Miami Today: Week of Thursday, April 7, 2016

WEEK OF THURSDAY, APRIL 7, 2016

A Singular Voice in an Evolving City

WWW.MIAMITODAYNEWS.COM $4.00

SPOTLIGHT ON EXCELLENCE

Convention bureau aims to lure next generation meetings, pg. 13 MORE HEADS IN BEDS: Miami-Dade hotels sold slightly more room nights in January and February than the year before, rising a tenth of percent from 2,516,966 rooms sold in the period in 2015 to 2,520,639 in 2016, even though average daily occupancy dropped 3.3% to 82.4%.

The reason for the drop: The monthly room supply rose 3.5% during the period to 51,886 as more hotels opened in the county. Average daily rates, which dropped 1.8% in the period from the same period of 2015, were still top in the nation at $243.66 per room, and revenue per available room, which dropped 5%, still topped the nation at $200.71, according to figures provided by the Greater Miami Convention & Visitors Bureau. Average daily occupancy also scored high, second in the nation.

City of Miami organizes teen dialogues with police, pg. 18

THE ACHIEVER

BY CATHERINE LACKNER

TRANSIT RIDERSHIP TUMBLES: Miami-Dade public transit ridership fell 7% in December from December 2014, according to the latest report from Miami-Dade Transit. Metrobus ridership fell 10.4% in the oneyear period to more than 5.6 million, while Metrorail ridership edged up a tenth of a percent to over 1.8 million. Ridership on the free Metromover rose 1.8% in the one-year period to 875,701. In all, the transit system logged more than 8.4 million rides during December despite the large decline.

DOWN AGAIN, UP AGAIN: Gasoline prices in Miami rose on average 1.5 cents a gallon in the week ended Sunday, GasBuddy price tracking service reported, averaging $2.14 a gallon. That compares with a national average of $2.06 per gallon. In reviewing the rollercoaster pricing of gasoline in Miami, prices now are 26.4 cents a gallon higher than a month ago but 39.8 cents a gallon lower than a year ago, GasBuddy said. Prices here are now the highest since November.

ON THE MOVE: Swire Properties Inc. has received a temporary certificate of occupancy for Brickell City Centre’s REACH, which allows buyers of the luxury condos to begin their move-in process. REACH is the first of two condominium towers within the master-planned, 5.4-millionsquare-foot mixed-use development. REACH is now over 86% sold.

“With this news, the City of Miami has allowed us to reveal our first condominium tower, REACH, and bring to life the largest single mixedused development Miami has ever seen,” said Maile Aguila, senior vice president of residential sales. The second condo tower, RISE, is expected to open later this year.

Teri Williams

Photo by Marlene Quaroni

Harvard MBA is COO of largest black-owned bank The profile is on Page 4

Vows doubted in latest cultural institution rescue

BY SUSAN D ANSEYAR

It’s unthinkable to leave as a skeleton a world-class museum promised to MiamiDade, said several commissioners who Tuesday found no choice but to rescue yet another cultural institution.

“We cannot go back on this; we can only go forward,” said Audrey Edmonson before voting to grant up to $48 million to complete a 1075 Biscayne Blvd. home for the Patricia and Phillip Frost Museum of Science.

However, Ms. Edmonson told new museum board Chairman Cesar Alvarez, it was a hard decision. She referred to a review of the grant agreement by the Inspector General April 4 and said while the report states the arrangement can work, she’s concerned with how museum leaders can possibly keep a vow never to ask the county for aid again.

The upfront payment to finish the museum so it can open this year will come via sale of bonds secured by 3% convention development taxes and secondarily by sales taxes.

This plan by Mayor Carlos Gimenez would

AGENDA

Miami pays $15 an hour for trainees

convert the county’s previously pledged $4 million for annual operations into $48 million for construction. In exchange, the museum must raise operating funds on a balanced budget without county support and add to its board five county and three City of Miami appointees to build oversight.

The commission Tuesday also added five recommendations by the Inspector General, including requiring status reports and specific cash balances.

Commissioner Bruno Barreiro said the plan is the right path to finish the museum. “I truly believe when it’s up and running, though, this board – even after the mayor and we are gone – will have to step up to the plate and support its operation in some manner,” he said. “We should demand these cultural entities use their dollars appropriately and allocate a percentage of every dollar of their donations into an endowment fund.”

Juan Zapata agreed that the museum will be back for help with operations. “This may not be coming from taxpayers, but it’s taxpayers’ inconvenience that’s paying for it.”

Mr. Zapata said he has been arguing against using convention development taxes

to help run cultural institutions. “I look at this and it doesn’t make sense to me.

We’re basically taking over this museum.

We have bad options right now because we made bad decisions. You can’t go after a very ambitious project and expect the public sector to back you up.”

Having a museum on the way to Miami Beach in mothballs would be catastrophic, said Esteban Bovo Jr., so he supported the agreement “painfully.”

He said he’d be remiss if he didn’t ask how promises can be made that aren’t kept. “The PAMM goes on and on and on,” Mr. Bovo said. “We can’t have things hanging around in skeleton condition reflecting poorly on the community, but some of these institutions may be looking at the county as suckers.”

A few commissioners had no reservations about finishing construction.

“We are not asking for extra money, and it’s not going to cost the taxpayer another cent,” said Sally Heyman. “This is a restructured financial agreement for money that was already targeted for the science museum, so it’s an easy decision for me to support.”

Part-time street-cleaning trainees got a 67% raise from $9 to $15 an hour last week from a Miami community redevelopment agency, with a city commissioner saying he’d seek similar raises in another agency he heads.

New laws will soon make $15 the minimum wage in New York and California.

The Miami program prepares trainees for careers or schooling.

Team workers keep Overtown clean. In 2015-16, it trained 30 in maintenance and placed 21 in college, vocational school or hospitality training. It also taught time management, communication, decision-making and job readiness.

The program requested a hike from $220,000 to $235,000 so as to hire two more employees at $9 per hour, which includes benefits.

Each works about 25 hours a week.

“What would it take to get them to $15?” City Commissioner and Southeast Overtown/Park West Community Redevelopment Agency board member Ken Russell asked.

“That’s a little more than we anticipated,” replied Clarence E. Woods III, the executive director.

“This is a trainee program,” pointed out Keon Hardemon, Miami commissioner and agency chair. The money is meant more as a stipend than a permanent wage, he added.

“This is a unique opportunity, if we can offer whatever we want,” Mr. Russell said.

“I’m prepared to do it,” said Francis Suarez, Miami commissioner and CRA director. “These are public funds.”

Several program graduates in the audience said they’d since joined the Miami Downtown Development Authority’s street enhancement team at $8.05, the minimum wage for Florida.

“I’m going to do something at the DDA” to raise pay there too, said Mr. Russell, the authority’s chair. “Earning $8 or $9, you’re a member of the working poor, and if you’re working, you shouldn’t be poor. This one is pretty easy.”

DOWNTOWN AGENCY TRIES MIND GAMES ON DRIVERS ...

2

COUNTY PREPARES TO SEEK BIDS TO REBUILD BEACHES ...

7

COUNTY TALKS OF SETTING UP OWN FILM INCENTIVES ...

3

TWO-FRONT WAR WAGED ON DESIGN DISTRICT MUSEUM ... 10

APP IN WORKS TO SHARE IMMIGRATION EXPERIENCES ...

3

RELATED HANDS CITY PRIME WATERFRONT FOR A PARK ...

12

VIEWPOINT: LEVEL THE FIELD ON COUNTY CONTRACTS ...

6

REAL ESTATE INVESTMENTS WIN A BROAD THUMB’S UP ...

23

TODAY’S NEWS

WEEK OF THURSDAY, APRIL 7, 2016

MIAMI TODAY

3

FIU, Gables creating app to share immigration experience

BY CAMILA CEPERO

The City of Coral Gables is developing a new “immigration experience” application in collaboration with Florida International University but is keeping the details under wraps.

“I can’t talk about the application yet,” said City Clerk Walter Foeman, although he did share some information on who’s involved in the development and what information they hope the application will gather.

