami and in the process, attempt to help redevelop a neighborhood in distress.

amen!

this is a very good looking project. let's hope all of it happens.

amen!

this is a very good looking project. let's hope all of it happens.
IT WILL S.F. DAVE :) , With the CURRENT Interest RATES STILL :) Holding at 5.58 % for 30 year loans at www.interest.com Renner's :) gonna kill me, LOL., But I'm so happy the rates are still holding for THIS FANTASTIC BOOM !!! :cheers:

Hmmm. looks like this could be interesting...

www.insideout-mag.com

based on the media kit, it looks like more design than architecture. Ocean drive with pillows instead of models.

meh.

loft magazine though more miami centric has an urban and architecture focus it seems.

EVERYONE :) , I know this is NOT about SKYscrapers, BUT :) , Latest NEWS today of TIGER WOODS :) playing at DORAL-Miami FORD Championships Next Week IS GREAT for the T.V. Showing OUR :) Beautiful FAST GROWING CITY of MIAMI :cheers: .
IN FACT, 9 0ut of 10 WORLD BEST :) Players are DUE to Play at the DORAL Ford Championships With Ernie ELS staying out because hes in DUBIN for another Championship. THIS IS Raelly GREAT for MIAMI :) , GO CRANES !!! :cheers:
TIGER WOODS :) WINS Ford Championship GOLF at DORAL beating MICKELSON By 1 :cheers: , MIAMI :) WINS With National T.V. Views of the " MAGIC " CITY :) With CLEAR SKIES of SUNSHINE With 78 to 80 DEGREES !!! :cheers:

Yeah Chuckles! That was pretty exciting....I was pulling for Michelson...but man, Tiger can whack the ball...very nice final hole, Micky just rimmed out....MIAMI wins again. Ford Motor Corp was renting out entire South Beach restaurants. Noteably Barton G's !!!
Never heard them whine about parking....

Port of Miami trade booms
Brian Bandell
Our corner of the United States was once an afterthought, as China focused its trade on the West Coast and Northeast. No more. The world's fastest-growing industrial nation has ramped up its business dealings with South Florida.

Nowhere is this more apparent than at the Port of Miami, where cargo tonnage traded with China has multiplied 22 times from 2001 through 2004. Mostly led by increasing imports from China, the total trade grew from 28,663 tons in 2001 to 657,985 tons in 2004, making it the port's second-largest single trading partner, behind Honduras.

That doesn't include trade with China's territory of Hong Kong, which has also increased its shipments through the Port of Miami.

The stunning growth in trade with China was a pleasant surprise for the port, Assistant Port Director Juan Kuryla said.

"The market started growing very quickly and several Far East lines started calling directly from Chinese ports," he said. "Can it continue having 100 percent growth every year? That's difficult to achieve in any sector, but we're still working aggressively in marketing to China."

In an effort to attract more liner service from the China and the Far East, the port is expanding two of its berths to handle the large ships that travel to China through the Panama Canal. Two large gantry cranes were delivered to the port from China in February and dredging will begin in June to deepen the berths for the larger ships.

The increasing service will offer more opportunities for South Florida companies to trade with China, Kuryla said.

Ricardo Magni has already tapped into those opportunities. He visited a trade show in China in 2002 and was impressed by the quality and price of the supermarket refrigerator showcases manufactured there. Magni's Miami-based company, Magni Enterprises, contracted with a Chinese factory to manufacture refrigerators for him to sell in Chile, Peru and Costa Rica.

His first deal went badly, Magni said. The Chinese factory didn't achieve the delivery and quality it promised. However, he found another Chinese manufacturer that has met his expectations. The quality matches European manufacturing at a lower price. He's so happy with the factory in Jinan, a city of 5.5 million about 220 miles east of Beijing, that he's seriously considering buying it.

His company also represents China-based escalator manufacturer Giant Elevator in Chile and Peru.



» Continued

Magni strongly recommends visiting a Chinese factory and its owners before signing a deal.





"The quality in China is good if you buy it from the right people," Magni said. "Chinese people have come a long way in quality control and technology."

The same philosophy applies for technology companies dealing with China, said Scott Rosenstein, president of Boca Raton-based Summit Electronics. His company scours the globe for specialized electronics parts to resell. China has become one of its largest suppliers, as there are many leftover parts from the rapidly growing manufacturing plants there. However, finding a reliable seller can be difficult, Rosenstein said.

"The problem you run into in China is there's a lot of counterfeiting there," he said. "The biggest challenge is you have to know who you're doing business with over there."

Rosenstein recommends reserving payment until receiving the goods from China, as some fraudulent companies won't deliver if they're paid up front. Summit Electronics does most of its business in China with companies it has experience dealing with.

A good way to meet business partners in China is to attend networking events or trade missions sponsored by economic development organizations, said Dave Woodward, executive director of the Florida-China Association. A reception at the Biltmore Hotel in Coral Gables on Feb. 25, which his organization co-sponsored, featured the vice chairman of Tianjin. The city, 70 miles from Beijing with a population of more than 10 million, has an 80-acre campus of Florida International University's School of Tourism and Hospitality Management under construction.

Tianjin Vice Chairman Wang Shu Zu told Woodward he's interested in establishing a free trade zone center or an industrial park in Miami for Chinese companies. A Shanghai-based company has made a similar proposal in Broward County.

For local companies that want a closer look at China, trade missions to the Far East will be led by Miami-Dade County Commissioner Jose "Pepe" Diaz on March 7 and by the Florida-China Association in October.

"What you see is the trickle-down effect," Woodward said. "As China continues to lead the Asian economies in growth and continues to do tremendous trade and manufacturing, you'll see their investors coming to South Florida and Miami."

E-mail staff writer Brian Bandell at bbandell@bizjournals.com.

Herald property sells for $190M
The same developer who bought the Freedom Tower and land around it last month has also purchased the 10 acres for sale near the Miami Herald building.

The property, which went on sale in November, brought Miami Herald Publishing Co. parent company Knight Ridder $190 million. The buyer is Terra Group, headed by Pedro Martin.

The San Jose, Calif.-based publishing company noted the sale has not officially closed, though. Larry Marbert, Knight Ridder (NYSE: KRI) vice president/production and facilities said the parties must complete due diligence.

"It could take a few weeks and it could take some months," Marbert said.

Martin estimated closing to take a few months.

The land has a low-rise garage, surface parking lots and one, two-story building on Biscayne Avenue.

So far, Terra said its preliminary plans include residential, office, hotel and retail components. The company said it plans to audition architects to develop a master plan.

When Terra bought the Freedom Tower and other property not far from the Herald building, it said it planned a mixed-use development with residential and retail components. The developer also said it plans a museum within the tower, a long-promised community amenity.

The deal with the Herald likewise carries some requirements beyond a straight-out sale, though. Terms calls for Terra to provide 740 parking spaces for Herald employees and not interfere with the newspaper's delivery trucks.

However, Knight Ridder said the new deal also gives Terra right of first refusal if the company ever sells the main Herald building at 1 Herald Plaza. However, Marbert stressed that property, which is on the bay, is not for sale.

Royal Caribbean orders 3rd 'Freedom-class' ship
A Norwegian shipyard may start building an $828 million vessel - the third ship in a Royal Caribbean Cruises class to debut next year. Freedom-class ships are to be 15 percent larger than the Voyager-class ships that introduced rock climbing and ice skating to the line's vessels.




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The Miami-based cruise line said it signed a letter of intent with Aker Finnyards in Turku, Finland, to begin work on the ship for its Royal Caribbean International brand.

The shipyard called the newest vessel the world's largest cruise ship.

The agreement is subject to certain conditions, though, including board approval. Aker Yards said the letter of intent is valid until the end of this month.

Like the series' first and second ships, the third Royal Caribbean (NYSE: RCL) vessel is to be 158,000-gross registered tons. Aker Yards said that makes the ships 6 percent larger than the current largest cruise ship.

The 1,800 cabins in a Freedom-class ship are to accommodate1,400 crewmembers and 3,600 guests at double occupancy. That's 500 more guests than the line's previous top class, the Voyager class.

But Royal Caribbean Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Richard Fain didn't mention the size of the new, 18-deck ships vessels. Instead he spoke of the "enormous possibilities" inherent in the new ships.

""We have said all along that the continued success of our brands will depend on the steady, sustained growth of our fleet," he said.

Yrjö Julin, president of Aker Finnyards, said the new ship will create value for Royal Caribbean.

"Being the world's largest cruise ships, the Freedom class will offer even more room for passenger facilities and amenities and will provide even greater economies of scale than their predecessors," he said.

The new ship is to enter service in early 2008, two years after the class debuts in April 2006, with Freedom of the Seas. Royal Caribbean ordered that ship in 2003. Aker Yards said the second ship will be read for delivery in spring 2007. This third vessel is scheduled to be delivered early 2008.

The company estimated cost of the third ship at about $230,000 per berth, at current dollar-to-euro exchange rates. Royal Caribbean has been tight-lipped on amenities, only saying new features are destined to become industry icons.

The line's newest vessel, Jewel of the Seas, its 19th ship, debuted in the spring. The ship repositioned to Fort Lauderdale in the fall.

Royal Caribbean shares closed up a penny to $46.58. The 52-week high was $55.47 on Dec. 28. The 52-week low was $37.80 on June 3.



© 2005 American City Business Journals Inc.

woow hes auditioning architects, probably gonna be a great design, hopefully

Larger than the Queen Mary 2 !

DAmn...10 Acres...I hopr this is Quality stuff:)

Wow. Those Port of Miami and China trade numbers are interesting. I wonder how much spillover this will have on Port Everglades.

http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/11085641.htm

Landmark clubhouse sold for condo

Some members of the Miami Women's Club approved selling their historic bayfront building. The buyer plans to renovate and put up a condo.

BY ELINOR J. BRECHER

ebrecher@herald.com


A handful of Miami Woman's Club members voted Tuesday to sell the club's historic building on Biscayne Bay for $15 million to a developer who has done renovations and new construction from Miami Beach to Cutler Ridge.

Haim Einhorn plans to renovate the club's twin, five-story Spanish Renaissance towers at 1737 N. Bayshore Dr., between Margaret Pace Park and the Doubletree Grand Hotel and build a 300-unit condo tower behind them, according to Kathryn Reid Kassner, a club member who attended a luncheon meeting at which the vote was taken.

9-7 VOTE

Kassner, administrator of the nearby Bay Oaks Home for the Aged, said nine members voted for the sale. Seven, including herself, voted against it, after a presentation by an attorney for Einhorn.

Neither club president Betty T. Lasch, 71, whose website lists her as broker/owner of Miami Shores Realty, nor Einhorn would comment last night.

Christopher Saia of Jupiter, Einhorn's lawyer, couldn't be reached.

Einhorn's website lists him as ''manager and principal'' of Arbel, a development, property management and consulting firm.

Other Arbel projects include the 17-story Capital Building Lofts at 117 NE First Ave. downtown; Galilee Gardens, a 433-unit South Miami low-rise; the Everglades Apartments and the Nassau Hotel and Apartments on South Beach.

Eileen Cubillas, a past club president and director of the building, said no contract had been signed and that the club was working to improve the deal. Cubillas declined to provide details.

Built in 1926 on a two-acre site and added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1974, the Woman's Club building has been the object of developers' desires for years.

In October, nine developers pitched their ideas to club members.

At the time, Lasch told The Herald that any deal would have to permit the club to remain in the building. She said proceeds of a sale would be deposited in an endowment.

The club, chartered in 1900 as the Married Ladies Afternoon Club, has seen membership dwindle to about 60 from its peak of 900 -- the cream of Miami society -- in the 1920s.

Its major project now is scholarships to Miami-Dade Community College.

According to Kassner, 53, a longtime Miamian whose great-grandmother, Mary Moore, was club president from 1911 to 1915, ``the club would retain the fourth and fifth floors; the developer would have condo rights to the first three floors. He plans to put up a 300-unit condo in what's now the parking lot and will retain water rights.

UNRESOLVED DETAILS

Kassner, a preservation advocate who joined the club last year, thinks the unresolved details might have something to do with getting a variance for the new construction on property designated as historically significant.

Kassner said members hadn't been told that the matter would come up for a vote and that she lost a request to postpone it until more members could attend.

''This is only the most significant issue in the 105-year history of the women's club, yet it went unnoticed,'' she said.

In comparison, Knight Ridder, The Herald's parent company, has just sold 10 acres surrounding the newspaper building -- four blocks south of the club -- for $190 million.

DAVE :) , Great INFO Bro :) , and the INTEREST RATES are Still holding at 5.63 % for a 30 Year loan at www.interest.com , OPPS, Renner's Gonna Kill Me :bash: , lol. :cheers:

theyre not gonna tear down the original building tho rite?... thats a beautiful building... i mite have to start another campaign to ly down in front of the bulldozers...

It sounds like they're converting the building into lofts. Hopefully he does a better job than he's doing on Capital Lofts.

Posted on Fri, Mar. 11, 2005




REAL ESTATE


Condo boom worries Wall Street

Two Wall Street reports on Bonita Springs developer WCI Communities cast doubt on the staying power of South Florida's condominium development.

BY MATTHEW HAGGMAN

mhaggman@herald.com


Wall Street analysts issued a stern warning Thursday about South Florida's unprecedented real estate boom, with one report cautioning that speculators and investors account for as much as 85 percent of all high-rise condominium sales in downtown Miami.

Citing concerns over ''investor speculation,'' Credit Suisse First Boston downgraded the stock of WCI Communities -- one of the only publicly traded condo builders in South Florida -- and said it now regards the shares' prospects as ``neutral at best.''

Meanwhile, a competing report by Raymond James & Associates said concerns over WCI are ''overblown'' but declared speculation ''alive and well'' -- particularly in downtown Miami.

''By way of anecdotal reports, we believe as much as 85 percent of all condominium sales in [the downtown Miami] market are accounted for by investors and speculators,'' Raymond James stated in a report issued by its equity analyst Rick T. Murray. The St. Petersburg-based brokerage has done investment-banking work for WCI.

Downtown developers have brushed off worries about rampant speculation and rejected Thursday's reports. They note that buyers must place a 20 percent down payment on preconstruction condo units priced anywhere from $500,000 to more than $1 million.

''For them to make that kind of statement, I don't see it backed up by empirical statistical data,'' said Pedro Martin, chief executive of privately held Terra Group. The company recently signed a contract to buy 10 acres next to the Performing Arts Center from The Herald's parent company, Knight Ridder, for $190 million.

''You don't put 20 percent down on a $500,000 condo when you are a speculator,'' said Martin, who has two other high-rise projects in downtown Miami along Biscayne Boulevard.

The two reports come as South Florida is in the midst of an unprecedented condo development boom. More than 55,000 residential condo units are in some phase of development in Miami, according to the Jan. 31 city of Miami large-scale development report. That number is increasing monthly.

In contrast, Miami has built about 7,000 condo units in the last 10 years.

Some observers worry that many condo buyers, who purchase units before construction, have no plans to live in the units when the buildings are completed.

Yet the down payments enable builders to get loans to finance construction. Analysts believe many buyers hope to resell units at a hefty profit, but fear that those ''flippers'' won't be able to find buyers as more and more condos are built.

As a result, people may walk away from deposits.

''There are aspects of this market . . . that quite clearly are aimed at attracting speculators as a source of mezzanine financing for undercapitalized developers,'' the Raymond James report said.

Stock of Bonita Springs-based WCI dropped nearly 4 percent Thursday, closing at $31.49.

''In 2004, less than 0.4 percent of our tower purchasers failed to close on their purchases,'' said WCI Chief Executive Jerry Starkey.

http://www.macon.com/mld/miamiherald/business/11056650.htm

REAL ESTATE


Knight Ridder sells 10 acres adjacent to Herald building

Knight Ridder is selling land around The Herald's headquarters but is holding onto the bayfront Herald office building.

BY MATTHEW HAGGMAN

mhaggman@herald.com


Knight Ridder is selling the 10 acres surrounding The Herald's bayfront building in downtown Miami for $190 million, the company said Friday.

But the San Jose, Calif.-based publisher and information company, which owns The Herald, is not selling its bayfront office building that houses The Herald's editorial and printing operations, said Knight Ridder Vice President Larry Marbert.

After a lengthy negotiation, Knight Ridder agreed to terms late Thursday with Pedro Martin, a veteran lawyer who has burst onto the scene in recent years as a real estate developer. Martin's Miami-based Terra Group has purchased a host of high-profile properties in Miami, on which it is building high-rise condominiums.

The deal gives Terra a rare opportunity to develop a significant swath of land in the downtown area of a major U.S. city.

''It is a critical and very important piece,'' said Otto Boudet-Murias, senior advisor for economic development in the Miami city manager's office. ``With the synergies of the Performing Arts Center, Museum Park, the redevelopment of Omni Mall and that pending redevelopment, it will transform that whole area.

``Whatever they build there, we want to make sure it is a quality project, quality design and enlivens the street-level activity in the area.''

Contracts inking the deal between Martin and Knight Ridder were signed Friday. Edie Laquer of Laquer Corporate Realty in Miami brokered the sale of the property.

''Terra did everything well from the start,'' Laquer said. ``Their presentation was outstanding, and they understood the operational needs of The Herald.''

Under the deal's terms, Terra must provide some 740 parking spaces for Herald employees and not interfere with newspaper delivery trucks.

The announcement culminates a highly anticipated real estate sale. The process started in November when Knight Ridder put the property, which is primarily surface parking lots, up for sale.

Martin is joined in the purchase by New York developers Michael Fuchs and David Edelstein, who is building a W Hotel in Miami Beach.
[COLOR=Teal]Martin said he would also like to bring real estate investor Hank Sopher and development group Leviev & Boymelgreen into the deal, which are each eagerly pursuing Miami real estate. Martin will remain the lead developer, he said.{/COLOR]

Plans for the parcel are preliminary but could include residential, office, hotel and retail components, Martin said Friday. Terra, which is led by Martin and his son David, plans to audition architects from around the world and develop a master plan.[/U]

''Nowhere in the country do you have this amount of downtown property near the water and next to a performing arts center,'' said David Martin, Terra's chief operating officer. ``We have to be sensitive to the community, creating something with public spaces, that is pedestrian friendly, something the city of Miami can be proud of.''

The historically protected Boulevard Shops on Biscayne Boulevard, which are included in the deal, will be preserved, David Martin added.

As much as six million square feet of space can be developed on the property. But Pedro Martin said the project will be ``considerably below the maximum amount.''[U] [COLOR=DarkOrange]
There had been rampant speculation and a news report that Knight Ridder would include The Herald office building in the deal. The Herald's headquarters sits on prime waterfront land.

But Knight Ridder's Marbert, who handled the sale for the company, scotched the rumors.

''It was not for sale throughout this process, it is not currently for sale, and we don't see it for sale in the foreseeable future,'' Marbert said.

But Martin was granted right of first refusal, meaning he can meet any offer should Knight Ridder decides to sell the building, both Martin and Laquer said.

Nine bidders offered $150 million, the minimum amount Knight Ridder said it would accept for the property.

The group included Swire Properties, SunVest Communities and Colonial Development.

The deal will give a significant boost to Knight Ridder finances. The company, which was formerly based in Miami and publishes 32 daily newspapers, had $3.01 billion in revenues and net income of $326.2 million in fiscal year 2004.

Closing on the 10 acres will ''probably be in a few months,'' Pedro Martin said.

Downtown Dadeland Retail Leasing Reaches 60%; Condo Sales Hit 90%
By Marita Thomas
Last updated: March 14, 2005 09:51am

MIAMI-Retail leasing and condo sales reach 60% and 90%, respectively, in Downtown Dadeland, the $165-million mixed-use redevelopment on SE Kendall Dr. Local tenants Blue Moon, Blu’ and Baccio join Bombay Co., Pier 1 Imports, Pier 1 Kids, Chili’s, Macaroni Grill, Men’s Warehouse and Sprint in the 125,000-sf retail segment of the seven-building complex.

Prime Sites Inc., agent for the retail sector, did not disclose the rental rate. According to fourth-quarter 2004 data from the local office of CB Richard Ellis, the asking average in this area ranges from $23.50 per sf to $33.85 per sf, with the majority at approximately $26 per sf. Monette O’Grady, a Prime Sites principal, says additional home furnishings retailers and services, such as a newsstand, hair salon, mail center, wine and gourmet food shops, more restaurants and cafes and possibly a spa are targeted to complete the retail mix.

Meanwhile, the 416 residential condos include studios and one-, two- and three-bedroom units. Sales prices range from the $100,000s to the low $500,000s. In addition to on-site parking for residents and street-side parking, the complex includes a 569-vehichle underground parking area reserved for shoppers.

