Miami Today: Week of Thursday, November 26, 2015

WEEK OF THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 26, 2015

A Singular Voice in an Evolving City

WWW.MIAMITODAYNEWS.COM $4.00

ART BASEL

COMMERCIAL / OFFICE SPACE

Art buyers from around globe arrive to seek offerings, pg. 11

Commercial land prices rise at double-digit levels, pg. 15

MORE EURO-WINGS AT MIA: Miami International Airport has secured yet another route this year. German low-cost carrier Eurowings will begin service to Cologne, Germany’s fourth-largest city, on May 1, 2016. The airline’s first-ever Miami service will operate three weekly flights (Tuesdays, Thursdays and Sundays) on a 310-seat Airbus A330 aircraft. This will be the airport’s third German carrier, its fifth German destination and its 20th European destination.

THE ACHIEVER

BY JOHN CHARLES ROBBINS

HOSPITALITY JOBS UP, AGAIN: Miami’s leisure and hospitality industry grew by 6,400 jobs in October, up 4.9% compared to the same month last year, the Greater Miami Convention & Visitors Bureau said.

The industry generated the highest percentage of job growth among all industry sectors in the county for the seventh consecutive month. A total of 136,500 jobs now exist in the local leisure and hospitality industry, according to the bureau.

JOB CREATION: Miami-Dade Commissioner Esteban Bovo Jr. announced support for Gov. Rick Scott’s plan to fully fund Enterprise Florida, saying it will promote job creation and economic growth. In a written release, Mr. Bovo said the plan calls for a $250 million competitive Florida Enterprise Fund; having the trust fund replace the existing escrow account, allowing the state’s investment to accrue more interest; increasing the Legislature’s role in competing for job creation projects by requiring that any deal over $1 million win approval of the speaker of the house, senate president and governor; reforming the return on investment requirements by eliminating the use of waivers and requiring a 10% annualized return on top of the original investment in a company; and streamlining state approval while continuing to ensure that no tax dollars leave the trust until a company meets its specified job creation goals. Details: www.enterpriseflorida.com NEW GREENWAY: The county’s Building Better Communities Bond Program Citizens Advisory Committee has recommended allocating $500,000 to create the Southwest 144th Avenue Linear Greenway to run along Southwest 144th Avenue between Bird Road and Southwest Ninth Street. The project would add more recreation space and non-motorized connectivity in West Kendall. The committee forwarded its Nov. 6 recommendation to the Miami-Dade County Commission for action.

Photo by Marlene Quaroni

Brian Schriner

Gearing FIU students for innovation-based economy The profile is on Page 4

Ugly local face put on beauty academy complex

BY JOHN CHARLES ROBBINS

Project blends into area, architect says, pg.18 details for developing the 30 acres in the

The first phase of a sweeping development of about 30 acres in the Wynwood Arts District has gained support of a city review board, but developer Moishe Mana hasn’t won over Wynwood Business Improvement District board members.

Miami’s Urban Development Review Board conditionally approved a plan Nov. 18 to build a 200,000-square-foot combination of a beauty academy, boutique hotel, restaurant and 300-seat auditorium.

The first phase, labeled on the agenda Mana-Wynwood SAP Building One, is planned for 2337 SW Fifth Ave. The structure would become corporate headquarters for Luxury Brand Partners, a firm that is partnering with Mr. Mana to build the academy.

It’s the first part of a much larger development coming from Mr. Mana that encompasses 30 acres. His company has applied to the city for a Special Area Plan (SAP) designation.

The purpose of a Special Area Plan is to allow sites greater than nine acres to be master planned to better integrate public and private improvements and infrastructure.

David Polinsky, developer of 250 Wynwood and a member of the Wynwood Business Improvement District board who chairs the district’s planning and zoning committee, spoke to the city’s review board last week on behalf of the improvement district. While expressing excitement about Mr. Mana’s overall plan to bring development to Wynwood, he voiced concerns about “the process and substance” of the project.

Mr. Polinsky said the improvement district and city planners just completed a nearly two-year process to bring a new zoning overlay to Wynwood that includes Mr. Mana’s properties.

One goal was “to bring down the scale,” he said.

“We volunteered to go a maximum of eight stories, to preserve the character of the neighborhood,” Mr. Polinsky said.

Phase I of Mr. Mana’s plan calls for a nine-story building.

“We do object, I guess,” Mr. Polinsky said, after referring to the proposed height.

This month, the design firm for Mr. Mana’s overall plan, Zyscovich Architects, announced

AGENDA

2 hotel flags ‘set to sign’ at yacht hub Flagstone Property Group has lined up two major hotel chains for its Island Gardens mega resort along with major stores and restaurants, says Brian May, representing CEO and Chairman Mehmet Bayraktar.

Flagstone is developing a corner of city-owned Watson Island into a resort that includes a deepwater marina for mega- and super-yachts called Deep Harbour.

Mr. May’s status report to Miami commissioners came Nov. 19 at the request of the city’s Department of Real Estate and Asset Management.

After more than a dozen years of inaction, work began in 2014 with marine mitigation and dredging and the start of a seawall. Mr. May told commissioners that dredging and the seawall are done.

The marina piers have been installed, he said, showing photos of the progress.

Flagstone is now working on the water, sewer and utilities that will connect to the marina, he said.

“I’m also happy to announce that the hotel development is well under way,” said Mr. May. “Flagstone has executed term sheets with two major hotel chains to be the flags on the site for both hotels, both the four-star and the five-star, and we are expecting to announce those by the end of this year.

“So an announcement will be forthcoming. I didn’t say this, but you might expect one shortly, around Art Basel, somewhere in that time frame,” he said.

“In addition to that, we have term sheets for a major anchor retail tenant that has been executed, as well as a major dining and restaurant anchor tenant,” he said. “Both of those will be unique in nature and we expect to announce those in the first couple of months of 2016.”

The Island Gardens marina is to host mega- and super-yachts Feb. 11-15 for the 28th annual Yacht and Brokerage Show.

southern end of the warehouse district, from Northwest Second Avenue to I-95 between Northwest 22nd and 24th streets.

“Mana Wynwood’s new area plan also calls for the development of taller, mixeduse buildings near the edge of the I-95 Expressway to create a buffer zone between the elevated highway and the adjacent neighborhood,” according to Zyscovich.

