Miami Today: Week of Thursday, October 1, 2015

WEEK OF THURSDAY, OCTOBER 1, 2015

A Singular Voice in an Evolving City

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CORAL GABLES

Community sketches greenery in a coming streetscape, pg. 11 MUM’S THE WORD AT PUBLIX: Coral Gables officials haven’t heard from Publix where its plan stands for replacing its 43,000-square foot store on LeJeune Road with a modern 57,000-square-foot grocery along with an 18story multi-family residential building fronting Salzedo Street. Project architect Aris Garcia came before the city Design Review Committee in June 2014 to describe the 452,038-squarefoot complex, which would include 282 residences and a garage with 793 spaces. The committee recommended added traffic studies and revisions to architectural plans to accommodate pedestrian patterns. Since then, however, the applicant has submitted nothing more to the city, said Maria Higgins Fallon, city public affairs manager. Publix has no update on its plans as of now, according to Nicole Maristany Krauss, media and community relations manager for the company’s Miami division.

With just 1.9% of retail vacant, it’s harder to set up shop, pg. 16

THE ACHIEVER

BY CARLA VIANNA

CONDO TOWER DEFERRED: Plans for Edgewater 26, a proposed 10story condominium offering 86 units at 321-401 NE 26th St., are stalled after Miami’s Urban Development Review Board deferred the matter. The plan includes three levels of parking screened with an art treatment, a rooftop amenity deck with a swimming pool and ground floor retail. Board members in September were critical of the massing of the building, the use of long straight corridors, small balconies and other items. Rather than recommend denial, a representative of the developer asked the board to defer the project. The matter could be back for the board’s October meeting.

A BUMP IN PAY: Miami city commissioners Sept. 24 agreed to provide all permanent full-time non-bargaining City of Miami employees a onetime 2.5% pay supplement based on the employee’s base salary. The supplement will consist of a one-time payment based on base salary, and won’t count for pension calculations. The estimated impact is $927,000.

City Manager Daniel Alfonso told commissioners the measure affects more than 200 employees.

RESCUE DOLLARS: The City of Miami has received a $100,000 grant from the State of Florida Department of Financial Services for continued operation of the South Florida Urban Search and Rescue Task Force 2, a search and rescue program run by the city. Commissioners accepted the grant Sept. 10.

Photo by Marlene Quaroni

Larry Rice

New president is leading Johnson & Wales campus The profile is on Page 4

City grants railroad easement to take to the air

BY JOHN CHARLES ROBBINS

In order to build its MiamiCentral train station downtown with elevated tracks, All Aboard Florida needed an aerial easement over Miami streets. City commissioners last week granted the easement to a company affiliated with All Aboard Florida, DT Miami LLC. MiamiCentral, an inter-city passenger rail station and intermodal transportation center, will offer a private passenger rail link to Orlando.

The heart of the station will be a five-train track structure elevated 50 feet. All Aboard Florida said the station’s framework includes 75 train piers to hold up about 5,000 linear feet of track.

Commissioners voted to convey a permanent aerial easement to DT Miami LLC for All Aboard Florida railroad terminal uses across Northwest Fifth and Sixth streets, waiving user fees.

DT Miami plans to construct permanent All Aboard Florida elevated railroad platforms for trains and passenger waiting areas across the city right-of-ways and the Metrorail corridor, the resolution states.

The legislation cites the value of the rail

AGENDA

American’s Miami pilot flying solo

link. “The All Aboard Florida passenger railroad system is of regional importance that serves the tri-county [Miami-Dade, Broward, Palm Beach County] area,” it reads.

The resolution says the aerial easement serves a public purpose “to expand and promote business and job creation in the community, as well as serving the transportation purpose of a new railroad and providing a connecting corridor.”

The new station is to be integrated with the Miami-Dade County Metrorail and Metromover systems, possibly link with TriRail, and is being considered a major transit hub for the city with connections to buses, trolleys, taxis and more.

City Manager Daniel Alfonso pointedly alerted commissioners to the estimated value of the easement, which he said was about $1.4 million. If the city is ever asked to joint venture with All Aboard Florida, it could consider the $1.4 million value as matching funds, he said.

MiamiCentral is to start passenger service in early 2017 between Miami and West Palm Beach, with Orlando runs targeted to begin in late 2017.

The new rail station is part of a larger plan to transform vacant downtown property into

a new mixed-use neighborhood with hotel, office, residential and commercial uses.

All Aboard Florida parcels extend north from about Northwest First to Eighth streets, generally east of Northwest First Court. The linear stretch was once home to the city’s main train depot.

Last week, site work began on 3 MiamiCentral, perhaps the smallest piece of All Aboard Florida’s full development vision for downtown. That mixed-use complex is bringing Class A office space, retail and a grocer to Historic Overtown.

The property is hugged by Northwest Sixth and Seventh streets and Northwest First Court and Second Avenue west of the Miami-Dade County Administration Building.

The plan calls for a 12-story building to house a grocer at about 29,000 square feet on the ground floor, nearly 97,000 square feet of office space, 33,161 square feet of commercial and retail space, and a garage for 1,096 vehicles.

The plan promises dedicated parking for the historic Lyric Theater nearby. One of the first tenants will be All Aboard Florida, which will relocate its headquarters from Coral Gables.

Art Torno, the American Airlines executive who replaced longstanding Senior VP Peter Dolara as VP of Mexico, Caribbean and Latin American operations in Miami and became the airline’s senior official and most visible figure in Miami, has relocated to the airline’s headquarters in Fort Worth, TX, carrying a new title.

Mr. Torno continues to lead the Mexico, Caribbean and Latin American operations but has now added Europe, the Middle East, Asia and the Pacific as well as cargo to his oversight, said Martha Pantin, a corporate communications manager in Miami, via email.

“Art Torno, Senior Vice President – International and Cargo leads airport operations and has oversight of strategic initiatives at American’s 112 stations in Asia, the Caribbean, Europe, Latin America, the Middle East and Pacific, the largest international division of any airline worldwide,” Ms. Pantin said. “He is also responsible for the Cargo Division worldwide including operations, marketing and sales.”

She said the new position required Mr. Torno to relocate to Fort Worth.

When asked if his Miami position will be replaced, Miami Today was told Marilyn DeVoe will continue to hold her position as VP of Miami operations.

“Ms. DeVoe’s role hasn’t changed.” Ms. Pantin said. “She continues to be in charge of our Miami hub as she has for many years.”

Miami Today asked for but did not receive further comment.

Mr. Torno, who was VP of New York operations, replaced Mr. Dolara in 2012. American carries about two-thirds of all passengers at Miami International and is the county’s third-largest private employer with 11,000-plus on staff.

