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Miami-Dade Business Briefs - Aug. 2009
AVENTURA —
» Three of the entities that own the Fontainebleau Las Vegas filed Chapter 11 bankruptcy petitions in Miami; they are controlled by the Soffer family of Aventura, which also owns the Fontainebleau Miami Beach.
HOMESTEAD —
» Raleigh, N.C.-based Stock Building Supply, which is in Chapter 11 bankruptcy reorganization, will close its plant and lay off some 140.
MIAMI —
» A study commissioned by the Downtown Development Authority and conducted by Goodkin Consulting shows that 62% of the condos and rental apartments that have come online in downtown since 2003 are occupied. A National Association of Realtors report indicates that Miami’s housing market may have bottomed out. Sales of existing single-family homes surged 76% in May compared to a year earlier. Statewide, sales were up 16% in May.
» Opko Health (AMEX-OPK) acquired one-third of San Diego-based Sorrento Therapeutics and received an exclusive license to the biotechnology company’s antibody library for eye-related research.
» Florida East Coast Realty began construction on Sonesta Mikado, a mixed-use project that will be managed by Sonesta. Completion is expected in just under two years.
» Southeast Acquisition Holding Corp., led by real estate investor Ezra Katz, CEO of Aztec Group, agreed to buy a majority stake in First Bank of the Palm Beaches. The bank, which has its only branch in West Palm Beach, had $10.4 million in equity capital as of March 31. The group says it plans to double that and open a second branch.
» Facing federal budget cuts, anti-Castro broadcaster Radio and TV Martí will lay off 20% of its workforce (35 positions) and change formats, with Radio Martí going to all news and TV Martí going to a five-minute news update every half-hour, between other shows.
» In December, Celebrity Cruises will launch its first year-round schedule sailing from the Port of Miami, which the port says will bring it an additional $1.7 million in revenue.
» Madrid-based law firm Garrigues opened a two-attorney office in Miami to handle work in the southeast United States and Latin America; it will be managed from New York.
» Accounting firm Rachlin LLP merged with New York-based Marcum & Kliegman to form a division called MarcumRachlin.
» Developer Tibor Hollo will buy three acres and two small office buildings at 1101 Brickell Ave. The parcel belonged to Lev Leviev and is permitted for a 74-story, mixed-use project. Hollo plans $12 million in renovations.
» The city commission approved the master development plan and an environmental mediation agreement for the Miami Art Museum and Miami Museum of Science to move to downtown’s Bicentennial Park. It also voted to expand a community redevelopment agency to create a Museum Park around the museums.
» Spanish Broadcasting System’s (Nasdaq-SBSA) Mega Films division released its first English-language film, Falling Awake.
MIAMI-DADE —?
» Bond ratings agency Fitch Ratings gave an “A” rating to the bonds the county plans to issue to pay for the new Florida Marlins baseball stadium. Standard and Poor’s issued an “A+” rating, and Moody’s Investor Services, an “A2” rating. All three ratings put the bonds at investment grade status. Still, the county came up $6.2 million short in its effort to raise $306 million in the sale. The Marlins promised to cover the shortfall, which resulted when investors set interest rates for a portion of the bonds above 8%, thus reducing proceeds to the county.
» The county’s property tax roll declined for the first time in 16 years, with a projected $174 million decrease in property taxes that will contribute to a projected $350 million to $400 million budget shortfall.
» The Florida Department of Transportation will use federal stimulus money to complete the last segment of a years-long reconstruction of the Palmetto Expressway. The $552-million rebuilding of the interchange at the junction of the Palmetto and the Dolphin expressways should begin by early next year.
» Florida International University received the largest cash donation in its history: $20 million (plus a state match of another $20 million) for its new medical school from Dr. Herbert Wertheim, chairman and CEO of Miami- and London-based Brain Power. The school has been named the Wertheim College of Medicine. The medical school also received a gift of $5 million from the Green Family Foundation to fund a community medicine program; that gift could be worth $16 million with state matching funds and a Batchelor Foundation challenge grant. The university also received a pledge of $100,000 from the Dalai Lama to help keep its religion department from closing due to state funding cuts.
» Tourism declined 5% during the key January through March winter vacation season from a year earlier, according to the Greater Miami Convention & Visitors Bureau.
» High-end electric vehicle maker Tesla announced it will open a sales and service center in Miami this year, bringing its total locations to nine.
» A judge ruled that Miami-Dade County improperly extended its western development boundary, known as the Urban Development Boundary, in April 2008 for a Lowe’s store.
MIAMI BEACH —
» Despite closing on all of its condos, Flamingo South Beach owner MCZ/Centrum Flamingo I was forced into Chapter 7 bankruptcy liquidation by two of its creditors.
NORTH MIAMI BEACH —
» Momentis Property Group, the mezzanine lender that took over the first phase of Biscayne Landing from developer Boca Developers, turned it over to the senior lender, iStar Financial. Biscayne Landing was to have been a massive mixed-used community on 193 acres but stalled after its first, 373-unit phase.
» Presidential Country Club golf course filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.