The 7.5-acre redevelopment, designed as a village within the city, is a joint venture between locally based Gulfside Development Co. and Los Angeles-based Canyon-Johnson Urban Fund, a subsidiary of Earvin Magic Johnson’s Johnson Development Corp. The project is expected to reach completion this fall.

UM to add housing for first time in decades
The University of Miami is to break ground, March 23, on an on-campus community for 800 upperclassmen, law and graduate students. The project is the first time in 35 years the university has worked to build new housing.


The 271-unit University Village is scheduled for completion by 2006.

UM President Donna E. Shalala called the development a critical component in the university's plan to recruit and retain top-tier students.

"Our students are thrilled about this new housing option, which will allow them to be stay involved in the UM community," said Pat Whitely, UM vice president for student affairs.

On-campus housing is currently available for just 27 percent of UM's student population.

University Village is to be on 12 acres by Red Road and Brescia Avenue.

To reduce traffic surrounding the university, University Village is to have parking spaces for residents and guests, but parking passes for the area are to be restrictive for daytime parking privileges elsewhere on campus. To get to class, the university will encourage students to walk or take the Hurry 'Canes shuttle.

In addition to two parking structures, the property is also to have security and public safety officers.

Three mixed-use projects seek city approval

By Yeleny Suarez
Three high-rise condo projects containing 1,072 units and to cost $482 million were to go before the Miami City Commission today (3/24).
Developers of Paramount Bay at Edgewater Square - a $150 million tower at Northeast 21st Street, 20th Terrace and Bayshore Drive - seek zoning and land-use changes. It's to include 364 condos and 26,465 square feet of retail and a total of 647,301 square feet.
The proposed changes would cut the project from 3.7 acres to 2.72, residential from 614,588 square feet to 609,345 and commercial from 45,781 square feet to 29,766. They would shift the tower 30 feet east, cut the height from 503 feet to 496 and parking from 501 spaces to 452.
Members of the planning and zoning department back the changes, saying they would give greater flexibility to future development and increase waterfront access along Bayshore Drive.
Luciana L. Gonz·lez, special projects coordinator in the planning department, forecast passage. "I don't think this will be a problem."
Seeking a major-use special permit are developers of the $142 million Pointe at Brickell Village, 1100 S. Miami Ave., which is to have 300 condo units, 41,553 square feet of offices and 13,659 square feet of retail, totaling 362,830 square feet. The planning department and advisory board back approval.
Opus, which has faced many hurdles, is recommended with conditions. The 58-story condo planned near the Performing Arts Center at 1237 Biscayne Blvd., next to Interstate 395, is to include two buildings, offices, 408 condo units and 17,160 square feet of retail at a $190 million cost.
At the Jan. 27 commission meeting, Florida Department of Transportation officials said they feared Opus would disrupt future highway improvements.
The planning department backs approval if the developer gets a letter from the Federal Aviation Administration saying the project would not affect the surrounding area.
www.miamitodaynews.com

County seeks developers for senior citizens' housing

By Tom Harlan
Miami-Dade County officials are seeking developers and possibly investors for two low-income elderly housing facilities with transit hubs to be built in the next two years.
MDHA Development Corp., a partnership of Miami-Dade Transit and the Miami-Dade Housing Agency, is establishing a pool of joint-venture developers through a competitive process for the development of current and future projects, said executive director Maria de Pedro-Gonzalez.
The partnership is working on two multimillion-dollar seniors' housing projects that are to include transit hubs that provide residents easy access to county buses. They are:
•Senator Villas Apartments, a 12-unit building with about 26 spaces for bus users on Bird Road between Southwest 89th Court and 89th Avenue. The project is to include a senior community center.
•Gran Via Apartments, a 54-unit building and 135-space garage for bus users on a 2.2-acre site at Southwest Eighth Street and 127th Avenue.
"Additionally, we are reviewing the financial mechanisms that will be utilized to leverage the county's funding, if necessary, in order to finance the projects," Ms. de Pedro-Gonzalez said. "The completion of the developments is contingent upon these factors."
The county commission allocated $2 million in surtax funds for the housing component of Gran Via in September 2003 and $2.8 million for Senator Villas in March 2002.
Development of the projects is to take 18-24 months, Ms. de Pedro-Gonzalez said.
Gran Via was envisioned after Javier Marques, chief of staff for commission Chairman Joe Martinez, attended a transit seminar in San Diego about four years ago in which housing and transportation were discussed.
Miami-Dade Transit, which is to be responsible for the development and operational costs of the park-and-ride components, has been working with developers on mixed-use projects since 1978, when the commission adopted an ordinance for joint development projects to improve transit.
The first project, Dadeland South Metrorail Station, was established in 1982, transit spokeswoman Tarnell Carroll said.
"From our standpoint, these projects definitely help us increase our ridership," she said. "Apartments next to Metrorail lines are used heavily by residents there."
Gran Via will be designed to cut traffic congestion and help the elderly remain active, Mr. Martinez said.
"The moment inactivity settles in on senior citizens, they start to deteriorate in health," Mr. Martinez said. "Gran Via Apartments is a project that will not only help out transportation but increase the quality of life for our elderly and all residents in Miami-Dade County."
Providing elderly housing has been a longtime concern of the commission, said Commissioner Javier D. Souto, who worked to open Senator Villas in his district.
The commission worked with the housing and transit departments to scout locations, Mr. Souto said, and chose the Bird Road location because of its proximity to a number of bus routes.
"As traffic closes in on us, we have to be visionaries and think of outside-the-box solutions," Mr. Martinez said. "If we do not take care of our seniors, what example are we setting for our children?"
The two projects will add about 66 low-rent apartments in a high-demand market, Mr. Souto said, but they will allow some elderly residents to have quality, affordable housing built according to county and federal standards.
"We have a very large senior population which is abused in many cases by landlords," he said.
The county must ensure that there is a system in place to provide decent, safe and affordable housing as the elderly population continues to live longer, Ms. de Pedro-Gonzales said.
"MDHA Development Corp. is excited about the developments of Gran Via and Senator Villas," Ms. de Pedro-Gonzalez said. "We hope this is the beginning of similar ventures by which affordable elderly housing and transportation come together in a win-win situation for Miami-Dade County."
miamitodaynews.com

Metrorail expansion expected to begin soon

By Claudio Mendonça
The Orange Line, a three-project extension of Metrorail both north-south and east-west, is about to get the go-ahead for its first step. The entire expansion is due to be finished in 2014 if funding flows in.
In the first step, rail service is to tie into Metrorail's Earlington Heights station, which extends into the proposed Miami Intermodal Center, just east of Miami International Airport. The Miami Intermodal Center is a multi-modal center linking a rental car facility, TriRail connections, buses and Metrorail.
Then comes the north corridor, from just north of the Martin Luther King Boulevard station on Northwest 75th Street to Northwest 215th Street and Northwest 27th Avenue.
From the intermodal center, the rail connector is also to travel west all the way to Florida International University on Southwest 107th Avenue.
Miami-Dade commissioners have approved an amendment to the county's 2005 Transportation Improvement Program to help finance the Orange Line.
The first installment includes $17.9 million to design the Earlington Heights-MIC stretch. To be built with state and local funds, total cost of the Earlington Heights-MIC 2.6-mile span is estimated at $340 million. The state will provide $100 million and $240 million is to come from revenue from the half-cent tax in the People's Transportation Plan. The Earlington Heights-MIC link is scheduled to be ready in August 2010.
"The state government was kind enough to award us with $100 million," said Miami-Dade Commissioner Dennis Moss, who is also vice chairman of the Metropolitan Planning Organization, responsible for the transportation process in the county.
"We amended a [transportation improvement plan] to include projects in compliance with Metropolitan Planning Organization rules and regulations," he said.
The $340 million will be used for design, land acquisition, track and station construction and to buy eight trains and equipment, said George Navarrette, acting assistant director of Miami-Dade Transit.
Notice to proceed is expected in April.
While the first step is now funded, county commissioners are seeking resources from Congress for the remainder of the Orange Line.
Miami-Dade Transit plans to seek federal funds for half of the required $1.38 billion for the east-west connection. While the Earlington Heights-MIC connection is all financed by state and local government, the other two links will need a 50% federal match.
Expected to be finished in 2012, the $843 million north corridor is expected to run from 215th Street and Northwest 27th Avenue all the way south to the Martin Luther King Metrorail station on Northwest 75th Street.
The east-west connection from the MIC to Florida International University is slated at the conclusion of the Orange Line in September 2014.
"From a finance and construction point of view, the Earlington Heights connector will not affect the MIC," said Ric Katz, a consultant for the Miami Intermodal Center and a public information officer for the Florida Department of Transportation. "Nonetheless, the connector is very important because it becomes another type of service to the station. It brings more connectivity to travelers and it is a big step forward."
Details: (305) 375-1843 or mpo@miamidade.gov.

Conference could spark Italians' move into Florida

By Claudio Mendonça
The University of Miami and the Italian government are collaborating on the Italy-Americas Medical Congress, which could trigger business expansions here.
The first sessions of the conference, with more than 100 speakers scheduled, will be May 11-14 at the university's Miller School of Medicine.
The conference could spark Italian pharmaceutical firms to settle in Coral Gables and throughout Florida to reach North American and Latin American markets, according to Raul Suarez, head of Miami's International Affairs Coordinating Council.
Supporting the medical congress are US companies that have operations in Italy such as Stiefel Laboratories, Genentech and Amgen as well as Italian laboratories.
"What we are trying to do is help Italian pharmaceuticals reach the US and also penetrate Latin American markets using Coral Gables as their base," Mr. Suarez said.
The move of Italy's consulate from downtown Miami to 4000 Ponce de Leon Blvd. in Coral Gables five years ago has been a catalyst to lure Italian companies to the city. With the binational initiative, pharmaceuticals could follow.
The Italian Embassy proposed the initiative in January 2004 when Sergio Vento, Italian ambassador in Washington, visited Miami for three days and expressed interest in developing study projects to promote scientific research.
The Italian government will work with the US government on the projects at an estimated cost of $25 million to promote scientific research.
"Last year, the ambassador said Miami is an important scientific community," said Paolo Romanelli, assistant professor of dermatology at the School of Medicine. "This is a great opportunity to showcase the school's medical campus."
At the time, Italy's consul general in Miami, Gianfranco Colognato, suggested a South Florida meeting with Italian physicians and politicians interested in a joint effort.
The aim is to bring together the Italian, North American and Latin American medical communities to tackle such health issues as bioterrorism, oncology and rare diseases. The project is to involve Italian and North and South American physicians and researchers. Objectives include exchanging medical and scientific experiences and information, planning projects to be based on agreements between Italy and the US and identifying new sectors in medicine.
A trade officer with the Italian consulate here, Roberto Tagliero, said the chairman of the University of Miami's department of neurology, Walter Bradley, was instrumental in exchanging information and technology with Italian government officials and physicians.
"We are bringing some of the top names in the various fields of medicine," Mr. Tagliero said. "But most importantly, it is a great situation for pharmaceutical companies to come to the meeting, participate and be part of a cutting-edge research and economic ratification."
miamitodaynews.com

GOING, GOING ...: Fisher Auctions, 1111 Brickell Ave., which sold Miami Arena, received authority Tuesday from the Miami Sports and Exhibition Authority to auction off an adjacent warehouse and parking lot, appraised at $3.2 million. "First we need do an environmental study, survey and title search so that whoever buys the property knows what they are getting into," Assistant City Attorney Olga Ramirez-Seijas said. After the study, there will be five to six weeks of marketing at a cost of $23,000 and an expected closing 50 or 60 days after marketing begins. Proceeds will go to the authority, she said. "The use of the funds may be restricted by the source of funds with which the properties were purchased."
BIDDER SURFACES: A potential buyer for the warehouse and parking lot has surfaced. "I think one potential buyer will be the owner of the arena, Glenn Straub, who has already made contact," City Manager Joe Arriola said. Mr. Straub has angered Mr. Arriola by threatening legal action over development rights for nearby land. "If he buys it, do we like him now?" asked City Commissioner Tomas Regalado.
NO FLEAS, PLEASE: Mr. Straub offered the sports authority $14,000 - a $6,000 discount for money the authority owes him in rent - for $20,000 worth of equipment the authority left behind when it left its office in Miami Arena, authority financial assistant Bridgette Saleeby said. The board agreed Tuesday. Said Mr. Regalado: "We either do that or go to a flea market."
STICKER SHOCK: A change in decal companies has set back a Coral Gables plan to allow drivers to pay for parking by phone. Once slated to begin in January, the new target is mid-May, said Gables Parking Director William Carlson. The decal bumper stickers will identify cars in the phone payment system. "Mint Inc. changed companies from which they were buying the decals because the money was not in line with what was going to be done," he said. "We plan to introduce the decal at the end of April and launch the program in May." Mint, a Toronto company that provides an electronic payment system through cell phones, magnetic cards and radio frequency transponders, signed a one-year deal to pilot the public parking program.
OFFICE TOWER SOLD: A Massachusetts company has sold its second South Florida property in two months and is waiting to close on five more. Brookwood Coral Gables Investors sold the Ponce de Leon Building to Greenstreet Capital Partners of California for $27.1 million. The 13-story, 160,808-square-foot office tower is 85% leased. "This is the second significant asset we've sold in 60 days," said senior managing director Tom Brown. "Our last was Flamingo Market Place in Pembroke Pines." The group is offloading Bay View Center, Miami Service Center, the Park Center, River Bridge Shopping Center and 999 Ponce de Leon but is retaining New World Tower and 9350 S. Dixie Highway.
WHAT'S UP DOWNTOWN: Whether a building boom in Miami can be sustained is to be discussed March 30 at the Downtown Bay Forum. Former Miami mayor Maurice Ferre, Downtown Development Authority director Dana Nottingham, county transit chief Roosevelt Bradley and developer Pedro Martin are to form the panel considering whether there will be enough buyers for 50,000 condo units anticipated in the next two years. The lunch discussion is to start at 11:30 am at the Marriott hotel, 1633 N. Bayshore Dr., in the heart of one of the city's rejuvenated areas, Omni. Details: (305) 757-3633.
GOING PRIVATE: Christina M. Cuervo has resigned as assistant city manager in Miami Beach to work for developer Tom Daly of the Development Group of Florida. In her resignation letter, Ms. Cuervo, who worked for the city for more than six years, said she accepted the position so she could continue to contribute to the community and further her career. Construction in Progress Director Tim Hemstreet has been named acting assistant city manager.
MOUNTIES, NORTH AND SOUTH: Canada's mounted police unit has paid its respects to its Miami-Dade County counterpart, presenting a plaque in what's being hailed a symbol of strengthening ties with the largest trading partner of the US. "The cooperation exhibited between our Royal Mounted Police, its local counterpart, the Miami-Dade Mounted Police Department, and Canada's Cruise British Columbia, which facilitated the opportunity, is yet another shining example of the two countries' continuing bond of collaboration and enduring friendship," said Canada's consul general in Miami, Anthony Knill. Canada acquired full consulate status here Nov. 15.
MUSEUM FUNDING: A resolution to grant $700,000 to the Miami Art Museum of Dade County, which plans to build a new home in city-owned Bicentennial Park, is to go before the Miami City Commission today (3/24). The funding would come from the Homeland Defense Improvement Bond voters approved in November 2001. The museum requested funds for community planning, to hire consultants specializing in art museum planning, financial feasibility studies and project management to total $1.4 million.
CONDO-CONVERSION FORUM: The Builders Association of South Florida is to discuss condo conversion at a quarterly high-rise council forum on April 26 at the Tower Club at 1 Financial Plaza, Fort Lauderdale. Commentators are to include Jay Massirman, executive vice president at CB Richard Ellis; Barbara Salk, vice president and senior project director at the Related Group of Florida; and Arthur Slaven, senior vice president at Centrum Properties. Katrina Campins, a real estate professional and contestant on NBC's "The Apprentice," is to be moderator. Details: (305) 556-6304.
INDUSTRIAL BUY: Seagis Property Group, a Philadelphia company that owns and operates industrial buildings, has bought a 175,000-square-foot distribution facility at 3000 NW 125th St. in Gratigny Central Industrial Park for $8.1 million from a private investor. The building is fully leased with three tenants who use it for warehouse space, industrial and light manufacturing, said principal John Begier. Seagis is to do some light cosmetic changes to keep the building leased, he said, and transform the 1981 building into a modern first-class industrial facility.
LOOKING TO BUY MORE: Seagis, which owns industrial buildings along the Eastern Seaboard, plans to buy more industrial sites in South Florida. Company principals Charles C. Lee and Mr. Begier have raised $250 million to buy East Coast properties. The company is looking to buy in South Florida because it's a mecca for cargo with solid transportation options, Mr. Begier said, and lacks available land for commercial development. "We feel good about owning land in this region."
KOREAN FIRMS VISIT: Eleven small to midsize Korean companies are coming to Miami seeking to sell products to factories in Florida. The mission, sponsored by the Korean Trade Investment Promotion Center, will meet April 11 at InterContinental Hotel Miami Airport West, 2505 NW 87th Ave. "Some of these companies are already familiar with the American market, but they are very interested in selling to Latin America and the Caribbean," said Jong-Soo Ok, deputy director of the Korea Trade Center in Miami. Details: (305) 374-4648 or ktcmiami@aol.com.
CORRECTION: A story about the Nasdaq-100 Open published March 17 on Page 2 reported an inaccurate statistic. The 600,000 figure refers to attendance at the Grand Slam event rather than economic impact.
miamitodaynews.com

Hi Guys ISG again from Venezuela. In Uptown's post i noticed there is a good discussion topic that will happen on March 30th. Seems pretty interesting - especially for all of us so interested i the development of Miami.

Uptown can you or someone else in the Miami area try to attend or get the scoop from someone/somewhere and share witht he rest of us.

Thanks.

http://www.miamitodaynews.com/news/050331/story2.shtml

New housing could bring 4,000 new residents to Gables

By Yeleny Suarez
Developments in the pipeline in Coral Gables could add 2,133 housing units and boost the city's population of 43,216 about 10%.
The 67 developments in process - part of a countywide boom of more than 100,000 new housing units - include 40 commercial projects, some of which include housing.
Burgeoning development has helped increase total property values in Coral Gables 10% to 11% a year over the past three years, and City Manager David Brown says there is no reason values should not grow another 10% this year. Present values are $9.2 billion, up from $8.2 billion a year ago.
"Development is doing very well. I don't have reason to believe planned developments will not be materialized," Mr. Brown said. "The city has grown into a corporation-tenant business mix with a good pedestrian flow."
The city's Planning and Zoning Department lists 40 commercial projects in the works as of March 1 that include 1,323 residences at a projected cost of $89.6 million.
Of these, 20 are in preliminary phases, eight in permitting and 12 under permit. The largest project, at $46 million, is at City National Bank, 2701 S LeJeune Rd. Plans call for demolition of a bank building and parking lot and construction of two office buildings.
Meanwhile, 27 residential projects are expected to add 810 units. Two projects in permitting are to include 244 units, 14 with permits are to include 355 and 11 in preliminary phases are to include 211.
Few of the projects require city commission action, said Vice Mayor Ralph Cabrera, because most of them adhere to existing code. "If you build something as of right, you do not have to go to the commission," he said. "This means the buyer checks out the zoning and builds accordingly and then goes before the preliminary review board and then the board of architects."
The city, he said, has very little vacant land, most of which has been held for many years by the McBride family. Mr. Cabrera said the McBrides own a lot behind David William Hotel, 700 Biltmore Dr.; a triangular spot in a residential area; and a lot at Ponce de Leon parallel to South Dixie Highway and Riviera Drive.
Most of the city's commercial development is actually redevelopment, said Dennis S. Smith, assistant director of building and zoning.
"All the people involved in projects are moving very expeditiously forward," Mr. Smith said. "They are moving right into construction drawing, which is a good indication they are going to go forward with the project."
Mr. Brown said the city is working on rewriting the zoning code and comprehensive land-use plan to make sure residents are protected from growth.
"By rewriting the zoning code to be completed by the end of the year," he said, "we are making sure the future growth structure supports parking, traffic flow and fire protection."

http://www.miamitodaynews.com/news/050331/fyi.shtml

CONDO QUASHES TOWER: Aventura-based CABI Developers has abandoned plans for a 192-unit residential project on the parking lot of 1408 Brickell Bay Dr. By state law, the 214 condo owners at 1408 Brickell Bay Tower had to unanimously approve. Some didn't. "We got an opinion from our lawyers, and it is not feasible at this time," said Ted Slack, a condo association director. Some residents, he said, believed that having a tower rise in their backyard would be a nuisance. He said CABI never made an effort to negotiate. "They never really made an offer. We never went too far. Maybe some day." TOWER ADVANCES: Paramount Bay at Edgewater Square, a $150 million project continued a month ago due to concerns from residents at nearby 2121 N. Bayshore Dr., won Miami City Commission support last week. The residential and retail project at Northeast 21st Street, 20th Terrace and Bayshore Drive is to include 355 condo units and 26,465 square feet of retail. Total square footage is 647,301. Adrienne F. Pardo, a Greenberg Traurig attorney representing developer Royal Palm Miami Holdings, said company representatives met with 2121 N. Bayshore residents for three hours and then again a week before the commission meeting and reported that residents don't oppose the project. Allison Gillespie, condo association president, confirmed approval. SLIMMED DOWN: Zoning and use change in the Paramount project reduced its size from 3.7 acres to 2.7; residential space from 614,588 square feet to 609,345; commercial from 45,781 square feet; units from 369; height from 503 feet to 496; and parking spaces from 501 to 452. Ms. Pardo said the project would return to the commission April 28 for a second reading, approval of a major-use special permit and an alley closure. TRUE OPUS: City commission permitting for Opus, a 408-unit, 58-story condo project next to Interstate 395 at 1237 Biscayne Blvd., was pushed back another month Thursday at the developer's request. The project, continued for the third time, is held up by negotiations with Florida Department of Transportation officials who fear it would disrupt highway improvements. "Lucia, does Opus want to break the record of the Performing Arts Center delay?" Commissioner Tomas Regalado asked Lucia Dougherty, a Greenberg Traurig attorney representing Opus. "I don't think we could possibly do that," she replied. The issue is to go back to the commission April 28.

