Miami Considers Development At Museum Park, Report Says

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museum park rendering

Miami is considering a move to redevelop a park along Biscayne Bay downtown, according to a news report.

The Miami City Commission will consider giving a conservancy control of Museum Park, the South Florida Business Journal reported.

The park is home to the Perez Art Museum and the Frost Science Museum, which is under construction. The 22.5-acre park is in a prime location for the city and for years there’s been debate about how to improve it for residents and visitors.

A city-commissioned plan in 2008 by Cooper, Robinson & Partners highlighted a future Museum Park with more shade trees, water features and a restaurant, but the city hasn’t acted on it – until now. The park is currently managed by the Bayfront Trust, a quasi-city agency.

The commission was scheduled to vote on Jan. 14 on turning over management, events and development of the park to a new non-profit called the Museum Park Conservancy. Yet, the item was deferred to a later date by the city. The framework of the potential deal was included on the city agenda.

The conservancy could charge for events and naming rights at the park and allow the sale of alcoholic beverages at the park during special events. The conservancy would actively solicit donations to support the park and its development, which is currently not allowed under the Bayfront Trust structure.

The conservancy promised to show the city proof within 90 days that it’s raised at least $7.5 million for the park. The group says it already has this money. However, the conservancy could not start managing the operations of Museum Park until after the first phase of the development breaks ground. That could occur in about 18 months, according to the proposed agreement.

The proposed deal between the city and conservatory refers to the Cooper, Robinson study as the “master plan.” The conservancy would have to submit its annual audited financial statements to the city. The city commission would have the right to abolish the conservancy at any time and retake control of the park with 180 days notice.

According to city documents, the conservancy would be governed by a board of 10 to 15 directors. They would be appointed by the mayor, the city commission, the city manager, a non-profit called Friends of Museum Park, and also appointed by the sitting conservancy board. The Miami Foundation is currently working to establish the conservancy.

 

Source: SunSentinel

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Long-Dormant Development Projects May Come To Life On Watson Island In 2016

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For many years, a handful of initiatives to redevelop a broad swath of city-owned, semi-derelict Watson Island have lurched along the MacArthur Causeway like zombies, never quite dead or alive.

A plane begins departure toward Bimini, Bahamas from the Miami Seaplane Base in Watson Island.

A plane begins departure toward Bimini, Bahamas from the Miami Seaplane Base in Watson Island.

Now it seems 2016 could be the year when the undead — the old Chalk’s seaplane terminal, a long-abandoned heliport, and a megayacht marina and resort plan that’s been stalled for 14 years — spring back to at least some sort of half-life on the island just off downtown Miami, long known as a burial place for sketchy development schemes looking to exploit public land. But the long-term prognosis for each remains unsettled.

At the seaplane base, a new operator promises to undertake a temporary revamp of the quasi-dilapidated facility, establish an expanded flight schedule, and formally submit to the city plans for a new terminal building that include a restaurant and public observation areas so visitors can bask in the romance of travel by seaplane.

Next door, after years of controversial delays and extensions by the city, Flagstone Development is nearing completion of the piers for its megayacht marina, which its representatives insist will soon be operational. The firm has also begun to clear its upland leasehold for Island Gardens, the $600 million hotel and retail complex Flagstone is supposed to build under an agreement with the city — even though financing has not yet been identified, at least publicly, a year after Flagstone agents said they hoped to have it nailed down.

An abandoned heliport sits near the Miami Seaplane Base

An abandoned heliport sits near the Miami Seaplane Base

Meanwhile, a contractor who won a bid a decade ago to reopen the heliport across from the seaplane base and Island Gardens is up to date with rent payments after falling behind and also paid FPL, with help from a city agency, to bury power lines at the site that posed a flight hazard, said Miami Mayor Tomas Regalado, who pledges the facility will be open and running this year. Right now, though, the heliport consists of a rusted metal shed, broken concrete and weeds.

Then there’s the perennially troubled Jungle Island animal and banquet-hall attraction, formerly Parrot Jungle, which has attracted a fraction of its projected attendance since opening in 2003. Its operators are now consistently making rent payments to the city, paying off a federal loan that was once in arrears, and raising money to make over the attraction with a new emphasis on water features and restaurants — and maybe a hotel as well.