Part of the changes approved for Wynwood in September included creation of a Neighborhood Redevelopment District, or NRD. “The Wynwood NRD-1 will establish a series of protective regulations to guide the transition from an industrial district into a diverse, mixed-use area to include industrial, retail and residential components,” the legislation says.

“We ask that [the developer] follow the NRD process,” Mr. Polinsky said.

Attorney Carlos Lago told the review board the Mana development team is looking forward to presenting the beauty academy plan to the Business Improvement District’s plan Mega-resort completion date is ning and zoning committee Nov. 30, where pushed back another year, pg. 22 they will “work on pending issues.”

NEW RAIL LINE EYES COUNTY HALL SITE FOR BUS DEPOT ...

2

COUNTY LOOKS AT REVERSIBLE LANES TO EASE TRAFFIC ...

8

TAILSPINNING BRAZIL OFF CHAMBER’S MISSION AGENDA ...

2

LITTLE ROOM AT THE INN: HOTEL RATES RISE FOR BASEL ... 11

AWAITING NEW COMMISSIONER, MIAMI IN DELAY MODE ...

3

MORE JOBS, FEW NEW BUILDINGS PUSH OFFICE RENTS UP ... 17

VIEWPOINT: CRUISE LINES SAIL TOWARD VITAL GROWTH ...

6

CITY-OWNED SPACES GO INTO PARKING POOL FOR HEAT ... 23

2

MIAMI TODAY

TODAY’S NEWS

THE INSIDER CONVENTION CENTER FUNDED: Miami Beach last week completed funding for its convention center development by marketing $195 million in resort tax bonds, $322 million in redevelopment agency revenue refinancing bonds and $59 million in parking bonds. Investors placed $2.4 billion in orders for the total $576 million in bonds, a demand that the city says enabled it to re-price the bonds at lower interest rates, saving more than $4.4 million. A total of 41 tax-exempt, fixed-income issues were priced nationally last week. The Bank of America offered the resort tax revenue bonds and Morgan Jimmy Morales Stanley handled the Miami Beach Redevelopment Agency bonds. Said City Manager Jimmy Morales, “The city and its convention center project had an extremely successful week in the bond market.”

MIAMI BY THE NUMBERS: Since 2011, 31 towers with 615 floors and 3,149 condos have been completed in Miami-Dade County east of I-95, according to the latest new construction report by condo-tracker website Cranespotters.com. Currently, 77 towers with 1,614 floors and 10,097 units are under construction in that same area.

HUMAN RELATIONS AWARD: Manuel Medina will receive the American Jewish Committee’s National Human Relations award. The award is presented to a leading member of the business and civic community who has made a significant contribution through “dedication to the welfare of the community at large,” said American Jewish Committee Miami-Broward President Andrew C. Hall. Mr. Medina is the founder of the Medina Family Foundation, whose vision is to strengthen South Florida by “promoting education, instilling confidence in youth and providing more Manuel Medina choices that can enrich lives and has been a source of ardent inspiration for all,” said Brian Siegal, the committee’s Miami and Broward regional director.

LUDLAM TRAIL APPROVED: County commissioners unanimously voted last week to establish the 6-mile Ludlam Trail linear park. The former rail corridor, which runs from Dadeland to Miami International Airport, is to be converted into a continuous bike and pedestrian path as well as recreational park space.

GOBBLE, GOBBLE: Keon Hardemon, vice chairman of the Miami City Commission, along with Mayor Tomás Regalado, handed out about 500 turkeys Monday as part of the Overtown Thanksgiving Turkey Giveaway at Williams Park. Members of the Overtown community received turkeys, along with spices and fresh produce, to ensure a nice holiday meal. Mr. Hardemon is thankful for the support of sponsors: Brightline (All Aboard Florida), FreshPoint South Florida, DIBIA Dream, Cox Media Group Miami and the Overtown Neighborhood Enhancement Team.

WEEK OF THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 26, 2015

Rail developer eyes county hall site for bus depot, putting a park in play B Y S USAN D ANSEYAR

Should railway developer All Aboard Florida build its bus depot and parking garage on the grounds of county government’s Stephen P. Clark Center, Commissioner Bruno Barreiro wants to be certain any green space the project removes is replaced nearby.

To that end, he is sponsoring legislation scheduled to come before commissioners Dec. 1 that would require any agreement with the county for the depot and parking structure on what is now county land to stipulate that the county must get approval from the Federal Transit Administration and Florida Department of Transportation for conversion of an existing bus depot into a park.

If the county receives the approval, the lease/development agreement would require All Aboard Florida to undertake the park conversion in accordance with plans developed by the county’s Parks, Recreation and Open Spaces Department.

If the transportation agencies don’t approve conversion of the existing bus depot at 51 SW First Ave. into a county public park, the Stephen P. Clark Center green space would be given the designation of a public county park.

‘I’ve been fighting for this green space, which is public ground.’

Bruno Barreiro

Located at 111 Northwest First St., the county-owned Stephen P. Clark Center – which many call county hall – has green space on its west side that Mr. Barreiro said is too small to officially call a park but is vital for the center of county government.

“I’ve been fighting for this green space, which is public ground,” he told Miami Today on Tuesday. The grounds consist of a public art installation, fountain, paved pedestrian walkways and open space that includes a jogging track and exercise equipment. “[All

Aboard Florida] can’t take it away without providing public green space somewhere else nearby.”

Although the county commission welcomes any development near the Clark Center that would stimulate the economy and improve transportation options, the resolution states, the commission also wants to ensure that area green space is preserved.

By designating either the Clark Center land or the existing bus depot as a county public park, the resolution says, the commission would protect land near the Clark Center from development, thereby ensuring that green space in the area remains available for public park uses.

All Aboard Florida, a subsidiary of Flagler Development, plans to run the Brightline from Miami to Orlando, creating a railway line from scratch. That railway is to serve as the backbone for a major cluster of buildings to rise, starting at Flagler Street and running eight blocks north in one of the area’s largest real estate developments. The bus depot would be one piece of that puzzle.

The railroad plans similar but smaller development nodes at its other South Florida stations in Fort Lauderdale and West Palm Beach.