The application is still in early developmental stages, he said, but the technical

part is being handled by FIU. The school’s Geographic Information Systems Center, or GIS Center, is the main collaborator with the city. GIS is a system designed to store, analyze and present geographically referenced data.

A GIS includes both hardware and software components.

Project coordinators are working with digital archivists. Jamie Rogers, the school’s director of digital collections, is involved in the development of the application, Mr. Foeman said.

The mission of the application, Mr. Foeman said, is “developing a commu-

nity where we can provide residents with the opportunity to share their unique experience with us.”

This will provide immigration researchers with the chance to retrieve the digital archive content that will be created.

The area provides a unique opportunity for the application to succeed because a “large percentage” of the people in the community “come from other parts of the world [and] other parts of the country,” Mr. Foeman said.

“The application is trying to facilitate [a way] for Coral Gables citizens to make contributions to digital archives,” he said.

Application users will be able to upload personal documents, provide oral histories and transcribe existing archival materials. The goal is to provide citizens with the opportunity to help educate the community.

The future of the application’s development includes more interaction with FIU to strengthen the core project team, Mr. Foeman said.

“It would consist of GIS coordinators, computer scientists, technologists, activists [and] librarians” among others that will be able to make positive contributions, he said.

Without state film incentive, county talks of offering its own

BY CATHERINE LACKNER

After four consecutive years during which the Florida Legislature failed to add funding to the state’s film and entertainment incentive program and with the tax rebate plan ending in July, Miami-Dade is looking at providing its own county filming incentives on a case-bycase basis.

Film productions over the years have pumped millions into the economy and created thou-

FILMING IN M IAMI These film permits were issued last week by the Miami-Dade County Department of Regulatory & Economic Resources’ Office of Film and Entertainment, (305) 375-3288; the Miami Mayor’s Office of Film, Arts & Entertainment, (305) 8603823; and the Miami Beach Office of Arts, Culture and Entertainment-Film and Print Division, (305) 673-7070.

Imagina Content LLC. Miami. Que Noche Con Angelica & Raul. Swale Parking.

Big Cat Partners LLC. New York. Miami Dade Police.

Miami-Dade Police Resources.

Joker Productions GmbH. Cologne. Die Yottas.

Countywide, Miami Beach citywide.

Kinetic Operations LLC. Los Angeles. Married at First Sight S4. Countywide.

Maximus Film GmbH. Munich. Sand. Countywide, Miami Beach citywide.

Joy Collective Ltd. Brooklyn. B-Roll. Countywide, Miami Beach citywide.

Thumbs Up Productions. London. Jodie Marsh Does.

Miami County Jail.

Live Nation. Los Angeles. Hilton Elle King. City of North Miami Beach.

N House Productions. Miami. Carters. Countywide.

Select Services. Miami. Geox. Miami Beach citywide.

Miami Daylight Studios. Miami Beach. Aspex. Hobie Beach.

Co-People Creative Productions. Ambler. Photo Shoot.

Matheson Hammock Park.

Photography by Depuhl. Miami. Miami-Dade County Parks. Countywide.

Littlebear Inc. New York. LV Fall. Watson Island.

Spike Productions Corp. Biscayne Park. P&C. Countywide, Miami Beach citywide.

Pro One Productions Inc. Miami Beach. Fashion House Spring. Countywide, Miami Beach citywide.

Mjolnir Entertainment. Miami Springs. Warden. Camp Matecumbe.

sands of high-paying jobs.

“My administration is currently working with industry stakeholders on establishing guidelines to process and recommend film and entertainment incentives on a case-by-case basis for board consideration,” said a March 31 memo from Mayor Carlos Gimenez to Jean Monestime, chair of the county commission. The issue had been brought to the county’s Trade and Tourism Committee by Commissioner Dennis Moss on March 17.

“The county is – on a caseby-case basis – considering offering some sort of inducement to qualified productions, just as we would any other job creator,” said Sandy Lighterman, the county’s film commissioner, on Tuesday. “The county could consider things that would make it attractive for productions to film here, while requiring the employment of Miami-Dade residents and the hiring of county vendors, but it would not be a formal program.”

The production would have to prove it was viable, could comply with the hiring requirements and would deliver sufficient return on the county’s investment, she added.

While it’s unlikely that any local incentive program could compete with well-funded and robust plans such as exist in Georgia, North Carolina and Louisiana, any help by the county would be a boost to keeping shows here, Ms. Lighterman said.

“We don’t want our local pro-

Ross Report on Real Estate

ductions to leave, including those that are home-grown stories,” she said. “We are also worried that our infrastructure will deteriorate.”

While she said she couldn’t predict how the attempt will fare, “there seems to be interest on the mayor’s part, and on the part of some commissioners.”

The idea isn’t new: last August, Mr. Moss asked that a feasibility study be presented to the county commission. The study, obtained by Miami Today, lays out incentive programs in competing states and cities.

It is also part of Mr. Gimenez’s

March 31 memo.

Bradenton (2011 population: about 54,000) in Manatee County gives incentives that include cash or in-kind services to movie productions that spend more than $250,000. Productions can also film free at Port Manatee and at beaches and parks. At least 90% of the project must be filmed in Manatee County.

Feature films, television shows, Web series or other productions that qualify for San Francisco’s “Scene in San Francisco” program are eligible for a refund of all payroll taxes and

city fees up to $600,000 per production. Crew members can get discounts in participating local stores.

“Without question, the lack of state or local-level incentives is causing Miami-Dade County to lose television series, feature films, documentaries, digital media and commercial projects to other areas both outside and inside of Florida,” the report noted last year. “Local incentives are not designed to replace state incentives.” But, it concluded, they can give one area the competitive edge over another.

SHOWING

HOW MUCH

WE CARE

For the 16th time, we’re honored to be one of the FORTUNE 100 Best Companies to Work For and recognized as a “World’s Most Ethical Company” by the Ethisphere Institute for the sixth consecutive year – and one of only seven in the healthcare industry. That’s award-winning care for our community.

BaptistHealth.net

by Audrey Ross Weak Foreign Currencies Impacting Miami Real Estate The ongoing strength of the dollar has impacted Miami’s luxury market deterring some foreign buyers from purchasing properties. As the data reveals, the number of foreign buyers has declined sharply in the last year. Many economists expected that once quantitative easing stopped, the strength of the dollar would weaken. In fact, the opposite has occurred.

The US remains the number one haven for foreign investors. The strong dollar has been putting US real estate out of reach for many foreign buyers, and it is having an effect

in the luxury market. There DUH WZR IDFWRUV LQÁXHQFLQJ WKLV trend. First, as the US market normalizes, economies around the world are experiencing a slowdown. Second, delayed interest rate growth makes the US a preferred market.

The effect will most likely not impact the very top tier luxury market, and it will likely drive some foreign buyers to secondary markets in the US where their money can buy more. Expect to see a continuation of the decline of all-cash buyers, as the foreign market remains soft As a result, among current for- throughout 2016. eign owners, it is an extremely attractive time to sell US prop- For professional advice on all erties, and cash out of the mar- aspects of buying or selling ket. At the same time, given the real estate, please contact me turbulence abroad, we expect at aross@miamirealestate.com global uncertainty to continue or 305-960-2575, or come by to impact sales. Buyers with the WKH RIÀFH DW $OKDPEUD FDVK ZLOO FRQWLQXH WR ÁRFN WR Circle, 9th Floor, in Coral the US market despite the loss. Gables.

www.miamirealestate.com

A not-for-profit organization supported by philanthropy and committed to our faith-based charitable mission of medical excellence From FORTUNE Magazine, March 15, 2016 ©2016 Time Inc. Used under license. FORTUNE and Time Inc. are not affiliated with, and do not endorse products or services of, Baptist Health South Florida.

6

MIAMI TODAY

VIEWPOINT

WEEK OF THURSDAY, APRIL 7, 2016

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

Time to return to level playing field to win county contracts Tuesday morning a committee is to try to further stack the deck against outof-town bidders for county professional service contracts with the specious reasoning that more business barMichael Lewis riers will strengthen the Miami-Dade economy.