Miami City Manager Daniel Alfonso met in early December with Jungle Island representatives, who told him they’re bringing in a new investor, ESJ Capital Partners, based in Aventura. Alfonso said in an interview that the discussion didn’t delve deeply into details, but there was talk about ESJ, which invests in a number of charter schools, introducing a new education component.

He also said Jungle Island representatives alluded to the possibility of new development at the site, something that has come up from time to time, often in reference to building a hotel. But Alfonso said any consideration of a hotel would be complicated because of requirements for a voter referendum in approving major improvements at the waterfront site.

To Regalado, who stresses that all of the projects predate his assumption of the mayor’s job, getting them moving is a central accomplishment of his administration. He notes the other major facility on the island, the Miami Children’s Museum, is popular and on solid footing — even if it took city approval of two massive and controversial electronic advertising billboards on the building to help shore up its finances.

“I think it’s part of my legacy. It will not be my doing. It’s been a long time coming,” he said. “But I think I’ll be very proud of leaving office with things going on in Watson Island.”

Regalado and city officials have defended extending the life of stalled or troubled projects on Watson Island like Island Gardens even after they’ve missed contractual deadlines or rent payments, saying previous administrations locked them into binding agreements which they’re obligated to make work as well as possible. But to skeptics and critics, all that progress is anything but positive. They say the Watson Island projects cement a legacy of seat-of-the-pants planning and questionable deals, with most of the publicly owned island effectively privatized.

“It’s really sad to me to see the evisceration or the loss of any kind of public space there,” said Greg Bush, a co-founder of the Urban Environment League and history professor at the University of Miami. “You could have a real park out there, or at least buildings with a public use. Instead what I see is the long-term lack of good planning and public benefit going over several generations, kind of endlessly.”

Those leery of the Watson Island projects include Miami Beach officials concerned about traffic impacts on the frequently clogged MacArthur Causeway, which bisects the island, as well as the new city commissioner for the district, Ken Russell. During his campaign, which was run by a lobbyist for a group critical of Flagstone, he criticized extensions for Island Gardens, which his predecessor, Marc Sarnoff, supported.

Russell said he’s now studying the deals and the role in them of the city’s Miami Sports and Exhibition Authority, or MSEA, which Regalado chairs and which serves as landlord for Island Gardens, the Children’s Museum and the seaplane and heliport facilities. Under city ordinances, the agency can lease out waterfront properties without a referendum, a requirement for city-owned waterfront land not controlled by MSEA, which includes the Jungle Island site.

Russell said that so far he’s found MSEA’s role“bewildering,” although he’s not yet prepared to take a position on the Watson Island projects.

“It seems there’s a lot on Watson Island coming to the forefront, and these are all things I want to look into,” said Russell, whose chief of staff once ran MSEA for the city. “MSEA is supposed to be in charge with a basic master plan and providing guidance, but there is not full transparency necessarily. This is what I’m scratching my head about, honestly.”

Jungle Island’s president, John Dunlap, did not respond to an interview request, but issued a statement in which he said “it is our policy not to discuss private business negotiations.”

The statement does not mention the ESJ investment firm, but adds: “We are proud to share that companies like Spectra Food Services & Hospitality (formerly Ovations), SharpShooter Imaging and Wildlife Trading Company have already committed significant investment dollars towards the redevelopment of our park services and attractions.”

Some of the Watson Island projects have been dogged by litigation. An appeal is pending on a lawsuit by a group of Venetian Island residents who contend the city improperly extended the agreement for Island Gardens after the developer missed several key deadlines. A circuit court judge dismissed the case without getting to its merits after concluding the residents do not have standing to sue.

The seaplane base’s former operator and the city were ensnarled in lawsuits for years until the new operator, lawyer and aviation enthusiast Ignacio “Nacho” Vega, bought him out. Vega said he now has six seaplane operators making four to five flights a day between Watson Island and Key West, Bimini and Fort Lauderdale.

In December, in his first and so far only commission meeting, the newly inaugurated Russell persuaded commission colleagues to put off until January a decision on a rezoning and land-use change that could clear the way for the redevelopment of the seaplane facility so that he could analyze the measure more closely. The changes would reclassify the land the terminal has occupied since 1929 from parkland to allow transportation uses. That would in turn allow the current operator, Vega, to submit plans for a new terminal to the city.

