3-D-Printed Seawalls

Never miss a Feature: Subscribe to Florida Trend

INNOVATION

Could habitats within Florida’s coral reefs and mangroves be saved by 3-D printers? Miami startup Kind Designs believes its 3-D-printed seawalls can trap carbon and mimic those threatened environments. It has secured $5 million in seed money from GOVO Venture Partners, M4 Investing and the Florida Opportunity Fund to put the technology to use. The money is “enabling us to protect all coastal cities with Kind’s Living Seawalls and grow far beyond our home state of Florida,” says Kind Design founder and CEO Anya Freeman.

PHILANTHROPY

• Underserved high school students in Miami may be eligible for free artificial intelligence courses focused on media and public relations, thanks to a grant from the Mark Cuban Foundation. Miami is among 30 cities throughout the country with boot camps providing access to the PR platform used by Notified, a global marketing and public relations firm. The platform includes a media contacts database, newsroom publishing, press release distribution and PR measurement. The program aims to teach the students about interacting with AI, the ethical implications of AI systems, and how to build their own AI applications.

REAL ESTATE

• Greenberg Traurig has extended its lease at the Wells Fargo Center in a deal touted as the largest office lease in downtown Miami in more than five years. The law firm fills five floors and more than 128,000 square feet of the 47-story Brickell Avenue building. The Wells Fargo Center, represented by Cushman & Wakefield, is at 93% occupancy.

RESTAURANTS

• Roberta’s, a 15-yearold Brooklyn-based pizzeria, is opening its first Florida restaurant next summer at Miami Beach’s 72 Park condominium. Roberta’s quickly took off from its initial Bushwick location, with five New York restaurants, two in Los Angeles and one in Nashville. Founders Brandon Hoy and Carlo Mirarchi’s creation is a Michelin Bib Gourmand award winner, recognized for exceptional food at a moderate price.
• MiLine Miami Apartments is lining up a roster of bar and restaurant options for the mixed-use complex along the six-mile Ludlam Trail. The ZOM Living development already welcomed Thorn, a cocktail bar and brewery, and plans to add Greek and Latin food within its 20,000 square feet of retail space. MiLine ultimately will offer 985 apartments, the first third of which opened last year.

FINTECH

• Sportsvisio is using $3 million in seed funding to enhance its sales team and develop its AI technology that helps athletes, coaches and parents by generating realtime statistics and analytics. It’s all done on a smartphone. The result helps coaches and athletes focus their training, says founder and CEO Jason Syversen. The money is part of Sapphire Sport’s $181-million venture fund.
• Miamibased life-coaching startup Longevo has secured $5.5 million in funding from Grupo Valora to help Latin American businesses create healthier, happier workplaces. Its platform offers help for stress, sleep troubles and weight control, all of which can affect work performance.

TRANSPORTATION

• Condor Airlines, a lowcost German carrier, will offer three nonstop flights between Miami International Airport and Frankfurt starting in May. It will fly Airbus A330neo airplanes, which Condor says use about a half-gallon of jet fuel per passenger to travel 160 miles. The planes can hold 310 passengers, including four in “prime seats” and 26 in business class.

ENERGY

• Miami-based Nopetro Energy, which owns and operates natural gas distribution facilities, has named Kevin Hyatt its senior vice president for business development. Hyatt is tasked with building the company’s renewable natural gas programs.

HOUSING

• A clash of interests is brewing on South Beach after Montreal-based Jesta Group announced plans for “a transformational redevelopment” of the Clevelander Hotel and Bar on Ocean Drive. The hotel’s website describes the structure, which opened in 1938, as “an Art Deco classic at the center of it all on Ocean Drive.” Plans call for a very different building, rising 30 stories — dwarfing neighboring properties — with 40% of the units set aside for affordable housing. It will also cover the Essex House hotel next door, which is another Jesta property. It’s one of the first major projects under Florida’s Live Local Act, which clears some zoning issues and provides tax incentives for affordable housing units. Some city officials promise to fight the redevelopment.
• Miami-based Orion Real Estate purchased three Walgreens buildings, two in Miami and one in a historic structure on Key West’s Duval Street. All three buildings continue to be leased by the drugstore chain. The Miami properties, one on Flagler Street and one in Hialeah, sold for $15.6 million to Orion and Limestone Asset Management. The Key West property, a historic building once home to the Strand Theater and the Ripley’s Believe It or Not Odditorium, sold for $5.26 million. The project holds special significance for Orion executive chairman Joseph Sanz, whose great-grandparents landed in Key West in 1902 as they emigrated from Spain via Havana. They spent 18 years on the island before moving to Miami.

Tags: Miami-Dade, Life Sciences, Feature