Two years ago US Airways and American Airlines merged in an $11 billion deal that would create a stronger rival to United and Delta.

On Oct. 17, reservations systems will be officially combined and US Airways will cease to operate its own subsidiary airline.

AS BRAZIL STAGGERS, DEVELOPERS SAID TO DELAY ...

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S&P GIVES GABLES POSITIVE OUTLOOK, RATINGS GAIN ...

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VIEWPOINT: BALANCING ACT ON SCARCE PORT LAND ...

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MILLION-DOLLAR HOMES DO WELL IN BUYER’S MARKET ...

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QUEBEC DELEGATION VISIT TO CEMENT MIAMI LINKS ...

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10 DAYS OF EVENTS MARK GABLES’ 90TH ANNIVERSARY ... 14

NEIGHBORS QUIZ DEVELOPER OF TWIN RIVER TOWERS ...

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WYNWOOD LEGISLATION FLOOD WORRIES OVERTOWN ...

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MIAMI TODAY

TODAY’S NEWS

WEEK OF THURSDAY, OCTOBER 1, 2015

THE INSIDER ALL FOR FIDO: The Omni Community Redevelopment Agency is holding a grand opening at 11:30 a.m. today (10/1) of a dog park area at Margaret Pace Park, 1745 N Bayshore Drive. The half-acre park includes two fenced areas, one for dogs heavier than 25 pounds, the other for smaller dogs, allowing them room to run. The area will also offer park benches, “fire hydrants” and water fountains for dogs and people.

Artificial turf and mulch were selected to ease maintenance and save costs over time. Funded by the Miami Omni CRA, the dog park cost $400,000. “The neighborhood was in need of a separate area for dogs to exercise and release energy,” said Andres Althabe, president of the Biscayne Neighborhoods Association. “We are very pleased that the Omni CRA was so responsive and effective in making this happen.”

THE ART OF BANKING: It was an artistic week for BNY Mellon, which last week donated paintings from the bank’s corporate art collection to two Miami museums. At a Saturday reception at the Patricia and Philip Frost Art Museum at Florida International University, BNY Mellon unveiled one gift, “The Saw,” an oil on canvas work painted in 1964 by American artist Jack Beal. The bank also gave to the Perez Art Museum Miami a 1983 oil-on-canvas work, “Dead Reckoning,” by Mel Bochner.

FINNAIR FLIGHTS UNFINISHED: Finnair will serve Miami International Airport year-round starting April 2016, a press release stated. Next summer, the Finland-based airline will fly to Miami three times a week. The Photo by Maxine Usdan airline first launched nonstop service from Miami to its capital of Helsinki Miami-Dade commissioners have added to their individual priorities list the addition of Shepard Broad’s last December. At the time, it was MIA’s 16th destination in Europe and first name on the title of the Broad Causeway, in support of a request by the Town of Bay Harbor Islands. the southeastern US’s only nonstop connection to the Nordic country.

It started with two weekly flights in 2014 and went up to three from January to March, when the seasonal service ended. “The Miami route has proven to be popular both for our Northern European customers as well as for Miami based customers, for whom we offer excellent connections to Scandinavia via Helsinki. The new schedule will also enable excellent connections from Miami to our Asian destinations,” said Juha Järvinen, chief commercial officer of Finnair. amend the Florida ban on texting ting legislation to provide a proBENVENUTO NEW CONSUL GENERAL: Miami’s Italian consulate BY SUSAN DANSEYAR while driving law to make texting cess for school districts to imhas a new consul general; Gloria Bellelli who replaced former Consul General Adolfo Barattolo on Sept. 14. A welcome dinner will be held by County commissioners de- while driving a primary offense. mediately recover any prelimithe Italy-America Chamber of Commerce Southeast at 8 p.m. Oct. 17 at the ferred discussion to Oct. 6 on Urging the legislature to nary shortfall in the required Cibo Wine Bar in Miami Beach. Her jurisdiction is Florida, Georgia, South their individual priorities for the fund the development of an local effort until the final tax roll Carolina, Alabama, Mississippi, Puerto Rico and some Caribbean Is- 2016 State Legislature but agribusiness innovation center is certified. lands. Mr. Barattolo, who headed Miami’s Italian consulate for three- unanimously approved guiding in Miami-Dade.

Urging the legislature to reand-a-half years, is returning to Rome’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said Urging the legislature to en- quire the Florida Department of principles last week and urging Nevio Boccanera, executive director of the Italy-America chamber. Ms. Bellelli previously served as Italian commercial counselor in Algeria, resolutions adopted by the board act the “Florida Competitive Revenue to update an adminisItalian consul general in Israel, and most recently within Rome’s Ministry to date as well as departmental Workforce Act” or similar leg- trative rule for petitioners’ right of Foreign Affairs, where she was in charge of cultural events including legislative requests for the ses- islation that would prohibit dis- to reschedule hearings before crimination on the basis of the Value Adjustment Board to the Year of Italian Culture in the US in 2013, Mr. Boccanera said. Italy’s sion beginning Jan. 12.

Miami-Dade’s guiding prin- sexual orientation and gender limit the number to one time. consuls general usually serve four-year terms, Mr. Boccanera said.

What’s in a name? Two priorities for county’s Tallahassee lobbying

TRIPLE PLAY: Directors of the Wynwood Business Improvement voted unanimously Monday to renew for one year the contract of Tom Curitore, executive director. Cochair Albert Garcia, praised Mr. Curitore’s “endless energy and enthusiasm” and suggested he receive a $5,000 bonus and a $5,000 salary increase for next year, his first raise since he started in September 2013.

“We are a seven-member board with different visions and ideas, but he keeps us together.” said Mr. Garcia, who is chief operating officer of Mega Shoes. “He has Tom Curitore not only met, but exceeded, our every expectation, and we hope we can entice him to stick around for another year.” Mr. Curitore accepted.

BIGGER ROLE: Mary Jo Eaton, who has led CBRE’s Florida region from a Miami base since 2011, has been promoted to president over both Florida and Latin America for the commercial real estate brokerage. She will be responsible for 18 owned offices and four affiliate offices with more than 3,000 employees in Florida, Latin America and the Caribbean. Before coming to Miami, she had been managing director of the firm’s Baltimore office. She holds a master’s degree from Temple University and a bachelor’s from Case Western ReMary Jo Eaton serve.

