AGENDA

THE ACHIEVER

WWW.MIAMITODAYNEWS.COM $4.00WEEK OF THURSDAY, MAY 19, 2016 A Singular Voice in an Evolving City

PETITION’S BID TO CUT CAMPAIGN FUNDING HITS HOME ... 2

FRUSTRATION MOUNTS ON LACK OF TRANSIT ANSWERS ... 3

VIEWPOINT: NO FREE PASS IN COURT FOR LAWBREAKERS ... 6

92-MEMBER EXPORT TEAM SET TO BUILD MEXICO TRADE ... 7

DESPITE PROMISES, NO SOCCER PARK FOR VIRGINIA KEY ... 11

LENNAR CAN BUILD HOUSING DESPITE ARSENIC ON LAND ... 11

PARTNERS FLOWER AS TEAM SPREADS MILLION ORCHIDS ... 17

MIAMI SPENDING $2.8 MILLION ON A NEWER HELICOPTER ... 18

Laurent FraticelliPreparing to open new Asia-oriented hotel in Brickell

The profile is on Page 4

Photo by Marlene Quaroni

City of Miami office offeringextended second time, pg. 15

COMMERCIAL REAL ESTATE& OFFICE SPACE

After Worldcenter deal flops,Macy’s still sits pretty, pg. 16

3 China airlines ask trade team for Miami flightNew planes key to nonstop Asia link, pg. 12

Under gun,downtownrail on trackBY CATHERINE LACKNER

Under the gun to wrap up adeal for a Tri-Rail connection tothe new MiamiCentral stationdowntown, county commis-sioners Tuesday unanimouslyapproved reimbursing AllAboard Florida $13.9 million forcosts, sealing their part of thebargain.

All Aboard had set Tuesdayas a drop-dead day to seal thedeal for the link to MiamiCentral,where both Brightline bullettrains and Tri-Rail commutertrains are to have their southernterminus.

The City of Miami and theCitizens Independent Transpor-tation Trust both agreed lastweek to revised agreements.The same will be asked soon ofMiami’s Downtown Develop-ment Authority, the BayfrontPark Management Trust, andboth the Omni and SoutheastOvertown/Park West commu-nity redevelopment agencies.None is being asked to spendmore than is already agreed.

All Aboard Florida, a subsid-iary of Florida East Coast Indus-tries, “has advanced construc-tion of the commuter rail plat-forms and is incurring signifi-cant costs since the station hasgone vertical and columns havebeen erected,” county transitchief Alice Bravo wrote May 2.“If we are not able to executeagreements by the aforemen-tioned date, All Aboard Floridahas advised us that they will beforced to cease construction onthe commuter rail infrastructure.

“Without a definitive plan ofaction and inter-agency coordi-nation to pursue new agree-ments, we could forfeit thisunique opportunity to bring com-muter rail to the central busi-ness district.”

“We are in the process ofconfirming the other partners’commitments to the timeline sowe can continue construction atthe station,” said Francois Illas,vice president of Florida EastCoast Industries. “If this timelineis not met, we will have no choicebut to stop construction imme-diately on the Tri-Rail station.”

BY SUSAN DANSEYAR

Three leading China passenger airlinesexpressed interest in nonstop Miami flightsduring a county-led development trip tomainland China and Taiwan in April, one ofmany outcomes participants said shouldreap long-term benefits.

Miami International Airport did well;meetings with government officials includ-ing mayors opened doors for the future;and mission members were widely wel-comed in Shanghai, Hangzhou andGuangzhou, China, and Taipei, Taiwan,Manuel Gonzalez, county economic devel-opment and international trade director,told the Miami-Dade commission’s Trade& Tourism Committee last week.

With an objective to foster bilateral trade,commerce, tourism and cultural exchanges,it was the county’s largest trade mission todate, Mr. Gonzalez said.