Great news for the Gables!:)

yup good news for gables, small citys growing!, oh yeah and theyre working full force on a project on coral way and like 35th ave, on the southside of the street on a residental building like 15 floors, they even blocked off a lane from coral way thats how i remember it

Miami preservation board gives blessing to two projects

By Yeleny Suarez
Two major projects in the Flagami area with 2,897 residential units won approval recommendations Tuesday from the City of Miami Historic and Environmental Preservation Board.
The board advises the city commission. Its recommendations involve new construction in archeological conservation areas.
The board recommended approval for Miami River Rapids, a 20-story mixed-use residential and retail building at 1851 Delaware Parkway that would contain 2,252 residential units, 38,960 square feet of retail space and 3,527 parking spaces; and Coastal on the River, two 11-story residential buildings at 2215 NW 14th St. featuring 645 residential units, 1,080 parking spaces and 632,658 total square feet.
Both projects are in preliminary phases of development.
The board recommended city commission approval of the projects with major-use special permits and specific conditions attached.
"Phase one of the archeological assessment prior to construction and archeological monitoring during ground-disturbing activity shall be provided in accordance with the management plan submitted," city preservation officer Sarah Eaton said.
"And," she said, "a preservation officer shall be notified prior to construction activities, and in the event of significant discoveries, any archeological sites or features uncovered during construction shall be fully documented and a final report submitted to us."





Spring break big treat for area hotels

By Claudio Mendonça
Spring break was a big break for Miami hotels, where occupancy and room rates soared. County hotel occupancy jumped 13.9% March 20-26 from the same week last year, and room rates rose 23%.
County convention-tax collections jumped 12.8% that week, said Allen Eagle, county convention-tax manager, to $4.5 million from $3.9 million.
Miami-Dade's hotels overall had 89.4% occupancy, up from 78.5% last year. Miami Beach hotels hit 92.5% during the week, up 22.8% from 75.3% last year. Downtown Miami hotels jumped to 85% occupancy from 80.9% - up 5.7%.
The key to success in spring break is diversifying the customer base instead of concentrating on college students as some other Florida cities do, said David Whitaker, vice president of the Greater Miami Convention & Visitors Bureau.
"The beauty of Miami is that we are not dependent on one market," he said. "Diversity of customer base helps enjoy success year-round."
"Compared to other top markets, Miami seems to be doing the best," said Scott Brush, an independent hotel consultant.
The average daily room rate in the county March 20-26 was $161, up 23% from last year's $131. Beach hotels led the way with an average of $213.93, up 30% from last year's $164. Downtown hotels jumped 15.9% to $137, from $119.
Tourist taxes also rose 15.2% to $1.7 million from $1.4 million. Food and beverage taxes rose to $546,000 from $531,000.
Besides spring break, the NASDAQ-100 Open tennis tournament on Key Biscayne added visitors during the week.
Mr. Brush said Miami has been a favorite destination of young couples and newlyweds who are better off financially than the typical spring-break visitor.
"Miami isn't terribly going after spring break," said Mr. Brush. "Tourists come over naturally because of the location and the city's hip marketing."



Chinese delegation to seek business ties in Miami

By Claudio Mendonça
A delegation from Tianjin, China's third-largest city, will be in Miami this month seeking major distribution facilities for Chinese goods as a springboard to Latin America.
The businessmen from the Tianjin economic development area are targeting Miami's seaport and international airport and the 850,000-square-foot Miami Free Zone in Doral.
The April 17-19 visit is the result of a Miami-Dade County mission to Asia in March during which county officials signed a letter of intent to do business with the Chinese city. Tianjin, with 16 million residents, is an industrial city in northern China along the Bohai Gulf. Motorola, Panasonic, Audi, Volkswagen, Philips and Toyota have plants there.
"Their delegation is seeking distribution points for businesses," said Ralph Gazitua, president and CEO of the Miami Free Zone. "The Chinese have huge interest in using Miami and the seaport as a vehicle to Latin America and the Caribbean. And Miami is the logical place."
Mr. Gazitua, one of 20 people on the March trip to the Far East, said 40% of products consumed in South America originate in China. Mr. Gazitua said he plans to return to Asia in August.
Also on the mission to China was county Commissioner Jose "Pepe" Diaz, who said the agreement with Tianjin can lead to jobs in Miami.
"This is a huge opportunity for our county," he said. Miami, he said, can jump on the bandwagon to sell banking, legal and medical services.
Also seeking to stimulate international trade is the executive director of Miami-Dade's Jay Malina International Trade Consortium, Manny Gonzalez. He said the four Chinese visitors seek to explore partnerships in the Miami Free Zone for trade and business opportunities.
"Fifty percent of the automobiles that go to China come through the port of Tianjin," Mr. Gonzalez said. "The region of Tianjin alone does $10.7 billion worth of business with the US. We are hoping to capture 10% of that."
Tianjin businesses manufacture machinery, furniture and fiber optics, among other goods. When companies don't make products, Commissioner Diaz said, they assemble them. He said Tianjin's free trade zone is nearly the size of Coral Gables.
"The Chinese are very competitive and aggressive," Mr. Diaz said. "When the delegation arrives we are expecting to show them our assets and better understand our people."
China - including Hong Kong - now is the Port of Miami's largest trading partner, said Gary Goldfarb, executive director of the Miami Free Zone, moving up from seventh largest in 2003.
In principle, Mr. Goldfarb said, there is plenty of space for the Chinese to begin operations in the Doral facility. Nonetheless, he said, if the Chinese need additional space the free zone has plans to build elsewhere in the county.
Miami Free Zone officials are negotiating with officials from Milan to attract business from Italy. An official announcement is likely in May.


SELLING SPREE: Brookwood Bayview Investors has sold Brickell Bayview Tower for more than $50 million to America's Capital Partners of Broward County. It's the third property in South Florida that Boston holding company Brookwood Financial Partners has sold in as many months. Brookwood bought the 286,341-square-foot, 33-story property two years ago for more than $38 million before the development of Mary Brickell Village, a mixed-use project rising next to the tower. Last month, it announced the sale of the Ponce de Leon building, 2121 Ponce de Leon Blvd., Coral Gables, for $27.1 million. Deals are pending on the Miami Service Center, the Park Center, River Bridge Shopping Center and 999 Ponce de Leon Blvd.

www.miamitodaynews.com

a little fyi from me-----midtown today put up its second crane

thanks for the news uptown:)

I still can't get over that 2,252 units for River Rapids thing. :eek2:

Developers to Construct 1,200 More Units in North Miami Project

:eek2: :eek2: :eek2: :eek2: :eek2:


A computer generated depiction of what Biscayne Landing will look like from the air once fully developed. Computer image provided by Swerdlow/Boca Developers

The main remaining issue is that the site where Biscayne Landing is being constructed used to be a city-owned 170-acre landfill known as Munisport.



By Evan Berkowitz
Contributing Writer



The developers of Biscayne Landing announced they would be adding 1,200 additional units to their $1 billion mixed-use project during a city of North Miami workshop, Monday, April 4.

Biscayne Landing will be built on the largest pieces of undeveloped land east of I-95 in Miami-Dade and Broward counties, 190 acres between 137th and 151st streets.

“The city had one giant asset and it decided to cash in that asset to the benefit of city residents,” said Paul Eberz, chief operating officer of the Swerdlow/Boca Developers Group, during the meeting at the Senator Gwen Margolis Community Center. “Every single person in North Miami is a partner with us.”

Michael Swerdlow, who is developing Biscayne Landing with Boca Developers’ Brian Street, announced that Biscayne Landing will consist of 6,000 residential units instead of the 4,800 originally planned.

Biscayne Landing will also begin construction on two 25-story condominium buildings soon, Eberz said, adding that 99 percent of all “issues” have been settled but that the remaining one percent “is difficult.”

The main remaining issue is that the site where Biscayne Landing is being constructed used to be a city-owned 170-acre landfill known as Munisport. Medical and industrial waste was regularly dumped there in the 1970s. In 1983, the Munisport company went bankrupt and the land was placed on the federal government’s “superfund” list, part of a program to clean up toxic sites. The land was taken off the list in 1999. According to Sid Atzmon, CEO of Biscayne Landing, a permit stating that the developers have a safe site will soon be granted from the Miami-Dade County Department of Environmental Resource Management.

The Swerdlow/Boca Developers Group signed a 200-year lease with the city of North Miami. The company also received $31 million from Miami-Dade County to help clean up any waste on the site.

North Miami also created a Community Redevelopment Agency (CRA) around the future Biscayne Landing and other parts of the city, enabling the city to re-invest property taxes collected in that area back into the district. Biscayne Landing’s own Web site states that it anticipates pumping $13 million a year into the tax base.

Much of the money from the CRA will also be devoted to housing. Swerdlow/Boca Development Group has already advanced $800,000 toward the construction of Ruck’s Park, an affordable housing project on the corner of NE 137th Street and NE 5th Avenue that will consist of 71 three- and four-bedroom townhomes within a gated community.

Sid Atzmon, Biscayne Landing’s chief executive operator, said a permit stating that the developers have a safe site will soon be granted from the Miami-Dade County Department of Environmental Resource Management.

The developers have also committed to employing local businesses. Harold A. Johnson, who has his own consulting firm and attended this meeting, recently finished writing a small business proposal for the city, which would allow 22 percent of all the “hard costs” of building the project to be designated to go to small and local businesses. Local businesses will also get a two to 10 percent “sliding scale preference.” Waivers on bonds and accommodation on insurance matters will be given to those that qualify.

Biscayne Landing will have to hire from within the community. The developers will be required to submit a monthly employment report. “There was an outstanding effort making this happen,” Johnson said. “I feel very confident. We should be on target to meet the 22 percent goal.”

Swerdlow said two condominium buildings in the complex, referred to as Buildings One and Two, are nearly sold out while half the residences of Buildings Three and Four have been purchased. Prices for residences in Buildings One and Two start at $400,000.

Swerdlow also has plans to build about 100 town houses, each with three or four bedrooms, that he believes “will fly off the shelf.” It was announced at this meeting that they would be building 6,000 residential units instead of the 4,800 originally planned.

Beyond the developed 190 acres, Biscayne Landing also plans to build a 230-acre nature preserve with waterways and a 35-acre park featuring miles of jogging trails. It will also have a 100,000 square foot Town Center with shops, restaurants and offices.

Swerdlow was also asked about the status of a luxury hotel/conference center that was also planned in the project. Swerdlow replied that his company had had offers from two star hotels, but they were waiting to hear from a four-star hotel.

Also to be developed on the sight: A kindergarten through 12th grade school and a library that, according to Swerdlow, will be “open to the public.”

Last Monday’s meeting was the 10th in a series of workshops hosted by the city and the developers. Eberz said it could take years to “convert this asset” and, as such, his company plans on keeping neighbors informed. “This is a huge part of the city’s future, a huge partnership,” said Eberz.

Comments? E-mail letters@miamisunpost.com.




NBV Planning Board Opts Not to Back Two Future Treasures Island Towers

“Treasures on the Bay could in fact build a garage building without a public hearing that would still block the public view.” — Michael Raddell, representative for Treasures on the Bay

By Lourdes A. Vasquez
Contributing Writer



Applications for a mixed-use project with a parking garage and a residential tower were met with fierce opposition at Tuesday’s North Bay Village Planning and Zoning Board meeting.

Both projects were to be constructed on Treasure Island and were to exceed 230 feet in height. The board opted to recommend against the approval of one project, while delaying a decision on the second until the next scheduled meeting.

Representatives for Treasures on the Bay owner Ed Carlson presented plans to add an 89-acre, 235-foot, multifamily residential dwelling onto his existing property. Stacked onto a four-level parking garage would be a clubhouse and living area.

Carlson’s five acres of land already host three apartment buildings with 517 units now being converted to condos. Built before the present city ordinance allowing up to 70 one-bedroom units per acre, Treasures on the Bay’s older buildings are considered nonconforming.

The city’s Planning and Management Services did not recommend approval of the proposed tower, stating such a project would need to be on eight acres of land.

Board member Rachel Diggs applauded the application for its proposed clubhouse and the conversion of the current buildings to condos, noting the renters would move out and owners move in. “The quality of people living there is not up to our community standards,” said Diggs.

But she criticized the developer for failing to present the need to buy a cul-de-sac belonging to the city in order to complete the project. The biggest concern among board members was height and parking.

Every resident who spoke at the public hearing was adamant that the board reject the application. Among their concerns: obstruction of view and problems with parking, traffic and sewage.

In response Michael Raddell, one of the representatives for Treasures on the Bay, said, “Treasures on the Bay could in fact build a garage building without a public hearing that would still block the public view.”

Ultimately the Planning and Zoning Board recommended rejecting the new Treasures on the Bay tower.

Architect Kobi Karp, who designed The Strand and the Grand Venetian Condominiums, presented plans for the second project, Grandview Palace West. The 144-unit, 236-foot-tall building would replace the four-story parking garage used by residents across the street at the Grandview Palace East.

Board members found the design attractive but refused to recommend the variances the developer wanted.

“This is a deep concern,” said Diggs, speaking of parking. “We know this is a potential nightmare.”

A battle over parking spaces ensued with Grandview Palace East residents.

Condo owner Reinaldo Trujillo cited a court case that ruled the parking lot is to remain for the use of Grandview Palace East residents. He then asked, “How come that building was sold from under us?”

To make up for the parking, a three-story garage would be added to the Grandview East property, Karp said. The new Grandview West would include five levels of parking as well.

A representative of the Planning Department said he didn’t have a problem recommending approval and converting zoning restrictions to allow residential (RM70) in a (GC) commercial area. Grandview West would also include 4,000 square feet in retail space.

Karp said he would redesign his plans to address the board members’ requests that a level of parking be underground and setback restrictions met.

At the next meeting, Grandview will again present their project with modifications.

Comments? E-mail letters@miamisunpost.com.

they gotta stop building these short crappy buildings that have hundreds of units, and instead build high dammit!

Biscayne Landing is such a waste...oh well.

Little known fact: The area that is becoming Biscayne Landing was actually almost purchased in the early 1960s by Walt Disney himself...until he discovered cheaper land and more acerage 225 miles north. I always do wonder how different things would be if the Magic Kingdom was in Miami...due to land constraints, it would have never grown to be the huge 46-square mile resort Walt Disney World is today.

good lord, they're adding 1,200 more units to it? ugh, i really don't like this project. it's hi-rise suburban sprawl & it's crap. i don't understand why we let developers take such a huge piece of land & just sprinkle it with buildings here & there. they should divide those 170 acres & develop each division slowly over time with true urbanity & density. MAH is right, this is a complete waste. :soapbox:

Little known fact: The area that is becoming Biscayne Landing was actually almost purchased in the early 1960s by Walt Disney himself...until he discovered cheaper land and more acerage 225 miles north. I always do wonder how different things would be if the Magic Kingdom was in Miami...due to land constraints, it would have never grown to be the huge 46-square mile resort Walt Disney World is today.

i knew the part about disney originally looking at s. florida for disney world but i didn't know the actual area he was looking at. gotta say that i'm glad it wasn't built down here. we've got enough touris at it is. add the madness that DW is to it & it would be insane.

man 6000 condos plus 2500 from river rapids i swear there going to fuck up the market,this is exactly what wall street was saying that developers would get geedy and try to make a quick buck which would damage the market,and leave many empty or non built towers.8500 condos which if they were in downtown i wouldn't care but in north miami and flagami give me a break.

how are they going to finance these huge projects

:) Biscayne Landing is such a waste...oh well.

Little known fact: The area that is becoming Biscayne Landing was actually almost purchased in the early 1960s by Walt Disney himself...until he discovered cheaper land and more acerage 225 miles north. I always do wonder how different things would be if the Magic Kingdom was in Miami...due to land constraints, it would have never grown to be the huge 46-square mile resort Walt Disney World is today.
TRUE MAH :) it was supposed to be called INTERAMA, but Walt Disney took a plane ride back to California and flew over the big huge empty land southeast of Orlando, and said I want this land for my E.P.C.O.T. Project :cheers:

Check out CNBC right now!!!!!!!!!!

Special Program on Real Estate..they are running features on Miami and Las Vegas.

Check out CNBC right now!!!!!!!!!!

Special Program on Real Estate..they are running features on Miami and Las Vegas.

:cheers:
Yes ROARK :) , the Real estate boom, the Town Hall talk , fantastic show, I'm watching it now. :cheers:

Roark, it mentions that Naples , fla is the 4th best spot in the nation for buying a huge Home.

More hysteria from the Herald.

Posted on Thu, Apr. 07, 2005

The specter of a South Florida real estate bust

This has the making of a ghost story.

As night snuffed out the last remnants of twilight in Fort Lauderdale, I looked up at the tall new residential tower by the New River and shuddered. It was a 31-story tower of darkness. Lights shone from no more than a dozen of the 315 condos. The rest were a study in black windows and empty balconies. As if the condo dwellers were phantoms.

But are they spectral beings? Or just speculators?

Speculation madness has gripped the real estate market in South Florida, particularly the high-rise condos going up along the beaches and in the old coastal urban centers. Real estate analysts estimate that anywhere from 50 to 75 per cent of our new luxury condos are being scarfed up by high stakes real estate gamblers.

Last month, Raymond James & Associates warned that ''anecdotal reports'' indicated speculators and investors accounted for 85 per cent of Miami high-rise condo sales.

No one actually knows, said Michael Y. Cannon, managing director of Integra Building Resources' Florida operation. Cannon, who predicted condo bust of the early '80s, said this time around the data is either sparse or a few months old and not of much use in market careening ahead at such reckless speed.

But Cannon knows that we're in the midst of a speculation epidemic. He calls it ''hyper flipperism,'' as buyers put up their 20 percent for condos under construction and try to flip the contracts, at a profit, before the buildings are completed. There are reports of condos changing ownership two or three times without an actual human being ever moving in.

OMINOUS WARNINGS

Robert Shiller, the Yale economist who warned that the late 1990s tech-fueled stock market was overheated, overpriced and in for a brutal fall, said Wednesday on National Public Radio that the U.S. housing market was now nurturing that same reckless abandon. He said the danger was particularly acute in what he called the glamor markets -- like South Florida.

And Shiller warned that this bubble, too, may burst.

Such talk casts a peculiar light over the raging debate about new residential construction in downtown Fort Lauderdale. The Broward County Commission reacted with something like outrage last month when the city commission requested approval for another 13,000 new housing units in the urban core. The county reduced the number to 3,000.

There were sharp words about so much traffic on the highways, so many more children in the schools and other stresses on the infrastructure if the city got another 13,000 units. But phantoms don't drive cars. Ghosts don't pack classrooms.

If those 13,000 new units were to be built, along with the 45,000 new luxury units coming on line in Dade County, the big problem might be avoiding speculators as they hurled themselves from the balconies of their overpriced high-rise condos.

HOUSING SOLUTION?

If nothing else, when the bubble bursts, South Florida will have a ready-made solution to its affordable housing problem. After the big bust in the 1980s, a regular Joe could land himself a luxury high-rise condo on Miami's Brickell Avenue for 60 grand.