In the meantime, Vega said, he would remove a pair of dilapidated, condemned trailers on the property that served as office space and replace them with a new trailer. Eventually Vega hopes to construct a three- or four-story building with a restaurant and observation deck to attract non-flying visitors, because fees paid by airlines won’t be enough to sustain his operation. “We charge a minimal amount. Seaplane bases by themselves do not cover their costs,” Vega said.

The Island Gardens marina, meanwhile, is awaiting a temporary certificate of occupancy, which Regalado said should come in January. The developer’s representatives have said the marina would be operational, though the only structure on the property is a small building.

 

 

Source: Miami Herald

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Massive Development Proposal Splits Wynwood

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For two years the major players in Wynwood, Miami’s hippest, hottest emerging neighborhood, have been working on plans to jack the old industrial district up to the next level — only to now find themselves sharply at odds over exactly what that means, with the district’s future hanging in the balance.

Even as one group of property owners and developers publicly worked up a plan to control development to maintain Wynwood’s creative vibe and human scale while drawing in more housing, shops and businesses, the area’s biggest landowner, New York moving-company mogul, developer and arts patron Moishe Mana, privately sketched out a blueprint that embraces the same broad ideas — but on a dramatically different scale.

No sooner was the ink dry on the Miami City Commission’s approval of the Wynwood Neighborhood Revitalization District — special zoning rules that limit heights to eight to 12 stories and extract payments from developers to improve streets and create parking garages and public open space — than Mana applied for his own plan.

Mana’s proposed Special Area Plan, which would supersede the new zoning rules on 24 acres of his property, calls for a massive nine million square feet of new development, including towers up to 24 stories, while exempting the developer from the public-benefit programs in the NRD plan, as well as payments to the local business improvement district. In lieu of that, Mana has proposed to build an expansive public plaza and a city fire station and bury obtrusive FPL electrical lines that run through his properties at his own expense.

WynwoodSplit

The Mana plan has provoked some serious balking from a good portion of his fellow Wynwood property owners, including Goldman Properties, the firm credited with launching the neighborhood’s transformation from derelict warehouse district to hipster mecca and a key backer of the NRD plan.

Those Wynwood owners and entrepreneurs say they’re concerned Mana’s mammoth project could overwhelm its modestly scaled neighbors while providing insufficient public benefits and little help in mitigating its impact on traffic, parking, policing and other public services — in effect, they contend, passing on the public burden of his upzoning to other local property owners who agreed to cap development.

“Everything we’ve done is to try to develop a comprehensive strategy to create a great place,” said Goldman Properties managing director Joe Furst, complaining the Mana blueprint is so vague in places there’s no gauging its precise effects on the rest of Wynwood. “There’s too many question marks.”

Mana’s representatives have noted it was no secret that he was working on a big plan for his Wynwood properties, centered around the former Wynwood Free Trade Zone complex, which he purchased in 2010, and that he never objected to the NRD plan. But Furst and others note Mana held details close to the vest and did not brief anyone else in the neighborhood until he filed his application with the city in November.

Everything we’ve done is to try to develop a comprehensive strategy to create a great place.

Mana’s planner and architect, Bernard Zyscovich, called his client’s promised public benefits “very, very significant,” saying their cost will run into the tens of millions of dollars. And he said Mana has also agreed to mesh the zoning along the edge of his property on Northwest Second Avenue, Wynwood’s main drag, with the NRD zoning, creating a consistent urban street front.

“We’ve done a tremendous amount to collaborate and make sure we’re integrated with the rest of Wynwood,” Zyscovich said. “We also have our own objectives, of course.”

How Mana’s proposal fares will play out over the next several weeks, and is likely to have defining implications for Wynwood’s redevelopment. The debate over his plan is the first sign of a serious split in the neighborhood since it began drawing outside developers, investors and speculators who’ve driven up rents and land prices and driven out many of the artists and galleries that characterized its early revival.

The NRD plan, supported by a majority of local property owners, was an effort to guide development before it happened, upzoning just enough to foster construction of reasonably priced housing and new commercial spaces while maintaining a consistent scale, and encouraging a building-design aesthetic that blends with Wynwood’s funky industrial look.

But some are clearly concerned that Mana’s plan, because it covers a substantial percentage of the neighborhood, could upend that carefully calibrated strategy before it has a chance to work.