HIGH PRAISE: Sonia Bogensperger, who was senior manager of marketing and business development, has been promoted to deputy executive director of Miami’s Downtown Development Authority, replacing Javier Betancourt, who left the authority to become director of Coral Gables’ Department of Economic Development. “I actually think that’s an upgrade,” Mr. Betancourt said of Ms. Bogensperger’s selection. “Sonia is terrific and she’ll do a great job. It speaks well for the authority that it has been able, so often, to promote from within.”

MORE CHANCES TO LEARN: The Miami-Dade Public Library System moves to an expanded schedule effective today (10/1). As part of the 2015-16 adopted budget, 10 library branches previously on a five-day schedule have increased to six days open. The branches are California Club, Coral Reef, Country Walk, Golden Glades, Hispanic, Homestead, International Mall, Kendall, Little River and Pinecrest. Additionally, the system expanded hours to include evenings at the Main Library (noon to 8 p.m. Thursdays) and Doral Branch (noon to 8 p.m. Mondays). Details: http://www.mdpls.org/news/new-hours-of-operation-fall-2015.html ROAD WORK PACT: Miami city commissioners have approved a construction and maintenance agreement with the Florida Department of Transportation for reconstruction of NW/SW 27th Avenue (SR 9) between Southwest 10th Street and Northwest First Street. The state transportation department has developed design plans for road improvement that includes milling and resurfacing, minor roadway widening, median reconstruction, replacing pavement markings, installing signs, replacing traffic signals, optimizing traffic signals’ phasing and timing, drainage modification and trimming landscaping. The reconstruction will require the state to construct some improvements on local side streets under the city’s jurisdiction.

ciples for the 2016 legislative agenda are support preservation of local home rule and oppose any effort to preempt local authority; support preservation of existing state funding for county programs and oppose any additional cost shifts, unfunded mandates from the state or reductions in county revenue from the state; support efforts to secure the same level of state funding for county programs as last year; and support partnerships with the state, other counties, municipalities, statewide associations and any other entity that would help to create favorable outcomes for the county.

Resolutions of the commission that members say require attention this legislative session include: Urging the legislature to amend state law, allowing two members of a county commission or city council with more than seven members to meet for a discussion of legislative matters without triggering Sunshine Law requirements.

Urging the Florida Department of Transportation to include the Ludlam Trail in the Florida shared-use non-motorized trail network program, as well as funding for the trail in the 2016-2017 state budget.

Urging the legislature to enact legislation that would attract film and television production projects to the state, preliminarily identifying the issue as a critical county priority and urging the Florida Association of Counties to identify it as one of its priorities for the 2016 session.

Urging the legislature to

identity.

Urging the Florida Department of Transportation to include the Underline, Ludlam Trail, Biscayne-Everglades Greenway and Black Creek Trail in the Florida shared-use nonmotorized trail network program along with funding for the trails in the 2015-2016 state budget.

Amending a resolution to revise the county road co-designation for portions of Southwest 152nd Street from being Larcenia Bullard Way to Senator Larcenia J. Bullard Way. Support President Barack Obama’s executive action on immigration to expand deferred action for childhood arrivals and implement deferred action for parents of Americans and lawful permanent residents, and urging Attorney General Pam Bondi to withdraw the State of Florida from Texas v. United States.

Support the town of Bay Harbor Islands regarding the renaming of Broad Causeway to Shepard Broad Causeway.

Urging the legislature to enact legislation that allows the Miami-Dade commission to levy an additional 1% tourist development tax and convention development tax to fund capital projects including purchasing, construction, extension and improvements for mass transit projects after approval by voters in a referendum.

Urging legislation related to value adjustment board proceedings to address interest payments, improve the timeliness and accuracy of the process and expedite the final certification of the property tax roll; support the school board in get-

Additionally, commissioners voted to urge the legislature to replace the Florida Enterprise Zone program with a new financial initiative program to encourage private sector businesses to locate or expand in areas that are economically disadvantaged and need revitalization; support Medicaid expansion in Florida per the Affordable Care Act; and pursue federal assistance to support farmers affected by the recent fruit fly infestation in Miami-Dade and develop a state program to assist farmers in overcoming similar agricultural emergencies.

The resolution also includes a long list of departmental request for the legislative session.

We want to hear from YOU! Phone: (305) 358-2663 Staff Writers: Susan Danseyar sdanseyar@miamitodaynews.com John Charles Robbins jrobbins@miamitodaynews.com Carla Vianna cvianna@miamitodaynews.com Letters to Editor editor@miamitodaynews.com People Column people@miamitodaynews.com Michael Lewis mlewis@miamitodaynews.com

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MIAMI TODAY

VIEWPOINT

WEEK OF THURSDAY, OCTOBER 1, 2015

MIAMITODAY Miami Today is an independent voice of the community, published weekly at 2000 S. Dixie Highway, Suite 100, Miami, Florida 33133. Telephone (305) 358-2663

Balancing act vital in choosing users of scarce public lands Diametrically opposed views on handing PortMiami sites to business users raise questions about how gove r n m e n t should disburse scarce public land.

One end of the spectrum is like the kid Michael Lewis with a dollar who has to spend it right now. The other end resembles the tightwad who still holds onto his first dollar. Views collide when government wrestles with business leases.

The use-it-now call surfaced as Miami’s Downtown Development Authority weighed leasing almost 9 seaport acres for 90 years for a Miami Yacht Harbor, which would include a hotel, convention space, duty-free shops, restaurants, a yacht marina and more.

County commissioners got an unsolicited proposal from promoters of the project – on the site where a soccer stadium had been sought a year earlier – and didn’t bite, prompting Commissioner Bruno Barreiro to tell downtown authority members that we should move fast.

“There’s a lot of interest from the outside world,” he said. “The commission has to make a decision. That’s a huge piece of property that’s not being utilized.”

Mr. Barreiro then noted that he has long sought an airport fuel farm on the site and the county should get moving.

“We can’t have that land just sitting there.”

The opposing view came as Xavier Suarez commented on fellow commissioners’ OK to lease land to Royal Caribbean Cruises for up to 60 years for a terminal for its largest ships, which now berth at Broward’s Port Everglades.

“You’re doing something problematic when you tie up valuable property like this for that long,” Mr. Suarez told Miami Today. “This is a lease that, at the total discretion of the cruise company, could go for 60 years and no one knows if the lease will end up being more valuable, if cruising will still be popular 60 years from now, if people will still like the large vessels.”

The lease-it-now view prevails. Local governments for years have cut deals with the first business through the door.

Whatever the asset is, when someone proposes a use that will net any cash flow at all, a deal is often sealed.

Mr. Suarez told us that the Royal Caribbean site should have been offered to other lines too. We have little doubt that PortMiami officials did so informally.

