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Tuesday's Daily Pulse
What you need to know about Florida today
› Fort Lauderdale makes ‘forever’ deal with Bahia Mar developer to rake in more cash; critics call it a bad move
The 100-year lease deal that paved the way for a private developer to build luxury condo towers on taxpayer-owned land at Bahia Mar just got more lucrative. But there’s a catch. Fort Lauderdale will still own the land, but is forever giving up the “air rights” to a parking podium that will perch on 7 of the 16 acres of dry land at Bahia Mar, longtime home of the Fort Lauderdale International Boat Show.
› JAX Chamber backs regulated drinking on Downtown Riverwalk
The JAX Chamber is saying “cheers” to a proposal to allow a restricted form of legalized drinking on the Downtown Riverwalk. The chamber issued a statement Jan. 12 in support of Ordinance 2023-0863, which would create state-sanctioned “specialty centers” on the Northbank and Southbank where alcohol can be purchased and consumed. The proposal sprang from a Chamber-sponsored trip in 2021 to Tampa, which created specialty centers along its riverwalk.
› ‘It’s mental’: Royal Caribbean achieves big-time status with Icon of the Seas
Dwarfing a lineup of older ships docked at PortMiami, Royal Caribbean’s Icon of the Seas certainly looked the part as it now holds the title of world’s largest cruise ship. The larger-than-life approach doesn’t quit on the inside, either. During a media tour of the ship Thursday, the cruise line’s new class of ship that arrived to South Florida this week flexed its interior trappings, a combination of new offerings with familiar ones seen on the Oasis class, which are now just baby sisters to Icon.
› This old Miami mall is getting a modern mega entertainment center. Here’s a peek inside
“Retailtainment” is a term coined in the shopping mall industry to describe the trend of combining entertainment “lifestyle” venues like contemporary arcades that include the latest video games, bowling alleys, racing tracks and dining areas or mega fitness centers that resemble resorts and placing them alongside traditional mall stores. Miami International Mall, a nearly 42-year-old, 1.1 million-square-foot shopping center in Doral, seizes that growing market with the addition of Elev8 Fun.
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