HOME PRICES UP: October marked more than four years of consistent monthly median sale price increases for both single-family homes and condominiums in Miami-Dade, according to the Miami Association of Realtors. Last month, the median sale price for single-family homes rose 10.4% year-over-year, from $240,000 to $265,000. The median sale price for existing condos rose about 8% in October to $200,000 from $185,000 a year ago. Despite the increases in price, both single-family homes and condos remain at 2004 price levels. Meanwhile, statewide prices also

BY CARLA VIANNA ness leaders to waste their time. tional Bankers Association also rose. The median sale price for a single-family home in Florida was launched its own Asian Markets It wasn’t the right time.” $198,995 in October, up 12.4% year-over-year, while townhouses and Meanwhile, plans for the Committee this year.

Escalating economic and pocondos sold for a median $150,000, up 7.2%.

Tailspinning Brazil off chamber’s mission list, but China plans firm

SALES DOWN: Sales of single-family homes and existing condos slid last month compared to a year prior. Overall, a slight decline of 5.6% was cited by the Miami Association of Realtors. Single-family home transactions were down 4.4% in October compared to October 2014. Sales of condo units, which are competing with a heavy rise in supply of new construction within Miami’s urban core, dropped from 1,508 to 1,408, off 6.6%. Statewide, the sale of single-family homes rose 1.2% in October from October 2014.

Florida’s condo sales, however, also dipped slightly – 0.9%.

ON BOARD: Miami-based Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings has appointed Russell W. Galbut, managing principal of Crescent Heights developers, as one of its 11 directors. “Our board is committed to recruiting the best leaders across business disciplines and with diverse backgrounds,” said board Chairman Walter L. Revell.

Mr. Galbut was a member of the board of Prestige Cruises International from September 2005 until Norwegian acquired it in November 2014.

PARKING APP DONATIONS: Miami Parking Russell Galbut Authority and PayByPhone have joined forces to provide customers with the opportunity to donate to the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society in support of the Light the Night Walk, a fundraising campaign that benefits the organization’s mission of finding cures and improving the quality of life of patients and their families. Parking authority customers who use the PayByPhone technology to pay for parking on their iPhones will automatically get the option to donate.

Users of other smartphones may enter location number 43002 to donate.

Donations of up to $1,500 will be accepted through Nov. 30.

ANNIVERSARY GIFTS: The Miami Lighthouse for the Blind marked the start of its 85th year by announcing that the Braman Family Foundation pledged $1 million toward its new Center of Excellence for Visually Impaired Children. The space will serve as a pre-kindergarten for blind 3- and 4-yearolds and early intervention center for blind babies. Ronald McDonald House Charities gave $25,000 to support the Lighthouse’s music program.

CORRECTION: A headline last week misstated the number of Metrorail cars involved in the county’s new fleet. The headline should have read “136 Metrorail cars.”

CORRECTION: Brad Meltzer’s official title is president of Plaza Construction Group Florida LLC. Mr. Meltzer, profiled as an Achiever last week, oversees Plaza’s Southeast regional office.

litical problems plaguing Brazil forced cancellation of a trade mission to that nation led by the Greater Miami Chamber of Commerce’s Americas Linkage Committee, said committee chairman Hernando Gomez.

It was a case of “too much bad news” at the wrong time, he said.

Participants were to travel to three cities – Campinas, São Paulo and Porto Alegre – from Oct. 24 to 31.

“Brazil has a growing middle class with a real hunger for US goods and services,” Maria Cameron, Brazil senior desk officer for the International Trade Administration within the US Department of Commerce, told potential mission delegates during an August meeting. The trip had already been pushed back once from its originally planned June departure.

Although Mr. Gomez acknowledged that pockets of opportunities exist in a down economy, the depreciation of the Brazilian currency and reports of political scandal deterred the delegation from flying south.

“When we start receiving so much bad news, people start thinking twice before conducting business in that country,” he said. “In the end, we were very hesitant and didn’t want our busi-

committee’s upcoming trade mission to China remain strong. So far, about 20 delegates have signed up.

Scheduled for Jan. 16, the trip includes visits to Hong Kong, Shenzhen, Guangzhou and Shanghai. The Asian Financial Forum in Hong Kong, one of the world’s largest financial events, will take up the mission’s first two days.

A series of seminars in which delegates will showcase Miami’s business opportunities to Chinese businesses and investors will take place in each city.

The chamber targets 20 to 25 participants.

This will be the chamber’s second trade mission to China; the first came early this year in conjunction with the Florida International Bankers Association and featured stops in Hong Kong, Guangzhou and Shenzhen.

The second China trip is but one of an array of initiatives Miami’s business community has taken on to extend its outreach to Asia.

“From the chamber’s perspective, if there’s going to be significant Chinese-Asian presence in Miami, we have to prepare for it,” Seth Gordon, chair of chamber’s new Asia-Miami Taskforce, said in the committee’s first meeting during the summer. The Florida Interna-

Miami International Airport joined in this month with the launch of its Asia Task Force.

The airport aims to include the community’s Asian-outreach coalitions and have them back the airport’s efforts to secure a nonstop flight reaching China, Taiwan and surrounding areas.

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

6

MIAMI TODAY

VIEWPOINT

WEEK OF THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 26, 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

Two cruise lines sailing toward vital growth at PortMiami Two cruise line agreements up for approval next week reveal the massive economic impact the industry has in Miami-Dade – an impact that extends far beyond the nearly 2.5 million visitors Michael Lewis who boarded cruises of two days or more here last year.

We’ve long measured the industry’s impact by the spending of outsiders who fly into Miami, perhaps spend nights in hotels and shop in area malls, then board ships headed for ports in other nations before returning to Miami and flying back home.

That measure has been rising and is likely to surpass 5 million movements – which means 2.5 million people board and then debark from the 36 cruise ships that berth here from 18 cruise brands.

But as the numbers of passengers increase in PortMiami, which is the world’s busiest cruise hub, so do other economic flows. As ship sizes and numbers rise, we see parallel growth in ships’ crews, who for years have provided a reliable flow of shoppers in

downtown Miami.

Also with that growth come gains in business for those who provision cruise ships with everything from food and drink to disposable supplies. The county, which owns the port, has even begun to look toward on-port fuel operations.

The big cruise names – Carnival, Royal Caribbean and Norwegian and the brands that they own – have large local operations and expansion plans. This year’s big expansion was the Norwegian Escape, next year the Carnival Vista, in 2017 Royal Caribbean’s Enchantment of the Seas and Navigator of the Seas.

But on Dec. 1 the Miami-Dade County Commission will face updated pacts geared to expand the operations at PortMiami of two Europe-based cruise lines, London’s Disney Cruise Line and Geneva-based MSC Cruises.

