May 19, 2024

Miami-Dade Business Briefs - Sept. 2009

Aventura —

» A group of Argentine investors paid $7.5 million for 15 condo units at Artech Residences, bringing to 41 the number of units sold at the 235-unit building.

Bal Harbour —

» WCI Communities, reorganizing under Chapter 11 bankruptcy, sold the Regent Bal Harbour luxury hotel to Elevation Communities. As a result, Regent Hotels & Resorts is no longer managing the hotel.

Coral Gables —

» Seaway Corp., which runs the city-owned Biltmore Hotel, is behind by almost $2.4 million in payments to the city. The company is asking the city to modify its revenue-sharing agreement, credit about $1 million of those payments back to it for recent repairs and use the rest of the $2.4 million to reinvest in the hotel’s upkeep.

» The parent company of Mercantil Commercebank put $65 million into the bank, bringing the bank’s capital to $624 million — nearly twice the federal requirement for a well-capitalized bank.

» Former employees have sued skin-care pharmaceuticals maker Stiefel Laboratories, which in April announced GlaxoSmithKline would purchase it for as much as $3.6 billion. The employees claim the company bought back stock from them and other employees below value without telling them of the deal with GSK.

Fisker Karma

» Warren Henry Zinn, owner of the Warren Henry auto dealerships, plans to open Fisker Miami in the fourth quarter. The dealership will sell the Fisker Karma, a sports car billed as "the world’s first luxury plug-in hybrid."

» The city is expected to increase its current tax rate of 5.25 mills to at least 5.69 and possibly as high as 6.25 —?leading to property tax rate hikes of as much as 19% for some residents. The increases are to make up for falling property tax revenue, down since 2008 by a total of $1.1 billion, to $12.3 billion.

Miami —

» Bank of New York Mellon is selling Mellon United National Bank of Miami to Banco Sabadell of Spain. Terms of the deal have not been announced.

» Biscayne Bank became the first bank based in Miami-Dade County to borrow federal TARP money; its holding company, Biscayne Bancshares, got $6.4 million. The bank says it will use the money to increase lending.

» Canada’s third-largest bank, Scotiabank, opened its first U.S. office, a Private Client Group international banking agency.

» Private equity investor Jorge Mattos paid $5.69 million for 31 units in the Marina Blue condo; the building is now 99.4% sold. Mattos’ business partner, Carlos Mattos, paid $6.1 million for 31 condos at 1060 Brickell Ave. The building’s developer, Imico Brickell, gained an extension of its construction mortgage to April 2010.

» Art Miami, which operates the annual Art Miami fair, purchased the fair from owner Summit Business Media; the new owners include the fair’s longtime director, Nick Korniloff.

» Citisquare Group, which is buying 10 acres of parking lots around the Miami Herald headquarters from McClatchy Co., exercised its option to extend its closing to Dec. 31 from June 31. This is the deal’s second extension.

» Opko Health (AMEX-OPK) obtained the exclusive rights to a technology for identifying molecules that may be used in vaccines, drugs and testing; the company also invested an undisclosed amount in Seattle-based Cocrystal Discover, which is developing antiviral drugs for the common cold and hepatitis C, and invested $2.3 million in San Diego-based Sorrento Therapeutics.

» The Yachts of Seabourn debuted its new Odyssey 225-suite yacht in Venice, Italy. The company is building two other ships.

Miami Beach —

» The 408-unit, $500-million-plus W South Beach hotel opened July 2. Slated for opening by the end of summer are the state’s first Mr. Chow restaurant and a Bliss Spa, both at the hotel.

Miami-Dade —

» The county has partnered with Blue Cross Blue Shield of Florida to create Miami- Dade Blue, a low-cost preferred provider organization health plan designed for individuals and small businesses with no healthcare coverage. It is the first time the company has partnered with a county government to create and market such a plan.

» Miami International Airport will see its annual operating costs rise from $600 million to $1.1 billion by 2015. To cover the costs, county commissioners are looking for additional revenue sources, including asking the state for a permit for slot machines in the airport.

» Gloria and Emilio Estefan purchased a minority stake in the Miami Dolphins NFL team, becoming the league’s first Cuban-American owners. Singers Marc Anthony and Jimmy Buffett also bought a stake in the team. Real estate developer Jorge Perez joined the team as vice chairman; he is in talks regarding an ownership stake.

» The Environmental Protection Agency gave the county’s Office of Economic Development Coordination $2 million to put lower-emissions engines into 300 agricultural irrigation pumps.

Sunny Isles Beach —

» Carlos Mattos’ Sunny Isles Property Holdings won a $26.2-million foreclosure judgment on a 2.2-acre oceanfront site on which an affiliate of Boca Raton-based Royal Palm Homes had planned the 47-story Paramount Beach condo. Sunny Isles Property Holdings had purchased Royal Palm’s delinquent mortgage from lender iStar.

Tags: Miami-Dade

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