Seven of 33 participants were from gov-ernment, 25 from business. County Com-missioner Jose “Pepe” Diaz, chairman ofthe International Trade Consortium Board,led the delegation

Mr. Diaz and Deputy Aviation DirectorKen Pyatt led talks with three Chinese

airlines – China Eastern Airlines, ChinaSouthern Airlines and Hainan Airlines –regarding nonstop service to Miami. Allshowed interest, Mr. Gonzalez said.

The trip was a landmark in ongoing pur-suit of nonstop passenger flights to Asia,said Aviation Director Emilio González in awritten statement. “The renewed interestby these Chinese airlines is very promising,and we look forward to continuing ourdiscussions. There are now a number ofstrong prospects for the first Asia-Miamipassenger route.”

Delegates also learned of China’s de-mand for US products, particularly throughe-commerce.

“For the first time, we engaged in aninvestor forum and did a Chinese version of‘Invest Miami,’” Manuel Gonzalez said.The outreach paid off in a number of ways,he said. “By September, we’ll have a mis-sion on industrial life sciences for the hotelindustry coming here from our relation-ships made in Shanghai.”

China was our number-three trade part-ner in 2015 at $6.4 billion. County dataestimate that by 2022 China’s middle class

will grow to 630 million, 45% of totalpopulation, and will consume $3.4 trillionin goods and services, 24% of grossdomestic product.

Commissioner Xavier Suarez askedabout barriers to trade and whether any-one addressed a $500 billion US tradedeficit with China.

“Talking about two-way trade and in-vestment will take more trips, but we haveentrée to 1.36 billion people,” ManuelGonzalez replied. “The Chinese have beentold by central government they need toinvest in foreign markets. They realize weall live in a world economy and are open-ing markets for consumer products.”

Relations formed on the mission can’tsolve a $500 billion deficit, ManuelGonzalez said, but “the biggest opportu-nity we have is e-commerce.”

A key thing the delegation heard, inaddition to a direct Miami flight, is “they’reinterested in P3s [public-private partner-ships],” Mr. Diaz said. “They want tocome in and do business with us, so thisis the start of something.”

The goal was to wake everybody up toMiami-Dade, he said. “Anything we cando to bring these folks in will help.”

HERE COMES THE SUN: Imagine a bikepath that generates electricity. That’s whatenergy-conscious inventors have considered,and beyond. Miami commissioners last weekdirected the city administration to study “in-stalling, maintaining and operating solar roads”that use advancements in photovoltaic tech-nology to produce renewable and sustainableenergy. The city manager has three months tocomplete the study. By affixing photovoltaic

surfaces to roadways, new technology has the capability of convertingmiles of roadway that contribute to the urban heat island effect into apotential source of green energy, the resolution reads. CommissionerKen Russell sponsored the legislation. “This could be the future.Sunshine’s out there. We should be using it,” he said.MORE TRANSPARENCY: County commissioners passed legislationTuesday requiring greater finance transparency beginning in 2017. Theordinance, sponsored by Daniella Levine Cava, obliges elected officials andcandidates in Miami-Dade to disclose when they solicit funds for a politicalcommittee by filing a statement of solicitation with the Elections Departmentor the clerk of their municipality. The Elections Department will publish thereports online and provide a link to municipal reports. This type of disclosurepreviously wasn’t required at the local level and will align county regulationswith state law. In addition, commissioners passed a resolution sponsored byMs. Levine Cava that requires elected officials to report to the Clerk of theBoard if a conflict of interest exists with a matter the commission is consid-ering. The resolution calls for commissioners to announce the nature of theconflict before the matter is heard, excuse themselves from voting and filea written disclosure of conflict with the Clerk of the Board within 15 days.Currently, in the case of a conflict of interest county commissioners are onlyrequired to recuse themselves from voting.MORE PLACES TO SLEEP: The Miami River Commission hassupported the city police department’s homeless program. As cityleaders are preparing to author the 2016-2017 budget, the river commis-sion recommended continued funding for 75 shelter beds for the policeintervention program, along with an additional 20 cots. Officer JamesBernat, Miami Police homeless coordinator, told the commission justunder 1,000 homeless persons live in Miami-Dade County and most – 640– are in the City of Miami. The police department’s program has a goalof helping individuals transition into a life off the streets.