I wonder if we're supposed to feel any sorrier for flippers snared in this real estate Ponzi scheme than, say, chumps who gamble away their paychecks at the Hard Rock Casino. But Shiller warns in his book Irrational Exuberance, updated to include the current real estate madness, that when they start abandoning their 20 percent deposits en masse, it could mean trouble for all of us. ``The bad outcome could be that eventual declines would result in a substantial increase in the rate of personal bankruptcies, which could lead to a secondary string of bankruptcies of financial institutions as well.

``Another long-run consequence could be a decline in consumer and business confidence, and another, possibly worldwide, recession.''

Suddenly, our little ghost story turns very, very scary.

I know what you mean Logy...it seems like there is...and there has been a kind of hysteria from the Miami Herald. According to them.. the sky is falling everyday, the economy is in shambles...the real estate market has a "bubble" and blah blah blah.
Not so coincidentely, the New York Times does the same thing. :runaway:
Allow me to share my favorite NYT article. Note: The "authority" that the NYT author cites for the sky is falling scenario worked with me...he had his real estate license for 3 months. The experts burried at the end of the newpapaer article, Michael Cannon and Alan Jacobsen have decades in the business and called it correctly. You wonder why they were quoted on page two of the article. Evidently, you don't really have to know what your are talking about as long as you believe what the newspaper editor sets out to prove.
Imagine the scenario...NYT guy comes down to write a real estate article...he chats up a handsome guy and starts talking real estate...author never has to leave the Delano pool.
The NYT circulates around the world and some people believe it.
I do not take a single newspaper, nor read one a month, and I feel myself infinitely the happier for it. Thomas Jefferson (1743 - 1826)

Here is my favorite real estate article, I bolded some NYT/Herald-esque/sky is falling buzzwords.......Check out the dateline....

November 8, 2001, Thursday

HOUSE & HOME/STYLE DESK
TURF; Miami Beach Buyers Chill Out
By TRACIE ROZHON
MIAMI BEACH -- AT the north end of Ocean Drive, the Art Deco axis of South Florida's night life, the Breez restaurant sits empty. It's a bar without drinkers, a restaurant without diners. It laid off its star chef five weeks ago. ''We do a lot of cleaning,'' said Gabriel Fernandez, the 25-year-old bartender, wiping the sinuous aluminum bar.
A nearby parking lot contains just two cars. One has a ''For Sale'' sign on the windshield. The other belongs to the attendant.
Farther down the beachfront strip, sidewalk hawkers offer two-for-one piña coladas and rum punches, thrusting menus into the hands of passers-by. At the Delano, Ian Schrager's oceanfront hotel, the icy chic of the corridors is undisturbed by human visitation: the long white marble sushi bar is empty. The Zen-like dining room has only a few patrons.
For the last decade, Miami Beach has welcomed fashion photographers, interior designers and a fabulous fraternity of club hoppers -- all of whom coexisted with an older population in Bermuda shorts and knee-high black socks. As a photograph, and as a happening, it worked. But this fall the scene has evaporated. The jets are half empty, and many of the hotels are struggling to stay alive.
After seven years of ever-ascending prices, Miami Beach's overheated real estate market is finally cooling down. ''Everybody -- buyers and renters -- is cautious right now,'' Zaino Mizani, a real estate agent with Majestic Properties, a company that both sells and develops condominiums, said Tuesday. ''It's hard to convince people to buy. If they have to come here because of job relocation, they'd rather rent and hold on to the cash and see what happens.''
Some developers are making deals, not only for condos but for rentals. This week at the Waverly, a new rental project that is only 60 percent full, the landlords are offering between one and two months' free rent; two-bedrooms go for $2,235.
The city's market is starting to bloat with listings of high-priced houses and half-built condominium developments, according to figures gathered by the local real estate agents association.
Before Sept. 11, there were 540 condominium apartments on the market. This week, there were 1,497 -- almost triple the number. Before the attacks in New York, there were 73 houses in Miami Beach on the market. Now, there are 260.
Bruce Singer, the president of the Miami Beach Chamber of Commerce, said he worries about a glut of new condominiums in tall towers that are still on the drawing boards, or just starting to rise. ''It's not an opportune time,'' he said.
Mayor Neisen O. Kasdin is uneasy, too. ''New hotel development, office construction and retail were already slowing,'' he said. Until Sept. 11, residential real estate was ''continuing very strong.'' Now, he is awaiting the sales figures. ''There is a good deal of concern,'' he said. ''There's no candy-coating it; tourism has been hit bad after 9/ 11.'' Last weekend's cancellation of the Art Basel Miami Beach show, a result of fears of terrorism and anthrax, left Miamians reeling, the mayor said.
In an oceanfront area of mid-1990's condominium towers, the first of what was to have been twin projects has been built. ''We've heard the second has been delayed,'' Mr. Mizani said. He gestured to a sign there proclaiming the Continuum development: ''Never Before, Never Again.'' ''That may be true,'' he said, with a wry smile. (The developer said there was no date set for groundbreaking on the second tower.)
At the Green Diamond tower on Collins Avenue, near the famous Fontainebleau Hotel, condominiums are selling for $350,000 to $800,000, around 20 percent to 30 percent less than similar ones at its twin next door, the Blue Diamond, which opened for business first. At the Yacht Club at Portofino, a 38-story, 220-unit condominium, there are 63 apartments for sale; 20 came on the market after Sept. 11. At the corner of Second Street and Collins Avenue is Ocean Place, a much smaller development. It is almost finished, but it appears that workers have walked off the job, leaving unfinished plasterwork and lighting fixtures hanging from their cords.
Of the 17 properties shown on a recent tour of houses for sale, 10 had come on the market after Sept. 11.
Five of the rest had been reduced significantly. The price of one town house condominium had been reduced three times: from $425,000 to $380,000 to $365,000 to $349,000. A 1924 villa on Hibiscus Island had already been reduced from $3.5 million to $3.29 million on Oct. 4. The next day, it was reduced again, to $2.95 million. The stucco had been troweled -- and retroweled -- on a classic Mediterranean-style movie star mansion that desperately needed renovation, but the bones were there: a double-height living room with a stone fireplace, overlooking a swimming pool and an 80-foot waterfront. A white yacht was moored out front -- blocking most of the view.
At another open house, for Villa Palma, a $3.4-million house with a marble fountain and a tennis court, the broker handed out fliers. ''Owner very motivated and has reduced price yet again,'' they said.
Samuel Spencer Blum, a real estate lawyer here, said he has seen ''a definite decrease'' in new contracts. Mr. Blum blamed the lull on the national economy and on the terrorist attacks in New York. (Almost unmentioned here are the anthrax attacks in Boca Raton.) ''If they're afraid to buy a toaster,'' Mr. Blum said, ''they're going to be afraid to buy a second home.''
In the Coral Gables section of Miami, he said, ''three contracts have fallen through in the last week; nothing's wrong with the house -- people kept getting cold feet.''
Nevertheless, some brokers are far from pessimistic. Jerry Grabill, chairman of the Realtor Association of Greater Miami and the Beaches, said the market ''hasn't changed very much: I expected it to go down the tubes, but it seems to be stable.''
Alan Jacobson, president of Wimbish-Riteway Realtors, who deals in the most expensive properties in Miami Beach, said business is fine. ''We have 13 signed contracts over $1 million since Sept. 11,'' he said. ''That's below our average, but it's not a reflection of a down market.''
In general, Mr. Jacobson said, ''what has happened is, the supply of properties starts to exceed demand, and the prices come down. Those people who were waiting to put their house on the market are no longer waiting.'' He predicted that ''real estate will remain stable in South Florida as it always has been.''
''Buyers who believe they can get a steal in this market are wrong,'' he said.
Mr. Jacobson is right about customers not getting a steal. In fact, Michael Y. Cannon, a real estate appraiser, said prices do not appear to be affected. ''But the jury is still out,'' he conceded. He said data on the real estate market would not be fully digested until December. One sign of a softening, Mr. Cannon said, was the increasing number of classified advertisements in local newspapers placed by owners of unfinished condominiums trying to unload their investments. But overall, he said he disagreed with ''the pundits'' who predict sharp price declines.
Even if there are no steals, most buyers here expect a reduction, or at least more bargaining room, said Mr. Mizani of Majestic Properties.
Jason Bryan, manager of Johnny Rockets restaurant in the Coconut Grove section of Miami, was out looking for a two-bedroom bargain rental two weeks ago. ''There's lots of selection, and a lot more room to negotiate a price,'' he said. ''We see a lot that have been reduced.'' (Miami's Multiple Listing Service shows 1,069 rentals available in Miami Beach; of those, 469 came on since Sept. 11.)
Mr. Bryan passed the Johnny Rockets on Ocean Drive. There were two people sitting at tables on the sidewalk. Inside, there was no one. ''Last year, it would have been packed,'' he said. At the cafe at Gloria Estefan's Cardozo Hotel, there were 13 people sitting along the wraparound porch.
Again, no one was inside.
But the people here say they hope that when the weather up North turns cold, the tourists will remember Miami Beach.
''Oh, honey, of course Sept. 11 affects our economy,'' said Mitchell Wolfson Jr., the founder of the Wolfsonian Museum. ''But Miami Beach has the capacity to reinvent itself,'' Mr. Wolfson concluded. ''The city has done it before.''

Oh yeah...NYT....Miami Beach cooled off to the tune of up 19% that year.

I don't think River Rapids will have any negative effect on the market. Its in the middle class "affordable" range and is geared towards a vastly underserved market. As opposed to Biscayne Landing which is going after the same market as every other luxury project in the works with a lot of units (as in over 1000 of them in just this project) in the $500,000 range.

yeah but i don't think i would want to live over a landfill. Plus if you get a condo in the first building you'll have to deal with construction on the following buildings for the next 5-6 years or how long it takes for build out

I dont know why anyone would want to live there, landfill or not. Its a 20 minute drive with traffic to Aventura when you can live IN aventura for the same price. Its a 25 minute drive to Miami Beach which you can live IN Miami Beach for the same price. Its a 30 minute drive (1 hour in rush hour) to Downtown when you can live IN downtown for the same price. Maybe its for people who feel Aventura is getting too urban (didn't think would ever hear myself saying that sentence).

River Rapids....what kind of name is that?
Sounds like a cheesy tourist attraction.

http://www.dailybusinessreview.com/

I wish someone had a subscription to this newspaper. It's too expensive for me. The front page they named 3 or 4 new projects

What are the names of these new buildings and where are they located?

i think this is the one on brickell key:
SWIRE LAUNCHES ASIA ON BRICKELL KEY

Mar 09, 2005

On March 10, Swire Properties announced the launch of their latest condominium project on Brickell Key, the ultra luxurious ASIA. The elegant ASIA tower will occupy a waterfront site overlooking the downtown skyline and the mouth of the Miami River on the northern shoreline of Brickell Key. Slated for construction commencement in April 2005, the project is 80 percent sold at the highest prices ever achieved on Brickell Key, at an average unit price of $1.5 million. Total sell out of ASIA is forecast to be $190 million.

Designed by J. Scott Architecture, the tower will create an iconic architectural statement of verticality, dramatized by a volume of space that is punched out of the southern facade to create a colonnaded terrace for the pool deck. The abundance of green glass in the facade is accentuated by patina copper detailing at the cornice lines. The ASIA tower will rise 40 stories in height due to the 12 foot standard ceiling height in all residences. Containing just 123 residences, ASIA is boutique building size, with commensurate luxury features that include a striking lobby with grand terrace overlooking the water, private elevators, touch screen lifestyle management technology, multiple pools, private fitness center with state of the art machines, private storage rooms, tennis, valet and concierge.

ASIA residences are a mix of palatial-sized two, three and four bedrooms, with typical floors containing just three or five apartments. The smallest two bedroom flat, at 1,600 square feet, starts from $875,000. Prices range up to $6 million, reflective of the private island location with shops, dining, art-accented baywalk, and hotel Mandarin Oriental, Miami.


Megan Kelly
305/371-3877
mkelly@swireprops.com

http://www.dailybusinessreview.com/

I wish someone had a subscription to this newspaper. It's too expensive for me. The front page they named 3 or 4 new projects

I dont think the Brickell Key property they are talking about is Asia. It says its next to the Mandarin Oriental. Asia will be between Carbonnel and Tequesta Pointe. I think they are talking about a new project to go on the vacant lot next to the Mandarin. Too bad you have to subscribe to read it.

There's a nice rendering of Asia in the Brickell Post. Get your copy today.

lol river rapids, isnt that an attraction like in disneys animal kingdom? lol

well, that brickell key project, could it be on that giant empty lot on the south side of the island finally getting developed! wow,

brickell, where do they sell brickell post? i don't see it very often.

brickell, where do they sell brickell post? i don't see it very often.
S.F.Dave :) , its at the City of Miami Hall, dinner key, in coconut grove For Free !!!, I get it there every thursday. :cheers:
Jus turn to the right , as you enter the City Hall near the secretary's window to your left is the free Paper shelves of the Miami Today, Brickell Post, and More , Proyecto Builders magazine.All there !!! :cheers:

S.F.Dave :) , its at the City of Miami Hall, dinner key, in coconut grove For Free !!!, I get it there every thursday. :cheers:
Jus turn to the right , as you enter the City Hall near the secretary's window to your left is the free Paper shelves of the Miami Today, Brickell Post, and More , Proyecto Builders magazine.All there !!! :cheers:

http://miamitom.com/albums/album02/Miami_Coconut_Grove_Dinner_Key_Marina_03_20_05_068.sized.jpg

Rumor has it Richard Meier and IM Pei collaborated on proposal in Miami, does anybody have information of this, renderings would help too? I heard its two box structures but has an interesting design to it.

I dont know why anyone would want to live there, landfill or not. Its a 20 minute drive with traffic to Aventura when you can live IN aventura for the same price. Its a 25 minute drive to Miami Beach which you can live IN Miami Beach for the same price. Its a 30 minute drive (1 hour in rush hour) to Downtown when you can live IN downtown for the same price.I agree 100%. Have you seen the Ocean Drive ads? A beautiful nubile model is pictured and the caption says something like, "They all thought she would live downtown or on South Beach".
Huh?

Archit are you talking about a new project, or the Lynx downtown? if its lynx your talking about we already got all the renderings check the thread

A 33-story office tower adjacent to Mary Brickell Village in downtown Miami has sold for $50.2 million. Brookwood Financial Partners said it sold the asset through an affiliate.

The sale from Brookwood Bayview Investors was to America's Capital Partners.

The property, Brickell Bayview Tower, is 286,341 square feet and more than 85 percent leased.

Brookwood bought the property two years ago. That was before the development of Mary Brickell Village, a mixed-use apartment and retail center.

"We initially acquired the property with the belief that the continued development of the Brickell submarket into a 24-hour metropolitan center would have a positive impact on the value of Brickell Bayview Tower," explained Thomas N. Trkla, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Brookwood.

Trkla said the strength of the submarket and development of Mary Brickell Village, plus significant investor appetite for properties in the area, allowed Brookwood to achieve its business objectives for the property slightly ahead of schedule.


soutflorida biz journal

Rumor has it Richard Meier and IM Pei collaborated on proposal in Miami, does anybody have information of this, renderings would help too? I heard its two box structures but has an interesting design to it.

beachhouse
www.beachhousemiami.com

and lynx downtown which has a thread already here
rendering thanks to jr,
http://img97.exs.cx/img97/9933/10072fh.jpg

Sweet, good stuff I'm seeing.

Here are some more renderings.
http://img97.exs.cx/img97/5720/10086uk.jpg

http://img200.exs.cx/img200/1238/10057sd.jpg

http://img97.exs.cx/img97/1290/10060sa.jpg
I like this design a lot. It is a box done correctly. This should a touching effect to Miami's skyline.

Kudos to Richard Meier.

Everyone :) , This Icon Brickell tower project is a GO !!!, anyone have today's , Sunday, Miami herald,April 10, its on the back page of A, 32 A, its the whole page , all 3 towers for sale, lol. www.iconbrickell.com Yes, this will change Miami's skyline alot more than I ever imagine, Go Cranes !!! :cheers:
p.s. everyone, this is so kewl, and you know Jorge Perez will build all 3 towers probably faster than Met 3, and in the website shows his 500 brickell directly accross the street. wow , this is great !!! :)

hey chuck... it looks like theres 4 towers in that pic... on the eastern side of the prop theres a north tower and a south, one all the way west, and then behind the northeast tower it looks like there another one... ill try and scan the picture, if any1 else saw it in todays herald, take a look, page 32A

Someone was wondering if Icon on Brickell had balconies, from this picture, it clearly does.

http://www.markzilbert.com/miami_downtown_preconstruction_condos_real_estate_icon_brickell.asp

hey chuck... it looks like theres 4 towers in that pic... on the eastern side of the prop theres a north tower and a south, one all the way west, and then behind the northeast tower it looks like there another one... ill try and scan the picture, if any1 else saw it in todays herald, take a look, page 32A
WOW Nimby :) , its great, isn't it, the large 2 sided north tower is longer bordering the Miami Circle park that Jorge Perez is going to develop himself as part of a deal with the city of miami, He's going to get all the permits he wants to build all 3 of those towers at 60, 55, and 51 floors each, wow, another 3 - 500 foot plus towers for Miami, the future city of America. :cheers:

^chuck, is there a rendering in the herald online?
If there is, can you provide a link?:)

New life, new uses for old post office

Old downtown post office to become retail space, condos

BY BELLA KELLY

Special to The Herald


Miami's old downtown post office, a once stately building that faded over the years, is about to be resurrected as part of a commercial and residential development project that will make it a star in the city's new urban landscape.

Scott Robins, a developer with an ardent interest in preservation, has been painstakingly restoring the 93-old-landmark since purchasing it four years ago, hoping to recapture the status it enjoyed when it was known as the most modern federal facility south of Washington, D.C.

The huge wooden entry doors, the banks of arched windows, the second-story balconets (small decorative balconies not intended for use) with twisted iron railings, the old interior elevator cab, and towering two-sided clock that hung outside the front of the building at the corner of Northeast First Avenue and First Street have all been repaired and polished.

Now Robins is ready to convert the interior of the vintage building and is weighing the possibility of putting in offices and a jewelry center or 14 loft apartments with approximately 1,000 square feet of space that would be priced from $200,000 to $300,000.

He has already purchased the property on the south side of the building that is now being used as a parking lot and plans to build 213 apartments.

While residential condo towers are springing up in every direction in downtown Miami, there has been a dearth of activity in the development of new office space.

Real estate office specialists such as David Voll, senior director of Cushman & Wakefield, say while the market for office space is tightening up downtown, space that would have been available for large office buildings has already been absorbed for condo development.

And Edgar C. Jones Jr., senior director of Florida operations for the Rockefeller Group, says the strong demand by residential condos has impacted the feasibility of developing large office buildings.

''Up to now the office market hasn't been strong enough to justify new office buildings,'' Jones adds. ``That, coupled with the strong residential development, has killed the demand for office space.''

Jones isn't sure a major office development would meet with success at this point. ''It might be a little premature,'' Jones says. ``There is no justification for a major office building at this time.''

The $2 million post office renovation comes at a time when the Downtown Development Authority is working with local government and a team of consultants to develop a master plan for the downtown center.

Cristina M. Raecke, DDA marketing and community relations manager, says the plan will be an all-encompassing one that will guide current and future development, strengthen emerging areas, create vibrant street environments and public spaces, attract entertainment and retail and interconnect adjacent neighborhoods.

Robins' renovation of a major historic building promises to be a picturesque part of central downtown whether he decides to go with offices and retail or a mixed use development with residential units.

Sarah Eaton, preservation officer for the city of Miami, said the post office building has been designated as an historic site by the city and is considered one of downtown Miami's major landmarks. All exterior work done by Robins had to be approved by the city's Historic and Environmental Preservation Board and the U.S. Secretary of the Interior.

According to the city's historic designation report and Historian Arva Moore Parks, the post office was the first monumental government building in Miami. After the city outgrew the facility, the building became home to the first federal savings and loan association in the United States.

''It was a grand building with a very colorful history,'' said Moore. She has a 1909 newspaper article from the old Miami Metropolis reporting that the post office property -- located on streets that were then known as Avenue C and 11th Street -- was purchased by the U.S. Treasury Department for $15,050.

FORMER OWNERS

The sellers were J. Austin Hall, a Miami realty agent, and H.G. Fink, who was the grandfather of George Merrick, the developer of Coral Gables.

The entire federal appropriation to construct the building was $175,000, less the $15,050 paid for the site. When it was completed, the post office occupied the first floor, the federal courts were on the second floor and the third floor housed other government agencies that included the weather bureau, Customs and an immigration inspector. The building also has a basement and a large attic.

