Miami Today: Week of Thursday, May 25, 2017

WEEK OF THURSDAY, MAY 25, 2017

A Singular Voice in an Evolving City

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BANKING & FINANCE

Three banking and finance bills to take effect by January, pg. 13 JAPAN-MIAMI AIR LINK?: Miami International Airport officials who have been seeking the first non-stop Miami-Asia air passenger link with mainland China and Taiwan last week hosted the first meeting of the MIA Asia Task Force with an Asian airline – Japan Airlines. More than 100 business representatives gathered downtown for the half-day event to demonstrate high demand for a non-stop Tokyo-Miami link. More than 415,000 passengers travel between Asia and Miami annually via connecting flights, the county’s Aviation Department said. “I appreciate Japan Airlines for taking the time to meet with our local business leaders and hear their interest in a Miami-Tokyo route,” said Aviation Director Emilio González. Direct flight links are considered vital to generate Asian tourism and enhanced investment in Miami.

Programs target financial aid to help the unbanked, pg. 15

The Achiever

By John Charles Robbins

INTERNATIONAL FRIENDS: City of Miami Mayor Tomás Regalado and Mayor Menderes Tevfik Turel from the Municipality of Antalya, Turkey, participated in a Sister City Agreement Signing Ceremony on Tuesday. The signing occurred at Miami City Hall. The Mayor’s International Council has been working on this agreement with Antalya for about two years, Mr. Regalado said. Antalya is a Turkish resort city on the country’s southwestern coast. The mayor’s council was created in part to plan and implement the city’s international trade promotion policies to stimulate commercial and residential development and expand the city’s tax base through the promotion of foreign trade and local investment.

HOTELS UP 6% FOR WEEKEND: Hotel prices in Miami Beach for Memorial Day weekend have risen 6% compared to 2016, according to hotel price comparison platform HotelsCombined. On average, rooms are costing $254 per night, compared to $238 last year. Hotel prices are expected to drop 34% the following weekend, June 2-4, saving travelers an average of $87 per night on accommodation, with a hotel room costing an average of $167.

BUS FOR RAIL RIDERS: Miami-Dade’s transit operations, which this week cut back late-night and early morning Metrorail and Metromover service, has begun at the same time a new shuttle bus between the Government Center and Palmetto rail stations and added service on the Route 500 Midnight Owl bus. The late shuttle will serve all Metrorail stations between Government Center and the Palmetto stations, leaving Government Center at 12:30 a.m. and 1 a.m. and leaving the Palmetto Station at midnight and 1:30 a.m. The Midnight Owl added late-night trips Monday through Thursday, pre-dawn trips Saturday and both pre-dawn and late-night trips Sundays.

Christine Rupp

Photo by Cristina Sullivan

Guiding Dade Heritage Trust to preserve historic sites The profile is on Page 4

Pricy power struggle over Wynwood power lines

By Catherine Lackner

“The chickens have come home to roost” in a disagreement over power lines between the Wynwood Business Improvement District (BID) and developer Moishe Mana, said David Polinsky, BID board member and head of its planning committee, at the group’s meeting last week.

As part of the Special Area Plan the development team won last September for the 10-million-squarefoot mixed-use Mana Wynwood, BID representatives said it was agreed that the developer would bury electrical lines that cross the 25-acre project at a cost of up to $25 million.

If that isn’t done within five years, Mr. Mana would have to pay an unexpected $7.2 million, indexed for inflation, into the BID’s public benefits fund.

Though he said the BID “in no way, shape or form” wants to renegotiate the deal, Mr. Polinsky said he is concerned the development team now says it’s only the high-voltage lines that will be put underground.

The poles that supply power to individual businesses would be left standing because of technical and logistical issues involved in burying or rerouting them.

Mr. Polinksy said it was not only his understanding, but also that of Joe Furst and Albert Garcia, BID chair and vice chair respectively, that the benefits payment would kick in if any of the poles were left standing. He further said the Miami City Commission, to his knowledge, had the same understanding when it approved the Special Area Plan.

“Burying the high-voltage transmission lines is what we were always talking about,” said Bernard Zyscovich, architect for the project.

“We’re open to a conversation,” said Mr. Garcia, who is the chief operating officer of Mega Shoes.

If all of the poles came down, there would be more access to sidewalks, he said. “If that’s not going to be the case, $7.2 million was the amount that was expected to be paid to the BID. I don’t see how this doesn’t come back to the commission.”

Flagler site along river mayreopen

“I agree 100% about the practical difficulties,” said Mr. Polinsky, who is a principal of 250 Wynwood.

“What matters is what was discussed at the hearing.”

He said the developer had said “All of the poles you see here will be gone.”

“We’re not in a position to do that,” Mr. Zyscovich said.

“We’re not going to have an agreement here,” said Mr. Furst, who is Goldman Properties managing director for Wynwood. “There’s no reason to waste any more time.”

Directors passed a resolution to explore the matter further. Board member David Lombardi, principal of Lombardi Properties and chair of the group’s Security and Sanitation Committee, cast the only dissenting vote.

Mana Wynwood is to include about 2,500 residential units and Mana Commons, an open-space parcel of about 168,000 square feet that would be available to the public and also for special events. Parking garages and other auxiliary uses

Miami officials are preparing to immediately restore one of the city’s most historic houses, with a tentative goal of reopening part of a riverfront park downtown.

The Miami River Commission learned May 19 that Fort Dallas Park, with its improved riverwalk, would again be open. Long-term goals for the city site may include a lease with a restaurateur and tiein educational and historical uses.

For the most part, the 60-64 SE Fourth St. site has been fenced off and forgotten for several years, attracting trash and the homeless.

Several structures occupy the site on the river’s north bank sandwiched between a hotel on private property and the county’s Riverwalk Metromover station. They include a gutted former restaurant and The Flagler Worker’s House, called Palm Cottage, the last known Miami building directly associated with railroad magnate and developer Henry M. Flagler.

For many years, seafood restaurant Bijan’s served there under a lease with the city. But amid litigation and allegations of unpaid rent, it shut down. Legal battles have been settled, yet the park remains in limbo.

More than a year ago, the city requested letters of interest to reactivate the site with a restaurant. At the time, the city was offering only a five-year revocable license and it didn’t secure an operator/tenant.