TODAY’S NEWSWEEK OF THURSDAY, MAY 19, 2016 MIAMI TODAY 3

Commission frustration mounts over lack of transit answers

Military museum marchestoward opening next year

‘We’ve studiedeverything and nothinghas happened.’

Esteban Bovo Jr.

‘We’ve never implied allsix corridors will be builtat the same time.’

Alice Bravo

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BY MARCUS LIM

After facing setbacks in thepast year, the South FloridaMilitary Museum finally re-ceived good news when theState of Florida approved $1.5million fund-ing – moneythat’s not yetin hand.

The goodnews cameafter the mu-seum was tolda yea r agotha t Gov .Rick Scott vetoed $1 millionthat would have allowed themuseum to open its doors.But this recent news came asa relief to Anthony Atwood, aNavy veteran who has cham-pioned the museum since2007.

“This is a tremendous im-provement and is very favor-able for us,” Mr. Atwood saidTuesday. “We now have tocontinue our meetings witharchitects and contractors tolay out a plan of attack. Somuch can happen, though,between now and then.”

The museum is only able touse the funding after July 1,when the state’s fiscal yearstarts.

Mr. Atwood is aware thatthe process of finally gettingfunds will take a while, buthe’ll continue to await the daythe museum doors open.

“The process is much moretempered, much more diligent,much more scrutinized andthey just don’t give out $1

million checks,” Mr. Atwoodsaid. “This is a long process.It’s not like turning on a lightor a video game and you getthe funds. This is a gradualprocess.”

With the funding approved,Mr. Atwood’s goal is for themuseum to open to the publicby next year.

“My goal was to see it openyesterday, but I can certainlyvisualize it opening by 2017 or2018. I can visualize that veryeasily and very accurately.”

The museum aims to oc-cupy the last remaining build-ing of the Richmond NavalAir Station, which is on thegrounds of Zoo Miami. Theair station once served as thelocal US Navy headquartersduring World War II and laterbecame an Army and MarineCorps Reserve Center that wasused as a training site for anti-Castro freedom fighters, ac-cording to the museum’s of-ficial website.

The museum aims to notonly be a preservation projectbut also to honor the militaryheritage of Miami from WorldWar II until now, accordingto Mr. Atwood. That’s hismain goal that has kept himfighting for nine years to seethe museum open its doorsdespite the setbacks.

“Stupidity drives me, I’mjust plain hard-headed,” Mr.Atwood said. “But honestly,this is the right thing to do.”

Details: http://www.southfloridamilitarymuseum.org/home-1.html

BY SUSAN DANSEYAR

County commissioners arevoicing increasing frustrationover what might be the public’sreaction to promises that some-thing will be done about trafficcongestion in Miami-Dade whenthere’s still no funding for viablesolutions.

In fact, Transit & MobilityCommittee Chairman EstebanBovo Jr. said on several occa-sions in the past few months he’sconcerned a time will come whenthe half-penny tax to fund thePeople’s Transportation Plan(PTP), which voters approved in2002, could be taken away frompolicymakers.

The PTP program, overseen bya Citizen’s Independent Transpor-tation Trust, included 88 new milesof Metrorail; expanding bus ser-vice; adding 635 buses; improvingtraffic signals to reduce traffic back-ups; improving “major and neigh-borhood” roads and highways, in-cluding drainage; and providingfunding to municipalities for roadand transportation projects.

“It’s worrisome to me that inthis building there’s not one men-tion or one item on our agendathat points to a transit alterna-tive,” Mr. Bovo said during anApril 13 Transit & Mobility Com-mittee meeting. “We need to putpressure on ‘the man’ to get

something done and I’m not en-tirely sure who ‘the man’ is, butwe as a committee have to startmoving forward and decide ifwe’re going to build something,what alternative we’re going tooffer the public.”

Mr. Bovo said Tallahassee“didn’t treat us kindly in someways,” referring to funding foralleviating traffic congestion. Ofthe $40 million Miami-Dade gotfrom the state this legislative ses-sion, he said, the money for trans-portation is all centered on roadexpansion, construction inspec-tion consultants and traffic engi-neer consultants.