Built in neoclassical style, which was popular for government buildings in the 1900s, the building was approached by banks of six steps running the entire length of the east facade. Arched openings led into a six-foot-wide loggia.

When First Federal Savings and Loan, which later became Amerifirst, took over the building in 1937, it removed the steps and loggia to limit access and left only those at the corner. Robins has since put the steps back in their original position.

With the post office's departure in 1931, the building was used for various government offices and a federal arts project until 1937.

Layton Mank, a Miami attorney, worked in the old post office building for the savings and loan while he was going to college in 1956. Earlier, his father, Philip Mank, had been the savings and loan's controller.

Later, Mank became a lawyer with the firm of Blackwell, Walker and Grey, which represented the savings and loan bank and had offices on the third floor.

Mank recalled there were 40 lawyers in the firm and not enough office space. He worked in the basement of the building and some of the other lawyers used a specially constructed catwalk to get from the top floor of the old post office building to satellite offices in a building next door.

OFFICE DEPOT

In 1973, Amerifirst left the building for larger quarters but kept a branch office there for several years. After that, the building was empty and boarded up until Office Depot moved in and occupied it during the 1990s.

When Office Depot vacated after some 10 years, the building was deserted until Robins bought it. Its most recent use was as a jewelry center.

''It's a beautiful building,'' Robins said. ``I loved the architecture and the location. I love readapting old buildings to today's uses. This one was a particularly easy restoration because the initial construction was such high quality.''

http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/business/11349621.htm



http://www.library.miami.edu/archives/cards/b004mr.jpg

http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/11367056.htm

Work underway on Miami River Greenway project

By ANDRES VIGLUCCI

aviglucci@herald.com


After years of planning and dreaming, the city of Miami has begun construction on two segments of the Miami River Greenway, the pedestrian promenade that will one day wend its way down the entire course of the waterway.

The new segments will begin connecting older, existing pieces of the pathway even as private condos now under construction on the river banks also start installing the required public riverfront walks.

That means that soon residents and visitors will be able to stroll, skate, jog and bike -- and, egads, dine! -- along uninterrupted stretches of the river in downtown Miami.

''The river greenway is well underway,'' said Brett Bibeau, executive director of the Miami River Commission, a city advisory group that helped develop the promenade project. ``It's moving forward wonderfully.''

The start of work will be marked with an official groundbreaking Tuesday.

Once work on the first two segments is finished, around June, the city expects to immediately commence construction on several other interconnecting pieces, said Danette Perez, a city spokeswoman.

''This is just the beginning,'' said Lavinia Freeman, program director for the Trust for Public Land, a nonprofit group helping pay for and plan the greenway.

The segments under construction since late last month will weave along now-gritty North and South River drives, using public rights of way.

The segment on the river's north bank will start at an existing walkway behind the city administration building west of the Southwest Second Avenue bridge and extend past Lummus Park, by the popular Garcia's and Joe's seafood restaurants, to near the Fifth Street Bridge.

The south segment will begin under Interstate 95, connect with Jose Marti Park, and continue northwest to the recently completed Neo Lofts condo tower.

Workers will install broad new sidewalks, shade trees and native palms, and lights, benches, historic markers and directional signs to guide users.

''It's going to beautify the area, and it's going to improve the streets,'' Bibeau said.

The idea of a riverwalk dates at least to the 1970s, when the city began requiring new developments along the river to install public pathways next to the water.

The river was the birthplace of Miami, but as it grew the city turned its back on the increasingly polluted waterway. The river became a busy industrial port, lined by boat builders, repair facilities and shipping terminals.

The riverwalk idea was a way to provide public access to, and stimulate interest in, the river. Because little new was built on the river banks until recently, however, only a few disconnected sections exist.

Short walkways are tucked away behind the Hyatt Regency Hotel downtown, behind the city administration building, and along Jose Marti Park in East Little Havana, for instance. But they are little known, little used and often hard to find.

A renewed push to install the riverwalk began in 1999, when the Trust for Public Land released a conceptual plan adopted two years later by both the city and Miami-Dade County commissions.

The high-rise condo boom downtown and along the river has given the plan new momentum. With dredging underway to remove polluted river sediment, developers are paying to install riverwalks, typically also adding amenities like restaurants or cafes that will open to the public pathways. The city is considering applications for 16 new restaurants along the river, Bibeau said.

The city is also paying for an elaborate promenade at the mouth of the river designed to provide a grand entranceway to downtown and the river. The $4 million promenade, which will be filled with public art and lushly landscaped, is part of the One Miami condo project now under construction.

Developing the publicly sponsored segments required cobbling together and coordinating money and ideas from a variety of sources, including the trust, river commission, city planners and private property owners.

Total construction costs for the seven segments now financed are around $5 million, a combination of state funds and proceeds from the city's 2001 safe-parks bond issue. The Trust for Public Land paid for the planning and for engineering plans with a $2.5 million grant from the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation.

The recently approved county bond issue earmarked $7.5 million more for the riverwalk.

However, that won't be enough to complete the greenway, which planners hope will one day extend from Biscayne Bay along both banks of the 5.5-mile long river to its terminus near Miami International Airport. To avoid interfering with marine businesses, sections of the walkway will run along streets adjacent to the river.

An initial estimate that put the total cost at $25 million is well short of the true price, but a final calculation has not been made, the river commission's Bibeau said.

To ensure the riverwalk is well maintained, the city and its partners are weighing creation of an independent management trust.

The riverwalk is part of a larger and more ambitious plan that would construct a continuous pedestrian loop along both the river and Biscayne Bay, connecting both through a proposed greenway that would cut through Overtown and the Civic Center.

The idea, Bibeau said, is not only to encourage public use of the city's waterfront, but to weave together neighborhoods like East Little Havana, Spring Garden, Allapattah, Brickell and downtown Miami, which are separated by the river as well as elevated highways.

Street :) and Dave :) , today was the day they put the 15 foot spire on top of the Brickell on the River tower # 1, its up there now, they raised it up there around noon, that's it for the height of the tower !!! :cheers:
p.s. everyone , check it out with the Wachovia webcam and click on finanacial district at the top of the webpage and zoom right to the Brickell on the river # 1 and then zoom in to the top of the tower. :)

yea it looks like crap i noticed as i was driving on 1-95 its a pice of shit

yup, there it is.
http://img121.exs.cx/img121/6022/11125648914558629oe.jpg

http://img121.exs.cx/img121/7493/11125648914557355ph.jpg

*in stupid baby talk voice* aww, wook at the cute wittle spire!

S.F. Dave :) , and mad hatter :) , they still have the yellow nylon straps hooked up to it, can either one of you fly a helicopter ???, I hope so, we can pick up the spire and dump it into biscayne bay, lol. :runaway:
then they will have to build another one , taller, lol. :cheers:
p.s. S.F. Dave :) , zoom in the closest you can and enter that picture here, please , and we can tell where to land the chopper to pick up the yellow nylon straps, lol. :cheers:

arquitectonica updated they're site,nothing we haven't seen before
www.arquitectonica.com

S.F. Dave :) , and mad hatter :) , they still have the yellow nylon straps hooked up to it, can either one of you fly a helicopter ???, I hope so, we can pick up the spire and dump it into biscayne bay, lol. :runaway:
then they will have to build another one , taller, lol. :cheers:
p.s. S.F. Dave :) , zoom in the closest you can and enter that picture here, please , and we can tell where to land the chopper to pick up the yellow nylon straps, lol. :cheers:

let's do it.

*cues mission:impossible theme song*

The Incredible Growing Museums

I didn’t think it was such a bad idea as the renderings showed the two buildings to be well within scale for the property.

By Jack King
Columnist



It was some five years ago when Miami City Commissioner Johnny Winton had just been elected for the first time. One of the first stands he took was that there would be no baseball stadium in downtown Bicentennial Park. I applauded his efforts and was happy to see someone in city government stand up to the special-interest land grabbers. After all, we had just been through the biggest public-land grab in the history of the city when former Mayor Joe Carollo suckered us into believing that the city was in such dire financial straits that we had to sell off our most precious waterfront land to pay the city’s bills. Right there were Miami-Dade County and the Miami Heat with their checkbooks open. That little deal gave the city a few million bucks and we ended up with the waterfront monstrosity now called the American Airlines Arena.

And then came the Marlins, crying that they should get the same deal for free waterfront land that the Heat got. Thankfully Winton was there to say no way. He then took the discussion a little further, saying that we should not just say no to the Marlins, but we should have a master plan for the park to make sure that we would never have this situation again. I thought it was a really good idea and asked to be a member of the Bicentennial Park committee.

Sitting on the committee with luminaries such as the Urban Environment League’s Greg Bush and University of Miami School of Architecture Dean Elizabeth Plater-Zyberk, I could not help but feel that this was the way local government should work. The idea is to get the best people you can to study a situation and then make recommendations to the city for implementation. After years of watching the City Commission ignore the wishes of the community while spending countless millions of dollars on useless pet projects, I had hopes that we were finally going in the right direction.

Over the next two years we heard dozens of proposals for the park — some worthwhile, some silly and many that sounded like free land grabs. The city funded the hiring of a consultant, Cooper Robertson, to assist with the design concept. They held a number of meetings, including a two-day charrette to gather public input. But throughout this process I got the feeling the committee was being strong-armed by two groups, the Miami Art Museum and the Miami Museum of Science and Planetarium. Their representatives were everywhere with a full-court lobbying program. Even during the charrette they were at every table making sure that any and all input included them.

And it did. In the end the committee and the consultant recommended to the city that we have a “museum park” in Bicentennial Park. I didn’t think it was such a bad idea as the renderings done by the consultant showed the two buildings to be well within scale for the property, leaving quite a bit of green space. And that’s what I didn’t understand. The science museum has been clamoring for years for more space. Why would they want to move into a smaller building?

Winton was adamant about one issue: Money. Whatever went into Bicentennial Park was not going to be paid for by the city of Miami or its residents. And there had to be a revenue stream to make sure the park could operate for many years. After all, that’s the reason the park was in such a mess. The city spent $26 million in federal funds to build the park and then never funded its upkeep. It didn’t take long for it to degenerate into a sorry state.

Now five years later the plan is still just a plan. However, both museum groups are feeding at the public trough in a major way. Seems like both buildings, if they are built, will be in fact paid for with public funds. They were part of the 2001 bond issue so wonderfully named “Homeland Defense Improvement Bond Program.” Last week the City Commission gave the museums $700,000 for of all things museum planning, financial feasibility and project management. Somehow or another, I thought these entities were to be paid for with private funds and were to be financially feasible before we ever go to this stage.

Possibly worse than all this is that both buildings seem to get larger in every rendering and now take up a substantial portion of the park. With construction costs rising daily (can you say “Performing Arts Center”?), I cannot believe the bond monies will even come close to paying for the construction costs. And who do you think will pay for the overages? Look in the mirror. You don’t think these nonprofits will find the money, do you? The only thing nonprofits do is spend every nickel they can get their hands on.

So, here we are now with sort of a concept for Bicentennial Park, nonprofit buildings expanding in size by the day, no way to pay for them and no revenue stream to keep the park and the museums operational. Commissioner Winton often points to Bicentennial Park as an example of how these types of studies should work. But what I see is that after six years of study and meetings, we have nothing but a black hole that sucks up public money with no end in sight. Maybe we should reconsider a baseball stadium in the park. At least they charge admission.

Comments? E-mail jking@miamisunpost.com.

u gotta be kidding, thats embarrasing, compare that spire to boa atlanta looool

that spire makes me wanna throw up

Only the little guys say that size doesn't matter...but I'm outta that place anyway! Ridiculous.
Why even bother with a spire.

It Looks so bad

:bash: I drove by there today and showed my friend- "shaking head in disgust". I can't believe that is it. Everytime I look at it I start laughing.. Oh well hopefully BOR2 will have a taller spire.

Posted on Tue, Apr. 12, 2005

REAL ESTATE

Developer's master plan to include Herald land

Knight Ridder and developer Pedro Martin say The Herald building is not presently for sale, but the developer's master plan includes the land.

BY MATTHEW HAGGMAN

mhaggman@herald.com


Developer Pedro Martin, who agreed to pay $190 million for the 10 acres surrounding The Herald's bayfront headquarters in downtown Miami, is creating a master plan that not only includes the property he is buying but also the acreage on which The Herald's offices and printing operations are located.

Once the plan is completed, Martin intends -- with the support of Knight Ridder, The Herald's parent company -- to seek building approvals from the Miami City Commission for the entire site owned by the San Jose-based publisher, the developer said.

SEEKING APPROVALS

Knight Ridder vice president Larry Marbert confirmed the arrangement Monday allowing Martin to seek city approvals to build on One Herald Plaza, The Herald's home for more than four decades.

As the landowner, Knight Ridder must back any efforts for new building approvals. But Marbert insisted the move does not mean there is any deal or plans to sell the waterfront parcel.

NO DECISION MADE

''No decision has been made . . . to sell One Herald Plaza,'' Marbert said. ``We are in the same spot we have always been.''

Last month, Knight Ridder and Martin agreed to terms for the sale of 10 acres surrounding the Herald's bayfront headquarters that are largely surface parking lots.

The sale did not include the adjacent nearly 5-acre waterfront parcel, One Herald Plaza, which houses The Herald's offices and printing operation.

The site is important to Martin because it sits between Biscayne Bay and the 10-acre property he is buying. In the deal inked last month Martin was given right of first refusal on the One Herald Plaza site. Such an agreement often chills competing buyers, experts said.

If Knight Ridder chooses to sell the land and Martin does not purchase it, he risks having another developer build large towers that block sight lines and water views.

Getting a plan approved for the entire property helps Martin design his 10 acres, knowing what's proposed for the One Herald Plaza site.

If approved by the city, the move also protects Martin against the possibility of another developer buying the site and building towers that block sight lines and water views.

COMMON PRACTICE

''Assuming someone else bought it,'' said Lucia Dougherty, Martin's land use attorney, ``it locks in for him view corridors, where the site planning will be for buildings, and if they want to change that, they will have to start [the approval process] all over and he will be able to protest it.''

Added Dougherty: ``It happens all the time that you master plan someone else's site and purchase it later. Of course, you need the cooperation of the owner.''

Martin said the master plan, currently being done by Miami architectural firm Arquitectonica and San Francisco-based urban planners EDAW, will outline the location of buildings and open spaces, among other things. He said he hopes to have a presentable plan within a month.

''It makes more sense to do an overall plan,'' said Martin, CEO of Miami-based Terra Group.

I think its official...all the projects on Biscayne north of about 40th street are dead. This was one of the last one's I saw that was still on but the Nimby's finally killed it. No development in Morningside allowed.

http://www.miamisunpost.com/fifthststoryfrontpage.htm

Permit for 108-Foot Tall Biscayne Boulevard Project Revoked

According to Morningside activist Elvis Cruz, the error is that Millebella’s rear setback slope of 63 degrees was designed to comply with an outdated SD-9 ordinance.



By Mario Martinez
Staff Writer



Two weeks after the Zoning Board denied an appeal that would have prevented construction of a 108-foot-tall mixed-use project on Biscayne Boulevard, Miami’s planning director has withdrawn the project’s permit, citing an error in the city’s zoning database.

The permit was requested by Millebella LLC, which was planning an eight-story, mixed-use building at the corner of 61st Street and Biscayne Boulevard. It would include almost 7,000 square feet of ground-floor retail space, three levels of parking, 34 residential units directly above and a rooftop terrace.

Those plans are about to change. In a letter to department heads dated April 8th, Planning Department Director Ana Gelabert-Sanchez said little to explain the decision. “Please be advised that Class II Special Permit #05-0028 for construction of a mixed-use project at 6151 Biscayne Boulevard, is hereby rescinded for reasons of an error in zoning data.”

According to Morningside activist Elvis Cruz, the error is that Millebella’s rear setback slope of 63 degrees was designed to comply with an outdated SD-9 ordinance, not a city code implemented last year that requires a 45-degree slope.

Cruz vehemently raised the discrepancy during the zoning board meeting in March, but members listened to the advice of the planning department, which was also using the outdated ordinance as a reference. The board voted to uphold the planning department’s recommendation and deny Morningside’s appeal, clearing the way for Millebella’s construction.

But Cruz didn’t give up. He walked over to Zoning Administrator Orlando Toledo’s office and told him about the code discrepancy. Toledo insisted the project complied with the SD-9, but promised to review the matter nonetheless. Days later, the Planning Department announced it would soon rescind Millebella’s Class II permit.

“I was the only one in the room that realized what was going on,” said Cruz, arguing the city takes far too long to update its own zoning database on the ongoing changes to its numerous ordinances. “There’s a major problem there.”

Calls to the Planning Department and Millebella’s attorney requesting comment were unreturned by deadline.

It is unclear what plans developers now have for the property. The planning department said a revised final decision would be issued if the project complied with zoning requirements.

No one would be happier to see a change in Millebella’s design than Cruz, who had several objections to the project. Cruz felt the plans exceeded the maximum allowable height by building to 108 feet to accommodate air conditioning systems, elevator shafts and other essential machinery. The developers were interpreting the ordinance’s 95-foot height limit as applying to roof height, not including utilities.

“SD-9 plainly states building-height maximum, not roof-height maximum,” said Cruz.

Some Morningside residents also felt the project would be out of scale with their neighborhood, pointing out there are only two buildings on Biscayne Boulevard between 48th and 87th streets as tall as the proposed Millebella. One is the Immigration Building on 79th Street; Cruz said the other, currently the Flats at Morningside, was illegally built in 1973. Ironically, he claims the Flats project was also approved under an outdated zoning regulation, but the discrepancy was not discovered until construction had begun.

MIAMI-DADE SCHOOLS
herald.com

'Ambitious' 5-year plan to build schools is approved

The Miami-Dade School Board approved a massive, five-year construction plan and narrowly accepted a controversial series of changes to the public radio and TV stations it owns.

BY MATTHEW I. PINZUR

mpinzur@herald.com


Kicking off an aggressive construction plan to address massive overcrowding district-wide, the Miami-Dade School Board voted on Wednesday to approve a five-year, $3 billion school-building plan -- only part of which it can pay for without a new funding source such as a new local tax.

The board also narrowly adopted a controversial plan for the public radio and television stations it owns, risking the ire of the fundraising foundation that provides a third of WLRN's budget.

Over the next five years, the construction plan calls for 42 new schools, the replacement of 18 existing schools, additions at dozens more and renovations at nearly every campus in the county.

Combined with other building projects already approved, the package will create 118,000 new seats by 2009 -- enough to eliminate Miami-Dade's overcrowding epidemic and address projected growth of the school-age population.

''It is an ambitious plan, but is a plan that is very, very needed,'' said board member Solomon Stinson. ``If you don't think ambitious, you'll never get it done.''

Funding from local and state governments, however, will only cover around two-thirds of the anticipated costs, district staff said. The remaining $1 billion would need to come from a new source, the most obvious being a bond issue backed by a voter-approved tax increase.

PREVIOUS BOND

It would be the first school-construction bond in Miami-Dade since the disastrous 1988 effort rocketed the district into an era of squandered dollars, mismanaged projects, crushing bureaucracy and leaky buildings.

Restoring public trust has been one of Superintendent Rudy Crew's top priorities since his arrival last summer, a quest started by former district chief Merrett Stierheim. Crew expects to open around 18,000 new student seats before school starts in the fall -- more than triple the anticipated number.

''Once we can demonstrate to the community that we're on the right track, we can go ask them for help,'' said board member Agustín Barrera.

South Florida's surging real-estate values could also help the district, increasing the tax base over the next few years and boosting tax revenues beyond today's expectations.

ARCHITECTS HIRED

The first phase of the project also began Wednesday as the board approved contracts with four architects. Each will build three schools using nearly identical plans, proving that they can be used as prototypes. Those prototypes will then be used for later projects, which will allow Crew's staff to save millions of dollars.

''This really speaks to the building of classrooms, the reduction of overcrowding and the development of new schools,'' Crew said.

The construction plan was approved unanimously, unlike the hotly debated WLRN plan.

It has been especially controversial because it includes specific programming changes, notably the restoration to 30 minutes of Radyo Lekol, the nighly Haitian Creole program that had been cut to 10 minutes due to poor ratings.

''Even though the listenership may be very, very low, to me if you can help a few that are not being helped in the educational arena and who use radio as a means for information, to me it is worth it,'' Stinson said.

SUPPORT FOR CREW

In a 5-4 vote approving Crew's plan, the board also allowed him to create a monthly public affairs show, make the stations' community advisory board more accountable to the School Board and press WLRN to more closely identify itself with the district.