At the May 19 meeting, Mark Burns, a lease manager with the city’s Department of Real Estate and Asset Management, said a structural assessment of The Flagler Worker’s House is being made and the city intends to shore up the home to get it into “acceptable” condition, “then we’ll consider reopening the area.”

Flagler’s Florida East Coast Railway established Fort Dallas Park in 1897. It became a city park in 1983. The river commission has lobbied to reopen the site, with access to the improved riverwalk and city dockage.

are also planned. The entire project would run from Northwest Second Avenue west to I-95 between Northwest 22nd and 24th streets.

Months of negotiations fell apart when $7.5 million of the $10 million Mr. Mana originally promised to the benefits fund was diverted to Overtown through an agreement with city Commissioner Keon Hardemon.

As part of the Special Area Plan, the Mana team agreed to build the majority of the amenity- and culturerich eastern portion of the project before embarking on the western section, which is trade-oriented and expected to be more profitable.

The developer’s team also agreed that a maximum of 25% of the residential units (excluding the hotel) in the eastern portion be developed within the next seven years. Then maximum allowed density – in keeping with the rest of the agreement – will be allowed in the western portion. They also agreed that $4 per square foot will be paid to the Park’slong-termfatetiedtoHyatt, Wynwood public benefits fund, and Knight Center development, pg. 17 to several other concessions.

DOWNTOWN DRAFTS WISH LIST FOR CITY BOND PROGRAM ...

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DISTRIBUTION PROJECT AT OPA-LOCKA AIRPORT BOOSTED ...

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PRE-COLUMBIAN ARTIFACTS TO BE ON VIEW DOWNTOWN ...

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DOWNTOWN ADDS TO LOBBYING FEE TO ADD DOCK SPACE ...

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VIEWPOINT: TARGETED SERIOUS NEWS BATTLING FLUFF ...

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AERIAL EASEMENT ON TRACK TO BRING RAIL DOWNTOWN ...

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CONSTRUCTION BARRIER AD PLAN RUNS AFOUL OF LAW ...

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MILTON PLANS A 138-UNIT EAST LITTLE HAVANA MID-RISE ...

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MIAMI TODAY

TODAY’S NEWS

The Insider FLAGLER FREEBIE: Delayed Flagler Street reconstruction downtown has led the Miami Parking Authority to offer a free hour of parking there from Friday, May 26, until reconstruction ends, whenever that may be. Construction, delayed for years, finally began in January 2016, but progress has been slow and downtowners have complained to city hall. “We have listened to our customers who have asked us to help out during the period of construction along Flagler Street in downtown Miami,” said Art Noriega, CEO of the Miami Parking Authority. To get the hour’s free parking, customers need to use PayByPhone but Art Noriega don’t pay the company’s 35-cent fee in the city. If they live in city limits and prove it in advance, they get a 20% discount on all PayByPhone city parking. To register: www.miamiparking.com or visit the authority at 40 NE Third St. LEGAL SERVICES: Miami-Dade County commissioners last week approved the Industrial Development Authority issuing $5 million of industrial development revenue bonds for Legal Services of Miami Inc. for a social services center. The project being financed is a 39,229-square-foot, fivestory office building at 4343 W Flagler St. Proceeds of the bond issue will be used to refinance loans from affiliate Legal Services of Greater Miami Foundation to buy the legal services administration building and renovation costs. The agency reports it has spent more than $3 million on renovations so far, according to the legislation.

PLANE FUN: Miami-Dade’s Economic Development and Tourism committee gave preliminary approval to a children’s play area at Miami International Airport. The resolution, sponsored

by Sally Heyman, would direct the administration to locate a site for an additional play area at MIA and consider options to fund it, including a public-private partnership.

GOING GREEN: County commissioners approved last week agreements for a property assessed clean energy (PACE) program within the county’s unincorporated areas. Sally Heyman The purpose of a PACE district is to ease the financing costs of qualified improvements for residential, commercial and industrial property owners as state law spells out. The agreements are between Miami-Dade and PACE program Florida Green Finance Authority and Review Financial Group LLC. The agreement with Florida Green Finance Authority allows Miami-Dade to impose administrative fees to regain administrative expenses of implementing the PACE program. Details:http://www.miamidade.gov/govaction/matter. asp?matter=171108&file=true&yearFolder=Y2017 CRIME-TAPERS: Miami Beach is trying to tap into homeowners’ private security camera footage to help solve crimes. As incentives, homeowners who sign up get waived permit fees and expedited permit approval to install a new or upgraded alarm system that includes security or surveillance cameras. If at least one registered security camera is pointed toward the city’s right-of-way, the city said this week, the homeowner is permitted three added false alarm waivers each year.

OUT OF THE BACK OFFICES: Citibank has launched its first outpost in the US Southeast of a new banking concept, Citigold, at 201 S Biscayne Blvd. The new 5,590-square-foot branch “brings bankers out from the back offices and puts them in front of the branch to engage with customers and help more effectively,” a press release said. “Citigold has workbenches and iPads on site to use the banking experience as an opportunity to teach their guests better banking.” Citibank considers Miami one of its most important markets, a spokesperson said.

HINES PLANS OFFICE TOWER: International real estate firm Hines announced plans to develop 110 10th Street, a 45-story, 600,000-square-foot office-led, mixed-use tower within Miami Worldcenter, to include street retail.

The tower is to rise between Northeast First and Second avenues and Northeast Ninth and 10th streets, adjacent to Miami Worldcenter’s 360,000-square-foot retail promenade. Hines said it expects to start construction in the second quarter of 2018 with initial occupancy in late 2020 or early 2021.

FILLING PARKING VACANCY: The city’s Off-Street Parking Board is to hold a special meeting at 8 a.m. June 2 at the administration offices of the Miami Parking Authority at Courthouse Center Garage, 40 NW Third St., Suite 1103, to discuss a board vacancy created by the death of Arthur Hertz. The board is chaired by Thomas Jelke, and members include Jami Reyes, Marlon Hill and Stephen Nostrand.

GENDER-NEUTRAL LEGISLATION: With the idea that “all genders are created equal,” Miami commis- Arthur Hertz sioners gave final approval to amend the city code to include gender-neutral pronouns by eliminating any gender preference language. The amendment is designed to promote equality, the legislation says. Examples listed in the ordinance include changing the term “he” to “he/she,” “policeman” to “police officer,” “workman” to “worker,” “firemen” to “firefighters,” and more. The change was sponsored

by Commissioner Ken Russell.