Earlier this month, the board of the Wynwood Business Improvement District, an autonomous public agency chartered by the city that commissioned the controlled-development NRD plan, declined Mana’s request for an endorsement of his own plan after twice meeting to consider it. Instead, the BID board, which Furst chairs, asked the city’s planning and zoning board to defer a scheduled vote on the Mana plan while agency leaders could study his proposals further.

The planning board put its vote off until Jan. 20 after Mana’s representatives agreed to a postponement. The Mana plan and a companion development agreement with the city will ultimately need to be approved by the Miami commission.

Mana’s attorney, Iris Escarra of Greenberg Traurig, was out of the country through January and could not be reached for comment. At the BID’s Dec. 14 meeting, though, she hinted Mana might be willing to compromise. “It’s possible this is going to evolve,” she said. “Stay tuned.”

Escarra did say that the development agreement will legally require Mana to keep his promises, including building the fire station and every acre of the promised open space. She also noted that city planners have already insisted that Mana meet other elements of the Neighborhood Revitalization plan. Among those: That his new buildings be reviewed by a new Wynwood design review board created under the NRD, and that Mana’s development provide cut-through “paseos” to foster pedestrian flow and connectivity to the rest of the neighborhood.

BID board members, who represent the district’s property owners, say they would like to reach an understanding with Mana. But what they’ve seen so far, they say, doesn’t seem to justify the large increases in scale and density he’s seeking.

And neither his zoning plan nor the development agreement appear to sufficiently hold Mana to building the promised public space in a timely fashion, nor guarantee a high design quality, they contend. Because the project would be built out over 30 years, some Wynwood stakeholders worry Mana might leave the public space for last.

“The vision for the Mana project is a good one,” said Jonathon Yormak, an investor and BID board member who’s planning a mixed-use building on a large vacant lot his firm owns off Wynwood’s main drag . “Everyone believes the underlying premise is a good one. We are all inclined to support it.  To Mana’s credit, he has engaged us. But for what he is really providing, versus what he’s asking for, does that seem like a fair outcome? The initial answer is no. What he’s presented is more to his benefit and to the detriment of the neighborhood,” Yormak added. “If they care to get our support, I believe they can get it. It will require a little bit of consideration and cooperation from them.”

Zyscovich said he and Mana’s team plan to meet with BID members in early January.

 

Source: Miami Herald

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Insurance Investors Pick Up Gables Office Tower For $83 Million

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The real estate investing arm of Prudential Financial just paid a whopping $83 million for the 355 Alhambra office tower in downtown Coral Gables.

355 Alhambra office tower 3An affiliate of Prudential Real Estate Investors, which has an asset portfolio valued at $62.6 billion, purchased the 16-story tower through a deed filed Tuesday, according to Miami-Dade County records. The price breaks down to about $168 per square foot.

The seller is AEW Capital Management, an investment management firm that owned the building on behalf of institutional clients. Records show AEW paid $87.3 million for the building in 2008 — about $4.3 million more than its current price.

The tower, at 355 Alhambra Circle, was first built in 2001 and measures 492,820 square feet. A big portion of that square footage is located in the building’s multi-story parking garage, which affords three parking spaces per 1,000 square feet of rentable space, according to the building’s website. The remaining 224,241 square feet is divided into leasable offices. Tenants include Merrill Lynch, Moore & Co. and Spencer Stuart.

This is the second high-profile office purchase in the downtown Coral Gables area to close in December: two weeks ago, a Deutsche Asset & Wealth Management fund paid $119 million for the Alhambra office complex.

 

Source: The Real Deal

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PMG Will Build Miami’s Tallest Tower After Getting FAA Approval

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Developer PMG received approval today from the FAA to build a 1,049-foot tower at 300 Biscayne Boulevard, and they fully intend to build to that height.

PMG’s tower will be taller than the Empire World Towers once proposed for the same site:

PMG’s tower will be taller than the Empire World Towers once proposed for the same site

PMG principal Ryan Shear told TNM that the developer “has full intention to use every foot.” The tower would be the tallest in Miami.

The approved height is 1,041 feet above ground, or 1,049 feet above sea level. At that height, it will be taller than the 93-story Empire World Towers project that was once proposed for the same site.

Details of the project haven’t yet been revealed, but it is expected to include about 500 luxury condos.

