A Sort of Homecoming
As a North Miami Beach High School student in 1988, Joel Rose drove downtown after classes each day to work as the student adviser to what was then the Dade County school system.
“I just became enamored with the enterprise of it all,” he says. “But I also saw that it wasn’t working for most kids.”
After teaching fifth graders in Texas, Rose, 55, moved to New York and founded New Classrooms Innovation Partners in 2011, creating software that identifies a student’s math weaknesses and creates a curriculum aimed at helping the student catch up with his or her grade level. He’s bringing his program home to dozens of Miami- Dade schools, thanks to $7 million donated from the Bezos Family Foundation and Citadel founder and CEO Ken Griffin.
It’s designed to meet Florida’s testing standards. Math is cumulative, Rose says, meaning if you’re weak on a concept, it makes learning more difficult as you move up. Grade levels, meanwhile, are based on age. “If we really want to get transformative results in math, then the student needs to win and that means we have to meet them where they are and then give them a path to where they need to be, regardless of their birthday.”
Lush Life
Amazónico, a Latin American-themed restaurant founded in Madrid with locations in London, Dubai and Monte Carlo, has opened on Brickell Avenue. The three-floor restaurant features an open kitchen, live music and a third-floor nightclub.
Beachcomber Debuts
The Beachcomber, Margaritaville at Sea’s newest flagship cruise ship, will dock at PortMiami in 2027, offering four- to eight-night cruises throughout the eastern and southern Caribbean. PortMiami handles more than 8 million cruise passengers annually from cruise lines including Carnival, Holland America, Norwegian and Royal Caribbean.
EDUCATION
- A prominent New York charter school network focused on poor, low-performing students plans to open at least three Miami charter schools in the next two years, thanks to $50 million from Citadel CEO Ken Griffin and changes to state law. Success Academy hopes to operate rent-free in vacant or underused Miami-Dade school district properties under the new Florida’s Schools of Hope law.
HOSPITALS
- A new seven-story, $33-million Ronald McDonald House will bring 54 guest rooms for Holtz Children’s Hospital patients within two years, which organizers hope can relieve demand. An existing 31-room facility often has a wait list and had to turn away 128 families in 2024. CAMCON Group, Paragon Development and Justin Architects helped bring the project about. Another $7 million is being raised to cover the full project costs.
REAL ESTATE
- Stream Realty Partners is cementing its South Florida presence with a long-term lease for 8,000 square feet on the Citigroup Center’s 30th floor in downtown Miami. It will have room for 50 staffers by next quarter and will be a “strategic hub” for office and industrial operations. Stream opened in South Florida with six people in 2023. It also has offices in Tampa and Orlando.
DEVELOPMENT
- A U.S. bankruptcy judge approved Terra’s $22.5-million purchase of the Miami Seaquarium. Terra will assume a lease with Miami-Dade County with plans to redevelop the site on Biscayne Bay into an aquarium with no marine mammals, a wet-slip and dry-dock facility and dining. The Seaquarium’s dome will be preserved as an event space. The business went into bankruptcy last spring after Miami-Dade tried to cancel its lease over concerns about the animals’ well-being.
- Little Havana will be home to 170 new apartments when Havana Enclave opens in early 2027. The Astor Companies are developing the project with a $36-million construction loan from Ocean Bank.
BANKS
- Amerant Bank opened its first two Miami Beach locations as part of its expansion plan in South Florida. A banking center opened on Arthur Godfrey Road, and a Bay Harbor office opened its doors. Amerant has also added banking centers in downtown Miami, Fort Lauderdale and West Palm Beach.
RIDE SHARE
- Miami-based Vlue is the latest ride-share platform in the South Florida market. It promises lower costs with no surge pricing, better driver pay and a range of vehicles and services. A soft launch in Miami-Dade earlier this year drew 6,500 drivers. It plans to expand into Broward and Palm Beach counties next year.
CRIME
- Charmain Gatlin pleaded guilty to embezzling at least $4.3 million from Jackson Health Foundation as its COO. That included $1 million in kickbacks from a Georgia AV company that she used on personal spending. The vendor also pleaded guilty to a conspiracy charge.
- A Miami seafood-wholesaling company executive pleaded guilty in connection with a price fixing conspiracy. Dennis Dopico was vice president at D&D Seafood when he agreed with competitors to fix prices that fisherman received for stone crab claws and spiny lobsters.
RESILIENCE
- Florida International University researchers will study how local communities are affected by Everglades restoration work through a nearly $6.4-million National Science Foundation grant renewal. It’s the fifth renewal since the federal restoration plan started. The research work will include input from the Miccosukee Tribe of Indians and farmers.