Nothing could be further from the truth.

In fact, by giving even more bidding preference to local firms the county will raise further its “No Outsiders Wanted” sign at the same time that the Beacon Council seeks to lure top-level national and global businesses to open offices and add jobs here.

We’d be working against our own interests – which local preferences and their invidious cousins, trade tariffs, always do.

It’s Economics 101, a course that all candidates for office, presidential as well as local, need to pass as a prerequisite for our vote.

The principle is simple: the more bidders you get on a level playing field, the lower price and higher quality the average winning bidder will offer, which in

government means the more the taxpayers will get for their money.

When you tinker by giving one cluster of bidders unfair advantage, disadvantaged good and inexpensive bidders don’t bid, so someone from the favored group always wins, usually at higher price or worse quality. Once the smaller group knows good outsiders won’t bid they can jack up their prices and still always win. There’s no incentive to keep prices down or quality up.

Miami-Dade over the years has slipped several local preferences onto its books, giving what it calls local firms an edge in bidding. A 5% edge already exists for professional architectural, engineering, landscape architecture and land surveying and mapping services.

On Tuesday, the commission’s Strategic Planning & Government Operations Committee is to consider doubling the advantage to 10% for bidders in those categories that actually have a headquarters here. That would just double the disadvantage to the taxpayers.

Deputy Mayor Ed Marquez notes that for architectural and engineering proposals, prices aren’t scored and are only considered after a firm is chosen.

With a reduced bidding pool, he notes, the actual added costs to taxpayers will only be known contract by contract after chosen firms unveil prices to negotiate. You can bet they’ll soar, per-

haps more than the 10% advantage the winning bidder will get, because good bids from out of town won’t be waiting in the wings if negotiations fail.

Why can’t the county just take the best bid and then negotiate the price, irrespective of where firms are based?

Miami-Dade firms aren’t so bad that they need protection to survive or to serve the county. But if they were that bad, should we really give them a big advantage at higher cost to taxpayers?

Isn’t that corporate welfare at its worst?

Expert in this are impartial government purchasing agents whose jobs are to get the best deals for taxpayers. A group of them, the Virginia Association of Governmental Purchasing, studied local preferences and concluded that “they distort the economic markets and are a barrier to interstate commerce, a barrier to free market competition, and increase procurement costs.”

Among specific objections, they said a local preference “violates basic principles of public purchasing: equality, impartiality, open competition and least cost to the taxpayer.”

Preferences, they said, distort markets, cause “an efficiency loss,” discourage competition and “may impede creativity.”

As for the local economy, which commissioners here are trying to prop up, the Virginia study found that local preferences may lead to higher taxes, subsi-

Ride-sharing emblematic of free-market capitalism There are many things to love about Miami. Taxi service is not one of them.

“Shameful,” “rude,” “incompetent,” “embarrassing” – choose your negative adjective. You could actually call our taxi service Third Jerry Haar World, although that would be a major insult to the Third World.

This situation is inexcusable for a community that prides itself on being a major tourism destination; and despite “Miami Nice” campaigns and all the other too-littletoo-late experiments to make our taxi service more welcoming, it still stinks.

The typical experience for a leisure or business traveler is to exit the airport’s baggage claim and queue up for a taxi.

Instead of a smile and a “Welcome to Miami!,” you will invariably be greeted by a scowl, grunt or silence.

The condition of your driver’s vehicle will be passable, but nothing more; and most likely he will be hygienically-challenged with a B.O. that would knock a buzzard off a septic tank… AND, worst of all, he will ask YOU how to get to your destination and will probably not have GPS to guide him there.

Enter The Transportation Game-changer, ride-sharing – Uber and Lyft. Although banned from picking up passengers at the airport, courtesy of the taxi cartel (which probably has some name like Taxi Union of Repulsive Drivers… [enjoy the acronym]), at least in the city and county tourists and business travelers can receiver transport services worthy of them.

The larger virtue of ride-sharing is that it is a disruptive innovation and embodies

The Writer Jerry Haar is a business professor at FIU. everything that entrepreneurship, economic liberty and free-market capitalism are all about.

To begin with, ride-sharing provides consumers with choice, critical to price equilibrium and economic efficiency.

Cartels and monopolies are anti-market and exploitative – impervious to the laws of supply and demand. The only Italian restaurant in a small town in South Dakota can serve bad pizza at high prices, giving consumers two choices – grudgingly pay up or go without pizza.

Same with the taxi cartel in the county.

Without competitiveness, there’s no need to improve service. The factor of competitiveness, which ride-sharing brings, not only puts pressure on cab fleets to improve service (if they so choose) but it also stimulates competition between Uber and Lyft.

Still another factor is convenience. Ridesharing apps provide the consumer with choice (of vehicle), speed (pick-up), and tracking of the ride. Moreover, they are a godsend for avoiding the headache of driving and parking in downtown Brickell – a virtual parking lot. And for partying, Uber or Lyft make a wonderful “designated driver.”

In addition to the benefits from ridesharing of consumer choice, competitiveness and convenience, Uber and Lyft are disruptive innovations that embody entrepreneurship – the ability of individuals to control their own economic destiny. With ride-sharing, there are no barriers to entry, no cronyism, no corruption. Each driver is

his or her own boss, and they succeed or fail on market factors alone.

For the unemployed, immigrants without high-demand technical skills, young people mired in student debt, or those merely wishing to supplement their income from other employment, being a ride-sharing driver provides countless benefits.

Still another benefit is that the service is self-regulating – passengers and drivers evaluate each other; so poor drivers will be suspended and rude customers will be blackballed from future service from the ride-sharing vendor.

Is ride-sharing perfect? Of course not.

There have been glitches with pick-ups and drop-offs and from time to time there have been drivers who have assaulted their passengers. But this could happen with formal taxi service as well.

While it would be ideal if Uber and Lyft could operate at the airport instead of the current crop of cabbies who remind one of cast extras from “Night of the Living Dead,” that will not happen anytime soon, unfortunately. Nor will the arrival of mass transit system with an extensive network of metro trains as found in New York, Washington, Boston and San Francisco that actually take people where they need to go.

For the time being, let’s be thankful for the arrival of the ride-sharing system we have – a transportation innovation that for South Florida residents is truly “one small step for mankind.”

dize “a few business taxpayers at the expense of all residential and business taxpayers” and “may discourage local economic development.”

They also see definitions of “local” causing increased bid challenges, possible retaliation from other communities, added government staff time, hindered cooperative purchasing with other localities and possible court tests of barriers to interstate commerce.

Trumping all those very real deficits from adding local preferences could only be winning bidders’ political and financial support of commissioners. We trust our commission won’t let any such personal gain outweigh community good.

Keeping business and money at home with preferences sounds so good yet it’s so wrong. With protectionism, which sounds great, we in fact wind up spending more and getting less, certainly to the detriment of the general public.

The committee would do well Tuesday not only to forget added local preferences but to begin the process of removing bidding barriers entirely.

L ETTERS

TO THE

E DITOR

Coast Guard shouldn’t let Miami Wilds get its lands The developer of Miami Wilds and the county seem presumptuous that they are going to get the Coast Guard land. From what I know, the county has yet to come up with a suitable replacement land parcel for the Coast Guard’s use, and since the county has failed to land bank for the future I doubt that they ever will.

Opponents to the amusement park should lobby the Coast Guard not to give up the land and let it remain as federal property.

Hugh Jardonn

Soccer parking isn’t vital If Beckham’s people do this soccer stadium without my tax dollars I don’t care what it looks like or that I have to walk a block or two. Overtown’s not as scary as the news makes it out to be. Retail, dining, whatever will follow or at least settle in the surrounding areas. It’s soccer, not date night.

Parking isn’t going to be a dealbreaker for soccer fans and it’s not going to be a lure for non-soccer fans.

Ben Grimm

MIAMITODAY miamitodaynews.com FOUNDED JUNE 2, 1983 VOLUME XXXIII No. 46 ENTIRE CONTENTS © 2016

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

How to Write Letters for publication may be sent to the Editor, Miami Today, 2000 S. Dixie Hwy, Suite 100, Miami, FL 33133 or email to letters@miamitodaynews.com.