But there are far fewer major cruise lines than companies cobbled together just to develop on one government site or another. There is always an idea to put scarce public land to private use.

Each offering is a rush deal – but the rush is the proposer’s, not government’s need to yield the public’s land. It takes strong leaders to ask why the hurry.

There is validity to Mr. Barreiro’s call to not leave public land fallow. Leasing it for anything would produce some revenue, which is better than nothing – though the best use of land for public purposes like developing our community’s economy and increasing the public good in other ways is often a better choice than merely the highest lease payment.

And don’t forget that open public space held for decades is a real value too, both as green space and as an opportunity for something spectacular one day.

Waiting for the best use can, however, also be extreme. Mr. Suarez is right that we can’t know whether large cruise ships will be popular, or even used, in 60 years. And he’s probably

correct that the land would lease for more in 20 years than today – if it’s not under water as the sea rises.

But criteria that land will lease for more in the future than today and that we can’t lease if we don’t know what society will do in six decades will freeze everything. We’d never get a lease based on highest possible value in 60 years, nor could we deal based on known future habits.

As a practical matter, what’s the tipping point?

First, don’t just cut a deal with the first proposer. That won’t yield the best result and is likely to be based on cronyism. On the other hand, we can’t wait until we know the future and pick uses and charge rents based on that future.

The multi-use port project was proposed by a new company that has an idea. The cruise terminal is for a global corporation that is a major port user.

Which is more likely to fulfill the lease and do what it pledges? A lease is only good if the tenant stays solvent. That should be a second criterion.

Another yardstick is becoming an area asset and meshing with local aspirations. Both projects would fit, though downtown is leery of hotel, shopping and meeting competition.

Nobody is leery of more liners run by an industry giant in the cruising capital of the nation.

A fourth aspect is procedural: does everyone who might want to use a site get fair shot at the opportunity?

We don’t know if Carnival and other lines got the chance to lease the space that Royal Caribbean is dealing for. They should have, both for fairness and because Carnival and others are good port tenants.

We do know that the port’s southeast corner sought for the mixed-use project would have dozens of bidders.

But, as a fifth criterion, government should decide in public what it wants

on its land before it seeks proposals.

Many projects could fit in, make a profit and pay the lease. They’d submit a proposal if they knew about it. But not all of them would rank among top choices for land use.

The most profitable use of port land, taken to extremes, might be drug smuggling. It’s a maritime use. It provides foreign trade. It creates jobs. It would not compete with many nearby businesses. Still, it would not be the best choice.

The land uses should fall into the port’s master plan, which is now too broad. Most uses could fit. Narrow that plan to uses vital to a seaport. Resist any effort to stretch too far.

Mr. Suarez is correct that if we hold land we can someday lease it for far more. Mr. Barreiro is correct that if we lease land today we will have income stream that we would otherwise forfeit – though a higher future rent could give us that money with interest down the road.

Had private owners held undeveloped all of Brickell Avenue 60 years ago they would probably get 100 times the price today – but that would have left Miami much the poorer for 60 years.

Local government has massive realty assets. Dispersing them as fast as possible is not in the public’s interest, nor is holding them unused for decades.

A consensus master plan of what we want our community to be like in the decades ahead can make hard choices easier. Even so, it would change – for example, if cruising were no longer popular, the seaport would change its tenant mix.

It might be years before this community could craft such a plan. In the meanwhile, government must target some middle ground between handing over control of as much public land as quickly as possible and rejecting all income from land deals by studying them to death.

Give me a brake, car: why don’t you beep when I need it?

Just a few questions here: Why is it my car beeps at me for all kinds of silly reasons (seat belts, lights left on, open door before I turn the car off – when it’s in park!) but it won’t beep at me Paul Herbert when I need it to – like when I forget to release the emergency brake?

Why is it more and more businesses (like Wendy’s now) ask for my first name? Why not give a number on the receipt? Do people walk away and forget that they’ve ordered and paid for something?

I don’t want or need some teenager – or even an adult who doesn’t know me – calling me by my first name. Ever.

Even USAA has gotten into this first name nonsense. Their voice recorded “operator” calls me by my first name at the beginning of the call. I’d expect this kind of silly, pretentious “friendliness” at a place like Starbucks, but at USAA? I guess the “experts” who are advis-

The Writer Paul N. Herbert, who lives in northern Virginia, is the author of “God Knows All Your Names: Obscure Stories of American History,” “The Jefferson Hotel: The History of a Richmond Landmark” and “Elinor Fry: A Legacy of Dance in Richmond.” ing businesses are pushing the firstname thing, so businesses are jumping on the bandwagon. Who dare not follow the herd? God forbid they don’t follow the newest trends. Haven’t we learned by now that “experts” are often wrong?

If tickets by camera for driving violations are not primarily about the money, which its proponents disingenuously claim, then why don’t cities donate all their tickets-by-camera proceeds to charity? That would augment their preposterous claim that it’s not about the money. But they would never do that. Of course it’s about the money.

When people give a phone number over the phone, why don’t they com-

bine two digits at a time to make it easier to remember? Instead of saying 8-3-65-6-7-0, why not 8-3-6-56-70? This would cut seven numbers down to five, making it a lot easier to remember.

Why is it motorists don’t flick their headlights when (graciously) letting bicyclists cross in front of them? It’s very kind of motorists to stop and let me cross when I’m riding my bike, and I greatly appreciate it. But if they don’t flick their lights at me, I don’t know whether they’re letting me cross or just slowing down.

So I have to come to a complete stop to determine whether they’re letting me cross, and they come to a complete stop while I’m ascertaining whether they’re letting me cross, and this stopping by both parties could have been avoided if they had simply flicked their lights.

Why is it people in various businesses often don’t return phone messages? A couple of days ago I left voice mail messages with a realtor and a pet care small business owner. I never heard back. I repeat my phone number twice, slowly and clearly, so it’s not a question of them not having my number. Don’t

they realize it’s bad business to not return phone calls?

Since CVS doesn’t sell tobacco anymore, going for that “healthy image,” why do they still sell beer and wine?

You’re more likely to be killed or injured by a drunk driver than by second-hand smoke.

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TODAY’S NEWS

MIAMI TODAY

WEEK OF THURSDAY, OCTOBER 1, 2015

Transportation planning unit wants hand in picking director

BY CATHERINE LACKNER

As the search for a new executive director for the Metropolitan Planning Organization moves forward, board members want to be actively involved.

Oliver G. Gilbert III, mayor of Miami Gardens, chaired the selection committee.

“Based on the interviews, three candidates have advanced,” he told the full board at its meeting Tuesday.