SAFER STREETS: Miami-Dade’s Transportation and Public Works committee preliminarily approved Complete Streets guidelines that would accommodate county residents’ preference for communities where they can walk and bike. “Complete Streets” is a nationwide initiative. In November 2014, the county commission adopted legislation to create a plan for the program and develop guidelines to make it easier for transportation users to cross the street, bicycle to and from work and walk to restaurants and shops; safer to walk to and from schools, parks, bus stops and train stations; and help in a safe manner. In March 2015, Mayor Carlos Giménez and Dennis Moss, chairman of Neat Street Miami, appointed a local action team for Safer People, Safer Streets that developed a plan recommending actions by the county and its partners including the Florida Department of Transportation, Miami-Dade Transportation Planning Organization and the Department of Health in Miami-Dade. Through a grant funded by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and Florida Department of Health, the county created guidelines for county and municipal use.

WEEK OF THURSDAY, MAY 25, 2017

Downtown produces own wish list for $275 million Miami bond issue

By Catherine Lackner

Directors of Miami’s Downtown Development Authority say they are generally in favor of the City of Miami’s plan to seek a $275 million general obligation bond issue. But several added that there also must be changes in the city’s Capital Improvements Program (CIP) before any potential bond-funded projects get started.

The authority produced a wish list at its meeting Friday.

Among priorities are Baywalk and Riverwalk, waterfront open spaces for pedestrian and cyclists ($25 million), Biscayne Green to create an urban plaza on Biscayne Boulevard ($20 million), renovation of the Olympia Theater and office building ($26 million), matching funds for the Baylink extension of Metromover to Miami Beach ($10 million), a Brickell tunnel under the Miami River ($20 million), Complete Streets conversion of North Miami Avenue, Southeast/Southwest First Street, and Northeast/Southeast First Avenue downtown ($8 million), development of two docking areas for waterborne transportation ($2 million), two additional permanent public restrooms ($400,000), and new and enhanced lighting ($2 million).

Chris Rose, Miami budget director, told the group that if the bonds are issued they won’t raise taxes, though property taxes may decrease slightly if bonds aren’t issued. “It’s a good time to go forward; interest rates are low and the city has the best bond rating [AA] in, possibly, ever.”

Authority Vice Chair Neisen Kasdin, office-managing partner of Akerman LLP, asked how tied the city would be to the wish lists of various entities, including the downtown authority.

“Part of the resolution will be a list of projects, but that list can change,” Mr. Rose said. An advisory committee would review projects to see that the money is spent efficiently, he added.

“Through experience, I’ve learned that rigidity in a GOB

‘Realistically, two to four of the projects will not get done. We need to build in a mechanism.’

Neisen Kasdin

Jerome Hollo

isn’t desirable,” Mr. Kasdin said.

“Realistically, two to four of the projects will not get done. We need to build in a mechanism” so that the money can be allocated elsewhere.

“Flexibility is good,” said Ken Russell, authority chair and Miami commissioner. “I’m finding a public willingness for this. In the past there have been concerns that a bond might create a slush fund, so there need to be checks and balances.”

“Who would be tasked with executing these projects?” asked board member Jerome Hollo, vice president of Florida East Coast Realty.

When told it would be the Capital Improvements Program, board member Alicia Cervera, managing partner of Cervera Real Estate, asked incredulously, “The department that handled Flagler Street?”

A long-running dispute has simmered over what the authority says is the department’s mismanagement of the Flagler Street renovation from the Dade County Courthouse to Biscayne Boulevard.

Construction began in early 2016, but to date, only one block has been completed. Authority members faulted the department for not supervising the contractor, F.H. Paschen, which the city

ultimately fired from the project.

“They cannot handle the scope of these projects,” Mr. Hollo said. “We need to take a hard look at Capital Improvements.

There are a lot of issues that have to be cleaned up.”

“We’ve had that same discussion,” Mr. Rose said. “We have to make sure we can do these projects.”

“You’re dealing with the same staff,” said board member Gary Ressler, principal in the Tilia family of companies. “No clear picture and no accountability.”

“I second Jerry’s statement,” said board member Richard Lydecker, senior partner of the Lydecker-Diaz law firm. He suggested the authority have some role in whichever of its projects gets funded by the potential bond program. “The DDA should have some role on the front end, rather than cleaning up at the back end.”

As part of an agreement to back the bond program, the downtown authority could ask for a seat at the table when its projects are being planned and executed, Mr. Russell said, and “insist that the CIP start to look at its philosophy and practices.”

“Do more than look,” Ms. Cervera said. “There have to be consequences. None of us would put up with this in our companies.”

Consumer price gains slowed After a rapid climb to a 4% annual jump in the Consumer Price Index for Miami-Dade and Broward counties through March, the number dropped to a 2.8% annual gain through April, the US Bureau of Labor Statistics reported this month.

Spurring the fall was a drop of a half percentage point in consumer prices in South Florida for the months of March and April alone, far larger than the three-tenths percent drop nationally in March and the two-tenths percent again in April.

Still, Miami’s annual 2.8% gain in consumer prices was far larger than the US average of all cities, which was 2.2%, and even higher in relation to the 2% gain throughout the South.

For the Miami area alone, food prices in the March-April period

‘They cannot handle the scope of these projects. We need to take a hard look at Capital Improvements.’

fell two-tenths of a percentage point and the price for food at home fell 1%. For the past year the food index in South Florida has risen one-tenth of one percent.

The energy index in South Florida in the past two months rose 1.8%, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported, paced by a 3.5% increase in motor fuel prices.

The South Florida increases in consumer prices for the past six months have been at least 2.8% every 12-month period, far high than prices for the region in any other 12-month period since at least 2012.

On the other hand, the drop of a half percentage point for March and April alone is the largest two-month decline in the two-county area since a six-tenths percent drop in November and December of 2014, according to the bureau’s figures.

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

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WEEK OF THURSDAY, MAY 25, 2017

TODAY’S NEWS

MIAMI TODAY

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Pre-Columbian artifacts from site to be on view downtown

By Marilyn Bowden

Artifacts from a pre-Columbian village discovered on the north bank of the Miami River at the site of MDM’s Metropolitan Miami project are to go on public display in about a year.

