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Miami-Dade Business Briefs - Oct. 2009
Coral Gables — Storied architecture firm Spillis Candela, Miami-Dade’s oldest in continuous operation, has taken on the name of parent company Aecom Design almost a decade after Aecom purchased it.
Doral — U.S. Century Bank accepted $50.2 million in TARP (Troubled Asset Relief Program) funds, becoming the largest bank in the county to do so. U.S. Century plans to increase lending and expand.
Hialeah — The Florida Department of Financial Services aims to reorganize First Commercial Insurance Co. and its 18,000 policies after taking it over when a judge ordered it into receivership.
Hialeah Gardens — In one of Wal-Mart’s largest business deals with a Hispanic-owned firm, Sergio’s Family Restaurant opened a location inside a Wal-Mart super center in the city.
Miami — In a surprise vote, the City Commission did not approve Miami 21, the massive zoning overhaul that had been in the works for four years. The two “no” votes that killed it came from Joe Sanchez and Tomás Regalado, both running to replace Mayor Manny Diaz in November. Commissioner Angel Gonzalez was absent, leaving the vote tied, which led to its defeat.
» Japan-based Hisamitsu Pharmaceutical will pay $428 million in cash to acquire Noven Pharmaceuticals (Nasdaq-NOVN). The companies say Noven will continue to operate at its Miami campus with its current employees.
» Spain-based Banco Sabadell, which already owns Miami-based TransAtlantic Bank, agreed to purchase Mellon United National Bank of Miami from the Bank of New York Mellon Corp. for a reported $142 million. The transaction is subject to regulatory approvals. Both Miami banks lost money in the second quarter.
» Phillip Frost paid just over $1.6 million to increase his controlling stake in pharmaceutical firm Opko Health (Amex-OPK). The company also purchased from Taiwan’s Academia Sinica national research academy a worldwide license to technology that it will use to try to develop a multistrain flu vaccine.
» The University of Miami’s Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science received $15 million in stimulus funds for construction of a $48-million facility to study hurricanes. The project has another $28 million in matching funds and is expected to be complete in 2012.
» As of May 31, Lennar Corp. (NYSE-LEN) identified 400 homes it built in Florida with Chinese drywall problems and set aside $39.8 million to repair them.
Miami-Dade — In June, the county’s unemployment rate jumped above the state and national averages, from 5.8% in June 2008 to 11.5%, where it remained in July.
» County commissioners expanded the boundaries of the Southeast Overtown/Park West Community Redevelopment Agency and extended its ending date from 2017 to 2030.
» Florida Power & Light asked the state for permits to run three high-voltage power lines along a 7.4-mile strip it owns within Everglades National Park, three miles west of Krome Avenue. Park managers are considering a land swap that would move the power lines to the park’s eastern boundary, but environmentalists recommend buying FPL’s land.
» Florida International University opened its new Herbert Wertheim College of Medicine (south Florida’s only public medical school) with its first class of 43 students and broke ground on an 18,000-sq.-ft. ambulatory care facility in partnership with Miami-Dade County. The medical school also signed an agreement that will have its students doing residencies at Baptist Health South Florida’s under-construction West Kendall Baptist Hospital, bringing to six the school’s clinical partners.
North Miami — Mortgage holders took control of Boca Developers’ Biscayne Landing project, more than a year after the company defaulted on its loans. Credit Suisse and First Boston plan to develop the massive site.
» Craig Zinn Automotive Group’s new 1 million-sq.-ft. Lexus of North Miami dealership opened, with customer amenities including a beauty salon and a gym. The dealership cost nearly $70 million.
South Florida — The South Florida Regional Transportation Authority received $16 million in federal stimulus money toward purchasing three new locomotives for the TriRail system.
» The June inflation rate fell to -1.6% for the three-county south Florida region encompassing Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach.
