Miami Today: Week of Thursday, March 23, 2017

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WEEK OF THURSDAY, MARCH 23, 2017

A Singular Voice in an Evolving City

WWW.MIAMITODAYNEWS.COM $4.00

BANKING & FINANCE

Banks wary of a bill to allow new credit union use, pg. 13 IT’S SMART TO GO 50-50: A Florida Department of Transportation opinion that a state cap on funding for transit projects won’t apply to MiamiDade County’s Strategic Miami Area Rapid Transit (SMART) Plan is a huge victory for the county, Miami City Commissioner Francis Suarez said Friday, because it makes the plan eligible for state funding of up to 50% of costs and makes implementation of the six-leg rapid transit plan substantially easier. State officials said a Florida law that a transit project that doesn’t get federal funding can get only 12.5% of the cost from the state isn’t anticipated to apply to any of the SMART corridors.

International bankers weave web of partnerships, pg. 15

The Achiever

By Catherine Lackner

CONNECTING WITH THE BEACH: The City of Miami Beach has set up MB Resident Connect, an electronic alert system that allows residents and stakeholders to set up key words of interest and receive an alert when the topic pops up on a city agenda. This can include items placed for a commission meeting, committee meeting or any other public meeting. Those who want to try it can go to https://secure.miamibeachfl.gov/ mbresidentconnect RENT FROM NEIGHBOR: Miami-Dade’s Transportation and Public Works Committee voted unanimously March 16 for a master agreement between the county and the City of Coral Gables, which would pay $158,686.73 in back rent and quarterly rent of 75% gross revenue, less some deductions, on parking spaces in lots 42 and 43. The resolution, sponsored by Xavier Suarez, would authorize the administration to execute the agreement on behalf of the Transportation and Public Works Department. The agreement now goes to the full county commission for action. RAILROAD CROSSING: The Transportation and Public Works Committee voted unanimously March 16 to authorize a railroad crossing license between Miami-Dade and Florida East Coast Railway for construction of a crossing and traffic control devices at Northeast 131st Street. The estimated cost is $650,852.45. On behalf of the Transportation and Public Works Department, the resolution would authorize the administration to execute the agreement. In addition, the committee backed a resolution by Commissioner Rebeca Sosa that would authorize a three-way agreement among Miami-Dade County, the state Department of Transportation and South Florida Regional Transportation Authority for installation of railroad crossing traffic control devices at North River Drive near Northwest 38th Avenue, with the state paying yearly maintenance of $3,558. Both resolutions go to the full county commission for action.

Deborah Korge

Photo by Cristina Sullivan

Women’s Fund director prioritizes economic security The profile is on Page 4

Beach trails all competitors in convention chase By Marcus Lim

Every competing convention site has an attached hotel averaging 2,150 rooms as Miami Beach struggles to get voters to OK an 800room convention hotel, a Blue Ribbon Steering Committee was told Monday night. At the committee’s ninth meeting to secure a hotel for the Miami Beach Convention Center, John Kaatz, principal of Convention Sports and Leisure, said a hotel is vital to convince convention planners to pick Miami Beach. His research stacked Miami Beach with 14 competitors, all currently far ahead of us. Mr. Kaatz compared competitors with hotels adjacent or attached to their convention center. The major competitors average 2,150 rooms, far more than the 800 the steering committee proposes. “We are the only one that do not have an adjacent attached nearby headquarters hotel,” Mr. Kaatz said. “This stands out to me. This strikes me that we are missing something.” The City of Miami Beach has been vying for a hotel ever since the convention center, which is now being revitalized and expanded, was built. A ballot measure failed in 2013. The city tried again last year, gaining only 54% of votes.