The estimated delivery date of Met Square, the project’s final phase, is the end of May 2018, said Andrew James, project manager for architect Nichols Brosch Wurst Wolfe & Associates.

The building was redesigned to include observation areas for the public as well as gallery space for History Miami in a compromise among the City of Miami Historic & Environmental Preservation Board, city commissioners and the developer.

“The original archaeological efforts,” Mr. James said, “started in 2004 when MDM retained Bob Carr” – executive director of the Archaeological and Historical Conservancy – “to document artifacts found at the site.

“He discovered what he calls the Royal Palm Circle.”

The MDM site is just across the river from the Miami Circle, a 2,000-year-old artifact of a people Spanish explorers called the Tequesta. Its discovery in 1998 drew worldwide attention. The site is now a National Historic Landmark.

After Mr. Carr unearthed the second circle, Mr. James said, “an agreement was reached with the preservation board to cut out the limestone that reveals this pattern of postholes as well as the foundation of Henry Flagler’s Royal Palm Hotel” – built atop the Tequesta site in 1897 but condemned, dismantled and burned to the ground just 33 years later.

The plan was to display the finds in the courtyard between Met Square and Met 1, he said. But when excavation resumed after the economic downturn, Mr. Carr turned up many more artifacts across the entire building site – as well as evidence of

Photos by The Archaeological and Historical Conservancy

Decorated pottery estimated from 500 to 800 AD found on the site.

Photo by Cristina Sullivan

It’s an opportunity for archaeological student tours: Jorge Zamanillo.

the original shoreline of the Miami River, which Flagler had altered. So that plan was scuttled.

“In addition to the original discoveries at the northeast corner of the site, “Mr. James said, “they found even more prominent circles on the southwest side.

“The way it was eventually worked out was that the northeast corner of the site would include a gallery to be turned over to historical entities for people to come in and observe. It would be an opportunity to display all of the history of the site.

“In the southwest corner another protected area would display more significant discoveries.”

The 2,236-square-foot Met Square Gallery in the building’s northeast corner will be operated

by History Miami, said Museum Director Jorge Zamanillo, and will fulfill the negotiated agreement to preserve and interpret the site.

Visitors will get to look down upon a circular feature similar to the more famous Miami Circle, he said, as well as a foundation element of

the Royal Palm Hotel. Interpretive elements will include short clips and films as well as signage.

“It’s an opportunity not only to display the circle,” Mr. Zamanillo said, “but also to start archeological tours. It could serve as a drop-off point for students to learn about the history of Miami.”

Open to view along the southwest corridor, he said, will be another circular feature; a freshwater well from Fort Dallas, a US military encampment set up in the mid-19th century during the Second and Third Seminole Wars; and portions of the Royal Palm Hotel’s original floor, brick steps and footers.

An underground crawl space will allow further archaeological exploration. “There are still prehistoric remains scattered throughout,” Mr. Zamanillo said. “The Spanish arriving around 1500 called it the main village of the Tequesta Indians, though it may already have been in decline by then.”

It’s obvious from an aerial perspective, he said, that the hundreds

of postholes comprising the circles are manmade, forming deliberate linear patterns. Some of the circles are concentric. What they signify, though, is tough to determine after thousands of years.

Still, Mr. Zamanillo said, the site is a goldmine of information about life in South Florida before the advent of Europeans.

For example, he said, one of the interesting things about the original Miami Circle is what it says about trade routes. “They found copper from the Great Lakes region, galena from the Mississippi Valley, a stone ax from the Midwest. Obviously there was a network of trade operating over a long period of time.”

Meanwhile, public access to the Miami Circle, buried for more than a decade under layers of limestone as protection against erosion and vandalism, remains in limbo. Most recently a spokesperson for the Florida Department of State, which maintains the site, said that through 2017 the department will be focusing on “enhancing visitor experience” through interpretative signage and additional landscaping. Further plans are as yet unannounced.

Manatee bone pendant was found.

Artifacts uncovered during excavations there are on display at History Miami in a permanent exhibition section called “First Arrivals.”

Details: historymiami.org.

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MIAMI TODAY

VIEWPOINT

WEEK OF THURSDAY, MAY 25, 2017

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

Targeted serious news battles a shift to eyeball candy fluff Next week’s iconic Best of Miami edition – focused on leaders in categories ranging from entrepreneurship to business acumen and government – begins Miami Today’s 35th year publishing in the Michael Lewis nation’s fastestevolving city.

Through all the twists and turns, we’ve used our own yardsticks for news to cover a changing economy, community, skyline and cast of characters who arrive from around the globe. At the same time, we have adopted media that we never anticipated 35 years ago – the Best of Miami is in both digital and print formats.

This intersection of professional standards that have not altered and a news panorama and delivery methods that are constantly evolving came to mind Friday when I got the latest Columbia Journalism Review, which is a university’s outlook that in the current issue is entitled “The Future of Local News.”

The authors seem to agree that it will be local news – not generic news of the nation and the globe – that will be most voraciously consumed and most useful. We may wring

our hands at doings in Washington or Syria, but the news that’s most likely to affect our lives or wallets – and the place we can get involved – is local.

Yet it is local news, those authors say, that is most threatened by changing economics in which Google and Facebook and others are literally eating our advertising lunch.

Generic advertising locales are cheapest, just as generic news is least costly. Most expensive, the publication says, is reporting what local governments do to or for you.

Without paid subscribers and advertisers, the only news that will exist is what gets the most clicks – and that is the flashiest but seldom the most significant. Yet local news viewings in print and digitally now last far longer, each one averaging far more of our reading time.

Much of the beleaguered daily press is trying to meet economic challenges by shutting down standard news beats that tell you how a community works.

The Dallas Morning News told reporters to “jettison any sense of being the paper of record” and look for “obsessions.” Other papers look for what they term “themes” and “ideas,” the kinds of stories that go viral on the web with huge numbers of clicks, and become “relentlessly interesting.”

None of these new mantras mentions community or reader service. They all, in print or on the web, look for eyeballs, with no mention of the necessity that readers get anything at all useful.