 

Source: The Next Miami

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Little Haiti Residents, Businesses Say Developers Pricing Them Out Of Neighborhood

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Little Haiti

Longtime residents, business owners and civic leaders gathered in Miami’s Little Haiti neighborhood on Thursday to deliver a message about their rapidly changing community: “We want to stay.”

Little Haiti residents say investors and real estate developers are buying property and pushing out the people and small businesses that give the district is distinct Caribbean flavor. (Photo Credit: Daniel Chang, The Miami Herald)

Little Haiti residents say investors and real estate developers are buying property and pushing out the people and small businesses that give the district is distinct Caribbean flavor. (Photo Credit: Daniel Chang, The Miami Herald)

Residents and activists, many carrying hand-written signs declaring “Little Haiti is not for sale” and “Say no to gentrification,” said real estate developers and speculators are buying up land and pushing out the people and small businesses that give the neighborhood its distinct Caribbean character.

“They tried to push me out of this area,” said Wilfrid Joseph Daleus, a Haitian immigrant and owner of the Daleus Museum and Art Gallery on 59th Street and Northeast Second Avenue.

Daleus, 66, said he opened his art gallery in 1980 and loves the neighborhood. But his rent is rising, and he feels that local government could do more to help, such designating the area a historic or cultural district.

“The price goes up every month,” Daleus said, “and I don’t have the support to stay. … But I don’t want to go. I want to stay.”

The Little Haiti neighborhood of Miami — an area broadly defined as running from 38th Street to 79th Street between Interstate 95 and the Florida East Coast Railway — does not have an official boundary, though city commissioners have considered a formal designation in the past.

Little Haiti gained its name as Haitian migrants, fleeing the regime of Jean Claude “Baby Doc” Duvalier, began to populate the neighborhood in the late 1970s and early 1980s.

Longtime residents, business owners and civic activists gathered to protest what they see as the gentrification of Little Haiti. They produced a list of demands, including the creation of a cultural district and the establishment of a trust to preserve and acquire land in the district for housing and businesses (Photo Credit: Daniel Chang, The Miami Herald)

Longtime residents, business owners and civic activists gathered to protest what they see as the gentrification of Little Haiti. They produced a list of demands, including the creation of a cultural district and the establishment of a trust to preserve and acquire land in the district for housing and businesses (Photo Credit: Daniel Chang, The Miami Herald)

Lately, though, art galleries have moved north from Wynwood in search of more affordable rents in Little Haiti. And developers have taken increasing interest in the area, using harassment, intimidation and sometimes inducements to coerce longtime residents and businesses to move, said Marleine Bastien, executive director of Haitian Women of Miami, a community group.

Bastien told a group gathered in front of the offices of the Haitian American Community Development Corporation on Northeast 82nd Street that “a lot of investors and developers are “organizing to change the name of Little Haiti. They are buying left and right, cash. The Little Farm Mobile Court on Biscayne Boulevard, home to many Haitian immigrants, has been purchased through lawyers by a Chinese investor who doesn’t even live here.”

Joined by representatives from local civic groups and elected officials, including Michael Etienne, city clerk for North Miami, Bastien presented a list of demands for Miami leaders, including the creation of a historic or cultural district and the establishment of a community land trust to preserve existing land and acquire new property for housing and small businesses.

She called for fast action from Keon Hardemon, a Miami commissioner whose district includes the Little Haiti neighborhood. “If he doesn’t act,” she said, “soon Little Haiti will disappear.” Hardemon did not respond to an interview request from the Herald made through his chief of staff on Thursday.

Miami Mayor Tomás Regalado said the city has never designated any area in honor of any immigrant group, including Little Havana. But, he said, that doesn’t mean Miami has overlooked the contributions of immigrant groups that have contributed to the city’s history.

“The Haitian heritage can never be erased from the history of Miami,” Regalado said. “It’s still there in Little Haiti, although some Haitians have moved, but still we have the Little Haiti Soccer Park. We have the Little Haiti Cultural Center. We have the Caribbean Marketpalce.”

 

Source: Miami Herald

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Miami’s Real Estate Stability Still Strong After Four Years

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The real estate stability in Miami is still strong.

For four years, Miami’s economy in real estate has not met any downturn and consecutively even with the rising cost of real estate, it is evident that the city is one of the biggest players in this sector.