They are Aileen Boucle, intermodal systems development administrator for Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT); Carlos M. Cejas, a supervisor at Gannett Fleming, an engineering firm; and Harold

Desdunes, director of transportation development for FDOT. “All three were excellent,” Mr. Gilbert said.

Background checks are being conducted now, he added. “We are also working with staff on putting together a compensation package for the board’s consideration,” he said. The package will also specify the length of the contract.

“We approved the committee’s recommendation [on the candidates] and I don’t want to open a Pandora’s box, but what’s the next step?” asked board member Esteban “Steve” Bovo, a Miami-Dade County commissioner. “There’s been a little confusion.”

Metropolitan Planning Organization and Miami-Dade County Commission Chairman Jean Monestime will interview all three candidates and the interviews will be open “sunshine” meetings, said Gerald Sanchez, a county attorney. Mr. Monestime will then present his non-binding recommendation to the board as whole.

Jean Monestime “How would I submit questions?” asked Francis Suarez, board vice chair and Miami commissioner. “Not that I have any doubt in the chair’s ability to

interview them.”

“If you would like to have questions considered, I suggest you have a sunshine meeting with him and convey the questions,” Mr. Sanchez said.

“I’m only going to be one vote,” Mr. Monestime said. “There is so much passion placed on selecting a director, because we need to move this county forward. We all have ideas, but we need to have a very good captain to bring us to the port.”

Once a new director is selected, he said, the group should set up a visioning session within 30 days. “Better days are ahead for future of our community, but we need to establish a vision.”

Brickell, downtown get short-term traffic fixes

BY CARLA VIANNA

The city will fund the training and staffing of 22 traffic management officers. The Downtown Development Authority advocated for the personnel to be included in the city’s proposed budget, which is to take effect today (10/1).

This is one of the steps Miami is taking to alleviate the major traffic congestion in Brickell and downtown on a short-term basis, rather than a decade down the road.

“Up in New York, they have people specifically trained just to manage traffic and stand there all day long,” said Alyce Robertson, the authority’s executive director. The White Glove program that the authority spearheaded in 2013 placed police officers or public service aides at specific intersections during rush hour to do just that.

The program got good reviews from downtown businesses and visitors, Miami Today reported. Recognizing that, the authority and city would like to make the aides permanent.

The authority now wants permanent aides at the gridlocked intersections to alleviate the busiest routes day to day. The

aides wouldn’t be police officers; they’d be new hires trained to direct traffic, make sure vehicles aren’t blocking intersections and stop drivers from violating rules.

Drivers are also encouraged to take alternative routes to reach the interstate. The longplanned installation of additional and brighter signs would be geared to lead drivers away from the most-traveled routes, Ms. Robertson said.

The authority is also cracking down on curfew hour violations, which are set by the US Coast Guard, at the Brickell Avenue Bridge. There are specific times the bridge should not open up during the work week: from 7:35 a.m. to 8:59 a.m., from 12:05 p.m. to 12:59 p.m., and from 4:35 p.m. to 5:59 p.m., Ms. Robertson said.

Exceptions are made for boats in distress or commercial vessels.

However, violations to the rule have been noted.

“What we have seen is other kinds of vehicles that should not be – like a recreational sailboat – going through,” she said.

A Sept. 25 meeting has been set with the Florida Department of Transportation to discuss how to enforce the regulations

and how to pursue violators.

Asked if vessels running up against curfew hours were aware of their existence, Ms. Robertson said that’s another issue.

“Perhaps the signage needs improving at the Brickell Bridge to make it clearer to people that these times are set,” she said.

The opening and closing of the bridges creates a mess out of Miami’s traffic light signals.

Although synchronization has been met on the signals immediately next to the movable bridges, the surrounding ones create further mayhem.

“The No. 1 thing we’re working to improve is the signal co-

ordination,” said Alice Bravo, Miami-Dade transit director.

Meanwhile, the county will be looking at other quick turnaround opportunities such as a u-turn recently made possible west of Mary Brickell Village.

Vehicles can now make a uturn underneath the Metrorail on the west side of the shopping center – a move that can cut 10 to 15 minutes of a driver’s trip, Ms. Bravo said. Whether it’s adding a right-lane turn or changing traffic patterns to add an extra lane to a road, other bottlenecks such as this one are being studied.

Another short-term traffic solution might be an improved

Brickell and downtown trolley system. While Ms. Bravo was working for the city, a trolley system grid was being studied.

The city would like to create a trolley-only lane, giving residents the option to skip the traffic and get “pretty much anywhere” via trolley, Ms. Bravo said.

A big mass transit advocate, Ms. Bravo contends it is the main short- and long-term solution to traffic jams.

“Traffic almost everywhere has reached a saturated level,” she said. Although traffic conditions can be improved and roads can be made more efficient, at its core, she said, this is an issue of overcapacity.

Real cost of bond projects on agenda

NOTICE TO THE PUBLIC CITY OF MIAMI, FLORIDA

PLEASE ALL TAKE NOTICE THAT a meeting of the City of Miami Commission has been scheduled for Thursday, October 8, 2015, at the City of Miami City Hall, 3500 Pan American Drive, Miami, Florida 33133. A private attorney-client session will be conducted under the parameters of Florida Statutes §286.011(8) [2014], the person chairing the City of Miami Commission meeting will announce the commencement of an AttorneyClient session, closed to the public, for purposes of discussing the pending litigation case of Village of Key Biscayne v. City of Miami, Case No. 15-02997 CA 09, pending in the Circuit Court of the Eleventh Judicial Circuit in and for Miami-Dade County, Florida, to which the City is presently a party. This private meeting will begin at approximately 2:00 p.m. (or as soon thereafter as the Commissioners' schedules permit) and conclude approximately one hour later. The session will be attended by the members of the City Commission: Chairman Wifredo (Willy) Gort, Vice-Chairman Keon Hardemon, Marc David Sarnoff, Frank Carollo, and Francis Suarez; City Manager Daniel J. Alfonso; City Attorney Victoria Méndez; Deputy City Attorneys John A. Greco and Barnaby L. Min; and Assistant City Attorneys Rafael Suarez-Rivas and Kerri L. McNulty. A certified court reporter will be present to ensure that the session is fully transcribed and the transcript will be made public upon the conclusion of the above-cited, ongoing litigation. At the conclusion of the Attorney-Client session, the regular Commission Meeting will be reopened and the person chairing the Commission Meeting will announce the termination of the attorney-client session.

Todd B. Hannon City Clerk

#22711

Photo by Maxine Usdan

A new U-turn allowed under the Metrorail station at Southwest First Avenue can save 10 to 15 minutes.

