Ghost reefs: Florida’s vibrant underwater cities are turning into relics

Inside a low-slung building in the heart of the Florida Keys, Cynthia Lewis is running what she calls a “coral mass triage unit.” As a blistering marine heat wave persists off the coast, a full-blown emergency is unfolding along the only living coral barrier reef in the continental United States.Already, scientists have reported widespread coral bleaching along parts of the roughly 360-mile-long reef, the third largest on the planet. If the heat drags on, they say, a massive coral die-off could follow, with grave consequences for fish and other ocean organisms that depend on the reefs, tourism, commercial fishing and part of the state’s very identity. More from WFLA, the Washington Post, and the Weather Channel.

Florida Trend Exclusive
Floating solar farm

Duke Energy Florida is building its first floating solar array project in Bartow. The almost 1-megawatt solar array will feature more than 1,800 floating solar modules installed on a 1,200-acre cooling pond, which was once a phosphate mining pit. At peak output, the array could power nearly 100 local homes when it begins to operate as early as this month. Engineers are studying the project to see if there are added benefits to installing solar arrays on water instead of land. [Source: Florida Trend]

Water temperatures off Florida may have broken world record

A buoy station in Manatee Bay, a largely enclosed waterbody north of Key Largo, recorded a water temperature of a stunning 101.1 degrees Fahrenheit at five feet deep Monday night, according to preliminary data from the National Data Buoy Center. “Maybe it was even a little bit higher than that,” said Jeff Masters, a hurricane scientist formerly with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. [Source: Tampa Bay Times]

Florida local and state officials call on feds to prevent new offshore drilling leases

More than 100 elected officials from across the country – including 28 from Florida – signed a letter this week urging President Joe Biden to prevent new offshore drilling leases in the upcoming Northern Outer Continental Shelf Oil and Gas Leasing Program for 2023-2028. [Source: Florida Phoenix]

Strong sales put Florida master-planned communities in top ranks in nation

Several local master-planned communities posted strong sales so far in 2023, according to the mid-year report from a real estate consulting firm that has tracked the fastest growing communities in the country for nearly three decades. Lakewood Ranch remained the fastest selling multigenerational master-planned community in the United States, posting 1,227 sales through the first six months, according to national real estate consulting firm RCLCO. [Source: Sarasota Herald-Tribune]

ALSO AROUND FLORIDA:

› Nuclear-powered spacecraft to launch from Space Coast to be built by Lockheed Martin [Orlando Sentinel]
Lockheed Martin was awarded a contract by federal agency DARPA in partnership with NASA to build out an experimental nuclear-powered spacecraft headed for a Space Coast launch that aims to make trips to the moon and Mars more efficient. Its launch will be managed by the Space Force aiming for liftoff no later than 2027 working with either SpaceX or United Launch Alliance flying from either Cape Canaveral Space Force Station or Kennedy Space Center.

› North Port Commission to negotiate deal to develop land surrounding Warm Mineral Springs [Sarasota Herald-Tribune]
The city will officially open negotiations with Warm Mineral Springs Development Inc. to develop a portion of the 83-acre Warm Mineral Springs site following a 4-1 vote Tuesday. The vote came roughly two-weeks after the commissioners discussed alternatives for the springs' future at a July 10 workshop.

› L3Harris looks to county for tax breaks after Palm Bay approved a similar deal [Florida Today]
L3Harris Technologies Inc. should receive nearly $7 million in tax breaks from Brevard County if it expands in Palm Bay, according to an advisory board to the County Commission. The company has already won final approval from the Palm Bay City Council to receive $12.11 million in city property tax breaks, if the company chooses the city as the site of two proposed expansions that would create 201 high-paying jobs.

› Guess where Miami ranks on list of America’s ‘urban heat islands.’ Hint: step outside [Miami Herald]
Miami is one of the hottest concrete jungles in the country, according to a report released Wednesday by the non-profit research group Climate Central. That ranking is based on something called the “urban heat island effect.” Basically, it measures how temperatures rise higher in cities where the natural landscape has been replaced with densely packed buildings that trap heat.

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› This Florida city is the most affordable beach town in the U.S., study finds [WFLA]
A little-known island community, tucked away along Florida’s Nature Coast, was named the most affordable beach vacation destination in the U.S. A study from Upgraded Points found that Cedar Key in Levy County has the cheapest hotels and rental homes along the Gulf of Mexico. Visitors can expect to pay an average of $191 for a night’s stay at a hotel, according to the study, while a night in a vacation rental averages $189.

› New York developers plan 15-story boutique hotel for central Fort Lauderdale beach [South Florida Sun-Sentinel]
A 15-story boutique hotel is now on the drawing boards for Fort Lauderdale’s central beach section, adding to the neighborhood’s growing collection of new projects, which include condo towers and a city marina. Expected to be built at 3001 Alhambra St., a short distance from the Intracoastal Waterway, The 42 Hotel is a project of a New York development group that operates a boutique hotel bearing the same name in the Williamsburg section of Brooklyn.

› $600 million Miami International Airport deal to move passengers [Miami Today]
A contract potentially worth more than $600 million over five years to upgrade elevators and other conveyances at Miami International Airport has been approved by the Miami-Dade County Commission. The contract with Schindler Elevator Corp. is not to exceed $602,424,184, which includes a five-year extension. It expedites the airport’s “Modernization in Action Plan,” upgrading 372 aged elevators, escalators and moving walkways.

› Disney: Epcot food fest kicks off with pickle projects, cheese choices [Orlando Sentinel]
It’s time to eat, drink and be cheesy at Walt Disney World. The 2023 edition of the Epcot International Food & Wine Festival is upon us. The event has familiar elements this year – ranging from the perennially popular cheese soup at Canada pavilion to the Eat to the Beat concerts – plus some fresh menu items and ways to celebrate Disney100, which marks the first century of Walt Disney Co.