Opponents, notably the Friends of WLRN fundraising group, said the move set a precedent that politicians could dictate programming. They said that could open the board to countless requests from niche groups, and might have a chilling effect on donations if Friends' members believe the station's quality had been compromised.

The board granted the station's management editorial independence in 2002, but that policy explicitly leaves programming policy under School Board control. Moreover, WLRN's general manager reports to one of Crew's deputies and, ultimately, to the School Board.

''The ultimately responsibility is ours,'' said board chairman Frank Bolaños. ``We're doing nothing other than exercising our responsibility.''

If Crew does, indeed, instruct WLRN General Manager John LaBonia to expand Radyo Lekol, LaBonia told The Herald he would comply.

WLRN VOTE

The five ''yes'' votes came from Stinson, Bolaños, Vice Chairman Robert Ingram and board members Ana Rivas Logan and Perla Tabares Hantman.

Voting ''no'' were Barrera and board members Evelyn Greer, Marta Pérez and Martin Karp.

They generally objected to the fact that Crew did not use established procedures for recommending programming changes.

''Unfortunately, this effort started off on a left foot,'' Greer said.

The Herald has a contract with WLRN to provide daily news broadcasts in exchange for a portion of the station's revenue.

OTHER VOTES

In other votes Wednesday, the board:

• Set procedures to replace Johnny Brown, its longtime chief lawyer, but deferred until June Brown's request to be kept on staff for two years as a highly paid chief deputy attorney.

• Approved Pérez's proposal to set procedures for the district to comply with Florida's whistle-blower laws, which protect employees from retaliation if they report malfeasance.

• Approved Logan's request to have Crew review the way class ranks are calculated in senior high schools, possibly changing or doing away with ''valedictorian'' and ''salutatorian'' titles.

The board's student advisor, Adam Rosen, said students ''get insane'' over finding ways to make minuscule boosts to their grade-point averages, often sacrificing community service, job experience and time with family.

Posted on Thu, Apr. 14, 2005




LEGISLATURE


Bush wants taxes for roads

Putting aside his no-tax mantra, Gov. Jeb Bush is recommending new taxes on local governments and a $9.5 billion state bond to pay for roads.

BY MARY ELLEN KLAS

meklas@herald.com


on his long-standing demand that local tax

increases be approved by voters

Gov. Jeb Bush broke a Republican impasse Wednesday over who would come up with a new source of money to build roads, schools and water systems, announcing that he would ''put aside'' his long-standing opposition to borrowing and ask voters statewide to approve $9.5 billion in bonds.

In his announcement, Bush also abandoned another core value: Requiring cities and counties to get voter approval before raising new taxes, which he said would provide an additional $5.3 billion.

The governor, who has built his career on lowering taxes and resisting borrowing, said he has concluded that the state's fractured growth planning system can't be fixed by tougher state laws but also needs an infusion of new cash to help unclog roads, build new schools and pay for new water systems.

''I am prepared to put aside a deeply held belief, to be honest with you, about voter approval,'' Bush said, referring to his long-standing demand that every local tax increase be approved by voters.

He said the untapped tax sources are available to local governments but have been inaccessible because voters have rejected new taxes or county officials have failed to seek approval for them. Bush said the biggest offenders have been Miami-Dade and Broward counties, which could generate nearly 30 percent of the $5.3 billion.

The governor's proposal breaks an impasse between him and the leaders of the House and Senate, who were leery of publicly proposing a new source of state money that could be considered a tax. But Bush's proposal is not guaranteed to pass, with the 60-day Legislative session having passed the halfway mark.

Senate President Tom Lee has questioned the wisdom of borrowing -- and wondered whether it's wise to support nearly $500 million in tax cuts that the governor seeks at the same time. Lee has demanded a dedicated, year-in-year-out source of money to pay for growth management.

Also, the governor's proposal doesn't guarantee that local governments will want to pass new taxes -- with or without the support of voters.

The governor's plan would give county governments the ability to collectively raise up to $1.1 billion for new roads, $1.8 billion for new schools and another $1.4 billion for general growth-related needs.

The proposal is most aggressive at tackling the state's $23 billion backlog in road needs. Bush's plan would use $1 billion in cash this year and next, from a windfall in state revenues, followed by a 10-year bond to pay for a $9.5 billion road-building program. The bonding authority would have to be approved by voters statewide, and Bush suggests a special election be held this November.

''The voters of this state, Republicans and Democrats, conservatives and liberals, will support increases in taxes for infrastructure,'' the governor said at a press conference Wednesday.

``They may not support bigger government. They will support roads -- to make it easier to drop their children off at school and to go to work. And they obviously will support increases in school construction to deal with the overcrowding in their community.''

The governor conceded, however, that even the nearly $15 billion he is pursuing ``is still not enough.''

''The deficits have been mounting over a generation of time,'' he said. ``They exist. They're real and they're going to create hardships for the next generation.''

The proposal is the latest attempt by the governor to bridge the gap between the House and Senate over finding money to pay for the state's growth needs.

Senate President Lee has vowed to resist any plan that fails to include a state revenue source to pay for what he believes is a $35 billion backlog in services.

The issue is a top priority of Lee's, but he has failed to offer a state tax proposal.

Meanwhile, the stalemate over growth management has prompted Lee to delay discussions over the $500 million tax cut plan pushed by Bush and House leaders and has stalled budget negotiations.

House Speaker Allan Bense said his chamber will ''not vote for new taxes'' but would be willing to use about $400 million of the state's surplus money to pay for growth needs and would consider redirecting existing tax revenues into a special roads or schools account.

Bush said he would reject any attempt to raise the state sales tax to pay for growth. But he is attempting to meet Lee halfway by offering to use state revenues to pay off bonds for a decade into the future.

Lee said the governor's plan falls short and could lead to budget problems in the future.

''Our number is somewhere in the $35 billion range,'' he said. ``Can we get there this year? Probably not.''

The governor's proposal also attempts to tighten the rules by which local communities may approve new development, requiring them to have a pay-as-you-go system in place that identifies money sources for the roads, schools and water systems every development needs.

''The plans must be financially feasible,'' Bush said. ``That means there has to be real money behind them. They can't just be pie in the sky.''

The governor's plan would requires counties, schools and cities to making the following changes:

• Local governments and school boards would be required to plan for a growing student population and have their schools built within three years from approval of a new development.

• Roads would have to be available or under construction within three years from approval of a new development.

• Local governments must ensure that adequate water supplies are available at the time of a local development's approval.

Herald staff writers Marc Caputo and Gary Fineout contributed to this report

http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/11388109.htm

SOUTH MIAMI


Plan to build complex near UM approved

South Miami officials gave unanimous approval to ''Red Road Commons,'' a mixed-use office and residential project near the University of Miami.

BY ELIZABETH BAIER

ebaier@herald.com


South Miami commissioners Saturday approved plans by Codina Development to build a seven-acre mixed-use office and residential complex north of the Shops at Sunset Place. As part of the agreement, the developermust provide land for a park and reserve some units for low-income families.

The project, on Southwest 66th Street and Red Road, will include 407 apartments in six three- to five-story interconnected buildings, a parking garage, 1,028 parking spaces, a courtyard and retail space.

The parcel of land, owned by the University of Miami and leased to Codina for the next 75 years, is near the university and across from the First United Methodist Church. It is now home to a nightclub, some offices and a real-estate school.

As part of the development agreement, Codina agreed to reserve 10 percent of the units for low-income families and to provide the city with $100,000 for additional off-site development of affordable housing; to provide at least one on-site stop location for service by the university's HurryCane shuttle; and to assume responsibility for all noise exceeding the ambient background level by 10 p.m., among others.

''We worked long and hard, and [the city's] staff has as well,'' said Jerry Proctor, the attorney representing Codina. ``Affordable housing does not really exist in the city, but this project provides a moderate level.''

On a recommendation by Commissioner Craig Sherar, Codina also agreed to pay a pro-rated share for or provide the city with 3.2 acres of land by Dec. 15 for a public park. The amount of land was based on the projected residential population of the property.

The city's comprehensive plan says developers of new projects that require a certain amount of city services -- including traffic, sewers, potable water and parks -- must provide three acres of land for every 1,000 new residents, city planning consultant Sandy Youkilis said.

If Codina doesn't make a lump-sum payment or a substitute payment on or before the city issues the first building permit, the application for rezoning, site plans and the development agreement will be withdrawn.

''We get the property; if they don't like the price of it, we kill the deal,'' Sherar said. ``It just seems simpler to me.''

Sherar originally had criticized plans, saying he feared it would attract university students. The commissioner said Saturday that changes made eased his concerns.

The city is in the process of negotiating with the YMCA to acquire the Southwest YMCA property located at 4300 SW 58th Ave., officials have said, and initially had specified that Codina would contribute toward that purchase. Officials decided to remove the reference regarding the YMCA in the final agreement.

A handful of residents attended the meeting. Activist Yvonne Beckman disagreed with the overall project.

''You're the stewards of the assets of the city,'' said Beckman, who fears it's going to bring too many people into the neighborhood and cause traffic. ``I am not happy about it, but I'm going to have to live with it.''

Commissioners approved the project 4-0. Vice Mayor Velma Palmer left the meeting before the items were considered.

Commissioners also approved:

• The creation of a five-member Affordable Housing Advisory Committee to advise the mayor and city commission for one year on potential affordable housing projects and possible housing incentives.

• A special use approval to locate Koo Koo Roo, a Mexican restaurant, at 5850 Sunset Dr.

Coastal Construction wins Trump Royale contract
Trump Dezer Development has awarded the construction contract for Trump Royale, its 55-story oceanfront residential condominium in Sunny Isles Beach, to Coastal Construction Group.


The builder said its Coastal Condominiums division has already begun construction on the 386-unit residential tower. Completion is slated for 2007.

Thomas P. Murphy Jr., chairman and chief executive officer of Miami-based Trump Dezer Development, indicated experience was a factor in choosing a general contractor. He said Coastal Condominiums has completed about 3,700 condominium units totaling more than 15 million square feet.

Trump Royale, at 18001 Collins Ave., has only units priced at $800,000 and above remaining for sale.

Neither Coastal Construction nor Trump Dezer Development gave a price for Coastal's services.

The development is part of the $700 million, 11-acre enclave known as Trump Grande Ocean Resort and Residences. The project also includes the 278-unit Trump Palace and a 372-unit condo hotel, Trump International Sonesta Beach Resort, which opened two years ago.

The three-building project is Donald Trump's first foray into the South Florida residential real estate market.

The mogul's partners, the father-son team of Michael and Gil Dezer, own more than 45 acres of oceanfront property in Sunny Isles Beach. So far, 25 of those acres are either built or in the planning stages.



© 2005 American City Business Journals Inc.

Residential development in Miami continues to grow
miamitodaynews
By Yeleny Suarez
The City of Miami's development continues to boom, with 254 projects in the pipeline - 21 more than in mid-January. That includes more than 72,500 residences, adding 5,864 units to the 66,648 in the works just three months ago.
Although the $18 billion projected construction is expected to help double the tax roll, city officials caution that too much of anything is not good.
"It's important to focus on winding down a bit and concentrate on the impact the growth in development will have on things like traffic and schools," said Commissioner Joe Sanchez, "look at all negative aspects of over-development. That is what the city's comprehensive plan like Miami 21 will do."
Miami 21, which is intended to become the city's new zoning ordinance based on smart growth principles, is to be unveiled at an 8:30 a.m. launch Saturday at Miami Dade College's downtown campus.
As he sees more and more development, Commissioner Thomas Regalado also thinks the city should discuss service expansion soon.
"As of now," he said, "we should be thinking of how to expand services like the fire department and police."
Of the 254 projects on the city's list, 39 have been completed at a cost of $2.2 billion and 40 are under construction at a cost of $4.1 billion.
Another 67 at $9.2 billion have been approved, 21 at $959 million are in application phases and 87 at $1.4 billion are in preliminary phases.
Downtown is the focal point of Miami's development frenzy, with 87 projects totaling 40,454 residences at an estimated construction cost of $12.9 billion.
The next most active areas in the city are Wynwood/Edgewater, with 8,940 planned housing units at $2.2 billion, and Coral Way, with 25 projects including 3,192 housing units at $300 million.
Twenty-three projects are planned for East Little Havana with 3,547 residences ($252 million); 15 for Allapattah with 3,738 units ($572 million); 13 for the upper east side with 1,292 units, ($319 million); 12 for northeastern Coconut Grove with 1,724 units ($669 million); 10 for Flagami, with 6,870 units ($455 million); seven for Overtown with 1,358 housing units ($129 million); four for West Flagler with 642 units ($35 million); three for Little Haiti with 322 units ($40 million); two for Model City with 271 units ($23 million) and one for southwestern Coconut Grove with 42 units ($42 million).
Tax roll projections for the city are due next month, Larry Spring, city budget and strategic planning chief, has said. From 2003 to 2004 the tax rolls grew $3 billion, and today they're at $22.5 billion. Added taxes could provide the basis for added services.
Commissioner Sanchez says Miami is experiencing a lot of growth and it is important to start putting in some controls.
"What worries me is we don't have the high-paying jobs in the city to accommodate the high-end growth," he said. "Development is good for the city, but we need to bring in more corporations to bring in high-paying jobs to balance it out."

Plans for Melreese redevelopment on commission agenda
miamitodaynews
By Yeleny Suarez
Plans for a developer to build and run a four-star hotel on the Melreese Golf Course near Miami International Airport is to go before the Miami City Commission today (4/14).
"Assuming they approve it, the [request for proposals] would be issued in early May," said Lori Billberry, assistant director of Miami's economic development department.
Minutes from downtown Miami, the 135-acre city-owned course at 1802 NW 37th Ave. will also require a clubhouse, pro shop and amenities.
City Manager Joe Arriola said officials would require that the hotel operate at a four-star level and have fewer than 349 rooms.
Beyond that, the request for proposals would give the winner a broad range of development options including entertainment, educational, cultural, time-share, retail, restaurant, recreation, office space and parking uses.
The city's park department manages the course, which opened in 1951.
The course became subject of a lawsuit a year ago when operator Bunkers of Miami said the city failed to properly supervise a renovation. The city said Bunkers broke its agreement by not building a clubhouse, a claim that resulted in $850,000 payment from Miami to Bunkers, though the city admitted no wrongdoing and retained Bunkers principal Charles Delucca, long-time pro at the course, to manage the property. The settlement set Mr. Delucca's salary at $110,000 a year until December 2007.
Officials said the settlement would have no effect on a new investor, because the city, not the buyer, would continue to pay Mr. Delucca.
The city commission voted in July to develop the course using a united development project process, for which review procedures and selection processes are established in city charter and code. The commission would appoint a review committee with recommendations of Mr. Arriola and select an accounting firm to evaluate proposals.
Mr. Arriola, who will choose the review committee, said he is in the process of contacting potential members to study proposals and decide on the future plans for the Melreese complex. Mario Artecona, executive director of the Miami Business Forum, confirmed he was approached to be part of this group.
"There will be three city officials and four outsiders," Mr. Arriola said. Others on the list to be approached soon, he said, include Coral Gables City Manager David Brown; Richard A. Berkowitz, managing director at accounting firm Berkowitz Dick Pollack & Brant; and Jack Williams, outgoing president of Royal Caribbean cruise lines.
One potential developer is Miami Arena owner Glenn Straub, who recently closed on a northern Monroe County property and plans to merge three facilities that include the arena, Melreese and another complex in Miami twice as large as these facilities, which he would not disclose.
"We are still interested," Mr. Straub said. "This will give us the ability to absorb a regional management position. You need $25 million to $35 million of a minimum annual income, and the arena alone does not bring that in."
The successful developer would have a maximum 50-year initial term and two 10-year renewal terms. The developer would handle all leasing, maintenance and management. An 18-hole golf course that must include at a minimum a pro shop, clubhouse, casual dining and golf-cart rental, and a hotel with rental meeting facilities, a multipurpose restaurant, a business center and a fitness center are among required uses.
Work within the capital improvement projects office and community meetings that the city commission required prior to issuing a request for proposals delayed the redevelopment proposal, which was due to go out to potential developers last November, Ms. Billberry said.
"The Melreese project was delayed as we were working with the city's capital improvement projects office to coordinate a joint community meeting regarding all the improvements proposed at Grapeland Park and this project," Ms. Billberry said. "The community meeting was held last month with little comment on the Melreese project, and creation of jobs was favored by the community."
Interested developers must make $50,000 refundable deposits. Another $50,000 non-refundable deposit will be required from the developer who is selected for exclusive negotiations with the city.

That spire on BOR is really pathetic.

http://www.communitynewspapers.com/2005/biscayne/entertainment1.htm

Paramount Bay to join Miami’s Arts District

By Dionne Rial


Architectural rendering of Paramount Bay project in Miami’s Arts District.

The hype surrounding sophisticated urban living in Miami’s Arts District is about to become a buzz of new proportions now that Royal Palm Communities is foraying into this newly cosmopolitan neighborhood with a Paramount property.

Paramount Bay, a 350-residence mixed-use urban complex, will occupy almost three acres at 2066 N. Bayshore Dr., just off Biscayne Boulevard. The $250 million project will comprise 47 stories of luxury living with a choice of one, two and three bedrooms, many with extra dens, priced from $600,000 to more than $2 million. Sales will begin in March and construction is scheduled to begin the third quarter of 2005. Completion is planned for late 2007.

Daniel Kodsi, RPC president and CEO, recognized the potential for the area last year when he purchased the site, and is extending the signature Paramount lifestyle to consumers in a new setting.

“Miami’s urban centers are undergoing dramatic cultural revivals. Similarly, Paramount represents a new generation of living, where sophistication, style, and affluence converge. Paramount Bay was the natural next step in making a statement about what living well in Miami means,” Kodsi said.

The Paramount Bay site is home to the infamous Mary House from the film There’s Something About Mary, which will serve as the projects sales center. The building will be converted into a restaurant. Directly adjacent to the property will be Edgewater Square, an expansive, European-inspired pedestrian plaza on the water that will house five-star cuisine, outdoor cafes, and daily conveniences such as a neighborhood market. Within blocks are the much-anticipated Performing Arts Center, museums, trendy shops and art galleries.

Paramount Bay will flaunt standard Paramount brand accoutrements including overly generous floorplans, all with floor-through layouts and private elevator access, the latest technology including in-residence, wireless touchpad concierge, and access to the exclusive Paramount Club, which extends residents’ life of affluence to other participating Paramount properties.

Also among the upscale offerings are a 6,000-square-foot health spa and state-of-the-art fitness center with sauna and steam rooms, a bayview pool deck housing an infinity-edge pool and sunset swimming pool, outdoor living rooms and cabanas. The Paramount Club will feature a billiard table, plasma TV, full-kitchen and bar facilities, and comprehensive audio/visual system that streams out onto pool decks.

On the rooftop will be a 2,000 square-foot terrace, and the ground-floor will house 24-hour valet, concierge and “Techcierge” services. The latter is an on site representative that tends to homeowner’s concierge panel needs and trouble-shoots any computer mishaps, from configuring to changing personal preferences.

Arquitectonica’s contemporary styling is met with elegant interior outfitting that runs the gamut from 10-foot ceilings and unobstructed, floor-through views of Biscayne Bay from every residence, to designer kitchens featuring Wolf and Sub Zero stainless steel appliances.

“Our residences are designed to look and feel like buyers live in a penthouse. Even the smallest of floorplans are anything but; each is overly spacious and regally appointed,” Kodsi said.

Majestic Properties is the exclusive sales agent. The sales office is located onsite. For more information, call 305-438-1004 or visit <www.paramountmiami.com>.

SOUTHEAST SNAPSHOT, FEBRUARY 2005
http://www.southeastrebusiness.com/archives_05.html
Miami Retail Market

With a lack of new areas left for development, the trend in retail development in the Miami area is for redevelopment of existing centers in need of a facelift or repositioning.

An example of this is Hawks Crossing at U.S. 441 and Wiles Road in Coral Springs, which is going through a repositioning and redevelopment. Look for an announcement soon from LNR Property Corporation with plans for that development.

Another example of this is Kendall Town & Country, which is undergoing a redevelopment/re-tenanting in order to revitalize the struggling center. Kendall Town Center is planned for West Kendall, which will be a multi-use project consisting of a theater, hospital, offices, big box retailers and restaurants. The project will serve all of the new residential population that has taken place and continues to take place in the western part of central Dade County.

Midtown Miami, Miami’s first “city within a city” concept, will comprise approximately 3,000 condominium residences and 900 rental units, interspersed with street-level cafes, shops, sidewalks and benches.

The majority of development is taking place in the southern part of the county in Homestead and Florida City due to the fact there are very little land opportunities left elsewhere in the county. Most of the land has been fully developed from the water on the east to the Everglades on the west.

