Reef Restoration
Two years after a mass bleaching event triggered by record-setting high water temperatures in the Florida Keys, more than 1,000 juvenile elkhorn corals have been sent from Tampa’s Florida Aquarium back to the Keys to help try to restore reefs throughout the island chain. It’s a project that includes the Coral Restoration Foundation, Mote Marine Laboratory, Reef Renewal USA and Sustainable Ocean and Reefs.
MANUFACTURING
- A Texas-based satellite manufacturer wants to move its headquarters to Homestead, promising to add 235 jobs with an average pay of $69,255 at a 90,000-sq.-ft. facility. The company, whose identity isn’t public yet, would receive $594,000 from Miami-Dade’s Targeted Jobs Incentive Fund over the next decade if it meets hiring projections. The county staff says it will produce multiple satellites per month and “make a significant contribution to the county’s growing technology industry.”
POLITICS
- Florida’s Third District Court of Appeal ruled that the Miami City Commission’s attempt to push elections back a year without voter approval is unconstitutional. The move would have meant Mayor Francis Suarez and Commissioner Joe Carollo each got another year in office despite facing term limits. Supporters say city elections would draw larger turnout in even years, when general elections occur. But mayoral candidate and former city manager Emilio González sued, arguing the action violated the city charter.
DEVELOPMENT
- Tula Residences, the first new condominium built in North Bay Village in over a decade, is selling units starting at $1.9 million. A project from Bayshore Grove Capital and Pacific & Orient Properties, the 21-story tower is scheduled to open next year with 54 two- to five-bedroom units.
- Two workforce housing projects are coming to North Miami. MMG Equity Partners plans to set aside 40% of the 110 units in Griffin Parkview Apartments for people earning up to 120% of the area’s median income. And construction is underway on Integra Investments’ NoMi Square, a seven-story, 342-unit dedicated workforce housing facilitated by the North Miami Community Redevelopment Agency.
TRAVEL
- JetBlue is ending flights in and out of Miami International Airport, where it ran daily nonstops to Boston. Its routes to Fort Lauderdale and West Palm Beach are not changing.
FINTECH
- Miami-based Payabli will use a $20-million Series A funding round to refine its payment infrastructure system, seek new customers and reinforce security. The company has tripled revenue, drawing investment from QED Investors, TTV Capital, Fika Ventures and Bling Capital. Payabli helps software developers make payments a core part of their business model.
OPENINGS
- Crest Real Estate in Los Angeles and Concord Wilshire Companies have joined forces to open Concord Crest Real Estate in Miami, offering full-service land use and permitting services for commercial development in Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach counties. Concord Wilshire has been in South Florida for more than 30 years, working residential, hotel and mixed-use development.
- Galderma, a Swiss-based skincare and injectable company, has tapped Heather Wallace as president of Galderma U.S. and plans to hire 150 people in the next 2.5 years for its U.S. headquarters in the Brickell area. It notes that Miami has one of the nation’s highest concentrations of medical spas and dermatological aesthetic clinics.
- New York-based law firm Cole Schotz has opened a Miami office with three lawyers from Salazar Law LLP. Luis Salazar, Jose Ceide, Lorenzo Lorenzo Jr. and a fourth attorney from another firm, Alexander L. Ortiz, join the 180-attorney firm that already has offices in Boca Raton and Palm Beach.
PHILANTHROPY
- The John S. and James L. Knight Foundation is giving $5 million to help the restoration of Miami’s iconic Freedom Tower, now run by Miami Dade College. The Knight brothers owned newspapers, including the Miami Herald, and their donation will be marked with the Knight Skylight Gallery in Freedom Tower, space that once housed the Miami Daily News.
LOGISTICS
- Real estate investment firm Simi Capital Group bought an 80,000-sq.-ft. industrial center on 10 acres near Miami International Airport for $31 million. Simi also restructured a 10-year lease with Iron Container, a longtime tenant. The move follows Simi Capital’s purchase of a nearby 1.5-acre industrial storage site.
LAYOFFS
- Lightspeed Logistics Miami LLC has stopped its same-day delivery operations, putting 110 people out of work.
ACQUISITIONS
- Canadian legal tech company Clio bought out Miami’s vLex in a $1-billion cash and stock deal. vLex is an AI platform for legal research and drafting with more than 2.8 million registered users globally and more than a billion searchable legal documents. Clio CEO Jack Newton says the deal will revolutionize “every aspect of legal work.”
City Centre Sells
Swire Properties sold its 75% ownership in Brickell City Centre, a 500,000-sq.-ft. open-air shopping center that opened in 2016, to an Indianapolis REIT called Simon for $512 million. Simon, which invests in shopping, dining, entertainment and mixed-use properties, already owned 25% of the center.