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Urban Advantages: Diamonds in the Rough
Florida offers plenty of incentives to help companies find the beauty that lies beneath.
Beneath the Rubble
 A combination of Brownfield and Urban Enterprise Zone incentives helped Jungle Island owner Bern Levine transform a rundown property into a tropical paradise. |
When it came time to expand one of Miami-Dade’s oldest attractions — Parrot Jungle — owner Bern Levine thought he’d found the perfect spot.
The property, on Watson Island just off the MacArthur Causeway between Miami and South Beach, had great visibility. And more than 120,000 vehicles crossed the causeway every day. What could be a better location for an entertainment venue?
There was just one problem — and it was a big one. The site was a mess. Vagrants had taken up what appeared to be permanent residence on Watson Island and, for years, people had been dumping their garbage in the very spot Parrot Jungle wanted to go. On the plus side, Watson Island had been designated as a Brownfield site, an Enterprise Zone and a federal Empowerment Zone. By locating on the island and tapping into a large workforce of people in the area in need of good, steady jobs, Parrot Jungle would be eligible for a host of important tax credits. It’s hard to turn down those kinds of incentives; Levine made the move.
Today, when you visit the attraction — now called “Jungle Island” — it’s hard to visualize what the property used to look like. Vagrants no longer live here and the piles of garbage are gone. In their place, a tree-canopied attraction, surrounded by lush tropical vegetation, welcomes day visitors and often hosts parties and other events for the “glitterati” — high-profile politicians, show business celebrities and sports stars. Its banquet facilities cater to “regular people,” too, at corporate retreats, conferences, weddings, family reunions and other occasions. And Jungle Island has become a popular destination for families, as well as for school children who come to meet the parrots that gave the attraction its original name, plus dozens of other birds, mammals, primates, reptiles and “creepy-crawly” critters.
Jungle Island has more than 550 employees and a weekly payroll of more than $175,000. It also generates additional business for the area’s hotels and restaurants, which supports even more jobs.
Bern Levine applauds government leaders for developing the economic incentives that helped him relocate to a site he might otherwise have passed up.
“The state of Florida and Miami-Dade County have been marvelous. These incentives allow businesses to come in and be successful from the beginning and have a greater impact for good on the communities they serve. Anyone looking to locate or expand a business should get a map of the Enterprise Zones and start there to check for locations,” he urges.