Like all these media, Miami Today faces the challenge of maintaining traditional advertising linked to the community, a place where all eyeballs are not created equal. Some internet eyeballs, after all, are halfway around the globe – we get users on our website from an average of 140 nations a month. That’s good for realtors and lawyers and others looking for foreigners, not so good for advertisers who depend on the community they serve.

But unlike other media, we select news not to attract eyeballs but to appeal to brains and hearts and wallets.

For us, news must have long-term impact, appeal to 68,000 educated print readers, help to bind together this community, tell readers things they need to know and use in business or personal life, be placed in perspective locally and globally, be totally impartial and fair and – equally important – be news readers can’t get elsewhere. Most of what we print would never be made public if we didn’t do it.

That uniqueness includes news of government and its intersection with business.

Because covering a beat like city hall is timeconsuming, most media have stopped doing it. At many meetings Miami Today has the only reporter. How else would you know?

That seems to be a recipe for long-term news success: meet needs as nobody else does. Others would call that a monopoly.

Miami Today’s aim is to produce local news, but in Miami local equals global.

Why express bus rapid transit trumps trains What do we do to improve mobility in Miami-Dade County while we wait for ground transportation by autonomous vehicles in a shared economy in the next 5, 10 or 20 years?

The first tram line using electricity from Maurice A. Ferré an overhead line (as proposed for the South Dade US 1 Busway) was built in Austria in 1883. New York City opened its first private operated subway line in 1904. Clearly, trains, whether electric trams, subways or diesel-powered vehicles, are centennial technologies. Will they soon follow horse and buggies?

Metrorail’s first segment to Dadeland opened in 1983, one year following Disney’s last Monorail 3½ decades ago. Disney has not constructed an additional foot of monorail track since, because they found buses more cost efficient. Can Disney be wrong?

The prestigious Libertarian think tanks the Cato Institute and the Reason Foundation’s experts on ground transportation, are against rail in favor of Bus Express Rapid Transit (BERT) on managed lanes. Their logic is: significantly lower capital, lower operating and maintenance costs and, properly done, more efficient mobility. Are they also wrong?

Miami Dade Expressway Authority (MDX) has a new 10-year strategic master plan. In reality the strategic master plan is a mobility plan for Miami-Dade County, using our community’s most valuable and underutilized public assets, our expressways, to connect underserved transportation hubs, using transit to increase throughput.

The hub system works well for Fed Ex, UPS, Amazon and the major world airlines. Why wouldn’t it work to distribute people on an

The Writer

Maurice A. Ferré has been a member of the Florida Transportation Commission since 2011. He was mayor of Miami from 1973-1985, a Miami-Dade County commissioner from 1993-1996, a MiamiDade Expressway Authority board member from 2015-2017 and a county Transportation Planning Organization board member from 2011-2017. efficient ground transit system?

Miami-Dade currently has a greatly underused Metrorail system of 25 miles that services from South Miami-Dadeland, to mid Palmetto-Hialeah. Hubs that need to be connected are: Doral, FIU, West Dade, the West Kendall area, the South Dixie area – US 1 (Pinecrest, Cutler Ridge and Palmetto Bay) – Homestead-Florida City, the Northeast corridor (Aventura), North Miami-DadeMiami Gardens and the Miami Beach South/ Central area. The question is how these nine under-served hubs can be connected to the eight already better-served hubs (currently connected by Metrorail’s 23 stations)?

If we have expressways that go to or through those underserved hubs and we can build express lanes there, we can build up a transit system to serve those areas with BERT at much lower capital and operating costs and provide a transit system for Miami in record time.

To induce federal and state financing, we must also look for private sector participation by assuring we get the system with the best return on investment (ROI). Not only is BERT less expensive, by two to three times, over fixed rail, it also has the maximum potential to induce a transit public-private partnership for the Smart Plan in Miami-Dade.

Issues left are: the attractiveness of buses and will they induce choice ridership.

Commuters who today use the packed I-95 Express Bus from Broward County to Downtown Miami have vehicles. Why do they choose a crowded bus over their cars?

Convenience, time saved and cost.

The buses required for BERT to connect hubs through expressways to the closest Metrorail station will look like and operate like steel-on-steel trains. They must go longer distances, making fewer stops, travel at speeds up to 55 miles per hour, stop only at air-conditioned, safe stations with amenities and parking, have Metrorail seating configurations, double articulating doors, flat surfaces the height of station platforms, bus stabilizers to avoid rocking and able to accommodate variable-size buses (20, 50, 75, 100 passengers) and eventually 200 to 300 with platooned buses. These modern train/buses already exist in Europe.

Such a modern system can be built three times faster and at less than half the cost of any train system. But, it cannot be done on the cheap, using today’s buses. In connecting our hubs to existing Metrorail hubs on our highways, we already own the costly rights of way. Further, if and when autonomous vehicles dominate ground transportation, Miami-Dade Transit can easily sell the new BERT buses.

Not so the fixed rails and obsolete trains.

Important is the flexibility of BERTs that can get off the highway to a close, centrally located hub station.

Once the new autonomous vehicle technology arrives, we will have in place dedicated lane rights of way where the new technology can best be put in place and evolve. If the Chinese and South Korean urban maglev technologies break through, costing even less than BERT and go up to 150 mph, we have a ready-made dedicated lane waiting.

One thing is for sure. The past may not be past yet, but the future sure is here, now.

Global visitors buy property, then do business and become business owners or investors.

Look at our big projects, our largest shopping complexes, luxury residences, port tunnel and far more – their money is from offshore.

Governments from around the world set up consulates here. Miami firms work internationally. Is it any wonder that much of our “local” news is also global?

It’s helpful for Miami Today that consumers of real news – especially local news – have been changing. The new consumers of news are Miami’s most educated, most affluent and most powerful. They’re also active – they aren’t here just for sun and sand. If a Tweet about Washington is enough news, you aren’t a Miami Today reader. Our readers want and need to know.

It’s not healthy for our nation that with so many more sources purporting to purvey news, so few are adding unique news. For our community’s sake we wish we did not hold so many news monopolies. But it makes Miami Today indispensible.

Look thoughtfully at the coming Best of Miami. As closely as you may view this community and as active as you may be, we’ll guarantee that you’ll find someone you don’t know doing something you’ll be glad to learn about.

That’s another job we take very seriously: we aim to link Miamians together. We do it every week. That’s why targeted local news is so vital.

