Florida Trend | Florida's Business Authority

Miami-Dade Business Briefs - August 2010

CORAL GABLES — The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. revealed that the 2009 failure of BankUnited FSB cost it $5.7 billion, $815 million more than it expected, making it the second-most costly bank failure in FDIC history, behind only IndyMac’s 2008 failure.

» The University of Miami received a grant from the U.S. Department of Education to establish a Center for International Business Education and Research at the School of Business Administration. UM will receive $355,000 in the center’s first year of operations and could receive up to $1.5 million over the four-year cycle of the grant.

HOMESTEAD — A Miami-Dade County Circuit Court judge certified the nation’s first class-action lawsuit related to Chinese drywall, which could include up to 152 homeowners in three subdivisions. The major defendants are South Kendall Construction Corp., Banner Supply, Palm Isles Holdings and Keys Gate Realty.

MIAMI —?Investment bank Ladenburg Thalmann signed a $14-million deal with a group of investors, including firms controlled by the owner of Taiwanese conglomerate Ruentex Group, which will allow Ladenburg to expand into Asia.

» Aventura-based Cabi Developers agreed to turn over its 849-unit Everglades on the Bay condominium project to construction lender Bank of America but will continue to manage the project. Cabi is in bankruptcy liquidation, and a judge must approve the agreement.

» Vista Rio Partners sold the 60-unit Vista Del Rio condominium to Panamanian private equity group Kiet Investment for an average of $148 per square foot. Vista Rio had taken ownership of the tower just two months before in a bulk buy that averaged $117 per square foot.

» Wells Fargo sold its 6.4% stake in Japanese-themed restaurant chain Benihana.

» Manchester Business School, the only U.K. business school accredited to teach in the U.S., has started an MBA program in Miami. Its first class of 30 part-time students will begin in September. The school says it would like to grow to 600 students within three years.


Icon Brickell project

» The federal government opened the Florida Peninsula Incident Command Post, a base of operations from which it will measure the effects of the Gulf of Mexico oil spill and oversee crisis response.

» The Confucius Institute, a project run by China’s ministry of education, has opened a site at Miami Dade College, which will offer courses including Chinese cuisine, calligraphy, history and Mandarin language.

» The Related Group turned over about two-thirds of its 1,800-unit Icon Brickell project to its lenders, led by HSBC. Related, which reportedly owed $351 million to its lenders, became co-manager of Icon Brickell’s sales and marketing.

» Cargo carrier Arrow Air has ceased operations at its Miami International Airport headquarters.

economics
What Worries Affluent Miamians

66% Rising healthcare costs

58% Whether assets will last their lifetimes

52% The economy’s impact on their ability to meet financial goals

39% Supporting their lifestyles

Source: Merrill Lynch Affluent Insights Quarterly, June