BY SUSAN DANSEYAR

Miami-Dade is to finally decide next week whether voters can learn detailed costs of running facilities before a referendum on bond borrowing to build them.

The county commission is to take a second vote Oct. 6 on requiring disclosure of estimated operating and maintenance expenses of projects funded by general obligation bond proceeds as well as the proposed source of funds for the expenses when seeking a bond referendum.

Taxpayers should know exactly what they’re committing to when they vote to borrow via general obligation bonds, said Commissioner Juan C. Zapata at a July 7 Strategic Planning and Government Operations Committee meeting that unanimously OK’d the measure.

Daniella Levine Cava said she

Juan Zapata proposed measure.

agreed with the principle of being transparent but wasn’t sure of the practicality, asking how to estimate operating costs with the issuance when the commission doesn’t have details.

“We should have the details on what it’s going to cost,” answered Mr. Zapata, the measure’s prime sponsor. “We need to force government to be

clear on how we’ll operate facilities.”

Co-sponsor Esteban L. Bovo Jr. agreed the public needs to know the cost of running a facility. He said voters have seen bond issues that never seem to end.

“We need to get in the ballpark of giving residents some information, and making it as clear as possible to them what they’re voting on, and that buildings need to be maintained,” Mr. Bovo said.

On June 2, when the commission passed the measure 9-2 on first reading, Dennis C. Moss and Audrey M. Edmonson cast opposing votes.

If adopted, the change will require a statement within bond summaries informing voters that approved general obligation bonds will be paid or secured by taxes derived from the assessed value of property.

10

TODAY’S NEWS

MIAMI TODAY

WEEK OF THURSDAY, OCTOBER 1, 2015

Worried neighbors quiz developer of 60-story river towers

BY CARLA VIANNA

The developer behind a twotower project planned to rise on riverfront land west of the Miami Avenue Bridge was questioned by disgruntled residents already living within the community during a town hall meeting last week.

New York developer Shahab Karmely openly spoke to residents of the The Ivy, Wind and Mint – the three existing buildings within the gated community on the Miami River’s north bank – for the first time on the evening of Sept. 24 at the Wind.

City documents show an appeal has been filed on behalf of the River Front Master Association with the city’s Planning, Zoning and Appeals Board against a series of waivers sought by the developer’s Miami River Project LLC. The appeal was on the board’s Sept.

29 agenda. The city’s Urban Development Review Board recommended approval of the project April 15, Miami Today reported earlier this year.

“We have not been as communicative as some would’ve liked,” Mr. Karmely told a full room last week, although he pointed out that public hearings and meetings regarding the project’s proposal have been held. The purpose of the meeting was to formally introduce the project to residents and give them a chance to ask the developer brief questions about the development.

“Our belief – maybe naively and mistakenly – was [that] this excitement of trying to create this will become something that will be shared by everybody else who lives here,” Mr. Karmely said. “Unfortunately,

The three existing towers are the Ivy, Wind and Mint. New towers would rise at the spot marked as Site.

that has not been the case.”

After describing the project in detail and displaying a couple of printed-out renderings to residents, most reacted negatively during a Q&A session with the developer and Greenberg Traurig attorney Iris Iris Escarra Escarra.

Some residents complained of not being notified earlier in the project’s decision-making process, while others seemed confused that this process

moved forward without their consent. Others grew increasingly concerned about side effects – noise, traffic, dirt, etc. – that the 24- to 30-month construction process would cause.

In response to why he was meeting with residents now, rather than earlier this summer, Mr. Karmely said, “We have been asking for this for the past four months.”

Residents pushed forward with questions about security, construction hours, cleanliness, obstruction of condos’ views and traffic concerns within the community.

Mr. Karmely and Ms. Escarra

explained to attendees that the property within the neighborhood was always designated for “future construction,” meaning each homebuyer was notified there would eventually be noise, vibrations, sales and other side effects that accompany a new development.

The three existing vacant lots purchased by Mr. Karmely’s KAR Properties were originally planned for three additional buildings, he said, which fell victim to the financial crisis. He said the other two parcels – to be developed in the future – will be used as a sales center and for construction purposes until the

development is complete.

An earlier project planned for this particular riverfront site included one bulkier residential tower, while the new proposal includes two slender towers joined in an L-shape by a podium about five stories high, Miami Today reported in April. The project will feature an 85-foot waterfall at its front facing the river.

The neighborhood’s front parcel bordered by Southwest Third Street will be the site of the new development’s sales center – a one-story glass box fully landscaped in which he will be investing millions of dollars, Mr. Karmely said.

The two 60-story towers’ units will sell for $850 to $1,100 per square foot, he said, while stressing that the existing owners’ units will increase in value once the project is done. He promised to improve parking and to create a public riverwalk open to all community residents.

He also said the cul-de-sac that now exists for cars to travel from building to building will be enhanced and a “shaded planted area with water features for pedestrians to walk down” will tie it to the river walk.

“We think we can change the perception of this side of the river, he said, explaining why he chose this location rather than Brickell.

The residents were notified that the project has gained approval from the Federal Aviation Administration, which oversees building heights, and the rest of the approval process should take about four to six months.

A phone number and website are to be created for residents to present specific concerns about the project.

Miami raises general fund spending 15% for coming year

BY JOHN CHARLES ROBBINS

Miami’s new budget provides enough money to hire 60 new police officers, boost a new anti-poverty initiative by $1 million and set aside more than $1.5 million for a new transportation trust fund.

The city commission’s final budget hearing didn’t begin until 9:30 p.m. Sept.

24, after a long meeting during the day that spilled into evening.

In the end, the commission approved a 2015-2016 general fund budget of $643,378,900. The new budget year begins today (10/1).

The adopted general fund budget swelled by more than $27.5 million from the original proposal announced in summer by Mayor Tomás Regalado and City Manager Daniel Alfonso. The bulk of the additional funding will come from reserves. The 2014-2015 general fund budget was $559,936,000.

In introducing the final proposed budget, Mayor Regalado called it “a budget that works.”

Mr. Alfonso told the commissioners: “We have listened.”

The first budget hearing Sept. 10 was dominated by talk of hiring new police officers. The adopted budget includes about $4.6 million to hire 60 officers.

Additionally, the new budget converts about 140 full-time temporary employees that have no less than three years of continuous service as of today to per-

manent status, with the intent of converting the remaining full-time temporary employees to permanent status in the following year. This is something city leaders have wanted to do for some time, but the money wasn’t available.

The adopted budget includes money to buy two fire-rescue units, repair and enhance parks throughout the city, beautify key traffic corridors, repair and renovate police stations, and hire and train 22 part-time traffic control specialists to address traffic downtown.

