Miami-Dade Business Briefs - June 2008

Miami —

» A community development group affiliated with the Cuban American National Council has broken ground on an affordable housing complex for the elderly. Located in the Little Havana section of Miami, La Palma Apartments is a HUD project that will provide 90 one-bedroom apartments for low-income elderly residents, beginning next spring.

» Revenue from hotel taxes fell to $5.5 million in February compared to $5.9 million in the year-ago period, a drop of 6.8%. Local tourism officials say February 2007 numbers were boosted by the Super Bowl.

» Monopoly Miami, a local corporation, has signed a contract to create a special edition, Miami-themed version of the board game Monopoly. A portion of the proceeds will be given to the Miami Design Preservation League, a non-profit group.

» The U.S. Department of Education has awarded Miami Dade College a
$1-million Upward Bound grant to boost the high school graduation rates in Miami-Dade County. The program is designed to provide students with college prep and exposure to college/career opportunities.

» PrimeSource Building Products, a wholesale distributor of building materials, is buying Coast to Coast Building Products, a Miami-based distributor of construction materials with warehouses in Pompano Beach, Orlando, Tallahassee and Atlanta. Terms of the deals were not disclosed. Through Coast-to-Coast, PrimeSource plans to expand into the Southeast and Caribbean regions.

» Ryder System (NYSE-R), a global transportation and supply chain management solutions company, is acquiring nearly all of Miami-based Gator Leasing, a full-service truck leasing, commercial truck rental and fleet services company. Ryder will purchase about 2,300 trucks, tractors and trailers and about 300 contract customers served by Gator Leasing from nine regional offices in the state.

» Miami-based Bilzin Sumberg Baena Price & Axelrod — one of the largest law firms in the state — has signed a 10-year lease for 115,000 square feet at Brickell Financial Centre, a mixed-use green development that will include more than 1 million square feet of office and retail space. The first phase of the project, a 40-story office tower with 601,379 square feet, is expected to open in January 2010. Phase two, a 68-story, mixed-use tower, is expected to be completed in 2012.

» Housing prices dropped 21.7% in Miami over the past year, according to the S&P/Case-Shiller Home Price Indices.

Sunny Isles Beach —

» The Sonesta has canceled its management contract with Dezer Properties, which owns Trump International Beach Resort, located north of Miami Beach. Sonesta, which managed the 390-room resort, had unsuccessfully tried to buy out Dezer. Previously known as the Trump International Sonesta Beach Resort in Sunny Isles, the resort is now known as the Trump International Beach Resort.

See “Up for Grabs” for the hot congressional race in this district. And go online for hot state Senate and House races.

Tags: Miami-Dade