Letters may be condensed for space.

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.

WEEK OF THURSDAY, APRIL 7, 2016

TODAY’S NEWS

MIAMI TODAY

7

County set to seek bids to renourish Miami Beach beaches

BY CAMILA CEPERO

County officials are just about ready to begin this summer’s beach nourishment in an ongoing effort help recover the impacts of coastal erosion.

Several Miami Beach “hot spots” especially vulnerable to erosion, at 46th Street and 53rd Street, are targeted for beach nourishment this summer. The project will add 220,000 cubic yards of sand to the shoreline.

County officials re-visit the two areas steadily and expect them to regularly need nourishment due to erosion, which can be a product of factors such as currents near the shoreline and sand piling up near jetties.

In 1968, Congress authorized the US Army Corps of Engineers to construct the Dade County Beach Erosion Control and Hurricane Protection Project after county officials requested federal assistance with shore erosion.

The project’s benefits include storm damage reduction, which reduces federal tax dollars needed to recover from storms; protection of vegetation; providing nesting and foraging habitats for sea turtles and shorebirds; protection for culturally and historically significant resources; continued income from

tourist revenue, and recreation.

In general, sand for renourishment comes from offshore sites or upland sources, but sand sources offshore of the county are nearly depleted, so for these locations and probably all future projects, the county will use upland sources. Therefore, the sand, which is usually transported using dredges and pipelines, will be hauled in by trucks this summer.

This summer’s project is federally funded as a joint effort between the US Army Corps of Engineers, the state of Florida and Miami-Dade County, which will “bid out” the project, said Jamie Monty, manager of the restoration and enhancement section of Miami-Dade County’s Department of Regulatory and Economic Resources’ Environmental Resources Management.

Officials plan to officially advertise a request for proposals in mid-April, after which bids can go to the Army Corps of Engineers.

Afterward, applicants will have to submit sand samples and paperwork verifying that the sand has undergone sediment analysis, Ms. Monty said. The results must show that the sand source meets county-specific screening criteria.

The Florida Department of Environment Sand Rule And Sedi-

ment Quality, also known as the “Sand Rule,” is designed to protect the environmental functions of Florida’s beaches and includes parameters regulating grain size, sediment sorting, sand color, shell content, silt content, beach rocks and debris Sediment color is especially important to sea turtles and other species that use the beach as habitat.

During the project, the beach sites will be taking extra precautions such as using flagmen to keep beachgoers safe. “[Beaches] will remain open to the public. When there are trucks moving, or even utilizing the staging areas in the parking lot, there will be flagmen,” Ms. Monty said.

Projects like these, which require multi-million-dollar costsharing, mean that the agencies won’t be revealing exact budget numbers, Ms. Monty said.

The project will be awarded to the lowest bidder in June and contractors should begin mobilizing by July and getting the trucks and equipment to the sites, she said. The equipment and sand will be staged in parking lot areas.

“Because there are two different areas, the end date depends on what the contractor chooses to do,” Ms. Monty said. Workers might finish one area first then

move on to the second, or they might work on both areas concurrently, in which case the project could be finished sooner.

“Definitely, the deadline is

open-ended,” she said. The project might be completed as early as December, or if it is done in two stages, as early as February.

Prostate Cancer.

It’s Personal.

A man’s masculinity and his mortality.

What could be more personal?

That’s why more men in South Florida who are facing prostate cancer choose Jackson South Community Hospital for their prostate surgery – twice as many as any other hospital in Miami. They choose Jackson for our Urology Center of Excellence, for our advanced robotic technology, for our nerve-sparing techniques, and for the proven expertise of our medical director, Sanjay Razdan, M.D., MCh. They choose Jackson because it’s personal.

Call us, and learn about our nerve-sparing treatments:

305-585-4URO.

*As reported 6/19/2014, by INTELLIMED International, Corp.

10

TODAY’S NEWS

MIAMI TODAY

WEEK OF THURSDAY, APRIL 7, 2016

Design District museum battle waged at city hall, in court

BY JOHN CHARLES ROBBINS

The battle against a new home for the Institute of Contemporary Art in Miami lumbers on, in court and before the city’s elected leaders.

The concrete, steel and glass may be rising at the edge of the Design District for the ICA’s new digs, but the construction flies in the face of the people challenging the venture, according to their attorney, Paul Savage.

Two nearby residents have been fighting the new museum at every turn, and Mr. Savage is representing their interests.

The latest bout unfolded before the Miami City Commission on March 24.

After discussion and hearing from the public and lawyers for both sides, commissioners approved the first reading of two ordinances related to the new museum.

The affirmative votes represent preliminary approval of two measures: one would remove .30-acre from the Miami Design District Retail Street Special Area Plan; the other would authorize the city manager to amend a development agreement between the city and Miami Design District Associ- Francisco Garcia ates LLC. City Planning Director Francisco Garcia told commissioners the proposed changes were more “housekeeping� than substantive changes. The city is co-applicant on both items.

It did afford the opponents one more chance to complain

The Institute of Contemporary Art in Miami won two preliminary approvals March 24 at Miami City Hall.

of the project’s size and height and reiterate a belief the land should never have been rezoned in the first place.

The ultimate decision on the rezoning may be decided by a judge, as Mr. Savage has filed a suit in circuit court to get the museum’s rezoning nullified and stop construction.

Mr. Garcia said the zoning classification on the ICA property is Civic Institution, and when the Design District Special Area Plan was approved it did not contemplate a Civic Institution use, which “creates a bit of anomaly.�

Removing the museum land from the Special Area Plan and restating density and height limits allowed in the Design District will allow development in a more “coherent fashion,� said Mr. Garcia.

CITY OF MIAMI, FLORIDA NOTICE OF PUBLIC HEARING A public hearing will be held by the City Commission of the City of Miami, Florida on April 14, 2016 at 9:00 A.M. at City Hall, located at 3500 Pan American Drive, Miami, Florida 33133 for the purpose of granting the following: A RESOLUTION OF THE MIAMI CITY COMMISSION AUTHORIZING THE CITY MANAGER TO EXECUTE A GRANT OF EASEMENT ON CITY-OWNED PROPERTY LYING AT 3501 RICKENBACKER CAUSEWAY AND 3511 RICKEN%$&.(5 &$86(:$< $7 9,5*,1,$ .(< 0,$0, )/25,'$ (â&#x20AC;&#x153;PROPERTYâ&#x20AC;?), TO MIAMI-DADE WATER AND SEWER DEPARTMENT (â&#x20AC;&#x153;WASDâ&#x20AC;?), OF A SEWER LINE EASEMENT RUNNING APPROXIMATELY FIFTEEN (15) FEET WIDE BY ONE 7+286$1' 1,1( +81'5(' $1' (,*+7< 6(9(1

)((7 ,1 /(1*7+ )25 $ 3(53(78$/ 121 (;&/86,9( EASEMENT ON THE PROPERTY, FOR THE CONSTRUCTION, OPERATION AND MAINTENANCE OF SAID UNDERGROUND UTILITY FACILTIES, WITH THE RIGHT TO RE&216758&7 ,03529( &+$1*( $1' 5(029( $// 25 ANY OF THE FACILITIES WITHIN THE EASEMENT. The Miami City Commission requests all interested parties be present or represented at this meeting and are invited to express their views. Should any person desire to appeal any decision of the City Commission with respect to any matter considered at this meeting, that person shall ensure that a verbatim record of the proceedings is made, including all testimony and evidence upon which 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 proceedLQJ PD\ FRQWDFW WKH 2IÂżFH RI WKH &LW\ &OHUN DW 9RLFH

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 &LW\ &OHUN

22779

In the same month the museum backers hosted a groundbreaking â&#x20AC;&#x201C; November 2015 â&#x20AC;&#x201C; city commissioners were considering an appeal filed by Mr. Savage on behalf of two nearby property owners.