Active developers include Equity One, which has a new development in Homestead, and The Rouse Company, which is developing a project in West Kendall on one of the last available pieces of land. Berkowitz Development has two projects, one in South Beach and one in Coral Gables.

Panera Bread has identified its first Dade County locations for 2005 openings; Ulta Cosmetics opened its first Dade County store in Kendall; and Anna’s Linens entered the market by taking over several existing Linen Supermarket locations

Lowes and Wal-Mart are aggressively looking for sites in South Florida; look for major new developments and redevelopments to center around them. Additionally, IKEA is said to be working on a major project in Miami.

The Home Depot is taking over two former Kmart sites in Miami, one located in Coconut Grove's Grove Gate Shopping Center at 32nd and U.S. 1 and the other in Deerwood Town Center (12107 S.W. 152nd Street) just off the Turnpike in southwest Dade County.

Other major leases include DSW Shoe Warehouse, which signed leases for stores at Southland Mall and Kendall Gate Shopping Center. Also at Southland Mall, Regal Cinemas signed a lease for 75,000 square feet. The average Miami vacancy rate is 4 percent.

With the vast amount of residential development taking place between Cutler Ridge and Homestead/Florida City, look for further retail development/redevelopment to take place in the southern part of the county just north of Homestead in the currently neglected submarket of Naranja.

— Sabrina Meerbott, senior leasing associate, Continental Real Estate Companies

50 Biscayne Has Demolished the Bizarre Shops and Cleared the Land For Construction

One Miami has Neon Colors on Balconys and Sides of Towers.

Marina Blue is on the Second Floor

Museum Tower Keeps Growing as we speak

Lofts I is topping off

Lofts II is Working on foundation Work and about to Pour its First Floor





Avenue on Brickell Has a Crane on Site

500 on Brickell Has a Crane on Site

Axis in Brickell Has Cleared its Land

Mary Brickell Village now has paint

Brickell Vue Condos Have a Purple Lit Top at night and the color looks better now with a few coats of paint

Sail and Emerald Seem to be topping Off

Solaris is growing as we speak but dont count on this one to make a huge impact on the skyline

Cool....thanks for the update Rx...I'm always hungry for construction info:)


things seem to be preogressing nicely!

good update rx,but how are the planning on doing loft2.


from what i know i think there going to build two seperate towers until like about the 7floor but how are the planning on connecting them,and is this strucually possible.

and unfortunatly to of my least favorite projects 50 and 500 are getting off the ground way to go jorge.

pics of some of the projects rx listed, off of those wonderful herald webcams

topped off lofts 1:
http://img173.echo.cx/img173/9657/lofts19nk.jpg


marina blue taking off... and ten museum park on its wat up...
http://img76.echo.cx/img76/9499/tenmuseumandmarinablue4pz.jpg


mbv, with a pretty coat of paint
http://img173.echo.cx/img173/6613/marybrickellvillage4wj.jpg


ill try and get some more later on...

posted by miamijr at ssp
------------------------------------
Builder's condo craze bet is unprecedented

By MATTHEW HAGGMAN

mhaggman@herald.com


Driving down Miami's Brickell Avenue in his dark gray Mercedes-Benz S500 one recent morning, developer Jorge Perez did not like what he saw. Surveying a stark sidewalk edging bland office lobbies -- and even worse, a parking garage entrance -- Perez pronounced the avenue ''totally pedestrian unfriendly.''

Then Perez declared he will change that.

The 55-year-old high-rise condominium developer, more than anyone, is in a position to do it with seven towers planned for construction along Brickell Avenue, the boulevard at the heart of the city's financial district. His plan: erect new towers with ground-floor restaurants and shops and spruce up sidewalks with shade trees and benches.

The Brickell towers are just a fraction of the staggering number of Perez projects that, if all built, will put his imprint on the rapidly changing face of South Florida's cities, beachscapes and skyline.

At a time when even the most aggressive builders rarely have more than two or three projects going at once, Perez -- chairman and chief executive of Miami-based The Related Group of Florida -- has more than 40 condo towers in the works across South Florida. Projects in Fort Myers and Las Vegas boost that number to nearly 50, and Perez has plans for several more condo towers that have yet to be announced.

''We are in territory we have never seen before with Jorge,'' said Ezra Katz, chairman and chief executive of Coconut Grove-based real estate investment firm Aztec Group. ''There is no precedent anywhere in the 34 years I have been in real estate. I have never seen anything of this magnitude or production.''

In the last decade Perez, who got his start developing government-subsidized rental apartments in Miami, has become Florida's biggest condo developer with 14 completed buildings to his credit.

But now, in a move fraught with risk, Perez is making his biggest bet yet, throwing himself full force into a South Florida real estate market so frenzied some compare it to the dot.com boom of the late 1990s.

''It is so hard to even build one project, to get it financed and built efficiently,'' said developer Gregg Covin, who is building the Biscayne Boulevard high-rise Ten Museum Park and renovating South Beach's The Angler's Hotel. ''He is just an unbelievable force doing more than 40 buildings at the same time.''

If anyone can pull it off, it may be Perez. But even he acknowledges a downturn is coming in the superheated condo market.

His financial might, he maintains, will enable him to weather any market correction.

Unlike most South Florida developers of today, Perez has more than 25 years of experience. And he has demonstrated a knack for spotting and aggressively pursuing under-utilized markets before anyone else.

Perez was part of the development group that built City Place, the downtown mixed-use revitalization project that transformed West Palm Beach. Similarly, he built four high-rise towers in South Pointe, the once blighted neighborhood at the southern tip of Miami Beach that has morphed into some of the priciest real estate in South Florida.

CAUTIOUS APPROACH

''He is very careful with his money,'' said Matthew B. Gorson, a Greenberg Traurig lawyer who is Perez's attorney. ''He watches things, that is why he has done so well. Jorge is extremely disciplined.''

But Perez's huge bet on the condo market comes with equally enormous risks.

Though Florida's housing market, and the condo sector in particular, has been red hot, many observers suspect a downturn is looming.

The condo market is filled with speculators and the sheer number of condos going up or planned have led many to conclude it's all too much for even South Florida's booming market to digest.

Within the city of Miami, for instance, roughly 7,000 units were built in the last 10 years. Now some 62,000 units are in various phases of development.

In March, Credit Suisse First Boston downgraded the stock of Bonita Springs-based WCI Communities, one of the few publicly traded high-rise condo developers, due to concerns over ''investor speculation in high-rise real estate development, specifically in Florida.''

Similarly, Raymond James issued a report stating its belief that investors and speculators accounted for as much as 85 percent of condo sales in downtown Miami.

Perez himself predicts a correction, but maintains builders with staying power will see values rise to even higher levels longer term.

CYCLICAL INDUSTRY

''Real estate is extremely cyclical,'' Perez said at a National Association of Home Builders conference two weeks ago.

''Talking to fellow developers, you sometimes feel that has been forgotten,'' he said. ''But there will be a correction in the market... it is impossible to sustain the supply announced.''

Perez said he has socked away loads of cash and carefully selected properties that are either near the water or in a city center. Such sites, he contends, will not dramatically lose value in a downturn. And if need be, he said, he can rent rather than sell units until prices rise to new heights.

While Jeff Morr, chief executive of the Miami Beach-based brokerage Majestic Properties, thinks Perez will continue to succeed despite a downturn, he also wonders about the impact of Related's plans on the market.

''I think he is going overboard in the number of units he is bringing to market on an annual basis,'' said Morr. ''He has the potential of slowing down the market because of oversupply. He should leave a little room for other developers.''

CORAL WAY OFFICES

Headquartered in drab offices on Miami's Coral Way that contrast with many of the glitzy projects it develops, The Related Group of Florida is a privately-held, 500-employee company.

Perez owns the vast majority of Related while his long-time business partner, Stephen M. Ross, chairman and chief executive of New York City-based Related Companies, owns a small share.

The company's fortunes have rocketed skyward as it has aggressively built new condos. In 2000 The Related Group of Florida's revenue stood at $506 million. By 2003, annual revenue more than doubled to $1.083 billion. In 2004, it doubled again, coming in at $2.125 billion.

Condo sales, which account for 90 percent of the firm's revenue, are expected to total $6 billion for the years 2004, 2005, and 2006, said Perez. The company generally has a 20 to 30 percent profit margin on condo sales.

While refusing to disclose the size of his personal fortune, Perez recently said at a homebuilder conference that he has made ''unconscionable sums of money.''

The Related Group of Florida's success is built on its record, and reputation among lenders and buyers, for completing what it starts and quickly bringing its projects to fruition.

MEETING DEADLINES

''He will decide on a building, stick to the budget, and deliver it on time,'' said Carlos Migoya, 54, Wachovia bank president for Miami-Dade and Monroe counties. ''When you buy a unit from him and he says it will be done in 2006, he will deliver it in 2006.''

Now the slender Cuban-American developer -- known for his energy, art collection, liberal politics, affinity for fine food and tennis, and periodic tempestuous outbursts -- has set a dizzying pace.

Five of his condo towers are slated to go up in downtown Miami, an area with few residential buildings that is a virtual ghost town at night. Following Perez's decision to build there, some 20 downtown towers have been proposed by other developers.

''He was the first to ever go in downtown with market rate residential product,'' said Otto Boudet-Muria, the city of Miami's development chief. ''The fact Jorge was willing to do that gave a lot of credence to the belief that residential downtown would work.''

RAPID DEVELOPMENT

Two more condos, with two more on the drawing board, are set to go on South Pointe, alongside his terra cotta and blue Portofino Tower.

In addition to the Brickell properties, five more condo towers are underway in West Palm Beach, four are going up along the Sunny Isles coast, and three more are nearly finished in Hallandale Beach.

Dozens of others are sprinkled from Fort Lauderdale to Lantana.

In perhaps his most high-profile move, Perez is joining with White Plains, N.Y.-based Starwood Hotels and Resorts to demolish the Sheraton Bal Harbour, located between the beach and the tony Bal Harbour Shops, to make way for a condo and condo-hotel.

''He has built more developments, and currently has under contract more developments than most developers would ever dream of building in their entire career,'' said real estate analyst Michael Cannon.

LATE STARTER

Yet until 1995 Perez had not built a single condo unit in his career.

Instead, for some 16 years he was a rental apartment developer.

Perez, along with New York developer and business partner Ross, founded The Related Group of Florida in 1979. They built government-subsidized rentals and eventually graduated to market-rate garden apartments, becoming the biggest apartment builder in the state.

In May 1997 The Herald's Business Monday featured Perez on its cover, with the headline: ''Florida's Apartment King.'' At the time he called apartments a ''much safer business than condominiums.''

But even prior to that, Perez had dabbled in condos. In 1993, German developer Thomas Kramer and Daly, who were building high-rise condo Portofino Tower, ran into financial trouble, and Perez jumped in and developed the project.

CONDO CONVERSION

The building was completed in 1995 and sales went well. It prompted Perez to convert a rental project he was building called Yacht Club at Highland Beach into condos in 1997. Two years later, he built a condo called Ocean I in Sunny Isles and he was on his way.

The South Florida condo market, he realized, was heating up. Buyers from the Northeast and Latin America were increasingly looking to snap up South Florida condo units, interest rates remained low and waterfront properties were available.

''One of the reasons for the success of the company is nimbleness, our capacity to adapt,'' said Perez. ''We decided there was a huge pent-up demand for condos.''

In 2000 Perez shifted his company away from rentals and focused exclusively on condos. Almost simultaneously, the South Florida condo craze erupted and the rental market descended into the proverbial dumps.

''He read the market correctly,'' observed real estate analyst David Dabby. ''If he was still developing rentals today, he would be out of business.''

PLAYING THE GAME

The way the condo game generally works today is that a developer buys a property, architects come up with renderings, public relations and advertising agencies market the product, a multimillion dollar sales center is erected, lavish condo parties are thrown, investors put down deposits on units, and the developer uses the deposits to get a construction loan.

Finally, the building is constructed and investors resell their units to a buyer who closes on the property and either lives in it or rents it out.

Perez not only plays the game well -- he does so with lightning speed.

Generally, he sets prices at a reasonable level so a unit will immediately appreciate in price. Such prospects have created an intensely loyal following whereby buyers sometimes camp out overnight and his projects often sell out in a day.

''We will sell product for a fair profit and allow people to make money,'' said Tom Daly, a developer who works exclusively with Perez.

HUGE PROFIT

The two-tower One Miami project, which is topped off and due to be fully completed in six months, is a case in point. Perez said units in the downtown Miami project were sold for $230 per square foot but are now being resold for $400 per square foot.

''That is why people follow us,'' he said.

While insisting he does not court investors, Perez's formula is perfectly suited for the investor or speculator. He said between 30 and 60 percent of his buyers are investors, but some estimate the number is even higher.

Perez said Related tries to keep speculators out by limiting buyers to one unit -- though he said they may vet the financial wherewithal of a buyer and allow more units to be purchased -- and requires the standard 20 percent down payment. But he acknowledged such efforts are circumvented.

Providing an added source of income, Perez owns Related Cervera Realty Services -- the brokerage that sells the units. When a building sells out, investors are allowed to put their units up for resale, and Perez's brokerage often sells those units as well.

He also offers mortgages and insurance to buyers.

ECONOMIES OF SCALE

Meanwhile, Perez draws from a select group of general contractors and subcontractors for each of his projects. Providing regular work allows him to build at a cost as much as 10 percent lower than competitors and often begin construction sooner, he said.

He similarly has a select group of banks. The result: while other developers are often still cobbling together financing or finding a general contractor, Perez is topping off a project.

If all his projects are built, many of Perez's buildings will likely be defining features of skylines from West Palm Beach to downtown Miami for decades to come. ''I want to build buildings that are a catalyst for an area, that have a multiplier effect and lead to a more livable city,'' said Perez.

But if they don't get built, Perez may find himself vulnerable to the perils of the unpredictable South Florida condo market. Perhaps mindful of that, Perez recently quipped: ''If you find me under a bridge, you'll know I made the wrong call.''

read that in the paper this morning...

a tribute to our idol...

really hones in on the process of building a project. I think Perez is a godsend for South Florida, and the boom would not be the same without him. Would there even be boom? Surely not of this magnitude!


the article also mentions that Perez is working on several project that have yet to be announced. Yippy!:):)

^ Wonderful, if true. But i thought he'd already announced that ICON is his last Miami project.

Loft 1 looks so short...

Everyone :) , " Rats at Bayside Marketplace " restruants close down and clean up rats running around, owners of Bayside are blaming nearby construction sites such as the Everglages on the bay condo towers site , Rats relocating to the Bayside Marketplace after they lost their home at the old Everglades hotel. :cheers:

Tomorrow will find out if Lynx gets approved. :runaway:

did we ever get the april edition of the miami excel spreesheet thing that ballin boi found

Master plan for Museum Park expected by year's end

By Suzy Valentine
Concepts for converting Miami's Bicentennial Park into Museum Park should be ready by year's end - a process to which the city is pledging up to $1.4 million.
Civic leaders descended upon the downtown park Tuesday to launch the master-planning phase Cooper Robertson and Partners aims to complete by Dec. 31.
"We've mapped out that this process is going to take eight to nine months," said designer Alex Cooper. "By the end of this year, we're going to have a fully flushed-out concept and a very developed, detailed design within an eight-month period, so that's very fast. We're already behind."
The Miami Art Museum, the Miami Museum of Science and Planetarium and the Historical Museum of Southern Florida plan to move to the 30-plus acre park with a 2,600-foot bay walk and some Florida East Coast Industries land.
Commissioners hired Cooper Robertson in February. The resolution assigned $1.3 million in capital-improvement funds and $100,000 in other funds.
Mr. Cooper wouldn't say how much the process will cost. "We don't know yet," he said, "we've just started."
Drawings won't be ready before year-end 2006, said City Commissioner Johnny Winton. He said funds for the park aren't in place. "We don't have the money yet," he said. "We have $10 million set aside, and we estimated when I did the original master plan that it would cost $22 million to $23 million to do a park here."
Mr. Winton said Tuesday that even after lengthy discussions, the park may not feature its major component, museums.
"As soon as we get money or segments of money, we can start doing the park whether or not the museums come," Mr. Winton said. "The museums are an integral part of the planning process. ... They may never get here, but the park should get here."
Representatives of the Miami-Dade County Commission and the City of Miami as well as the three cultural facilities that are to move into Bicentennial Park added their symbolic signatures Tuesday to a plan to transform the 30-plus acres into Museum Park.
The Miami Art Museum, the Miami Museum of Science and Planetarium and the Historical Museum of Southern Florida plan to move to the vacant parkland with 2,600 feet of baywalk and some Florida East Coast Industries land.
Plans to refit a warship as the Miami-Dade Historical Maritime Museum is to tie in with park plans. The waterborne collection - the brainchild of Frans Boetes - is, unlike the other projects, privately funded.
City Commissioner Johnny Winton said Tuesday that funds for the envisioned Museum Park aren't yet in place.
A 2001 charette on uses for the park pinpointed three possibilities - an arrangement by which sale of part of the park would finance an upgrade of the remaining land; restoration to status as a passive park, a use which historically has been unsuccessful; and Museum Park. City officials have endorsed the latter concept.
Despite delays and lack of financing, museum officials say they are dedicated to the project.
"We can really start the active master planning," said science museum president Gillian Thomas, "as opposed to just knowing we'll have 4 acres somewhere on the site. We can begin to limit all the issues to make sure that this works practically but is also beautiful. We also need to know how we'll get the schools on and off the site."
City approval of the project, said Mr. Winton, is to follow the conceptual stage.
"It's only at the global master-planning level," he said. "This is a very public process. We're just at the stage where we decide there's a soccer field here, there's a clump of trees here and there's this, this there. Then you go and get adoption from the City Commission after this phase is over."
The three museums are on the second list of projects to receive funds from the $2.9 million General Obligation Bond issue approved by voters in November, a county subcommittee last week announced. The science museum must match the $150 million it is promised, the art museum $100 million and the history museum $25 million. When the museums will get the funds hasn't been announced.

County may take over airport terminal project

By Sherri C. Ranta
Completion of the North Terminal at Miami International Airport could fall into Miami-Dade County hands if negotiations fail between American Airlines and the lone bidder for the work.
American and county officials began negotiations with Parsons-Odebrecht Joint Venture early this month after the airline rejected the company's $500 million bid as too high, said John Cosper, Miami International's deputy aviation director.
The project budget was set last year at $388.7 million.
"The hope is to reach an agreement," he said. "American asked us to do this. It probably is the most expeditious way to keep the project moving."
When the bid was rejected, Gilberto Neves, executive vice president of Odebrecht Construction, said the joint venture likely would not spend more money to submit a second bid. Instead, company officials wanted to negotiate with American, he said, based on the existing proposal.
If an agreement between Parsons-Odebrecht and American Airlines cannot be reached, Mr. Cosper said, the county is "on a parallel track" to determine what it needs to do to put its own contracts out for bid to complete the $1.5 billion North Terminal.
A determination about when the county might take over is still up in the air, he said.
Representatives of American, the county and Parsons-Odebrecht are meeting several times a week. An agreement between American and Parsons-Odebrecht is not imminent, he said, as discussions are "too preliminary."
"We're reviewing where the project is right now, understanding what has been finished, what's been built, what needs to be done," Mr. Cosper said. Since the county is involved, he said, officials are leaning toward allowing public access to the process.
No deadline is set for American and Parsons-Odebrecht to make a deal, and Mr. Cosper said last week that it was too early to evaluate progress toward an agreement.
In the meantime, he said, work continues on the North Terminal, and officials hope to open two new gates by June.
American consolidated North Terminal work into one bid package late last year rather than create numerous smaller contracts. At one point, American Airlines was considering 100 different bid packages for the work.
The county hoped the move to consolidate would enable American to make one contractor responsible for meeting schedules, dates and budgets. But Parsons-Odebrecht was the only bidder, at a price far exceeding what was budgeted.
Interim Aviation Director Carlos Bonzon, County Manager George Burgess and American officials continue to discuss the finances, Mr. Cosper said. Construction of the North Terminal, under American Airlines oversight, is as much as $256 million over budget.
Mr. Cosper said he expects American to continue to be involved in the project even if the county takes authority over the construction contract.
"I don't think they're going to wash their hands of it in any sense," he said. "It's still their terminal, they'll still be involved in the day-to-day management."

