In January, Istituto Marangoni, a fashion school in Milan, Italy, opened its first U.S. outpost. The school offers short courses, as well as associate’s, bachelor’s and master’s degrees in fashion, design and business. The parent school’s alumni include Moschino designer Franco Moschino and Domenico Dolce of Dolce & Gabbana. Hakan Baykam, the Miami school’s president, sees the school as the first step in developing a serious fashion industry in Miami. “Education is where everything starts in the fashion industry,” he says. “We want to create a hub to launch new designers … in America and worldwide.”

Baykam, who heads a family-owned investment group, also created the Fashionable Istanbul event in Turkey and owns the Italian production company Studiokhom. For the Miami branch of Istituto, he envisions a fiveyear plan to develop a fashion campus where designers and brands can create, manufacture, show and sell.

“The school will be a way to attract talent and the important fashion community,” says Baykam. He aims to bring in midsized fashion companies from Europe, Asia and South America that want to be in the U.S. but have difficulty using New York as a hub. “Because of its proximity to everywhere, (Miami) is in a key position, in the middle between New York, South America and Europe,” he says.

Istituto Marangoni Miami’s curriculum covers the same topics and methods as its Italian parent, adapted to the U.S. system so students can earn U.S. degrees.

“Italy is one of the oldest countries in the world. We have all the heritage — it’s in our DNA,” he says. “But when you grow, when you spread out, you want to go to open-minded places, where people can receive this DNA.”

BUSINESS Briefs

AVENTURA — Californiabased technology giant Oracle purchased technology security startup Zenedge for an undisclosed amount.

EVERGLADES — The South Florida Water Management District signed off on a $1.4-billion reservoir project designed to help send cleaner water to the Everglades. It requires congressional approval and funding for half the cost.

KEYS — The islands continue to recover from the effects of Hurricane Irma. The Legislature approved $15 million for affordable housing and $5.9 million for the Monroe County Emergency Operations Center. Hawks Cay Resort, located on Duck Key, reopened about 100 villas, as well as some amenities. Full reopening is expected this summer.

MEDLEY — UAV Turbines signed a $19-million deal to collaborate with the U.S. Army Aviation and Missile Research, Development and Engineering Center on developing a small turboprop gas turbine engine for unmanned aerial vehicles.

MIAMI — Developer Swerdlow Group and the city are in final negotiations for the company to build a $130.5-million, 860,000-sq.-ft. retail and workforce housing project in Overtown. Called Sawyer’s Landing, it would include 115 condo units and be 12 stories tall.

• Technology incubator and venture fund Rokk3r Labs went public by acquiring the majority of shares of Eight Dragons, which was already public.
• The University of Miami’s Bascom Palmer Eye Institute received its largest gift ever — $12 million from local philanthropist Lois Pope — which will fund a new research center on its Palm Beach Gardens campus.
• A subsidiary of aviation, defense, space, medical and electronics company Heico acquired 85% of California-based Sensortech, which makes nuclear radiation detectors.
• Home61, which aims to streamline residential home buying through technology, launched a flat-fee service ($6,100) for homeowners looking to sell their properties.
• After a nearly four-year trial run in Brazil, Drinkfinity, a Miami-based PepsiCo subsidiary, launched its first products in the U.S. -- pods that can only be purchased online and contain a mix of dry and liquid ingredients that are added to water to produce drink blends.
• Scientists at the Frost Museum of Science are testing the use of hardier algae to revive stressed coral colonies.
• The first mixed-use building at Brightline’s MiamiCentral station — the 12-story, 96,000-sq.-ft. 3 MiamiCentral — is complete. Brightline’s headquarters is now in the building.

MIAMI BEACH — The $14.8-million sale of a lower penthouse in Apogee South Beach — for $3,562 per square foot — was the highest per square foot sale since 2015.

MIAMI-DADE COUNTY — The county agreed to lease about 140 acres in the northwest part of the county to a South American developer, who will spend about $100 million to build a two-mile driving course for recreational racers, called Drivers Club Miami.

• Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings and the county plan a 166,000-sq.-ft. terminal at PortMiami. Miami International Airport’s entire 3,230- acre property was designated a foreign trade zone by the U.S. Department of Commerce. Ford chose the county for its first wide-scale test of selfdriving vehicles.

NORTH MIAMI BEACH — CK Privé Group will begin work on the five-acre, mixed-use Uptown Biscayne development at the intersection of Biscayne Boulevard and 163rd Street. The development will ultimately include 170,000 square feet of retail, 35,000 square feet of office space and a 245-unit residential tower.

PLAYERS

• Baptist Health South Florida promoted Patricia Rosello to CEO of Baptist Hospital, its largest hospital; she had been CEO of Baptist Outpatient Services since 2003.
• Florida East Coast Industries Executive Director Michael Reininger, who led development of the Brightline passenger train, will resign this spring.
• Babson College hired Michelle Abbs as director of its Women Innovating Now (WIN) Lab Miami. She had been part of the management team at Teach for American Miami-Dade.
• Palace Entertainment promoted Eric Eimstad to general manager of the Miami Seaquarium; he had been its assistant general manager and chief marketing officer.

 

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