Downtown traffic jams relief hope

Naysayers have said a hotel would be outof-scale with the city’s relatively low buildings and fear it would further congest traffic. From a business standpoint, though, Mr. Kaatz said, not having the hotel would see conventions go elsewhere. In previous meetings, convention experts expressed the need for 1,000 to 1,200 rooms to draw big events. The center draws 25 to 32 shows yearly but experts have said bigger conventions will come if there is a headquarters hotel. There are hotels within a half-mile of the center, but Mr. Kaatz stressed that it isn’t ideal as convention planners would seek closer accommodations, and lack of a hotel would scare off event planners, who view it as a logistical nightmare to book multiple hotels for convention participants. A survey of convention planners found 42% would not book the convention center if there was no hotel, 33% said they were less likely to book and 35% said there would be no impact. “We are truly the only market that does not have an attached property, and a lot of these competitors are looking to add more,” Mr. Kaatz said. Some high-impact bookings that the Miami

Beach Convention Center would hope to lure are the American College of Emergency Physicians, American Academy of Cancer Research and the Mortgage Bankers Association, but it can only get them if the convention center has a hotel and improves its functionality after the convention center’s renovations are finished, Mr. Kaatz said. “The notion is the convention center improvement is a fundamental element in getting those bookings,” he said. “There are wonderful businesses considering Miami Beach because of the convention center, but there still is a hotel issue.” Ricky Arriola, committee chair, hopes to make a recommendation to city officials by May 22, a bit more than a year after the committee first met. “I want to vote as a committee that we proceed to have a convention center hotel or not, and if the answer is in the affirmative, a recommendation on what a site plan would look like, what lot, what did we learn from all the surveys and meetings, the must haves in terms of traffic, height, room numbers,” Mr. Arriola said. “In my mind, that is what I want to do – an affirmative or negative recommendation to the committee.”

Some relief for traffic jams when the Brickell Bridge opens may be ahead, Downtown Development Authority directors have heard. Chair Ken Russell, a Miami commissioner, met with Jim Wolfe, Florida Department of Transportation District 6 head, to review a list of problems with the bridge, including alleged improper openings that paralyze downtown, especially during rush hours. The authority wants current restrictions enforced and would prefer to lengthen rush hour periods when the bridge could not be opened. The bridge is supposed to be locked down (except for vessel emergencies) between 7:35 and 8:59 a.m., 12:05 and 12:59 p.m., and 4:35 and 5:59 p.m. weekdays. The new rules would extend the morning and evening lockdowns until 9:30 a.m. and 6:30 p.m. respectively. But when authority board member Richard Lydecker’s law firm analyzed bridge logs pro bono, openings were frequent during restricted hours, mostly for pleasure craft. Mr. Wolfe was very receptive to several items on the authority’s list, and agreed to evaluate “the low-hanging fruit, including opening times and pedestrian crossings. They’re on the side with us,” Mr. Russell said Friday. The transportation secretary also agreed that time-stamped photos and digital readings should replace today’s bridge logs scrawled in pencil by the bridge tender, he said. “Could there be a technical issue with the bridge?” asked authority board member Alan Ojeda, president of Rilea Development Group. “You see a little boat go under, and by the time the bridge is lowered back down again, that boat is already in the Bahamas. Those minutes all add up.” He suggested someone look at whether the technology that raises and lowers the bridge is defective or could be improved. Meanwhile, Mr. Russell called the meeting with Mr. Wolfe, “very effective. We’ve got a good plan moving forward.”

NEW OPERATORS EXPECT TO GET JUNGLE ISLAND IN APRIL ...

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COUNTY OK’S TEAM TO REVIEW, UPDATE ‘CONSTITUTION’ ...

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WITH STATE AID, AIR TERMINAL TO GET $60 MILLION ROOF ...

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HARDEMON SEEKS 240-DAY LEGIONS WEST MORATORIUM ...

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CITY IMPACT FEES MAY BE TAPPED FOR 7-MILE BAYWALK ...

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SCIENCE MUSEUM NEARLY DONE, ENTRY FEE QUESTIONED ...

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VIEWPOINT: SLOW PERMITTING COSTING CITY TWO WAYS ...

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12-STORY GATEWAY AT WYNWOOD A LINK TO MIDTOWN ...

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