While the Disney name is better known, thanks not to cruising but overall Disney fame, the growth of luxury brand MSC here under the proposed new berthing agreement with the port would have far greater impact.

MSC, the world’s fourth-largest cruise line with 12 ships and 6.4% of global cruise passengers, focuses on the Mediterranean, where it operates year-round.

But in fiscal 2014, it moved its South Florida cruise operations from Port Everglades to PortMiami, agreeing to handle at least 80,000 passenger operations –

L ETTERS Expressway authority can aid with intermodal center The Miami-Dade Expressway Authority [MDX] has helped to build the Miami Intermodal Center with millions of dollars, and other projects with the users’ tolls fees, to expedite and improve the traffic and mobility of all residents and visitors in Miami-Dade County. It also has a proven track record to build on time and on budget.

If Miami-Dade County Commissioners decide on Dec. 1 to transfer the facility, I humble think MDX is able and willing to help.

Jose Pepe Cancio Expressway Authority board member

Let airport take over vital Miami Intermodal Center The entire Miami Intermodal Center and Palmer Lake District is a prime intermodal area, centrally located with all types of transit connections across the entire county. This is a true intermodal center and a countywide asset.

We need to make sure we think of this area as one interrelated, coordinated and symbiotic relationship. This means that the transit portion should not be considered separately as a “maintenance cost.”

Miami International Airport and Palmer Lake benefit directly from this facility and should both benefit and maintain the goose that laid the golden egg.

My suggestion is that the airport take over the entire Miami Intermodal Center block, including the rental car center, transit and vacant parcels up to 37th Avenue. But those vacant parcels’ future leases for hotels and offices, together with existing rental car fees, etc., should

40,000 persons – here a year.

Now, under the agreement going to commissioners, MSC is to ramp up that number to at least 425,000 passenger movements a year, starting in December 2017 when it brings in its new MSC Seaside, capable of carrying 5,170 passengers.

MSC is also asking about a second berth for a ship in its Vista class, which can carry 5,715 passengers, if the seaport can fit it in. The port doesn’t have space now, which makes you wonder why commissioners are in such a rush to hand the port’s southeast corner to developers rather than figure out how to shift other port operations there to make room for ships like MSC’s, which can turn a profit for the port besides pulling in hundreds of thousands of visitors.

To handle the Seaside, by agreement the port must spend at least $25 million to upgrade its Terminal F – and it might spend more of its own volition to build up vital capacity for larger and larger ships. If there is an end to our cruise growth potential, it’s invisible now.

The port expects $9.6 million revenue from its current MSC operations over the next two years. Then numbers are expected to hit $7 million the following year, escalating to $9.8 million a year in 2027, the last year of the agreement, as port charges escalate at a 3% annual rate.

On the other side of the ledger, the

TO THE

pay for all the transit components’ maintenance – Metrorail, Tri-Rail, Amtrak, mover, rental cars. The whole system is made up of interconnected pieces.

We have to start thinking of transit as a incubator of economic development.

Dadeland Village would not be as popular without transit. Downtown will not be possible for future growth without transit and finishing the Metromover. These areas directly benefit from transit and should pay for the system that created the increased density and corresponding increased value of their land and increased locational convenience value.

Think of the interstate highway system that costs billions every year to maintain and expand but provides connectivity and economic benefits for freight, residents, tourists, etc. Transit is the same. Transit provides the infrastructure critical to make high-density development possible.

Alexander Adams

E DITOR

Otherwise, the other 12 will feel cheated and resentful. And that can’t happen if you want everyone to work together.

DC Copeland

Keep momentum chugging Glad to hear that this is happening.

Hope the momentum will continue.

Gerwyn Flax

Little Havana is no slum I guess having an affordable, walkable urban community that is filled with small businesses makes it a slum in the city’s eyes. If the city were really concerned, maybe they would make an effort to clean it once in a while. We need to protect this historic part of the city from high-rise “re-development” projects that fill the pockets of our elected officials.

Thomas Lindhart

Adrienne Arsht believed Community’s engagement in arts and philanthropy As a longtime board member of the on transportation is vital Association of Fundraising Professionals,

It’s long overdue that the corporate, institutional and organizational community became fully engaged in this critical regional, countywide problem [transportation].

Thank you, Armando Codina, especially for lending your thoughtful and engaging leadership to the vital issue.

Al Maloof

How was Bovo selected?

Just wondering how that single commissioner [county transportation committee Chairman Esteban Bovo Jr. at a business-government lunch on transportation] was chosen? Hopefully it was as easy as drawing a name from a hat.

port will pay MSC about $1.8 million of its annual parking income, based on passenger numbers. The line also gets $175,000 a year from the port for marketing and then a marketing incentive for all passenger movements over 425,000 a year – a payment that the port estimates at $200,000 annually, rising to $300,000 by the end of the agreement, showing that it expects MSC to far exceed the 425,000 guarantee.

The Disney agreement for a single family-friendly ship would be for two more years and pay the port about $7.8 million. The line’s passenger movements totaled 222,300 here in fiscal 2015, far above its 100,000 guarantee. Disney, like MSC, receives a slice of the port’s parking revenue but doesn’t get a marketing rebate.

While both cruise lines, like others, get passenger incentives, it’s not hard to see that the port is clearing far more than it pays out for the privilege of luring precious planeloads of tourists, hotel guests and shoppers into Miami. Figures released last week showed a 6,400job gain in the visitor industry here over the past year. Many of those jobs are vital dividends from cruise industry growth.

With all of that going for them, we should expect these two cruise line contracts to sail smoothly through the county commission. What’s not to like?

Miami; a certified fundraising executive; a philanthropist; an arts patron; and an active board member of several local nonprofits, I thank you for highlighting Ms. Adrienne Arsht in the recent article “‘Thank you for believing,’ Arsht tells commissioners” by Susan Danseyar (Oct. 29).

In 2008, it was Ms. Arsht who believed in Miami; she believed in philanthropy; she believed in the arts. She believed, period.

Her transformational gift of $30 million truly changed the performing arts community in South Florida. She breathed new life into the arts center and forged a new vision: aptly renamed The Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts of Miami-Dade

County. The institution, celebrating its 10th anniversary, is now a gathering place for the community and an internationally renowned performing arts center. Her gift also motivated other top philanthropists to believe and continuing believing.