They appealed a Sept. 2 decision of the Planning, Zoning and Appeals Board granting an exception to allow the museum to be built at 53 and Norman Braman 61 NE 41st St. and 50, 58 and 68 NE 42nd St. In his arguments then, Mr. Savage focused on the front lot line of the museum, arguing that zoning would not allow a zero lot line and the new building would have to be at least 10

to 20 feet back from the lot line.

After a hearing, commissioners denied the appeal.

The new museum is backed by auto dealer Norman Braman and his wife Irma, both noted art collectors. It is to move from a temporary home at 4040 NE Second Ave., where it set up shortly after the board of the City of North Miamiâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Museum of Contemporary Art splintered when director Bonnie Clearwater left in 2012 and the choice of a new director caused a row. Part of the collection stayed in MOCA and part left with directors who formed the Institute of Contemporary Art. The new museum is planned to be three stories, 37,500 square feet in all, with a 15,000square-foot sculpture garden to the rear.

The venture has been charac-

terized as a â&#x20AC;&#x153;philanthropic effortâ&#x20AC;? and involves Craig Robins and Dacra, the main developer behind the transformation of the Design District.

In early 2015, the project brought out residents in opposition to decisions of the cityâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Historical, Environmental and Preservation Board and land use and zoning changes made by the planning board.

The cityâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s planning staff recommended the entire site be rezoned to the Civic Institution category, defined as â&#x20AC;&#x153;a zone with uses primarily dedicated to functioning for community purposes such as, cultural, educational, environmental, governmental, public transit, public parking and religious facilities.â&#x20AC;?

Opponents cried spot zoning, but commissioners backed up the planning board and planning staff and approved the rezoning and land use changes.

At the commissionâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s March 24 meeting, one woman who said she was part of the neighborhood approving the original Special Area Plan for the Design District said there was no mention the developer would remove land from the Special Area Plan â&#x20AC;&#x153;when it suited them.â&#x20AC;?

She also said the museum is one-third of the way built and she wondered how the ICA got a building permit from the city when the entire matter is being litigated.

Mr. Garcia told commissioners all of the construction limits remain intact in the Special Area Plan, and limits on the new ICA were â&#x20AC;&#x153;incorporated into the exception process.â&#x20AC;?

Final votes on the latest ordinances â&#x20AC;&#x201C; to remove the museum from the Special Area Plan â&#x20AC;&#x201C; could be heard as early as April 28.

Museum construction stays on track

BY CAMILA CEPERO

Construction has stayed on track for the Institute of Contemporary Artâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s new, permanent 37,500-square-foot home in the Design District, officials report.

The new buildingâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s highlights include exhibition space and a sculpture garden on Northeast 41st Street. Inside the building will be multi-purpose areas along with gallery spaces, all of which are to feature state-ofthe-art acoustic and lighting technologies. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Construction on the new building marks a significant milestone for the museum and for Miami,â&#x20AC;? said museum Director Ellen Salpeter.

The buildingâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s design was the first US project for Spanish architecture firm Aranguren & Gallegos Arquitectos, which worked in collaboration with Wolfberg Alvarez & Partners. It features upwards of 20,000 square feet of exhibition galleries and a 15,000square-foot sculpture garden.

The southern façade, which will serve as the main entrance to the museum, will feature a geometric design of interlocking metal triangles and colorchanging lighting panels. The northern façade contrasts the

â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Since the groundbreaking in November, major work has been done on the museumâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s envelope and infrastructure.â&#x20AC;&#x2122; Tommy Pace entrance with windows which will bring natural light into the museum.

Visitors inside the museum will have views of the Design District and the sculpture garden, which will have the feeling of flowing into the ground-level galleries.

The building will enable ICA Miami to expand its reach and programs dedicated to promoting the exchange of art and ideas throughout Miami. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Since the groundbreaking in November, major work has been done on the museumâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s envelope and infrastructure,â&#x20AC;? said museum Associate Director Tommy Pace.

The design, construction and land acquisition have been entirely funded by a major capital gift from Irma and Norman Braman, the auto dealership magnate.

The new landmark will stand as a symbol of Miamiâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s grow-

ing and vibrant visual arts community, said Mrs. Braman, cochair of museumâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s board of trustees. â&#x20AC;&#x153;There arenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t really any major updates to share at this point,â&#x20AC;?

Mr. Pace said.

As construction moves forward, ICA Miami continues to focus its operations in its temporary location in the Moore Building at 4040 NE Second Ave. On March 16, the museum detailed its summer exhibition program in its current location featuring solo presentations by Ida Applebroog, Laura Lima, Renaud Jerez and Susan Te Kahurangi King. The exhibitions are curated by Deputy Director and Chief Curator Alex Gartenfeld, except for the King exhibition, which is curated by Tina Kukielski, executive director of ART21. â&#x20AC;&#x153;As ICA Miami looks forward to the opening of its new permanent home next year, the summer program reflects the museumâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s continued commitment to providing an international platform for a wide range of innovative and experimental contemporary artists,â&#x20AC;? Mr. Pace said.

The new building, he said, is keeping its target opening date in mid-2017 and is still on budget.

WEEK OF THURSDAY, APRIL 7, 2016

TODAY’S NEWS

MIAMI TODAY

11

Redevelopment agency asks better deal from exposition hub

BY CATHERINE LACKNER

Holding out for a more favorable offer, directors of the Southeast Overtown/Park West Community Redevelopment Agency (CRA) last week told MDM Group to sharpen its pencils and bring back something more palatable than the expo center deal the developer had proposed.

MDM wants 65% of its property tax bills rebated to make its financing package work – a number at least one CRA director said is too high. Directors also said there aren’t enough teeth to ensure the developer’s agreement to hire locals. The city’s five elected commissioners sit as the CRA directors.

In return for the $115 million tax subsidy, MDM offered to build a 600,000-square-foot exposition center and two hotels comprising 1,700 rooms on the former Miami Arena site on Northwest Eighth Street between North Miami and Northwest First avenues. The site, adjacent to the mammoth Miami Worldcenter project, is vacant and privately held.

Key among MDM’s proposals has been the promise to hire as many people as possible from Miami’s inner city, including 20% of its permanent workforce from Overtown. More than 1,300 direct jobs are expected to be created when the hotel and exposition center are fully open. MDM has said it will not disqualify potential hires because of minor criminal records and will offer internships and jobs to students from a nearby high school.

Photo by John Charles Robbins

This site would house the 600,000-square-foot exposition center and hotels of 1,100 and 600 rooms.

“This project will help anchor the redevelopment of Overtown and Park West,” Javier Fernandez, MDM Group attorney, told a packed house of residents, business people and union representatives at the three-hour CRA meeting. “It will be a generator of economic demand and will make Overtown a leading destination.”

Miami Beach residents last month voted against a convention center hotel there, but Mr. Fernandez said circumstances are different. “On the Beach, there are traffic problems, but not here,” as the project will have access to Metrorail, Metromover and the station where All Aboard Florida and

the proposed expansion of TriRail will have their southern terminus.

“The number of Overtown hires is not as high as I’d like,” said Keon Hardemon, Miami commissioner and CRA chair.

There are other problems with the contract, he said. “We’ve made progress, but we can do better. We didn’t bargain well enough.”

“A convention center is needed and a benefit for the city,” said Francis Suarez, Miami commissioner and CRA director. “Sometimes we get so bogged down in the details, we lose sight of the bigger picture.”

In response to complaints that

the agreement’s penalties for not hiring local workers were as low as $25,000, Clarence E. Woods III, CRA executive director, said penalties could be assessed on a sliding scale. The developer’s total exposure for not fulfilling hiring quotas could be as high as $2.1 million, he said.

“We need to speak about revenue-sharing,” said Frank Carollo, Miami commissioner and CRA director.

But Mr. Fernandez said revenue sharing is usually part of the deal only when a developer is using public land. “This is a markedly different deal,” he said. “We are acquiring the land.”

“Mr. Woods has done a great job,” said Ken Russell, Miami commissioner and CRA director. “They set the table and then we chip away at it. But the elephant in the room is the taxincrement funding,” which he said provides too high a tax break at 65%.

