Miami's billion-dollar real estate boom
Even by the standards of the city that put the "over" in overbuilding, the projects announced this year for Miami are colossal: Swire Properties, a global real estate company based in Hong Kong, unveiled plans for Brickell CitiCentre, a $700-million retail, office, hotel and condo tower project totaling 4.6 million square feet on nine acres off Brickell Avenue in downtown Miami. Then, Malaysia's largest conglomerate, casino-resort developer Genting Group, paid more than $400 million to secure more than 30 acres on the bayfront for its $3.8-billion Resorts World Miami. Meanwhile, the construction crane has returned to the city's skyline with an Argentine company's new condo tower. Foreign developers — and projects backed by foreign investors — have emerged in force ["Foreign-Backed Projects"], and more may be in the offing. More...
 "They see Miami has all the potential to be at another level in three or five years, and they're paying top dollar. These guys from Asia are grabbing everything." — condo developer Harvey Hernandez |
» Loretta Cockrum builds for the future in Miami
Florida farmers warn of impending crisis
Florida farmers, worried that lawmakers could strip them of their largely undocumented workforce, are warning of an impending crisis in their fields. Those growers admit that at least 75 percent of their workers are in the U.S. illegally. Most of those workers buy fake Social Security cards and employers generally issue paychecks and deduct payroll taxes and Social Security taxes which they attribute to those false numbers. In that way employers fulfill their legal obligation. They are not obliged to check if the numbers are legitimate. [Source: Palm Beach Post]
Buyout firms expand and prosper in Florida
Leveraged buyout firms, private equity firms — call them what you want — these companies have dug their heels deep into the South Florida sand. Certainly, 2011 has seen volatile market swings, and the general state of the economy pretty much stinks. Nevertheless, South Florida has attracted a growing roster of private equity firms that have identified our turf as fertile ground for their operations, and that means more options for Florida-based companies contemplating a sale or recapitalization. [Source: Miami Herald]
How to combat creative resistance
This week, Miami-based retailer Edward Beiner Purveyors of Fine Eyewear launched a new and novel ad campaign for its sunglasses. Rather than following the industry standard of brand-driven advertising — placing designer shades on beautiful people and slapping a high-end logo such as "Prada" just below the models — Edward Beiner is emphasizing the digital technology of its prescription lenses. When advertising executive William Berenson first introduced the idea of highlighting what customers will see — not how they'll look — he was greeted with enormous resistance from company officials. And it wasn't until he persistently created a series of mock-up ads that the decision-makers got behind his concept. [Source: Miami Herald]
Bahamas oil wells may imperil Florida
Just as South Florida braces for oil drilling set to begin next month off the shores of Cuba, a Bahamian company is pressing to dig exploratory wells as early as next year less than 200 miles from the state's delicate coastline.
The Bahamian plans could eventually bring rigs as close as 40 miles from Port Everglades.
[Source: Orlando Sentinel]
ALSO AROUND FLORIDA:
› Pricey art continues its rebound at Basel
Leaving the dark days of the financial crisis well behind them, art collectors appear to be gaining confidence and scooping up more expensive pieces. Forget that red drip: the price remains $2.8 million.
› Sci-fi series filming in Sarasota
Michael Markovina stumbled out of the Myakka woods on Saturday covered in ice. Markovina plays Enoch, the main character in a new television series being filmed in the Sarasota area.
Enoch travels through dimensions, but the cast and crew of the new series "Substructure" are planning to never travel outside of Sarasota County for filming.
"We're going to film here for good," Markovina said. "We love Sarasota."
› Iconic 'Jaws' ride will close at Universal in January
The Universal Orlando Jaws attraction, one of the park's original iconic rides, is getting beached on Jan. 2, park officials announced Friday, to make way for a new, as-yet-unnamed attraction.
The Amity area surrounding the attraction, with its photo-friendly giant shark, will also close.
› Miami casino plan could start shrinking
The world's largest casino has brought some imposing political problems, too.
Six months after Genting Group announced plans for a massive casino resort on the Miami waterfront, the sheer magnitude of the project has proved an ample target.
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› Criminal record not often an impediment to getting a Florida real estate license
Steven Pollack is an ex-con with convictions for bank theft and grand larceny, a record that came to the attention of Florida regulators when he applied for a license to sell real estate.
Some states do not let felons sell real estate and would have rejected Pollack's application out of hand.
The Florida Real Estate Commission did not do that.
› Company asks for zoning exception to build rental soccer fields
A Wellington company plans to create miniature soccer fields along Lake Worth Road that could be rented to youths and adults by the hour for practice and games.
› Employers offer carrots to get workers healthier, while sticks lurk in the background
For a decade, Baptist Health South Florida has been a leader in urging its 13,000 employees to lead healthier lifestyles — offering such benefits as free 24/7 gyms at work and discounted low-fat meals in the cafeterias.
When it came to choosing the carrot or the stick for promoting wellness and reducing skyrocketing healthcare costs, Baptist has offered the carrot. Many major employers are making similar moves elsewhere in South Florida and around the country.
But now Baptist and others say those efforts may not be enough.
› The art of the shoeshine is living on in Winter Park
Sometimes the customer needs just a light polish, like the guy wearing $600 leather shoes from Italy. In more-extreme cases, Scott Whitehead knits his brow and assesses the damage, like a motorist right after an accident.
"I analyze the shoe and see if it needs conditioner, a regular wax, chemicals," he said at his stand just outside the Supermen Fades to Fros barbershop at Hannibal Square. "If you scuff 'em, I'll buff 'em."
› For some lawmakers, new districts may not include their homes
Several Florida lawmakers could find themselves out of a home next year — at least politically — if the state Senate gets its way in drawing new congressional boundaries for the 2012 elections.
The proposed map, which first must survive negotiations with the state House, would put the homes of at least two Central Florida representatives into new districts. A second map, setting state Senate lines, would force two senators to assume wholly new terrain to keep their seats.
› Housing collapse cracks concrete
The showroom at Renew-Crete Systems in Rockledge is a fairly quiet place these days. Sales director Shane Moberg can be found at his computer, working on new marketing plans for the decorative concrete operation, which has lost half its business since the housing bubble burst around 2007.