“South Florida offers world-class amenities, a top-tier arts and cultural epicenter, a diversified economy and more. The strong demand is leading to fewer days on the market for Miami single-family homes while buyer offers are near asking price,” according to World Property Journal.

Meanwhile, the increase in sales of properties was not only due to U.S. homebuyers. There was also a report stating that part of the buyers that are seeing potential and interest in the city is from the international market.

“Miami real estate continues to attract international buyers from all over the world as well as a growing number of domestic consumers,” said Miami-based Realtor Christopher Zoller

One promising note about the stability in the real estate of Miami is that the city offers a limited number of properties that can be loaned in mortgage. Out of the thousand properties that were available to sell to the public, only a small number can be allowed for mortgage loans. This makes it all the more visible how many are really eyeing settling in this city.

“Miami existing condominiums have been impacted by a lack of access to mortgage loans. Of the 8,523 condominium buildings in Miami-Dade and Broward Counties, only 23 are approved for Federal Housing Administration loans, down from 29 earlier this year,” based from the article and the statistics from Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation and FHA.

In addition to this, there was a policy that was worked on this month to open up more opportunities for buyers to own a property in Miami. This could detail in more growth for the city’s real estate economy as people who are opting to own a residence in this city can apply instead via a mortgage loan.

“By increasing the number of local condo buildings approved for FHA loans, more consumers will be able to access FHA’s low down payment mortgages. Accepting Citizens insurance and co-insurance clauses is another significant development, which would help more than 85% of Florida’s condo projects in complying with FHA’s insurance requirements,” said MIAMI’s SVP Government Affairs & Housing Danielle Blake.

 

Source: Realty Today

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Ninety-Year-Old Downtown Miami Building Trades

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The 90-year-old Dade-Commonwealth Building in downtown Miami sold for $9.2 million to a group that promises to revitalize it.

The seven-story office building at 139 N.E. 1st Street was originally constructed in 1925 to serve as a branch of Meyer-Miser Bank, but it was heavily damaged by the Great Miami Hurricane of 1926. It was reconstructed the following year.

Dade Commonwealth Building2

The building still has a 32-ton magisterial stainless steel vault and its original columns.

A joint venture between Immocorp Capital, led by Gilbert Benhamou, and Wynwood Fund, led by Matthieu Merchadou-Melki, bought the 43,265-square-foot building on a 7,500-square-foot lot from Titan Development Partners, managed by Jesus V. Suarez. It last traded for $1.3 million in 2003.

“We intend to revitalize this corner in the heart of Downtown Miami,” said Benhamou. “This is an iconic building that, once upon a time, was the tallest building in Downtown Miami. We were seduced with the historical aspect and story of the Dade-Commonwealth Building.”

The buyers were represented by Urbanize Properties’ Janet Crucet and Kristine Flook plus Sterling Commercial’s Mika Mattingly. Ana Ventura of RE2000 Group represented the seller.

 

Source: SFBJ

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Biltmore Parc Luxury Condo Breaks Ground In Coral Gables

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Biltmore Parc luxury condominium residences are coming to Coral Gables.

Pictured as Biltmore Parc Luxury Residences break ground are (l-r) Marshall Bellin, Maximo Italiano, Glenn Pratt, David Torres, Luis Arevalo, Alirio Torrealba, Mayor Jim Cason, Jose Luis Bueno, Antonio Zeiter, Alejandro Abascal, Jimmy Forrest, Jenny Ducret, Aquiles Torrealba, and Fernando Pinto

Pictured as Biltmore Parc Luxury Residences break ground are (l-r) Marshall Bellin, Maximo Italiano, Glenn Pratt, David Torres, Luis Arevalo, Alirio Torrealba, Mayor Jim Cason, Jose Luis Bueno, Antonio Zeiter, Alejandro Abascal, Jimmy Forrest, Jenny Ducret, Aquiles Torrealba, and Fernando Pinto

Elected officials, members of the development team, and well-wishers were on hand recently to witness the groundbreaking ceremony for the project.

Proximate to the Biltmore Hotel, Biltmore Parc is the first project in six years to be located within walking distance of Miracle Mile. As traffic woes increase in Miami-Dade County, residential properties located near the workplace and amenities such as restaurants, shops and public transit become more attractive. In Coral Gables an estimated 540,000 vehicles travel through the city’s 189 entrances.