Letters to the Editor

Applauds Biscayne Green but seeks wide opportunity

As the downtown residential community continues to grow, the Biscayne Green project will serve to reinforce the need for high-quality, integrated uses as well as walkable spaces in the Miami urban core. And I applaud the concept because it enhances the quality of life in our city.

However, in my capacity as board member of Miami Parking Authority (MPA), I am accountable for the decisions I make and the votes I cast. With that in mind, if MPA, for Biscayne Green as well as other projects, is going to relinquish parking spaces and the revenues they generate, we need to be consistent across the board in affording opportunities to a wide range of sectors to take part in these types of initiatives as they are created.

Jami Reyes Board Member, Miami Parking Authority

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WEEK OF THURSDAY, MAY 25, 2017

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Ads for Wynwood construction barricades run afoul of law

By Catherine Lackner

A proposal by City Outdoor to install 8-foot wooden barricades around Wynwood construction sites has hit a snag, as it appears not to conform to Miami’s zoning code concerning murals.

Last month, directors of the Wynwood Business Improvement District (BID) considered the company’s offer to clean and maintain the barricades, as well as the area within a 500-foot radius around each site, in return for the opportunity to

sell advertising on the fences.

City Outdoor would hire local graffiti artists to paint the advertising on the barricades, mural-style, and part of the revenue would go to the property owner.

The barricades would stay up as long as there was an active building permit for the site, according to the group’s flyer.

Temporary fencing around sites is being “marked up with a lot of tags,” said board member David Lombardi, principal of Lombardi Properties and chair of the BID’s Security & Sanitation Committee,

last month. “It doesn’t make the neighborhood look very attractive.”

“I’ve looked at the memo,” said board member Jonathon Yormak, co-founder and managing principal of East End Capital, at last week’s improvement district meeting. “Can’t it be modified to comply? At the end of the day, it’s beneficial to the community.”

“We are very much aware of the city, and we work with the county,” said Rosario Kennedy, whose firm represents City Outdoor. Miami-Dade County allows the

murals, she said.

But what the city and the county allow can be very different, Mr. Lombardi said.

“We should defer to you on this,” board member David Polinsky, a principal of 250 Wynwood and chair of the BID’s Planning & Zoning Committee, told Ms. Kennedy. “We have a lot of other zoning issues to deal with.”

“Work with the various county and city actors on this,” BID vice chair Albert Garcia instructed Ms. Kennedy, which she agreed to do.

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Design shows the former Mediterranean Village before it was altered, renamed The Plaza Coral Gables.

Gables project shortened, renamed

By Catherine Lackner

Shorter but trimmer, the former Mediterranean Village is now The Plaza Coral Gables, and Ramon Trias, city planning director, says it’s better for the changes.

The mixed-use project is to rise at 2801, 2901 and 3001 Ponce de Leon Blvd., just south of downtown Coral Gables.

The maximum habitable height was to be 218 feet; that has been shortened to 190 feet.

Retail has been reduced from two levels to one, and the hotel component is moving to the rear of the complex, creating an open pedestrian space in front of it, Mr. Trias said.

The hotel will have 220 rooms (up from the planned 184) and about 16,000 square feet of meeting space. A 10,000-square-foot fast casual restaurant, a 30,000-square-foot quality restaurant, a gym and movie theater are also part of the new set of plans.

The developer also agreed to abandon plans for an underground garage but still will keep a planned 2,408-space garage within the building, with parking to be shared (during different hours) by the commercial and the residential users.

The residential component comprises 136 rental apartments (revised from 214 condominium units) and 15 townhouses. Office space has increased from 317,000 square feet to 473,000 square feet.

Agave Ponce, the developer, expects to break ground late this year or in early 2018; delivery is anticipated in 2020 or 2021.

“The improvements at ground level, especially moving the ho-

tel, were important,” Mr. Trias terms of the mass, I think it’s a said. “For that reason, and in much better project now.”

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TODAY’S NEWS

WEEK OF THURSDAY, MAY 25, 2017

Distribution project at Opa-locka airport gets another boost

By Susan Danseyar

The Miami-Opa Locka Executive Airport is getting closer to having a development project that county commissioners say will bring the community economic prosperity.

The multi-phase project on more than 121 acres at the airport is to be built by the Carrie Meek Foundation/ CCRE Meek LLC, named after US Rep. Carrie Meek.

“We’ve been working on this project for more than four years to elevate the community to a different level,” said Commissioner Barbara Jordan last week. “When you get a project at the airport that will do amazing things for Opa-locka, we appreciate it.”

This is significant to an underutilized airport, said Commissioner Sally Heyman during the commission’s Economic Development and Tourism Committee meeting.

The committee gave preliminary approval to several lease amendments: removing water and sewer infrastructure, including a proposed

pump station, from the leased premises and granting a separate license for construction of it; deleting a small paved area from the lease for which the developer is not responsible; clarifying the lessees’ rental obligation on the existing pavement; clarifying that rent payments are required to begin as of the county’s 2015-2016 fiscal year; and adding property for access to LeJeune Road.

Rent for this additional property is to begin on the effective date of this amendment – in other words, when the county commission approves it.

The changes are connected with a development deal, the first phase of which consists of a large bay distribution and warehouse building.

Called the distribution project, it is to be at least 885,000 square feet and is expected to be completed by the end of 2018 for approximately $92 million. The developer, CCRE Meek Assignees, has agreed to create at least 1,000 new full-time permanent jobs at the development.

County commissioners approved a development lease agreement for

Project “will do amazing things for Opa-locka”: Barbara Jordan.

the airport between Miami-Dade and the Carrie Meek Foundation on July 17, 2008; they approved the second amendment to the original lease and assignment of the development lease agreement to CCRE Meek LLC on July 19, 2016, authorizing CCRE Meek to split the project into five phases to be developed by four of its subsidiaries.

The original lease between the county and the Carrie Meek Foundation required that CMF find a developer to assist it with development of the property, according to Leland Salomon, director of Miami-Dade’s

Office of Economic Development.

He told Miami Today the lease was subsequently amended in July 2016 to reflect the addition of the developer, Foundry Commercial (CMFC), and to modify other terms of the original lease agreement.

“In February 2017, CMFC was awarded a general obligation bond (GOB) grant for the development of public infrastructure at the project in the amount of $5 million,” Mr. Salomon wrote in an email.