In 2009, The Association of Fundraising Professionals, Miami Chapter, presented Ms. Arsht with the Local Outstanding Philanthropy Award at its National Philanthropy Day Event. In 2011, Adrienne Arsht was recognized with the Top Philanthropist Award by the Association of Fundraising Professionals, International.

This year, the Association of Fundraising Professionals, Miami celebrates the 30th anniversary of National Philanthropy Day and its many honorees. Ms. Adrienne Arsht ranks among the very special.

I believe in the power of philanthropy every time I enjoy a performance at the Arsht!

Dr. Karelia Martinez-Carbonell

MIAMITODAY miamitodaynews.com FOUNDED JUNE 2, 1983 VOLUME XXXIII No. 27 ENTIRE CONTENTS © 2015

To contact us: News Advertising Classifieds Subscriptions Reprints

(305) 358-2663 (305) 358-1008 (305) 358-1008 (305) 358-2663 (305) 358-2663

Editor and Publisher / Michael Lewis Vice President / Carmen Betancourt-Lewis

MIAMI TODAY (ISSN: 0889-2296) is published weekly for $145 per year; airmail: to Europe $190 per year, the Americas $145 per year.

Published by Today Enterprises Inc., 2000 S. Dixie Highway, Suite 100, Miami, Florida 33133, USA. Periodicals postage paid at Miami, FL. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to MIAMI TODAY, 2000 S. DIXIE HIGHWAY, SUITE 100, MIAMI, FLORIDA 33133.

8

TODAY’S NEWS

MIAMI TODAY

WEEK OF THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 26, 2015

County looks at reversible lanes to ease traffic congestion

BY SUSAN DANSEYAR

County commissioners are scheduled to decide whether to direct the administration to collaborate with the Miami-Dade County Metropolitan Planning Organization to prepare a feasibility study on reversible lanes.

The legislation, which appears on the Dec. 1 commission agenda, highlights the need to create efficiencies in traffic flow on thoroughfares and states that the use of reversible lanes might help do so during

times of the day when traffic is heavier in one direction.

Rebeca Sosa, who is sponsoring the resolution, spoke during an August meeting about a plan to reverse lanes of traffic during rush hour.

She said “now that Mayor Carlos Gimenez allocated funding to synchronize the traffic lights, we could do this with arrows and the lanes could be computercontrolled.�

This is already being done near Sun Life Stadium to route traffic before and after

games, she said, and has been done successfully for years in Puerto Rico, where Ms. Sosa said traffic is worse than Miami.

Under the reversible lane plan, eastwest roads like Flagler Street and Bird Road would have more eastbound lanes open in the morning to handle the commuter flow from the western suburbs into downtown. In the evenings, more lanes heading west would serve those same commuters on their ride home.

Ms. Sosa said the county will ask the state transportation department to study

north-south routes such as LeJeune Road and Miami Avenue to determine the demand for reversible lanes. “If you learn a behavior pattern, then you work with that,� Ms. Sosa said in August. “Computers can respond to the need� as traffic patterns emerge.

On Sept. 29, the Metropolitan Planning Organization approved a resolution for a scope of work and budget to determine the feasibility and best way to implement reversible lanes along major thoroughfares in the county.

County bonds get A+ ratings boost before Tuesday’s sale As Miami-Dade County prepares for a negotiated bond sale of $82 million-plus on Tuesday to refinance four series of solid waste revenue bonds, Fitch Ratings has assigned an A+ rating to the new bonds and revised upward the outlook for the county’s rating from negative to stable.

The upward movement should lessen the interest rate the county must pay for the bond issue, increasing its savings from the interest it has been paying on

bonds issues in 1998, 2001 and 2005.

That A+ rating also extends to $93 million in solid waste revenue bonds from the same years that the county expects to refund later through other new bond issues.

Fitch cited the solid waste system’s improved financial position as expenses have been pushed down while more waste has flowed through the system.

Fitch also noted that the solid waste system plans additional bond borrowing

over the next five years, including $24 million in bonds in fiscal 2017 to support closure of the Virginia Key landfill.

Another $140 million is expected to be borrowed to modernize the truck fleet.

Other capital needs to expand landfills and remediate pollution are to be funded in part from county general revenue bonds and from solid waste system cash.

Fitch says the county estimates that present landfills are adequate

Public Notice NOTICE IS GIVEN that a meeting of the Miami-Dade County Board of County Commissioners will be held on Tuesday, December 1, 2015, at 9:30 AM, in the Commission Chambers, located on the Second Floor of the Stephen P. Clark Center, 111 N.W. First Street, Miami, Florida, wherein, among other matters to be considered, a public hearing will be held at such time that the item is called on the following: Ordinances and Resolutions: t 3 FTPMVUJPO approving SigniďŹ cant ModiďŹ cation of Building Better Communities General Obligation Bond Program Project No. 344 - ‘’lighting ďŹ xtures for Kendall and Intracoastal District Police Stations’’; Project No. 356 ‘’pool facility repairs at the Public Safety Training Instituteâ€?; Project No. 344, all as identiďŹ ed in Appendix A to Resolution No. R-915-04, after a Public Hearing t 0SEJOBODF relating to Zoning and other land development regulations; updating the OJUS Urban Area District Regulations as requested by TH Aventura, LLC, for real property located at 18700 and 18790 NW 25 Avenue; amending Section 33-284.99.18 of the Code t 3FTPMVUJPO declaring certain geographic area of Unincorporated Miami-Dade County, Florida, described generally as bounded on the north by SW 232 Street from the Urban Development Boundary to SW 122 Avenue, on the west by the Urban Development Boundary, on the south by SW 288 Street, and on the east by the Florida Turnpike following SW 288 Street to SW 127 Avenue to SW 248 Street to SW 122 Avenue, to be a slum or blighted area; ďŹ nding need for the Naranja Lakes Community Redevelopment Agency to prepare amendment to its redevelopment plan for expansion of Community Redevelopment Area Boundaries, subject to County Commission approval t 3FTPMVUJPO declaring surplus four county-owned properties and revising the inventory list of real property, after a Public Hearing t 3FTPMVUJPO BQQSPWJOH incurrence by Colorado Educational and Cultural Facilities Authority of tax-exempt indebtedness in amount not to exceed $18,500,000 on behalf of Michael-Ann Russell Jewish Community Center, Inc. to reďŹ nance outstanding debt and ďŹ nance capital projects located in Miami-Dade County for purposes of Section 147(f) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 Resolutions Approving the following Waiver of Plats: t Morales & Sons Investments, LLC, D-23676, (bounded on the north by SW 124 Street, on the east approximately 150 GFFU XFTU PG 48 "WFOVF PO UIF TPVUI BQQSPYJNBUFMZ GFFU OPSUI PG 48 4USFFU BOE PO UIF XFTU CZ 48 "WFOVF

t Florida Power & Light Company, D-23652, (bounded on the north by SW 88 Street, on the east approximately 1,300 GFFU XFTU PG 48 "WFOVF PO UIF TPVUI CZ 48 4USFFU BOE PO UIF XFTU CZ 48 "WFOVF

through 2030.