“This is hitting a market, capturing a niche for Millennials, families with young children who want to be in the heart of the city and empty nesters who are looking to move from a large home to a luxury condo,” Coral Gables Mayor Jim Cason said of the development.

Venezuelan entrepreneur Alirio Torrealba, interior designer Vincenzo Avanzato, the architectural firm of Bellin & Pratt, together with developers MG Developer Miami LLC and United Real Estate Group have created a project synonymous with the elegance that is the hallmark of The City Beautiful.

biltmore-parc-coral-gables 3The five-story building, located at 718 Valencia Ave. will have 32 units ranging in price from $950,000 to $1.65 million. Two and three-bedroom units are available, at 1,700 to 2,500 square feet in size.

biltmore-parc-coral-gables 2Each residence has a den with an expansive private terrace with NanaWalls (glass walls that fold inward). Private elevator access to the foyer is available to every unit. Two elegantly appointed multipurpose lounge areas capable for use as business center, meeting venue, game room or reading lounge also are available. Interiors include European-style kitchens, oversized spa-inspired bathrooms with separate showers and bathtubs, spacious walk-in closets, and walk-in laundry rooms.

Residents can take advantage of amenities such as the 24/7 personalized concierge assistance for things such as dining and event reservations to in-residence services. Other luxury touches such as 24-hour security, spa, fitness center, valet service, and WiFi in the common areas are part of the Biltmore Parc lifestyle. Also offered is a one-year membership to The Club at the Biltmore, which makes available fitness, social activities, special privileges at its legendary resort, discount on hotel amenities, and monthly special events.

“This is a great project for Mr. Merrick’s city now celebrating its 90th anniversary. The size, scale and location are ideal,” Mayor Cason added.

The project, which is scheduled for completion in February 2017, sold 15 units as of the groundbreaking. The sales gallery is located at the Coldwell Banker Residential Real Estate office, 4000 Ponce de Leon Blvd., Suite 700, Coral Gables. The construction company is TA Builders.

“This is going to be a beautiful building,” Commissioner Jeannett Slesnick said. “Congratulations to everyone involved in Biltmore Parc.”

 

Source: Coral Gables Community News

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Beckham Partner: Land Owners ‘Probably Will’ Blow Up Soccer Deal

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David Beckham’s top Miami negotiator said Thursday that owners of the private land needed for a Miami soccer stadium “probably will blow this deal up,” sounding the alarm over a potential failure of negotiations he said must be completed within a few weeks.

Soccer star David Beckham arrives for an event at the Adrienne Arsht Center in February 2014 (PHOTO CREDIT: PATRICK FARRELL, MIAMI HERALD STAFF)

Soccer star David Beckham arrives for an event at the Adrienne Arsht Center in February 2014 (PHOTO CREDIT: PATRICK FARRELL, MIAMI HERALD STAFF)

In an interview with the Miami Herald Editorial Board, Miami Beckham United’s Tim Leiweke said the partnership continues to make progress with the city of Miami to purchase city land across the street from Marlins Park and then transfer it to the Miami-Dade School Board, which would shield the new stadium from property taxes. But he said parallel negotiations to purchase six private parcels on the proposed stadium footprint have stalled as land owners haggle for unreasonable prices.

“They know what we’re doing, and unfortunately they’ve let that create an absolutely unrealistic conversation. They can absolutely blow this deal up, and they probably will blow this deal up,” Beckham’s top Miami negotiator, Tim Leiweke said. “We’re willing to overpay. We just don’t want to be the stupidest guys on the face of the earth.”

If the negotiations fail, Leiweke said Beckham’s group has a fallback plan at another undisclosed site. He also said Miami Beckham United hasn’t ruled out looking to a different city.

“We do have a backup,” Leiweke said. “We will not be held hostage.”

SoccerStadium

His blunt remarks could be an example of public brinkmanship to put pressure on the land-holders trying to get top dollar for their real estate, or it could signal real trouble in Beckham’s third try for a stadium site in his two-year quest to bring Major League Soccer to Miami. Miami plans a referendum on the expected stadium plan in March, to coincide with the presidential primary.

At least one property owner within the stadium footprint, Violeta Jimenez, said no one from Miami Beckham United has approached her to officially start negotiations. And for now, she said, it is better that way.