“About a month or so ago, it was discovered that the GOB grant agreement requires the payment of responsible wages for projects receiving government financing. This would, therefore, require CMFC to pay responsible wages on the entire development.”

This was not the intent of the bond grant, so the county made the land being used for the public infrastructure work subject to a separate agreement.

This move brought the infrastructure construction – because it was done with public money – under the Responsible Wages Ordinance

(RWO), but the remaining development would be exempt, he said.

The county attorney’s office further clarified the issue by determining that the original lease, signed in 2008, predated the RWO, enacted in 2012, and was therefore not subject to the RWO, Mr. Salomon said.

In addition, Mr. Salomon noted, because the project is in an enterprise zone, the developer is entitled to apply for reimbursement of impact fees, which have to be paid up front, once the development has been completed.

This must be done by Dec. 31, 2018, according to present state law affecting enterprise zones, Mr. Salomon said. However, this raised the concern as to whether this reimbursement might also trigger the Responsible Wages Ordinance on the project. Once again, he said, “the county attorney’s office determined that the reimbursement is not ‘in the nature of financing’ through a government source and thus did not make the project subject to the RWO.”

Barring oil exploration off Florida wins boost

By Susan Danseyar

Miami-Dade County commissioners gave preliminary approval to the concept of Southeast Florida Coastal Ocean task force’s final report and its recommendations to work with others to improve the coastal ecosystem, including coastal protection from any oil exploration.

The task force was established in 2012 through legislation of Miami-Dade, Broward, Palm Beach and Martin counties to coordinate protection of habitats and marine communities at the regional level.

The counties formed an intergovernmental body, with one commissioner from each member county; elected officials; representatives from the Florida Department of Environmental Protection, Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration; and stakeholders representing recreational fishermen, commercial ports, the dive charter industry and the marine industry.

The report includes recommendations related to interagency coordination, and protection of coastal resources from any oil exploration off the Florida coast; water quality, beaches, fisheries, coral reefs, management of marine debris; and strategies for technical investigations, policy, planning and projects.

Miami-Dade’s Economic Development and Tourism committee unanimously agreed May 11 to recommend the legislation to the full commission. The resolution was sponsored by Commissioner Daniella Levine Cava.

WEEK OF THURSDAY, MAY 25, 2017

MIAMI TODAY

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TODAY’S NEWS

MIAMI TODAY

WEEK OF THURSDAY, MAY 25, 2017

Photo by John Charles Robbins

Aerial easement that’s to come before Miami city commissioners this week will link to construction site.

Rendering shows the completed terminal for the Brightline service.

Aerial easement on track to bring passenger rail downtown

By John Charles Robbins

Land swaps, road realignment, right-of-way access and even air rights have come to play a role in bringing passenger rail service – and more – back to downtown Miami.

Another major piece to the MiamiCentral transportation hub,

now under construction paralleling Northwest First Avenue, is a proposed airspace easement from the City of Miami.

City commissioners have the item under consideration for a vote today (5/25).

The resolution would authorize the city manager to execute an aerial easement with DT Miami

LLC for All Aboard Florida railroad terminal encroachments over and across city right-of-way known as Northwest Third Street, between Northwest First Avenue and Miami-Dade County Metrorail north corridor right-of-way.

A background memo on the resolution says DT Miami received approval from the county to build

a railroad terminal project that includes a terminal of the All Aboard Florida passenger rail system, office, retail and residential development, known as MiamiCentral.

The county’s approval requires the construction of an elevated pedestrian connection between the project and the adjacent Government Center Metrorail Station.

June 15 Miami Today began life in 1983 as a newspaper for Brickell and Downtown, focusing on the center of this city as no one else did or does. Miami Today has the edge in the center of this city – unequaled vital information and perspective.

When Miami Today produces a special section on Downtown and Brickell, if you have business activities or investments there you need to be on board with an advertising presence for the people you must reach – those who are actively involved in Miami.

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The airspace easement will make the connection possible.

The resolution says the city wants to grant DT Miami an easement so it can construct, maintain and access the improvements “to allow safe and reasonable aerial access between the station and connecting adjacent parcels to the station, to the Miami-Dade Governmental Center Metrorail Station.”

With work commencing in 2014, the 11-acre site just north of the county courthouse and the county’s Stephen P. Clark Center is being redeveloped as a major transportation hub called MiamiCentral, rising where the city’s first train station once stood.

MiamiCentral is on track for an opening this year, followed by development of apartments, shops, offices and other companion commercial uses.

The new rail station is being integrated with county Metrorail and Metromover systems, and is being considered a transit hub for the city with connections to buses, trolleys, taxis and more.

Its primary function is home to a new passenger rail service called Brightline. MiamiCentral will also house a Tri-Rail link.

Part of Northwest First Avenue will close to public use so it can be realigned as part of the redevelopment by All Aboard Florida.

Last summer, city commissioners approved the closure, which impacts Northwest First Avenue between Northwest First and Second streets.

Applicants for the street closure were DT Miami A LLC, DT Miami B LLC and the City of Miami.

The resolution closing the street says the purpose is to annex the closed section of Northwest First Avenue into the approved Tract A, and to realign it with North Miami Court.

“The reason for the request is to further unify a development site for the redevelopment of Flagler Gran Central Station (part of the All Aboard Florida rapid transit facilities),” the resolution says.

The realignment will basically straighten out the curve of that section of Northwest First Avenue.

In March, express passenger rail service Brightline announced target dates for service launch in South Florida, with introductory express service between West Palm Beach and Fort Lauderdale beginning in late July, followed by service to Miami in late August.

The company says it anticipates a grand opening and official launch of the train service in September.

MIAMI TODAY

WEEK OF THURSDAY, MAY 25, 2017

13

Banking & Finance

Bill to allow credit unions to become public depositories never got to vote

By Catherine Lackner

Senate Bill 1170, which would have allowed credit unions to become qualified public depositories if they met certain requirements, died in the 2017 session of the Florida Legislature without ever reaching the floor for a vote.

It was referred to the Senate Banking and Insurance Committee, which voted favorably on it, and then sent to the Senate Appropriations Committee, where it was “temporarily passed,” or indefinitely postponed, said Anthony DiMarco, executive vice president of governmental affairs for the Florida Bankers Association. He said he presumed it will be re-filed next year.