County working on clearing way for biopharmaceutical park

By Tom Harlan
Miami-Dade County officials are working to approve a long-term lease in the next few days that would bring a biopharmaceutical park and up to 1,500 jobs to Liberty City.
Town Center Properties is to develop Poinciana Park, a $120 million park on a county Empowerment Trust site near Northwest 79th Street and 27th Avenue.
The county manager's office must approve an undisclosed 75-year ground-lease agreement with the trust. The county, which owns the site, transferred the land to the trust in 2004 to begin the lease with the developer.
"The empowerment has signed off on the transaction," said Bryan Finnie, president and CEO of the trust. "The county manager's office is reviewing the signing-off on the agreement. We expect an agreement to be completed shortly."
Signing a long-term lease in the next month is critical for developer Town Center Properties to obtain financing to break ground on the first phase of the project, Mr. Finnie said, and begin setting up operations by May 2006.
Interest rates are rising, Mr. Finnie said Friday, so the longer Town Center has to wait to borrow money, the thinner their profit margins become.
"The window is closing on development," he said. "What's easy to do now will be harder to do in future."
The trust and Town Center agreed to the lease in November, and it was sent to the county manager's office for approval. While negotiating terms, county officials have discussed balancing the return on investment for the land and public policy issues.
There is a high premium on county land, Mr. Finnie said, but the cost of development and property issues must be taken into account in return for a private partner to build a facility and create hundreds of jobs.
"It forces a type of financial relationship where you have to be liberal, in the beginning, on your return as landlord leasing property," he said. "I think we've done a good job working with private sector to keep their costs down as much as we possibly can to get this dynamic and exciting project started."
Phase one of the park would include 1.1 million square feet of space, with 600,000 square feet of office industrial and manufacturing space, 60,000 square feet of retail space and 100 apartment units. The site will also have an outpatient clinic and a training center for biotech industry jobs.
MediVector, a Massachusetts based company that has partnered with pharmaceutical companies such as Pfizer and Merck, is to lead an effort to spin off companies from drugs discovered by South Florida biotech companies.
The campus is to grow to 2.2 million square feet and house a consortium of drug manufacturers and a training institute that would prepare workers for the pharmaceutical industry.
The site could add jobs for 1,500 low- and middle-income residents that could vary from pharmaceutical research to shipping positions, Town Center Properties president Dennis Stackhouse said in a November 2004 interview.
As part of the agreement with the trust, Town Center and MediVector have an obligation to create training and employment within the zone that lead to jobs that pay a livable wage.
Residents in the area are to have the first shot at work, company officials said, including more than 750 construction jobs needed to build the campus.
Poinciana is to be a catalytic project that is to bring other developers to Liberty City, Mr. Finnie said, to invest in projects that will have an economic multiplier effect on the area.
"We just look forward to this thing getting started," he said. "For this neighborhood, this type of investment is catalytic. It's a proper role for the county to start it and get out of the way."

Officials of Chinese city may open trade office here

By Claudio Mendonça
Miami-Dade County may become home to a trade-promotion office and distribution center for Tianjin, China.
Tianjin, 80 miles west of Beijing, is China's third-largest city with 10 million residents and is one of the country's most important manufacturing centers.
On Monday, a four-person delegation representing the Tianjin Economic Development Area visited Greater Miami to look at facilities. One of the sites of interest to the group is the Miami Free Zone in Doral.
"We want to explore opportunities and use Miami as a trade center for logistics and delivery for Latin America and the Caribbean," said Zhang Jun, vice chairman of the Tianjin group. "But first we want to learn and gather information so we can first give information to companies back in China."
Miami-Dade would become Tianjin's fifth US trade site after New York, Chicago, Houston and San Jose, CA.
In addition to developing South Florida as a hub, the Chinese want to utilize the Miami Free Zone as a platform to the US market.
"We have lots of enterprises that have interest in coming to Greater Miami for Latin America and the Caribbean. We are already trying to attract current clients," Mr. Zhang said.
He said that while Latin America is far from being China's largest trade partner, that could change.
Mr. Zhang said he hopes that in the "very short term, officials from that country can make a decision. We are still learning a lot of the Miami Free Zone. We are still collecting information to bring back to enterprises in China."
County Commissioner Jose "Pepe" Diaz, head of Miami-Dade's International Trade Consortium, led a delegation on a 15-day trip to Asia that included Tianjin in March.
Mr. Diaz said the Chinese are still learning about free-trade rules in the US. "Every free zone has different sets of rules even though concept is the same," he said. "It is a different set of customs. They have to analyze and see feasibility. We are hoping representatives from Tianjin can settle in as permanent residents."
Miami Free Zone President Ralph Gazitua, who was on the March trip to China, said Monday that he was so impressed with Tianjin's robust economy that he is planning to return to the Far East to create more operations.
"Visiting was a humbling experience," he said. "It is a trade zone equaling a city the size of Coral Gables with 250,000 employees and 4,000 companies. We can have mutual benefits in the future."
Members of the Chinese delegation also met this week with Port of Miami and Miami International Airport officials and members of the Beacon Council.
With 42 Fortune 500 companies in Tianjin, Mr. Zhang said, 80% of the region's exports come from US, European and Asian investments. US companies account for one-third of Tianjin's total investments, he said, and include Motorola, Caterpillar and Honeywell.
"Hopefully, we can help Tianjin redistribute products to smaller markets in Latin America and the Caribbean," said Gary Goldfarb, executive director of the Miami Free Zone. "We see what an amazing job Tianjin is doing."

HOTEL PLANS SCORE: Plans for a developer to build and run a four-star hotel on the Melreese Golf Course near Miami International Airport were approved April 14 by the Miami City Commission. The decision to allow the hotel a maximum of 350 units came from a community meeting, said Commissioner Angel Gonzalez. "When I called a public meeting, we promised a maximum of 350 units, and that is the only reason why we are at 349 units - because otherwise, I assure you, they will be proposing to build 3,300 rooms and maybe an additional park and who knows," he said. Commissioner Johnny Winton said, "I think we are making Commissioner Gonzalez's district way too good here." Mr. Gonzalez responded, "This will be my legacy." A board selected by City Manager Joe Arriola is to review proposals, but he said the commission will have the final decision.



all articles from WWW.MIAMITODAYNEWS.COM

I went online to see the work of Cooper Robertson and Partners, they do some nice work but nothing that seems real iconic. But in any case The museums will be well designed and the Urban planning department seems to know what they are doing considering all the large clients they have...

Condo development on Miami coast is hot, hotter, hottest
By Marilyn Adams, USA TODAY
MIAMI — Fifty stories below the penthouse terrace of Jade Residences, a new luxury condominium high-rise, the turquoise waters of Biscayne Bay and the Atlantic Ocean beyond stretch endlessly.

Miami's 70-story Four Seasons tower includes condos.
Four Seasons

This mesmerizing view from the three-story, four-bedroom condo fetched $7 million in the hottest real estate market Miami has ever seen, and one of the hottest in the USA.

Florida's developers and real estate brokers are flying high amid an unprecedented condo-building and -buying wave they hope won't end anytime soon. The frenzied spending is coming to a large extent from outside Florida — well-to-do baby boomers from the North nearing retirement, and foreigners whose money for real estate has gained potency from a weak dollar.

Development is also setting records in other Florida coastal cities such as Tampa and West Palm Beach, but the boom has been most dramatic in Miami and its nearby beach communities.

Miami-area home values increased 20% in 2004, vs. a national gain of about 12%, the federal government says. But that measure fails to register the dizzying price escalation for new condos on or near the water. Developers of new projects are asking about $500,000 for a one-bedroom on the beach with an ocean view.

Today, an estimated 50 major condo projects are proposed or under construction within 50 city blocks in Miami on or near Biscayne Bay. There are so many gaping holes in the ground — where old buildings have been razed and new ones are planned — that downtown looks as if it has been bombed. A remarkable 69,000 condo units are currently in the permit pipeline or are newly built and for sale citywide. By comparison, Las Vegas — perennially among the USA's hottest housing markets — issued permits for 40,000 units of all types of housing last year.

The explosion in South Florida real estate comes despite four major hurricanes that roared across Florida last summer, causing $22 billion in damage and weeks of panic statewide. The Miami area was spared, but for a time, it seemed the phenomenon of four hurricanes could cause the entire Florida coastline to lose a bit of luster. That hasn't happened.

"South Florida is going through the largest urban redevelopment in its history," says Michael Cannon of appraisal firm Integra Realty Resources.

Cannon and other experts here are increasingly worried that paradise might be getting overbuilt. They fear investor speculation is driving too much of the condo demand — that some builders, developers and lenders might be heading for a crash, as has happened here before.

He and other experts suspect some projects will never get the construction loans they need to get off the ground because so many units have been pre-sold to speculators with small down payments, and banks know the speculators plan to resell at a profit, not live there. "Do I think all these projects will be built?" says real estate expert Lewis Goodkin of Goodkin Consulting. "Absolutely not."

Weak dollar draws Europeans

Powerful economic and demographic forces are driving the boom. Developers see an army of aging baby boomers looking for a warm place to vacation or retire. Low interest rates have made big mortgages more affordable. In the past five years, real estate has been a far a better investment than the stock market.

The weak dollar makes Florida real estate look like a bargain abroad. To Europeans with euros to spend, for example, Florida property can seem like a deal because of the added buying power they get from a favorable currency exchange rate. Unlike the past, today's Florida developers aren't targeting just retirees or snowbirds from the Northeast and Latin America. Luxury buildings are targeting the wealthy worldwide.

For years, Miami suffered from negative perceptions fed by popular culture and reality. TV's Miami Vice glorified the fight against the violent cocaine trade. The series CSI: Miami still portrays this as an unusually murderous town. In the 1990s, police corruption, violent attacks on tourists and prosecutions of top politicians on bribery and voting-fraud charges shaped a banana republic image.

Today, Miami's business and government leaders are working to craft a world-class city. A performing arts center is going up downtown, and development is planned all around it. Blocks away, the American Airlines Arena houses Miami Heat basketball games and concerts by top stars. A few miles to the east lie the hot restaurants and nightclubs of South Beach. So fast is Miami's landscape changing that Mayor Manuel Diaz last weekend unveiled a master plan, "Miami 21," designed in part to bring order to frenetic development.

Prices for new condos have leaped. As of last year, the average price for a condo in Miami-Dade County hovered close to $300,000, a third higher than in 2000, according to Integra. But in downtown Miami's more desirable neighborhoods, one-bedrooms in new projects start at about $350,000 in the earliest stages of selling. In Miami Beach and other communities, one-bedroom units in new oceanfront projects start at close to $500,000 and run into the millions.

With prices at those levels, developers must inspire an irresistible urge to buy. To that end, some new projects are named for precious stones and metals: Onyx, Emerald, Platinum. Others evoke colors of the sea — Blue, Acqualina — and still others, rapturous states of mind -Apogee, Nirvana.

"They're not selling condos anymore," Cannon says. "They're selling sex."

"You sell a dream, " says Edgardo Defortuna, CEO of Fortune International, a Miami developer.

Developers, he says, must sell condos today before the first dirt is turned because construction lenders require sales-contract commitments upfront. Fortune's Jade project sold out a year before the building was completed last fall.

Now, Fortune is marketing a proposed oceanfront project called Jade Beach, where the penthouse is advertised at $11 million. Meanwhile, land prices in downtown Miami's handsome Brickell Avenue neighborhood, where Jade was built, have continued to soar. In 2001, Defortuna paid $19 million for Jade's 2.5 acre site. Today, an adjacent empty lot the same size is advertised at $100 million.

Developers are amazed at the diversity of buyers and shoppers. Ninety percent of Jade's buyers are foreign nationals, says Ana Cristina Defortuna, Edgardo's wife and the company's vice president for sales.

"We have people from every Latin American country," she says. "We have royalty in the building, singers, actors."

Mexicans are the top Latin buyers now, she says. Mexican pop music star Luis Miguel owns one of Jade's penthouses. Colombian race car driver Juan Pablo Montoya owns another one.

"Russians are very strong right now," she says. "They are the best: They don't negotiate price."

Other projects target U.S. buyers. At Trump Grande, an oceanfront high-rise development in nearby Sunny Isles Beach, buyers tend to be from the Northeast, where the Trump name is well known. Five condo towers are proposed on a total of 19 oceanfront acres where sleepy motels once stood. Prices range from $700,000 to a stunning $25 million for an 18,000-square-foot penthouse.

Developer Joyce Bronson, whose company Related Group is backing Trump Grande, says they have seen no signs the market is cooling off.

"There is a large buying population out there," she says. "When you compare the value of real estate here to other world-class cities, our numbers look pretty good — and we have sunshine."

Speculators eyed

Community leaders hail the burst of growth, the new property tax revenue and the revitalization of neighborhoods. But many real estate experts are warning that rampant speculation could jeopardize the vibrant market.

Consultant Goodkin estimates up to 70% of recent condo buyers are purchasing for speculation.

"People are betting rather than buying," he says.

Fueling the problem is "an absence of gatekeepers," Goodkin says. "There's a lot of liberal financing out there." Experts also note that a new crop of aggressive but inexperienced developers has been drawn to the market by the smell of quick profit.

"All the banks are concerned about the level of speculation," says Raul Valdes-Fauli, the senior lender at Union Bank in Miami. "In a market like this, banks really need to go back to the fundamentals, and do deals with people they know." Union is now "being more selective" about financing new condo projects.

He says many construction lenders are now requiring developers put "non-assignment" clauses in sales contracts forbidding buyers from flipping their units before they close. Others are requiring 30% down payments or limiting the number of units any one buyer can get to one or two.

If a building sells too many units to speculators who don't close, he says, "The first people who get burned are the buyers who just closed on their units." The value of their investment plummets.

Despite the investment risks, many buyers can't resist the hypnotic water views — and the possibility prices will keep going up. Drawn to the tropics, airline CEO Jonathan Ornstein of Phoenix-based Mesa Air Group shopped a long time for an oceanfront condo in Miami Beach.

Miami Beach is "a hip place," he says. "The condos are really on the beach. You walk out the door, and you're on the sand."

Ornstein just put 10% down on a small, furnished condo-hotel room in Fontainebleau III, a project adjacent to the oceanfront Fontainebleau Hilton Resort in Miami Beach. The building won't be completed for at least two years. At $580,000, the unit was $1,000 a square foot.

He knows he might have overpaid. "This could be a bubble," he says. If it is, he says, buying at the low end of the market gives him some protection. "The less you spend, the less you could lose."
http://www.usatoday.com/money/perfi/housing/2005-04-19-florida-boom-usat_x.htm

Man, that news of the Chinese (Tianjin) trade delegation opening up shop in Doral is great news. at least we know the Chinese won't ever nuke Dade...

Man, that news of the Chinese (Tianjin) trade delegation opening up shop in Doral is great news. at least we know the Chinese won't ever nuke Dade...

I'm sure they think we would nuke them first, especially with the advent of Wal-Marts trying to take over their (and everyone elses) economies now. And let's not forget who's traditionally the superpower bully (ahem ahem).

^ (ahem, ahem) right back at you (as long as we're getting political).

i don't really care as long as there bringing jobs in with them,

anyways i think the biopharm in liberty is bigger news than the chinese trade,because its going to be 1500jobs in liberty city

^ agreed

anybody catch the report tonight on NBC's Nightly News regarding Miami's construction boom?

http://video.msn.com/video/p.htm?t=1&m=News%20-%20Weather&mi=NBC%20News&i=14462c78-054a-45fb-925f-9c8fe11cd882,41e215a0-27a7-44b0-86c7-13ef1e3bea8b,14462c78-054a-45fb-925f-9c8fe11cd882,fd7c13cc-9144-423a-9197-43ee6fd23efe,ff9e18af-89a8-4e60-bbed-de9242bb3c7d,d5d48756-400a-4eb6-83ce-35f91bb59a2a,44ff19b5-aacb-4afb-b0e4-6447b3d4f0fc,31e879ea-a5bd-45e1-90d6-e295a6bef754,69ac537f-ca63-4374-ac88-9ebeb0e228fb,b4d4e7e0-4123-482e-9767-f8d8af19c925,&rf=

there's a commercial first before the report.

Nice video. Thanks Bob!

Bobdreamz, great stuff! :) I recommend ppl posting more video news clips.

Family Sells Miami Condo Site to Focus on Mixed-Use

APRIL 14, 2005 -- Miami--Miami Riverhouse, a condominium development planned for the Civic Center area in Spring Garden, has been sold to Miami Riverhouse Ltd, whose principals are Lauris Boulanger and Mark Rousso, for $11.3 million plus incentives. The original owners, the Burstyn family, closed on the sale under the entity of Seabrook Development Properties Inc. They are retaining an unspecified interest in the property.

Seabrook originally purchased the property in 1994 for $1.8 million. The site currently houses a Travel Inn, which will continue to be operated by the Burstyns until it is demolished.

The plans for Miami Riverhouse are complete and site approval has been secured. The new development team will launch sales in April 2005.

According to real estate veteran Judah Burstyn, the family sold its primary interest in the Miami Riverhouse project to focus its efforts on developing a 650,000-square-foot mixed-use project on a two-acre site (currently occupied by a Days Inn) adjacent to the new University of Miami Miller School of Medicine Research Center.

"This [mixed-use] project will only add to the booming momentum of the Civic Center District," noted Judah Burstyn. "My brother and I have been a major supporter and investor of the Civic Center area for over 10 years and are very excited to see the wonderful changes in the area. Our newest project will create jobs, residences and will facilitate the city's request for high-density projects in this highly endorsed employment zone."
http://www.multi-housingnews.com/multihousing/headlines/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1000847253

Contractor, Construction Loan Set for Luxury Miami Condo

APRIL 13, 2005 -- Miami--Lauris Boulanger Inc. will serve as general contractor for Star Lofts on the Bay, the boutique, bayfront condominium slated for the Biscayne Corridor. Company founder Lauris Boulanger is one of the developers of the 47-unit project, along with Mark E. Rousso and Agincourt VII LLC's Thomas Fawell and David Hirschfeld.

The $16 million construction loan has been secured, and completion is scheduled for late spring 2006. Once complete, the 23-story, all-loft tower will feature various flats, full-floor residences and two-story sky homes boasting impeccable views of the city and bay. Available price points range from the mid $500s to $2.5 million.

"The principals were looking for a strong local development partner," said Boulanger. "Our development and construction experience offers them the advantage of a dual-functioning partner, where we have total control over the quality of the product."

STAR will offer an Asian-inspired meditation garden, bay-front infinity-edge pool and spa, private fitness center and designer kitchens and baths. Residents will also have a concierge on call seven days a week.

http://www.multi-housingnews.com/multihousing/headlines/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1000847254

Fremont, Corus Co-Lend $145M For Miami Condo

Miami—Fremont Investment & Loan and Corus Bank N.A. acted as co-lenders to close on an $145 million loan to provide construction financing for development of Terra Group's Quantum on the Bay here. An affiliate of General Motors Pension Fund provided the mezzanine loan.

The $190 million development will be situated along the west side of Biscayne Bay adjacent to the Margaret Pace Park, just north of the Miami CBD in the dynamic Miami Arts District.

Quantum on the Bay will consist of 698 units in two towers—47 and 40 stories each atop a four-story, 978-space parking garage. Most units will be positioned to offer spectacular bay, city and South Beach views. Residences will feature floor-to-ceiling windows and large private balconies. Amenities will include two open-air swimming pools and a private health club with exercise facility, spa and sauna.

Luxury Condo Tower Caters to Sports Enthusiasts

Miami—Leviev Boymelgreen Developers will develop Soleil, a 43-story, mixed-use condominium catering to the sports-minded professional in this city's trendy Arts District. It will be the developer's first project in this immediate neighborhood, following the debut of its flagship project, Marquis, in downtown Miami.

The architecture firm of Fullerton Diaz designed the project with 288 residences and townhomes atop more than 10,000 square feet of ground-floor retail and restaurant space. Sales begin this month with prices debuting from the $300,000s.

Designed to accommodate even the most active of athletes, while enveloping residents in a rich, tropical environment, the 50,000-plus-square-foot amenity deck incorporates an infinity-edge pool; a fitness center; peaceful Zen gardens ideal for yoga; and basketball, tennis and handball courts.

Numerous townhomes are located on the amenity deck, giving these residents direct access to Soleil's many offerings. Also part of the no-holds-barred lifestyle is a secluded spa, plus a full-service restaurant and residence event space.

Residences range to over 4,000 square feet and come in a variety of one-, two- and three-bedroom floorplans; townhomes; and double-high loft penthouses with panoramic rooftop terraces.
http://www.multi-housingnews.com/multihousing/search/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1000846937

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

april 2005

really a slap in the face, look for yourself

http://www.ci.miami.fl.us/Planning/pages/DR(April%202005).xls
:bash:

hopefully next months will have a big height increase, at least sma is still @ 805, but poor met 3

its not working for me... wat hpnd to met 3?

its not working for me... wat hpnd to met 3?

Chopped to 786 ft., apparently.