“We all understand the importance of a convention center hotel,” said Wifredo “Willy” Gort, Miami commissioner and CRA director. “But this is a great community that deserves to get something back.” He suggested increasing the living wage for the jobs MDM is offering, and reinforcing the penalties if the local hiring goals are not met.

“We’re talking Marriott here,” Mr. Russell said, insisting further concessions could be attained. He also pointed out that the proposed exposition center hotel is within a stone’s throw of Miami Worldcenter and “what will be the best train station in Florida. It’s not a blighted area.”

“A billion times zero is zero,” Mr. Suarez said, as he recited a litany of projects that were never consummated in the redevelopment area for various reasons.

“We know it’s a vacant lot now, and it could remain that way for five, 10 or 15 years.”

“I’m heartened, but we’re not there yet,” Mr. Hardemon said.

It was agreed that MDM would come back to the CRA on April 25 with a tweaked proposal, though Mr. Fernandez said there is a limit to concessions the developer could give lest the project become unfeasible.

Money for arts fest ticketed as affirming destination appeal

BY CATHERINE LACKNER

In approving $200,000 for the Overtown Music & Arts Festival, some directors of the Southeast Overtown/Park West Community Redevelopment Agency said they were doing more than funding a celebration; they were affirming the community’s appeal as a destination.

They voted to award a $250,000 grant to the Headliner Market Group (HMG) to oversee the July 23 event (the Knight Foundation contributed $50,000 toward the grant).

“We had 6,000 people the first year,” said Clarence E. Woods III, agency executive director.

“Last year, we had 7,500, even in the rain.”

“About 39 years ago, we started an event called Calle Ocho,” said Wifredo “Willy” Gort, Miami commissioner and agency director. “Now it gets more than a million visitors and is a tourist attraction.” The Overtown Music & Arts Festival, he said, “can bring people into Overtown, and they can learn about its history.”

“One day I read in the newspaper that it’s a block party,” said Keon Hardemon, Miami commissioner and agency chair. “You wouldn’t call Calle Ocho or the South Beach Food and Wine Festival a block party. It upsets me.

“The redevelopment plan allows us to fund marketing activities,” he said. “You can build a city, but if no one knows it’s there, no one comes.”

Since HMG took over management of the event in 2014, attendance has grown dramatically, from 1,500 to the current levels, according to a memo from the group to the agency’s board. This year’s free event is set for 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. in the former entertainment district of Overtown, which runs along Northwest Second Avenue between Northwest Eighth Street and Northwest 11th Terrace. A kids’ zone with arts and crafts activities for children has been

expanded this year, and HMG intends to market the festival outside Florida in hopes of attracting a wider tourist base, according to the group’s memo.

Saying that bad news about Overtown is always quickly re-

ported, Mr. Hardemon said, “When 7,000 guests can come into a neighborhood – where they have been told in the past not to go – and enjoy themselves and stay safe, to me that’s a good thing.”

S T. T h o m a s U

N

I

V

E

R

S

I

T

Y

Finish Your Bachelors in Just 15 Months!

^ƚ͘ dŚŽŵĂƐ hŶŝǀĞƌƐŝƚLJ ŝƐ ŶŽǁ ŽīĞƌŝŶŐ Ă ƵŶŝƋƵĞ ŽƉƉŽƌƚƵŶŝƚLJ ƚŽ ĐŽŵƉůĞƚĞ LJŽƵƌ ďĂĐŚĞůŽƌƐ ŝŶ KƌŐĂŶŝnjĂƟŽŶĂů >ĞĂĚĞƌƐŚŝƉ͘ dŚĞ >ĞĂĚĞƌƐŚŝƉ ƉƌŽŐƌĂŵ ĂĐĐĞƉƚƐ LJŽƵƌ ƉĂƐƚ ĐŽůůĞŐĞ ĐŽƵƌƐĞƐ ĂŶĚ ǁŽƌŬ ĞdžƉĞƌŝĞŶĐĞ ĂƐ ĐƌĞĚŝƚƐ͘ ^dh͛Ɛ ĂĐĐĞůĞƌĂƚĞĚ ĨƵůůLJ ŽŶůŝŶĞ ĚĞŐƌĞĞ ǁŝůů ŐŝǀĞ LJŽƵ ƚŚĞ ĐŽŶĮĚĞŶĐĞ ďŽŽƐƚ LJŽƵ ŶĞĞĚ ƚŽ ŵŽǀĞ ĨŽƌǁĂƌĚ͊ stu.edu/Leadership No Matter Where You Want to Go In Life, You Can Get There from Here.

16401 NW 37th Ave Miami Gardens, FL 305.474.6848 NÄZOLY'Z[\ LK\ Z[\ LK\

12

MIAMI TODAY

TODAY’S NEWS

WEEK OF THURSDAY, APRIL 7, 2016

Miami seeks millions in grants for water-related projects

BY JOHN CHARLES ROBBINS

From extending the baywalk to establishing mooring areas, Miami is seeking millions in grant funding for water-related projects in a series of applications that city commissioners recently approved to the Florida Inland Navigation District’s Waterways Assistance Program.

The navigation district, known as FIND, is a special state taxing district for the continued management and maintenance of the Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway.

Most of the grant request represents half the total project cost. For each successful request, the city would allocate the required 50% match. Some of the resolutions authorizing the applications note that a project may be contingent upon future budgeting.

One application seeks help to pay for design and permitting for a new mooring field offshore from Watson Island.

The island between Miami and Miami Beach, connected via the MacArthur Causeway, is owned by the City of Miami and home to entities including Miami Children’s Museum and Chalk’s Airlines, Jungle Island and the planned mixed-use Island Gardens.

Island Gardens has built its own marina for mega- and super-yachts, called Deep Harbour. The marina was officially opened Jan. 8 by Flagstone Property Group.

Watson Island also includes a public boat launch area, the Miami Outboard Club, and the Miami Yacht Club.

Photo by John Charles Robbins

A new mooring field could be added to the city’s Dinner Key Marina if Miami gets one grant it is seeking.

The city seeks a FIND grant of up to $75,000 for the design and permitting of a 100-vessel managed mooring field offshore from Watson Island. The total cost is estimated at $160,000 for administration, design, engineering and permitting.

The resolution also authorizes allocation of $85,000 by the city’s Department of Real Estate and Asset Management, which would include the required match of $75,000 in eligible costs plus administrative costs of $10,000, which are ineligible for grant matches.

The other applications for reimbursement grants included: Up to $75,000 for design and permitting of a 100-vessel managed mooring field offshore

from Dinner Key Marina. The project’s total cost is estimated at $160,000 for the administration, design, engineering and permitting needed for the mooring field. The resolution also authorizes allocation of $85,000, which would include the required match of $75,000 in eligible costs plus administrative costs of $10,000.

Up to $245,000 for construction of a baywalk behind the Miami Woman’s Club. The total cost is estimated at $577,000 for administration and construction of a new baywalk to allow public access to the marinas, baywalks and parks adjacent to the club. The city is allocating the required matching funds up to $332,000 avail-

able under the Community Redevelopment Agency (CRA) Omni Fund.

The city allocation includes the required match of $245,000 plus administrative costs of $41,000 and contingency costs of $46,000. The Miami Women’s Club is a historic site at 1737 N Bayshore Drive, adjacent to the city’s Margaret Pace Park on Biscayne Bay. Up to $1.2 million for Seybold Canal dredging. The total estimated cost is $2.4 million to dredge and dispose of hazardous sediments at the base of the canal from Northwest 11th Street to where it connects with the Miami River, near Northwest Seventh Avenue and Fifth Street.

Up to $16,500 for design, engineering and permitting of the construction of floating docks at Morningside Park on Biscayne Bay. The total cost is estimated at $57,210 for administration, design, engineering and permitting. The city is allocating a match up to $40,710, which would include the required match of $16,500 plus administrative fees of $24,210.

Up to $31,000 for design, engineering and permitting of a new seawall and baywalk at the end of the street at Northeast 22nd Street and 22nd Terrace.