“Our guys are totally against it,” Mr. DiMarco said earlier this year, when the bill was introduced. “To us it’s ironic that they’re taking in tax money, and loaning it back out, when they don’t pay taxes.”

The fight between banks and credit unions is historic. Though they aren’t large enough to threaten national banks, several Florida credit unions, including Tampa-based Suncoast, Jacksonville’s Vystar and Melbourne-based Space Coast, have assets that rival those of small banks.

“These are multi-billion-dollar credit unions,” Mr. DiMarco has said. “They make it harder for commercial banks to make loans” and offer unfair competition because they are non-profit organizations and so pay no taxes.

“Half of all small-business loans

‘One of the strongest reasons for the banking union to oppose the bill is we believe it will hurt businesses and consumers...’

Miriam López

‘To us it’s ironic that they’re taking in tax money, and loaning it back out, when they don’t pay taxes.’

Anthony DiMarco Etain Connor takes over as Miami Finance Forum’s executive director.

inAmerica are made by commercial banks,” he has said. “These loans allow the business to grow, and then the business will generally go to a larger bank.”

And there is another consequence that should cause concern in Tallahassee, he said. As credit unions take an ever-growing piece of the banking pie, “that is less and less tax revenue for the state.”

“The credit unions filed their annual bill to accept public deposits from local and state governments,” said Miriam López, president and chief loan officer of Marquis Bank, via email. “Thankfully, we were able to beat the bill again this year.

One of the strongest reasons for the banking community to oppose the bill is that we believe it will hurt small businesses and consumers in the long run. We make more than 50% of all small business loans and if we lose public deposits, there will be less capital to lend.

“I think we also have to look at the fact that credit unions seem to be deviating from their original intent of helping the underserved, which was the basis of their tax-exempt status,” she continued. “They have outgrown this intended purpose and changed in both appearance and services, yet at the same token, are still not subject to the same regulations as banks.”

Three banking and finance bills wait

By Catherine Lackner

Out of a handful of bills related to banking and finance that were filed for the 2017 session of the Florida Legislature, only three passed, said Jeremy Jeremy Ben-David Ben-David, managing partner of the law firm of the AXS Law Group.

House Bill 437 mandates that the state’s Office of Financial Regulation must hold certain information confidential and exempt, including personal identifying information of customers, shareholders or members of affiliated international trusts that appear in regulatory records and any confidential information the office receives from another state, country or the federal government.

If not vetoed by Gov. Rick Scott, it takes effect Jan. 1, 2018.

House Bill 747, which revises definitions for mortgage lenders, passed both the House of Representatives and the Senate and will become law July 1 if it’s not vetoed

It provides exemptions for certain securities dealers and investment advisers “to hold himself or herself out to the public as being in the mortgage lending business.”

A similar action, Senate Bill 1298, to revise the definition of term “mortgage loan,” was withdrawn from consideration.

House Bill 435, which “provides requirements for carrying on international business,” also passed both chambers of the Legislature. It applies to confidential books and records of financial institutions, and revises requirements for carrying on financial institution business, including licensure, recordkeeping, representative offices, permissible activities, liability, claims and fees. If not vetoed, it becomes law on Jan. 1, 2018.

Senate Bill 736, which would have redefined the term “financial institution” to include international trust entities, was replaced

by House Bill 435.

House Bill 347, which concerned loans for less than $25,000 for which the lender is charging more than 18% interest, died in the House of Representatives Insurance & Banking Subcommittee.

A related action, Senate Bill 594, died in the Senate Appropriations Committee.

House Bill 385, which would have required credit reporting agencies to regard as neutral any adverse information on a consumer’s record that arose from predatory lending, died in the House Banking and Insurance Committee House Bill 471, which would have authorized lien holders to use certain documents filed in bankruptcy proceedings, was withdrawn from consideration.

Senate Bill 660, which was similar, was indefinitely postponed.

House Bill 595, which would have launched a pilot program to assist consumers in building their credit, died in the Insurance and Banking Subcommittee.

House Bill 885, which would have mandated that Florida financial institutions that maintain accounts in foreign banks identify the source of every transaction that passes through the foreign account to ascertain it didn’t come from a country under sanctions, died in the Banking and Insurance Committee. Senate Bill 1482, which was similar, was indefinitely postponed.

Miami Finance Forum has focus on education

By Catherine Lackner

Keeping the agenda relevant and building on “a very strong organizational platform” are goals of Etain Connor, new executive director of the Miami Finance Forum, an 11-year-old non-profit organization for financial industry professionals.

“Etain has extensive experience in development, strategic planning, event management and communications, as well as membership building and retention,” said a letter from Gregory M. Santin, forum chairman, to members when she was hired.

“Having worked for several of South Florida’s notable non-profit organizations, she has also been an active volunteer, holding boardlevel positions at several civic and charitable groups in Miami,” his letter said.

“My goals, aside from increasing membership, are to continue to push Miami as a financial hub for Latin America and Europe,” Ms. Connor said last week. “Every bank is here, and there is so much happening. We want to be a resource for financial institutions that are interested in coming here.

We also have a really impressive network. People who attend our events know they will meet the people they want to meet.”

It’s about education, not just networking, said Mr. Santin, who is senior banker and executive director at JP Morgan Private Banking. The forum stages 20 to 25 events each year, most with a strong educational component.

Recent “Lunch and Learn” topics have included Brexit, the opening of Cuba, and trade with China and Latin America, he said. “We put

‘Etain has extensive experience in development, strategic planning, event management and communications...’

Gregory Santin rock stars on our panels; they are the experts people want to hear.”

Elena Djakonova, the current executive director, will remain on the job until Ms. Connor is trained.

“We’re sad to be losing her Elena; she’s the glue that makes things happen,” Mr. Santin said. “Etain has big shoes to fill.”

Meanwhile, as a Miami native, “I’ve seen this community grow so much,” Ms. Connor said. “It’s fascinating to me. I remember as a kid seeing the Southeast Financial Center being built. The Miami Finance Forum has had such an impact on all of that growth. I’m very excited to be part of the team.”

In addition to a bachelor’s degree in classical humanities from Georgetown University, Ms. Connor holds an international master’s degree in business administration from Florida International University.

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