The system is operated as a selfsupported enterprise fund, with 55% of its income coming from a $439 annual collection fees charged on property tax bills of 328,549 homeowners – county commissioners have not raised the rates since 2006.

The county has long-term agreements with 15 municipalities for solid waste disposal and with 12 municipalities for curbside recycling.

CITY OF MIAMI, FLORIDA NOTICE TO THE PUBLIC A public hearing will be held by the City Commission of the City of Miami, Florida on December 10, 2015 at 9:00 AM at City Hall, located at 3500 Pan American Drive, Miami, Florida, for the purpose of granting the following: A RESOLUTION OF THE MIAMI CITY COMMISSION, WITH ATTACHMENT(S), AUTHORIZING THE CITY MANAGER TO EXECUTE AMENDMENT NO. 1 TO THE JOINT PARTICIPATION AGREEMENT DATED OCTOBER 18, 2013, EXECUTED BY AND BETWEEN THE CITY OF MIAMI (“CITY�) AND THE MIAMI DOWNTOWN DEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY ("DDA"), FOR THE DOWNTOWN MIAMI SIGNAGE AND WAYFINDING SYSTEM ("PROJECT"), IN SUBSTANTIALLY THE ATTACHED FORM, ACCEPTING AN ADDITIONAL CONTRIBUTION OF FUNDS FROM THE DDA IN AN AMOUNT NOT TO EXCEED $350,000.00, FOR A TOTAL DDA CONTRIBUTION TO THE PROJECT OF $500,000.00.

All interested persons are invited to appear and may be heard concerning these items. Should any person desire to appeal any decision of the City Commission with respect to any matter considered at this hearing, that person shall ensure that a verbatim record of the proceedings is made, including all testimony and evidence upon any appeal may be based. (F.S.286.0105).

In accordance with the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, persons needing special accommodations to participate in the proceeding may contact the Office of the City Clerk at (305) 250-5361 (Voice) no later than two (2) business days prior to the proceeding or TTY users may call via 711 (Florida Relay Service) no later than three (3) business days prior to the proceeding.

Todd B. Hannon City Clerk # 22738 NOTICE TO THE PUBLIC CITY OF MIAMI, FLORIDA

All interested parties may appear and be heard at the time and place speciďŹ ed.

The proposed ordinances listed below will have a Second Reading to be considered for enactment by the Board at the time and place speciďŹ ed above. t 0 SEJOBODF SFHBSEJOH ;POJOH BOE PUIFS MBOE EFWFMPQNFOU SFHVMBUJPOT QFSUBJOJOH UP UIF Fixed-Guideway Rapid Transit System Development Zone, the Standard Urban Center District Regulations, the Downtown Kendall Urban Center District Regulations, and the Palmer Lake Metropolitan Urban Center District Regulations; amending parking requirements; amending Sections 33c-7, 33c-8, 33-284.62, 33-284.86, and 33-284.99.60 of the Code t 0SEJOBODF QFSUBJOJOH UP Small Business Enterprise Programs; amending Sections 2-8.1.1.1.1, and 2-10.4.01 of the Code to allow participants in the Small Business Enterprise Goods and Services Program and Small Business Enterprise Architecture and Engineering Program to use the existing bonding and ďŹ nancial assistance program available to small business enterprises for construction services t 0SEJOBODF QFSUBJOJOH UP Zoning and Code Enforcement; prohibiting cloth or other material from being afďŹ xed to wire fences and chain link fences in residential areas; amending Sections 33-11 and 8cc-10 of the Code t 0SEJOBODF SFMBUJOH UP JNQBDU GFFT enabling electronic forms of payment for impact fees; amending Administrative Fees and providing for transactional fees related to electronic payment t 0SEJOBODF repealing Article CVII, Sections 2-1601 through 2-1607 of the Code relating to the Miami-Dade Sports Commission All interested parties may appear at the time and place speciďŹ ed.

A person who decides to appeal any decision made by any board, agency, or commission with respect to any matter DPOTJEFSFE BU JUT NFFUJOH PS IFBSJOH XJMM OFFE B SFDPSE PG QSPDFFEJOHT 4VDI QFSTPOT NBZ OFFE UP FOTVSF UIBU B WFSCBUJN SFDPSE PG UIF QSPDFFEJOHT JT NBEF JODMVEJOH UIF UFTUJNPOZ BOE FWJEFODF VQPO XIJDI UIF BQQFBM JT UP CF CBTFE .JBNJ %BEF $PVOUZ QSPWJEFT FRVBM BDDFTT BOE FRVBM PQQPSUVOJUZ BOE EPFT OPU EJTDSJNJOBUF PO UIF CBTJT PG EJTBCJMJUZ JO JUT QSPHSBNT PS TFSWJDFT 'PS NBUFSJBM JO BMUFSOBUF GPSNBU B TJHO MBOHVBHF JOUFSQSFUFS PS PUIFS BDDPNNPEBUJPO QMFBTF DBMM PS FNBJM agendco@miamidade.gov.

PLEASE ALL TAKE NOTICE THAT a meeting of the City of Miami Commission has been scheduled for Thursday, December 10, 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 §286.011(8), F.S. The person chairing the City of Miami Commission meeting will announce the commencement of an attorney-client session, closed to the public, for purposes of discussing the pending litigation cases of: Miami-Dade County, et. al. v.

Florida Power & Light Company, et. al., Case No. 3D14-1467, before the Third District Court of Appeal; City of Miami v. State of Florida Department of Environmental Protection, et. al., Case No. 15-747, before the Division of Administrative Hearings; In the Matter of Florida Power & Light Company Turkey Point, Units 6 & 7, Docket Nos. 52-040 and 52-041, before the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission; and In re: Nuclear Cost Recovery Clause, Docket No. 150009, pending before the Florida Public Service Commission. 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, Ken Russell, Francis Suarez, Frank Carollo, and Keon Hardemon; the City Manager, Daniel J. Alfonso; the City Attorney, Victoria Mendez; Deputy City Attorneys, John A. Greco and Barnaby L. Min; and Assistant City Attorneys Kerri L. McNulty, Nicholas P. Basco, and Matthew S. Haber. 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.