Before the final vote on the budget, Commissioner Francis Suarez, author of the proposed legislation establishing a new transportation trust fund, thanked colleagues for supporting one part of the funding plan for the trust.

“This is a large budget and there’s no way that we’re going to agree on every aspect of the budget,” he said, “but I really want to thank the commissioners for supporting the transportation trust component of this budget because I think it’s something we absolutely, critically need to budget for, to preserve our trolley program and the future of this city.”

The trust would set aside money for future transportation projects and help fund the city’s rubber-wheeled trolleys.

A final vote to create the trust, and the specific funding components, is expected later in the year.

New amendments to the final adopted budget include:

Using surplus money to fund about $15.3 million in capital projects that were removed at the first budget hearing.

Reserving about $12.97 million to conclude current negotiations with the International Association of Firefighters and the Fraternal Order of Police.

Setting aside $1 million for each elected official for capital projects in each of the five districts.

Appropriating an additional $4.38 million to complete the flex park at Miami Marine Stadium.

Also Sept. 24, the commission set the new tax rate at 8.3351 mills, a reduction of 0.0499 from the current 8.3850 mills.

Even with the slight drop in millage, most property owners can expect to pay a bit more in overall 2016 taxes due to an increase in assessed value at the county level. According to the Miami-Dade County property appraiser, the city had an overall property value increase of 13.1%.

The commission also adopted a budget for the Downtown Development Authority of $9,201,159.

Also in September, the city commission adopted: The annual budget of the Bayfront Park Management Trust of $9,565,000, to provide for the operations, maintenance and capital improvements of The Mildred and Claude Pepper Bayfront Park and Museum Park.

The annual budget of the Civilian

Investigative Panel of $717,500.

The annual budget of the Coconut Grove Business Improvement District of $2,142,509.

The annual budget of the Wynwood Business Improvement District of $766,564.

The annual budget of the City of Miami Fire Fighters’ and Police Officers’ Retirement Trust Fund of $2,029,168, to provide for the administration of the trust fund for the fiscal year.

The annual budget of the City of Miami General Employees’ and Sanitation Employees’ Retirement Trust Fund of $3,220,000, excluding normal costs, to provide for the administration of the retirement trust fund.

The annual budget of the City of Miami General Employees’ and Sanitation Employees’ Excess Benefit Plan of $116,307, excluding the actuarially determined annual benefit payment, to provide for the administration of the excess benefit plan.

The annual budget of the Liberty City Community Revitalization Trust of $626,843.

The annual budget of the Miami Sports and Exhibition Authority of $88,935.

The annual budget of the Virginia Key Beach Park Trust of $146,000 in carryover funds and $590,000 in anticipated revenue, for a total of $736,000, to provide for management, operation, maintenance and capital expenditures.

WEEK OF THURSDAY, OCTOBER 1, 2015

MIAMI TODAY

11

S&P’s positive outlook, bond upgrade note city’s strengths

BY CATHERINE LACKNER

Standard & Poor’s last week upgraded its outlook for Coral Gables from stable to positive and reaffirmed its AA+ rating, said City Manager Cathy Swanson-Rivenbark. “They also provided a roadmap for the city to reclaim our AAA bond rating, which we expect to do during the upcoming fiscal year,” which begins today (10/1), she added.

“We consider Coral Gables’ economy very strong,” the rating agency’s report said. “The city has a projected per capita effective buying income of 167% of the national level and per capita market value of $398,753. Overall, the city’s market value grew by 13.6% over the past year to $19.5 billion in 2016. The county unemployment rate was 6.8% in 2014.”

Standard & Poor’s lauded the city’s financial discipline as well. “Coral Gables’ approach to budget preparation is conservative, in our view, because it evaluates five years of historical data and incorporates expenditure contingencies. Quarterly budget-to-actual reports

PICTURESQUE AS WELL AS SOUND: The Venetian Pool is one of many historic Gables postcard vistas.

are posted to the city’s website, along with comprehensive rolling five-year capital improvement plans. While Coral Gables does not have a formal debt policy, it has established an informal goal, included in its budget document, to keep the debt service requirements under 8%

of the operating and debt service budgets.”

“We had an AAA rating in an earlier life,” Ms. SwansonRivenbark said. The city’s bond rating slid slightly in the 2008 recession like that of most municipalities, and there were concerns about reserves.

But “declines in taxable value were not as severe in Coral Gables compared with other Florida municipalities during the Great Recession; taxable value totaled $13.08 billion in fiscal 2008 and, after the following two years of declines, bottomed at $11.37 billion in 2010 (a cu-

mulative 13% drop),” said the rating agency’s report.

Because of the diversity of businesses in the city, which includes everything from small businesses to multinationals to the ever-expanding University of Miami, Coral Gables is better positioned to withstand the “dips and tides” of a changing economy, Ms. Swanson-Rivenbark said.

The university is not only the city’s largest employer, but also the largest developer. “[Founder] George Merrick wanted to have a great university in his city, and he was right,” she said.

There is a one-in-three chance the agency will upgrade the city’s rating again within this fiscal year, Standard & Poor’s report said. To beat those odds, the city will make some changes, including giving employees the choice of a traditional pension or a tax-sheltered contribution plan such as a 401K. It will increase its reserves and is already setting aside funds in its annual budget for the long-term maintenance of facilities.

“We need to up our game, and we are raising the mark for ourselves,” Ms. SwansonRivenbark said. “We are going to be an exceptional city.”

3 firms to spend a year on city-wide transit aim

BY CATHERINE LACKNER

Photo by Maxine Usdan

The $20 million downtown Coral Gables streetscape upgrade will take about 18 months, said Marina Foglia.

City sketches a greener streetscape

BY CATHERINE LACKNER

A streetscape renovation for Miracle Mile that has been on the drawing boards since 2002 looks ready to kick off and has grown to include Giralda Avenue between Ponce de Leon Boulevard and Galiano Street.

“We are working on finalizing construction drawings and are preparing for a public meeting,” said Carmen Olazabal, assistant city manager, in an email. “We will present the final design at the public meeting and plan to prepare a mock-up of the paver patterns so that the public can better understand the design. The date of the public meeting has not been finalized but we are aiming for the end of October or beginning of November.”

Urban design firm Cooper, Robertson and Partners has been approved to create the plan, which is to include more street trees, an expanded parking valet parking system, new wa-

tercolor store-front window wraps for vacant spaces and other improvements.

The upgrades will take about 18 months, said Marina Foglia, executive director of the Business Improvement District of Coral Gables. “The commission has been really great in supporting this.”