The total cost is estimated at $83,450. The city is allocating up to $52,450, which includes the required match of $31,000 plus administrative costs.

Up to $18,775 to install tiki huts and picnic tables at Virginia Key Beach Park. Total cost is estimated to be $37,550, and the city would allocate the remaining 50%.

Up to $30,000 to remove small derelict vessels from Miami waterways. Total cost is estimated at $60,000. The city would allocate the remaining 50%.

The Florida Inland Navigation District was created by state lawmakers in 1927 to be the state sponsor of the Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway. The district consists of the 12 counties along the East Coast of Florida from Nassau through MiamiDade County.

The governor appoints a commissioner from each county to the navigation district’s board of commissioners. The board levies a tax on all property within the district to generate funds to fulfill the district’s responsibilities.

Related Group hands city prime waterfront land for a park

BY JOHN CHARLES ROBBINS

In a city aching for more public property and parkland, one developer just handed over prime waterfront to the City of Miami with a promise to create and maintain the site as a public park.

It’s part of a large mixed-use project called Paraiso Bay from The Related Group.

City commissioners accepted the land donation March 24 and approved a new plat for the area.

But the vote had been deferred for two weeks, at the urging of Commissioner Ken Russell, who used the delay as an incentive for the development company to meet with upset neighbors who’d been complaining of ongoing construction.

Representatives from The Related Group and Plaza Construction hosted a community meeting to address neighbors’ ongoing concerns and complaints. A major complaint had been repeated episodes of concrete residue left on neighbors’ vehicles.

Mr. Russell said he appreciated the developer’s efforts to reach out to those who live next to the Paraiso project and are affected by the ongoing work.

About 200 car covers have been distributed to residents, Mr. Russell told fellow commissioners.

Plaza Construction has an outreach program with neighbors to reduce impacts, including notification of construction events, car cleaning and car cover placement, said attorney Iris Escarra, who represents The Related Group.

In summer 2014, The Related Group began transforming a barren area of Edgewater from a few small houses and vacant lots into a community with avantgarde residential towers, rooftop swimming pools and a garage designed as a work of art.

Paraiso Bay is rising on the lots on either side of Northeast 31st Street, between Northeast 30th Terrace and 32nd Street.

When all four towers are complete, the development will be home to more than 1,300 residential units.

The area, just south of the Julia Tuttle Causeway, is about a block east of Biscayne Boulevard.

The Paraiso Bay project is to include an improved baywalk the entire length of the site.

At the earlier meeting in March, architect Bernardo FortBrescia of Arquitectónica said,

‘We hope we’re setting a good example.’

Bernardo Fort-Brescia

“We hope we’re setting a good example,” and that other developers see the “great value” of the growing baywalk.

On the public park donation, Mr. Fort-Brescia said, “We all benefit from a waterfront park.”

Carlos Rosso of The Related Group told commissioners there is a misconception that having public areas next to private condos somehow limits a property’s worth.

“It is the other way around,” he said. Mr. Rosso mentioned Central Park in New York City as “an object of desire.” The

company is taking the concept and applying it to projects in Edgewater, he said.

In May 2015, The Related Group donated a small improved bayfront area in front if its new Icon Bay residential tower to the city as a public park.

Mr. Rosso said the combination of the addition of a restaurant at Paraiso Bay and the two nearby public parks will “activate the waterfront.”

Icon Bay is a 43-story tower at the end of Northeast 28th Street, just south of Paraiso Bay. “We do value the new park.

This is a good thing for the city,” said Commissioner Russell, who has promised to do what he can to advance the baywalk north and south, sometimes referred to as the Biscayne Line.

In the latest action, the commission accepted the land donation from companies associated with the developer; PRH NE 31st Street LLC and ThirtyFirst Street Property Owner LLC. The property is at Northeast 32nd Street and Northeast Seventh Avenue. The resolution says the developer intends to build a high-rise condominium with recreational amenities on the Paraiso Bay property.

The developer agreed to dedi-

cate to the city adjacent land as a park and maintain the park in perpetuity. In the deal, Related is to cover all costs of land transfer, including the survey, environmental report, title insurance and closing costs.

In a covenant submitted with the deal, Related says the dedicated public park is 26,186 square feet of waterfront land.

Related also promised to improve the park with landscaping trees, an irrigation system, a decorative street lighting system, decorative sidewalk and baywalk, pavers and more.

The park is to include abutting public parking spaces.

In a separate resolution, the commission accepted the plat of ILANA, between Northeast 30th Terrace and 31st Street, and 31st and 32nd streets, and Seventh and Fourth avenues.

The plat was accepted from PRH NE 31st Street LLC, PRH Paraiso Four LLC, Thirty-First Street Property Owner LLC and PRH Paraiso Two LLC. The aim of this plat was to close the right of way of Northeast 31st Street within the plat and create six tracts for the construction of mixed-use development and a public park.

The platted area is 308,001 square feet, or 7.071 acres.

MIAMI TODAY

WEEK OF THURSDAY, APRIL 7, 2016

calendar of events PUBLIC MEETINGS

cont.—

meets. 5 p.m. Miami City Hall, Commission Chambers, 3500 Pan American Dr., Coconut Grove. Details: (305) 416-2037.

COMMUNITY BOARD

RELATIONS

The Community Relations Board meets. 6 p.m. Miami Riverside Center, 10th Floor N Conference Room, 444 SW Second Ave., Miami. Details: (305) 960-4670.

DOWNTOWN AUTHORITY

DEVELOPMENT

Miami’s Downtown Development Authority meets. 4 p.m. Downtown Development Authority, 200 S Biscayne Blvd., Suite 2929, Miami.

Details: (305) 579-6675.

WYNWOOD

BID

The Wynwood Business Improvement District Board meets. 11 a.m.

310 NW 26th St., #1, Miami. Details: (646) 739-4643.

Thursday 4/14 TRADE AND TOURISM

The county commission’s Trade and Tourism Committee meets. 9:30

a.m.-Noon. Stephen P. Clark Center, 111 NW First St., Second Floor Commission Chambers, Miami. Details: (305) 375-1293.

ECONOMIC

PROSPERITY

The county commission’s Economic Prosperity Committee meets.

2 p.m. Stephen P. Clark Center, 111 NW First St., Second Floor Commission Chambers, Miami. Details: (305) 375-1293.

MIAMI CITY COMMISSION

The Miami City Commission meets. 9 a.m. Miami City Hall, Commission Chambers, 3500 Pan American Dr., Coconut Grove.

SPECIAL EVENTS

Thursday 4/7 MADE @ PAMM

The Pérez Art Museum Miami hosts its Made at PAMM art-making session led by museum teaching artists, where guests can sit in the galleries within the museum and create pieces of art inspired by works on view. 11 a.m.-2 p.m. Pérez Art Museum Miami, 1103 Biscayne Blvd., Miami. Free. Details: http:// www.pamm.org/.

Friday 4/8 TASTE OF DOWNTOWN

The Olympia Theater hosts its Taste of Historic Downtown Miami, which will include a tour of several buildings such as the Alfred I. Dupont Building, the Shoreland Arcade, the Congress Building, the Meyer-Kiser Building and more. General admission includes different food and drink options available at each venue. 6-9 p.m. Miami Center for Architecture & Design, 100 NE First Ave., Downtown Miami. $35-$60.

Details: https://www.facebook.com/ events/1098515160183200/.

takes on the Chicago Bulls. 8 p.m.

AmericanAirlines Arena, 601 Biscayne Blvd., Miami. $40-$400.

Details: www.nba.com/heat.

Sunday 4/10 MIAMI HEAT

The Miami Heat basketball team takes on the Orlando Magic. 6 p.m.

AmericanAirlines Arena, 601 Biscayne Blvd., Miami. $25-$350.

Details: www.nba.com/heat.

THEA TER THEATER Thursday 4/7

Sunday 4/10 TRENDSETTER’S

23

BAZAAR

Brickell Fashion Market hosts its trendsetter’s bazaar featuring local independent designers and boutiques.