“Ideally, I would prefer that they don’t offer me anything and to stay in my house until I die. I have lived here for years,” said Jimenez, who lives in a duplex and whose next-door neighbor is her sister Adelfa. “We don’t want to get millions; we want to live peacefully.”

She said news of the stadium talks prompted a flood of third-party offers for her property. And yet, she said, “I’m not totally opposed to negotiating a fair deal.”

The land adjacent to Marlins Park in Little Havana, where David Beckham’s group is trying to build a soccer stadium (PHOTO CREDIT: DAVID SANTIAGO, EL NUEVO HERALD)

The land adjacent to Marlins Park in Little Havana, where David Beckham’s group is trying to build a soccer stadium (PHOTO CREDIT: DAVID SANTIAGO, EL NUEVO HERALD)

The Beckham camp confirmed that its real-estate team has not yet spoken to Jimenez as it tries to work out deals with larger properties nearby. It isn’t clear which property owners allegedly asked for an exorbitant amount of money.

Rene Diaz, owner of Candy House Daycare, told el Nuevo Herald on Thursday that he met with Beckham negotiators last month. He said he asked to be paid an undisclosed amount for his property, plus the value of his business, in addition to compensation for relocation of his daycare. Diaz said the negotiators told him his requests were “reasonable.”

“They agreed and even said they would send me a written offer,” Diaz said. “I’m not going to give away my property. They are not going to build a stadium to lose money, they are coming here to make money. They are not a charity or a church.”

An attorney for Beckham United, however, disputed his characterization of the negotiations. Michelle Gonzalez said in a statement that she met with Diaz last month and asked him what he thought he should receive for his property, which according to the property appraiser has a market value of $368,000.

“The number he came back to us with was 30 times the fair market value of what the land has been appraised at,” Gonzalez said. “We feel that is completely unreasonable.”

Attempts to reach Diaz again Thursday evening for a response were unsuccessful.

Beckham was thwarted last year in bids to build on government land at PortMiami and downtown Miami. Leiweke, who recently came aboard as a partner and negotiator, was critical of the efforts that led to such high-profile failures.

“We’ve shot ourselves in the foot quite a bit in the last two years,” said Leiweke, president of the company behind Toronto’s MLS team and the former CEO of AEG, which owns an MLS franchise in Los Angeles.

Leiweke was instrumental in bringing Beckham to play for the L.A. Galaxy in 2007, a deal that included an option for Beckham to buy an MLS team himself at a deep discount.

MLS Commissioner Don Garber has already extended Beckham’s option as his Miami stadium chase dragged on, and Leiweke said the upcoming MLS owners meeting on Dec. 5 is the latest deadline. He said that without an agreement with the school board, city and land owners, he’s not confident MLS will extend the option again.

“I’ll let the commissioner decide,” Garber said. “But I don’t like those odds and it makes me very nervous about MLS in Miami.”

Beckham’s investment group is offering to build the $200 million stadium and pay Miami for the city-owned land needed for the stadium. It had been pursuing county ownership of the facility to shield the new stadium from property taxes, but last month abruptly switched the plan to Miami-Dade’s school system being the landlord.

Schools chief Alberto Carvalho touted the potential deal as a win for the schools, which get no tax dollars from government-owned stadiums. By owning Beckham’s stadium, it could have a 30,000-seat venue for large football games, graduations and events. But Leiweke revealed Thursday that one of Carvalho’s top requests wouldn’t be granted: building a magnet school dedicated to sports management inside the stadium itself.

“Quite frankly, we don’t have the space or the money for that,” Leiweke said. Instead, the stadium would accommodate visiting students to learn about sports. In a statement, Carvalho said both sides want to create “meaningful educational space” within the stadium.

Miami-Dade Mayor Carlos Gimenez saw the switch to school ownership as a political move by Miami Mayor Tomás Regalado, whose daughter, Raquel, sits on the school board and is challenging Gimenez in the 2016 mayoral race. Leiweke said Thursday it was Tomás Regalado who suggested the Beckham group meet Carvalho about potential ownership, which the city mayor called “an interesting concept.”

Leiweke said Beckham’s group will agree to continue paying the same property taxes that the private landowners currently pay local governments, but not the far larger bill for a stadium expected to cost about $200 million to build.

“If you put a true property tax on this property, this thing could never be built,” Leiweke said of the stadium.

 

Source: Miami Herald

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