The $20 million cost will be split between the city and property owners, who will have 20 years to pay back a special assessment on their properties. Work is to begin early next year and proceed block by block, beginning with the blocks that have more vacant properties, so as to inconvenience as few businesspeople and visitors as possible.

Merchants overall have been receptive, Ms. Foglia said. “Everyone knew that this is something that had to be done to keep Miracle Mile competitive with other areas. We are also going to interview every merchant to see what they need and how we can accomplish this with as little disruption as possible.”

A city-wide multi-modal transportation plan for Coral Gables took a step forward last week as the city commission selected a team of Atkins North America, Dover Kohl & Partners and Cal Trans Engineering to conduct the study, which will take about a year.

The city has unique problems: a sprawling residential section, a location that often Jessica Keller subjects it to cut-through traffic, and a hive of downtown offices that doubles the city’s population every weekday.

“We’ll approach it by zones,” said Jessica Keller, the city’s community services director. “We’ll study the hot zones first.” These are areas in which residents and business people report the most problems, such as speeding and cut-through traffic, she explained.

Depending on the results of the study, the city might consider lowering the speed limit in residential neighborhoods to 25 miles per hour, she said. To enforce that, it might put more police on patrol or stage an information campaign to alert

drivers to the new limit.

“Everything is on the table,” Ms. Keller said. “We’ll be looking at best practices from around the country and around the globe.”

Moving cars through the city isn’t the only concern. When the plan was announced in August, Ms. Keller stressed that the city wants a multi-modal transportation plan. “We want to solve residential traffic problems, but we also want to encourage residents and visitors to use other modes of transit.”

A request for qualifications that the city issued said that one of the transportation plan’s main goals should be to provide “safe, sustainable, viable and effective alternatives to personalized motorized vehicles.”

By encouraging commuters to use alternatives like an expanded trolley system or a cohesive network of bike paths, the city hopes to reduce the number of cars on the road.

Ms. Keller added then that working with neighboring city governments and the county is vital to the project’s success.

“Since all of our neighbors face the same problems, we’re all interested in solving them,” she said.

“Hopefully our neighbors will do the same. We can only benefit each other.”

12

MIAMI TODAY

CORAL GABLES

WEEK OF THURSDAY, OCTOBER 1, 2015

Million-dollar Gables homes sell well in buyer’s market

BY SUSAN DANSEYAR

Inc., an online market system for real estate professionals and Coral Gables homes $1 million and over: associations, the number of The residential market in Coral Gables is so strong that, if priced Average days on market, selling price versus asking price homes for sale in Coral Gables priced $1 million and above went correctly, single-family homes from 190 in June 2014 to 202 in are selling in less than a week.

June 2015, and 209 in July and That’s what Coral Gables August. Twenty-one sold in July Commissioner Jeannett and 14 were pending; 14 sold in Slesnick has been seeing in her August and 18 were pending. In business as a broker with August 2014, 11 of the 173 Slesnick & homes sold (a 27.3% increase, Jochem LLP. year over year) and 25 were She said the pending (a 28% decrease from rates continue the same time period). to go up and August 2015 was a buyer’s have apprecimarket, the Trendgraphix reated, overall, port states, defined as more than about 10% six months of inventory based from this time Jeannett Slesnick on closed sales. A seller’s marlast year. ket is defined as less than three The properties under $1 milmonths of inventory based on lion (about 40% of the residenclosed sales. Neutral is between tial inventory in the Gables) are three and six months of invenselling the fastest, Ms. Slesnick tory based on closed sales. said, while those $1 million and The August average sold price higher are being snatched up not quite so rapidly but also chang- non-stop these days trying to ers,” she said. “We have been five sales have been on proper- per square foot for homes $1 keep up with contracts being contacting our friends to see if ties that were not on the mar- million and above is declining. ing hands relatively quickly.

Trendgraphix reports it was “Ginger Jochem, my busi- submitted on our listings as well they want to sell their homes to ket.”

According to Trendgraphix $478 in June 2014 and $491 in ness partner, and I are working as finding homes for our buy- our buyers, and two of our last June 2015; $576 in July 2014 and $584 in July 2015; and $456 in August 2014 and $449 in August 2015 (down 23.1% compared to the previous month and down 1.4% compared to the last year).

The average days on the market trend is falling. Homes $1 million and over were on the market 66 days in August 2014 and 75 in August 2015, down 24% compared with 99 in July but up 13.6% year over year.

The selling price in comparison with asking price is 93% in August 2015, up 3.3% compared with the previous month and up 3.3% year over year.

Ms. Slesnick attributes the increase in sales prices and falling number of days properties At Nicklaus Children’s Hospital we not are on the market to the popularonly provide care for children, we place ity of Coral Gables. It’s a very the child and the family at the center of desirable community, she said, a devoted team, guiding them and their with its abundant trees, choices family through every step of their journey. for shopping and dining, and accessibility to the airport.

It is because of Nicklaus Children’s Hospital’s The Gables has always been a innovative approach that once again, no sought-after neighborhood. other hospital in Florida has more programs However, Ms. Slesnick recalled highlighted in U.S.News & World Report’s slow years in 2009-2009, with 2015-16 pediatric rankings. In addition, what she describes as “the backour neurology and neurosurgery program lash from the zero percent down is ranked 7th in the nation. It’s great to be days,” and it became “imposa leader, but it’s even better to lead with sible to borrow money without compassion, innovation and extraordinary a substantial down payment.” care. We thank our doctors, nurses, support In 2009, Ms. Slesnick said RS@Ƥ UNKTMSDDQR @MC CNMNQR ENQ GDKOHMF TR 650 homes were on the market achieve another year of excellence in care. each month, the highest number she’s seen in her decades as a broker.

Between 2010 and 2013, Ms. Slesnick said, inventory fell and prices rose. The number of houses on the market each month was 250 in 2013 and 2014 and about 300 currently.

“The inventory has gone up and still climbing in price,” she said. However, Ms. Slesnick said, the potential pool of buyers is declining.

“Local homeowners are moving themselves without having to compete with international buyers as much.”

While it’s extremely busy now, Ms. Slesnick predicts acNicklaus Children’s Hospital 3100 SW 62 Avenue, Miami, FL 33155 305-666-6511 nicklauschildrens.org tivity in the Coral Gables residential market will slow as the Nicklaus Children’s is proud to have more programs included within U.S.News & World Report’s 2015-16 “Best Children’s Hospitals” rankings than any other hospital in South Florida. holidays approach and then pick up again in January.

For every child.

For every step.

We are here.