11 a.m.-6 p.m. InterContinental Hotel, Brickell Room, 100 Chopin Plaza, Miami. Free. Details: https://brickell fashionmarket22.eventbrite.com.

SPORTS

Thursday 4/7 MIAMI HEAT

The Miami Heat basketball team

A MINISTER’S WIFE

The GableStage presents “A Minister’s Wife.” The play follows the Rev. James Morrell and his wife, Candida, who believe they are happily married until a romantic young poet enters the scene, turning their world upside-down.

8 p.m. Additional performances through April 24. GableStage at the Biltmore, 1200 Anastasia Ave., Coral Gables. Details: (305) 4451119 or http://www.gablestage .org/.

Retail, office, rental apartment investments win thumb’s up

BY CAMILA CEPERO

Realty investments in Florida’s industrial, retail, office and rental apartment markets won warm remarks from panelists at a Miami Finance Forum CEO Power Breakfast, as did “trophy properties” of all sorts, while the condo market got a colder shoulder.

Industrial markets statewide have “leveled off,” said Steven McCraney, president and CEO of McCraney Property Co., adding that “it’s obvious that apartments took off much earlier than other product types.”

“Industrial today is clearly the most favored product type by and large across the country. I’ll build roughly about 2.1 million square feet of product this year, which is more than 50% already leased,” he said.

Rents continue to stabilize as markets around Florida have already seen significant growth within the past four years. The appetite for acquisition is the most important factor, Mr. McCraney said.

In Central Florida and some North Florida markets, he said, cap rates are comparable to what people think of as Miami’s rates. “[People] generally think that a 5.5% cap rate is more like a Miami cap rate, or maybe even lower for industrial,” but that’s what other Florida markets are seeing as well.

Hotels have been very easy to finance as the “trophy assets,” said Joel Simmonds, CFO of Murray Group, but the continued “appetite to finance hotels” will depend on the future of the market.

“Condos were slowing down, not up, mainly because most of the buyers are South American... [and] we know where their [economies] stand, and their currencies... being weakened against the dollar,” said Alan Ojeda, owner, founder and CEO of Rilea Group. “Let’s call it a slowing of the process.”

Office markets are harder to gauge, he said, because there are “not new office products being built,” adding that he is “absolutely optimistic for the

office market.”

“I’m not optimistic for the condo market [because] of the way it has been for the last three years... That’s the way I see it,” Mr. Ojeda said.

Steven Gretenstein, chief operating office of Dacra, said that “Miami continues to be one of the few markets in the country where you’re seeing retailers want to open new stores.”

There is significant activity in the Miami retail world with the ‘Acquiring office upcoming opening of Brickell City Center, the Aventura Mall buildings [and] acquiring and Bal Harbour Shops expan- income that seems like it’s sions, as well as the growth of going to grow are a good the Design District.

“We’re very active. Leases bet. Because, why not?’ are being signed, people are Alan Ojeda coming and sales are being made. In that sense, I think the retail world is fairly healthy and will keep moving along,” Mr. tional and now it’s investors,” he said.

Gretenstein said.

Mr. Massirman credited the Jay Massirman, founder and managing principal of Rivergate Companies and managing principal of Eden Multifamily, said the past five years have seen an “unprecedented amount of mulEmployment tifamily urban development.”

The apartment market has Systems Integrator Engineer turned around completely, he said, with movement toward a “renter nation,” which is usu- Systems Integrator Engineer (Miami, FL) Req Bachelor's deg in Info Systms ally credited to millennials. How- Engg or rltd discipline, + 5 yrs exp in ever, he attributes the growth in s/ware systms dvlpmt &/or integration part to baby boomers who involving various disciplines. Send re“don’t want to hassle with sume to Graphic Systems International, Inc. at gsimediagroup@gmail.com homes anymore.”

“You’re able to get yield beHealthcare cause of low interest rates with Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac LPN & RN Needed Now for Contract Jobs and big government agencies Please contact 305-957-3131 for info Horizon Care Services Inc. - NR30211416 back in the finance market,” Mr. Massirman said.

Accountant An urban construction boom is apparent, Mr. Massirman Accountant: Apply by mail only to said. “We see all around us... I C&L Trading of Miami, Inc., think 5,000 units between 2400 NW 5th Ave. Miami, FL 33127, attn. CFO. Brickell and Downtown either planned or in-construction for Did you know multi-family rental [and] in every pocket in South Florida... that by subscribing to Miami Fort Lauderdale, West Palm Today’s e-paper for only $60 Beach, Dadeland, Coral Gables, for 1 year you can have access South Miami [and] every available site that could be built. to all the past issues since 2006 “It’s been unprecedented, the at no additional cost?

Call Circulation Department at 305.358.2663 appetite for those to be acquired. or email at circulation@miamitodaynews.com [It] used to be primarily institu-

boom to an insatiable appetite for yield. Current cap rates have continually been 4% to 5%.

“Trophy properties” are worthwhile investments, Mr. Ojeda said, adding that it’s a good investment to buy good property such as a “nice office building.”

“Acquiring office buildings [and] acquiring income that seems like it’s going to grow are a good bet. Because, why not? What is the alternative for someone who is in the business of acquiring office buildings or industrial or rental apartments who sees cap rates going down [and] prices going up? What do you do with the money? Keep it in the bank?” Mr. Ojeda asked.

Mr. Massirman added that the suburban office market is extremely quiet but core offices are growing.

“Rates are going to fall,” Mr. Simmonds said. “There are a number of hotels out there that

have over-pitched the rates they thought they were going to get and as a result have to realign their sites and reduce the rates they’re asking for.

“Rates might take a few years to stabilize and get back to strong growth rates. I think that’s more [of a] normal market,” he said, “I’d say we’re approaching a normal market rather than seeing a substantial downturn.”

Miami saw a 3.5% growth in available hotel rooms in 2015 but a growth of only 1% in total occupancy. Since mid-2015, occupancy rates have declined, Mr. Simmonds said, and the market will probably see a lower average rate this year. In the past 5 years, occupancy rates have been at 80% to 82% and a yearly 5% to 10% growth in average daily rates.

“Miami,” Mr. Ojeda said, “is in the process of becoming a very important city.”

CLASSIFIED ADVERTISING Legal Advertising Fictitious Name

Fictitious Name

Notice Under Fictitious Name Law Pursuant to Section 865.09, Florida Statutes NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that the undersigned, desiring to engage in business under the fictitious name of ROSSELLA’S KITCHEN, located at 110 Washignton Ave., #CU-6, in the County of MiamiDade, in the City of Miami Beach, Florida, 33139, intends to register the said name with the Division of Corporations of the Florida Department of State, Tallahassee, Florida.

Notice Under Fictitious Name Law Pursuant to Section 865.09, Florida Statutes NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that the undersigned, desiring to engage in business under the fictitious name of CAFFE MONTALCINO, located at 833 Lincoln Road, in the County of Miami-Dade, in the City of Miami Beach, Florida, 33139, intends to register the said name with the Division of Corporations of the Florida Department of State, Tallahassee, Florida.

Dated at Miami Beach, Florida, this 31st Day of March, 2016.

Ros and Tom, LLC, A Florida Limited Liability Company Owner

Dated at Miami-Dade, Florida, this 29th Day of March, 2016.

Cibe Lincoln Road LLC. Owner

FIND US

ON THE WEB See an article you want to share?

Reprints of MIAMI TODAY make great selling tools.

Contact Angela at 305-358-2663, ext. 105

reliable news first at miamitodaynews.com Think small ads don’t work???

You’re looking at one now!!!

Call 305-358-1008 to place your ad today

24

MIAMI TODAY

WEEK OF THURSDAY, APRIL 7, 2016

MIAMI TODAY, A CONSTRUCTIVE WAY TO SPEND YOUR BREAK Subscribe to our E-paper only $60 a year • Full color • Easy to read and navigate • Unlimited access to 10 years of searchable archives • New issues available before print edition

Get a free demo at www.miamitodayepaper.com

Wherever you are, Miami Today can be

MIAMITODAY