)"37&: 367*/ $-&3, $)3*4501)&3 "(3*11" %&165: $-&3, For legal ads online, go to http://legalads.miamidade.gov

Todd B. Hannon City Clerk # 22739

WEEK OF THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 26, 2015

MIAMI TODAY

11

Little room at the inn as rates rise for Art Basel week

BY CARLA VIANNA

When one of the largest internationally recognized contemporary art festivals chose Miami Beach as its US stomping grounds, hotels across the bay geared up for what would become one of region’s busiest weeks. Fourteen years later, hotels on both sides of the bay report few to no rooms available weeks before Art Basel’s Dec. 3 kick-off at the Miami Beach Convention Center.

The event’s influence has stretched far beyond the convention center’s boundaries; art-related events have popped up in all of Miami’s crevices, from local museums to emerging districts like Wynwood.

The event’s popularity has particularly benefited the hotel sector, which has experienced rising room rates and occupancy during Basel week since its launch in 2002.

Miami Beach hotels held about a 45% occupancy rate in 2001 during the first week of December, just after the 9/11 terrorist attacks, according to STR Inc.,

which tracks hotel data. When Art Basel launched the following year, occupancy levels rose to 56%.

During last year’s event, Miami Beach hotels secured an average occupancy rate of 82%.

Average daily rates followed suit. Between 2001 and 2014, room rates more than tripled from $107 to about $443.

When looking at the revenue per available room – what the industry refers to as RevPar and defines as the actual revenue received per room sold – numbers jumped from $48 in 2001 to about $365 last year.

At the Loews Miami Beach Hotel, visitors began booking rooms for Art Basel six months ago. By the end of this week, the 790-key hotel expects to be sold out.

“They know now from previous years how important it is to book in advance to be able to get the hotel that you want,” said General Manager Alex Tonarelli, adding that many of those bookings are coming from repeat customers.

Rates for the week of Dec. 3-6 are

within the mid-$600s, Mr. Tonarelli said; about $30 to $40 per night more than last year.

He said it took a couple of years for the hotel to begin reaping the festival’s benefits. “After the second or third year is when it really took off.”

But Miami Beach hotels aren’t the only ones attracting Art Basel guests.

At the Mandarin Oriental on Brickell Key, guests began booking their stays in March. Rates for the Art Basel period started at $519 a night, said Heidi Barfels, a hotel spokeswoman.

Hotel occupancy levels and average daily rates have escalated throughout Miami-Dade County during that week over the past 14 years, statistics show.

The county’s hotel occupancy levels have gone from 65% to 85% since the festival’s first launch. Average daily rates went from $98 in 2002 to $266 last year, and last year’s RevPar hit $227.

“In the past, Art Basel was not necessarily a downtown focus,” said Christine Corson, director of public relations and marketing for the InterContinental

Miami. But as more events pop up in the Design District and in Wynwood, more visitors are choosing to stay downtown.

The InterContinental sold rooms for $350 to $450 a night this year, which equates to a double-digit percentage growth compared to last year, Ms. Corson said.

The hotel sold out three weeks ago.

In fact, the high demand led the InterContinental to implement minimum stays, such as a three-night minimum, to specifically accommodate festivalgoers, Ms. Corson said.

While tickets to the actual show have gone up in price, the increase was not drastic. Last year’s ticket cost $45.

This year, it’s $47.

But the escalating prices aren’t scaring festival-goers away. About 60,000 attended the last year, keeping up a steady growth in attendance – about an extra 4,000 to 5,000 attendees a year – since the event gave art enthusiasts from around the world another reason to visit Miami in December.

Troy Simmons, in his Bakehouse studio, gets about 40% foreign buyers during Art Basel. Visitors to Art Basel Miami Beach in 2014, when buyers flooded in from Latin America.

‘Foreigners are definitely coming here to purchase’ art works

BY CATHERINE LACKNER

A visit to Art Basel is a great winter escape, but people who appreciate and buy art aren’t here just to party, observers said.

“Art Basel has put Miami on the map as a cultural and art destination,” said Vanessa Grout, a principal of CMC Group. “The Miami client really buys – if you go back to Art Basel day after day, it is not the same art that was being shown before. There are ‘sold’ stickers; they are they are doing business.”

She sees a connection between art and real estate. Many young buyers are spending not just for homes, but for art to fill them. “Both have benefitted.

Many young people are collecting pieces by emerging artists.

The $10,000 price may be a painful expense, but there is a lot of perceived value and it

Photos by Maxine Usdan

Visitors to Art Basel Miami Beach in 2014. Some call it an “open mall.”

doesn’t get consumed, like wine but there is a tremendous or trips or dinners out. Cer- amount of underlying value.”

While she said she has seen tainly, $1 million is a lot of money for a piece of real estate, “a fair share of partygoers, there

are certainly serious purchasers, too. Now that the economy has recovered, it can be hard to find places to put your cash.

Art and real estate have lasting value, and the art can hang in your home.”

“My personal experience is that foreigners are definitely coming here to purchase,” said Troy Simmons, an artist affiliated with the JanKossen Gallery whose works will be on display during Art Basel. Based in Switzerland, the gallery has outposts in Miami and New York City. He put the number of foreign buyers at about 40%.

The gallery has dealt with art buyers from Russia and other Eastern countries, as well as Latin America and the US Northeast. It also occasionally shows in West Palm Beach, where the buyers tend to be domestic.

At Art Basel “there are parties, of course, as you would have when any group of like-

minded people get together” Mr. Simmons said. “But these people are here to do business. The galleries wouldn’t spend this much money to keep coming back if they weren’t.”

“Miami, and Art Basel, are like an open mall,” said Luiz Silva, president of Saccaro USA, a high-end furniture manufacturer. “Everybody likes to come here and spend.”

Many of the sales the store makes during Art Basel will be to Latin Americans, and some of the furniture will be shipped back to their homes there or will remain here in the owner’s second or third home in Miami, he said. There are occasional sales to people who live in the Northeast US, he added.

“There is no question Miami is the darling of Latin America,” Mr. Silva said. “There’s even a saying in Venezuela: ‘We’ve run out of toothpaste; let’s go to Miami to buy more.’”

WEEK OF THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 26, 2015

MIAMI TODAY

15

Hot spots exceed double-digit commercial land price hikes

BY CARLA VIANNA

Miami’s commercial real estate market has seen land values escalate 10% to 15% year-overyear. While prices are rising throughout the county, Miami’s evolving sections such as the Design District, downtown Miami and Wynwood are particularly thriving.

Wynwood has seen the most dramatic increases, said Tom Dixon with Dixon Commercial Real Estate. He attributed the upswing to the “buzz and the hype” surrounding a Miami neighborhood in which “everybody expects more things to happen.”

New York-based developers continue swapping land at what brokers have described as New York-level prices within the art district and its neighboring areas. A vacant site in Wynwood reportedly sold for $400 a square foot to Brooklyn-based RedSky Capital this month, according to local real estate websites.

The site at Northwest 24th Street more than doubled in price from when another developer acquired it between 2013 and January.

The Design District is another area whose prices are hitting all-time-highs. Within the luxury shopping destination’s core, real estate values are reaching upward toward $4,000

Photo by Maxine Usdan

With industrial demand high, “there’s a lot of money that’s been chasing these deals,” said Ronald Kohn.

per square foot, Miami Today reported last week. The blocks on the outer edge of the district have traded for $2,000 to $2,500 a square foot.

“Very few places in the world other than New York have prices of these levels,” said Lyle Chariff, founder and owner of Chariff Realty Group, which has actively acquired and sold Design District property.

Moishe Mana, an increasingly familiar name to anyone following Wynwood’s revitalization, has also acquired swaths of land in downtown Miami over the past couple of years. Last year, Mr. Mana reportedly paid $196 per square foot for property at 141 E Flagler St. This year, reports show the developer paid more than $400 per square foot for property about 100 feet

away, at 129 E Flagler St. Also in Mr. Mana’s portfolio is a 6,000-plus-square-foot piece of land at 110 E Flagler St., which he acquired for more than $700 per square foot this past summer.

“There’s a limited amount of land with huge amounts of money pouring into the city,” said Ronald Kohn, president of Kohn Commercial Real Estate.

“People want to be here. There’s a lot of money that’s been chasing these deals.”

Other areas caught in the upward swing are Miami Beach’s retail markets like Lincoln Road and Miami’s industrial markets including the Airport West and Doral areas, Mr. Dixon said.

“Industrial is as strong as I’ve ever seen it,” Mr. Kohn said.

Warehouses were selling at an average of $99 per square foot during the third quarter, ComReal reported. This was up from $93.50 during the second quarter.

Although neither Mr. Dixon nor Mr. Kohn predicts prices going down any time soon, they do believe the rate of increase will eventually slow. Pointing out the difficulties South American buyers are facing against devalued currencies, Mr. Kohn said he doesn’t see the Chinese filling in the cash void left by the previously active Argentineans, Brazilians and Venezuelans.

“It just seems hard to believe that [the land values] will continue to go up at the same rate of increase,” he said.

The rapid uptick in commercial land values and the rising cost of construction will push rents up until tenants finally say, “I can’t,” Mr. Dixon said, but that moment is probably about 18 to 24 months away.

With no new construction, Doral office space demand rises

BY CATHERINE LACKNER

Though it is far from the central business district – or maybe because it is – office space in Doral continues to be a hot commodity.

“The Doral office market is very active, for several reasons,” said Juan Ruiz, executive vice president of Blanca Commercial Real Estate.

“There’s nothing under construction, and not since 2009 has any new product been delivered.”

Part of Doral’s appeal is its access to the Florida Turnpike and State Roads 836 and 826. Its residential community is rapidly growing, with 1,200 units recently built or under construction.

“We don’t see many people saying, ‘I want to be here because I live in Doral,’ but a lot of people like its proximity to Kendall and South Broward,” which are major population centers, he said.

“Rental rates are less expensive in Doral, sometimes by half,” he added. Space can be had for $26 per square foot, versus $42-$50 per square foot in Brickell, Mr. Ruiz said. “We don’t get a lot of huge tenants;

‘Rental spaces are less expensive in Doral, sometimes by half.’

‘Land that’s available ‘We’ve had several for new development gets tenants who want to lease taken over by residential.’ more space overall.’

Juan Ruiz

Andrew Easton

Douglas Okun

this is a market that caters to the small mom-and-pop businesses that need 1,000 to 5,000 square feet of space.”

Parking is generally free, he said, whereas in most other areas of the county tenants must pay for their spaces. Though the current trend is toward open office spaces, which allow tenants to save on space, they still need parking for their employees, Mr. Ruiz said. Though Doral has a trolley service, workers

still drive to the office, he said.

A parking space can cost as much as $85 per month in a class A building in Coral Gables, said Andrew Easton, vice president of The Easton Group. “That can add as much as $7-$10 per square foot to the cost of the space.”

Demand is high in Doral, partly because no new office buildings are planned for the area, and not many planned for the county, he added. “In Miami, all the land that’s available

for new development gets taken over by residential.”

Mr. Easton predicted demand will escalate further with the completion, about a year from now, of Doral CityPlace, a 300,000-square-foot open mall that will offer restaurants, shopping and entertainment.

“Doral has grown tremendously, but there will be even more things to do and people will want to come here,” Mr. Easton said.

At Lennar Corporate Center, occupancy is at 99%, said Douglas Okun, senior vice president of CREC, which leases the four-building, four-story complex comprising 70,000 square feet. Lennar has had its corporate operations there for several years. Other tenants include companies in the travel support industry and those that have their Latin American hubs here.

“Being west offers a significant advantage to some folks who completely get that local traffic patterns affect their drive times, and the residential being built will only help the submarket as a whole,” he said. “You’ll create a population with middle to upper incomes. These are decision-makers who will not necessarily want to work in the central business district.”

He also pointed out the gap between Doral and downtown prices, “which continues to widen,” and that free parking can add to the savings.

Some clients are leasing even more space than they did in the past, Mr. Okun said. “The economy is so much stronger now,” he said. “We’ve had several tenants who want to lease more space overall.”

24

MIAMI TODAY

WEEK OF THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 26, 2015

We are

for your readership and continued support as we strive to provide news you can use

MIAMITODAY

A Singular Voice in an Evolving City