None is for mass transit, Mr.Bovo said, adding “Tallahasseeshut down our TIF legislationwhen we’ve already talked abouthow implementing TIF corridorswould more than pay for transit.”

Tax increment finance (TIF)assessment districts would haveproperty owners living near raillines paying an additional tax fortransit development. Reports re-viewed by the Metropolitan Plan-ning Organization and the trans-portation trust have indicated thenew lines would enhance prop-erty values.

At the same meeting, XavierSuarez said “the two things inaddition to TIF we tried to ad-vance in Tallahassee were meantto give Miami-Dade a say in whatwe pay to the state.”

He said the Miami-Dade Ex-pressway Authority toll collec-tions come to $200 million annu-ally and Miami-Dade’s drivers send$167 million in auto renewal tagfees each year. This is money thatshould come back to the county,Mr. Suarez said, except for the$50 million owed to the state.

His initiatives died during thesession.

Commissioner Bruno Barreiromentioned how much gas taxcounty drivers give to the federalgovernment and don’t get back,adding that he’s “given up ontrying to bring back the dollars”

and thinks instead “we need tosend up as little as possible andraise money here.”

A transportation trust reportsays that TIF corridors pay forthemselves and the county couldgenerate a substantial amount ofmoney for mass transit fromthem, Mr. Bovo said. “We’vestudied everything and nothinghas happened. Synchronizinglights and making our buses moreefficient – it bothers me that thisis the best we can do. This is notwhat I signed up for.”

Mr. Bovo voted to proceedwith planning for all six transitcorridors for the proposed rail

transit “smart plan” but joinedother commissioners who said atthe May 10 Strategic Planning &Government Operation Commit-tee meeting that there’s still nofunding for it.

During a discussion on com-mittee Chairman Juan Zapata’slegislation that would urge theadministration to suspend devel-opment in West Dade until trafficsolutions upgrade quality of life,Mr. Bovo said years of poor plan-ning have come “home to roost.”He cautioned that residents willnot take elected officials seriouslyuntil at least one of the six trans-portation corridors is completed.

But there’s no funding for evenone of the corridors, several com-missioners said, and they askedthe administration how it makessense to go forward with a planwhen there won’t be the moneyto build it.

Transit and Public Works Di-rector Alice Bravo said it’s nottrue there’s won’t be money forthe smart plan. “We’ve neverimplied all six corridors will bebuilt at the same time,” she said atthe May 10 meeting.

Her department is working ona financial plan that will addresshow all six will be constructed,Ms. Bravo said, and is consultingwith a group chaired by Com-missioner Daniella Levine Cavathat is also looking into the issue.

Miami Today is an independent voice of the community, published weekly at 2000 S. Dixie Highway, Suite 100, Miami, Florida 33133. Telephone (305) 358-2663

VIEWPOINT WEEK OF THURSDAY, MAY 19, 2016

MIAMI TODAY (ISSN: 0889-2296) is published weekly for $145 peryear; airmail: to Europe $190 per year, the Americas $145 per year.Published by Today Enterprises Inc., 2000 S. Dixie Highway, Suite100, Miami, Florida 33133, USA. Periodicals postage paid at Miami,FL. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to MIAMI TODAY,2000 S. DIXIE HIGHWAY, SUITE 100, MIAMI, FLORIDA 33133.

6 MIAMI TODAY

MIAMITODAY

FOUNDED JUNE 2, 1983VOLUME XXXIII No. 52

ENTIRE CONTENTS © 2016

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Editor and Publisher / Michael LewisVice President / Carmen Betancourt-Lewis

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MIAMITODAY

Michael Lewis

Memo to Genting: no free passes when you break the law

Thanks, planners, but do we need more years of studies?Thanks to the Metropolitan Planning

O r g a n i z a t i o n(MPO), an organi-zation dominated byall of the membersof the county com-mission, Miami-Dade County com-muters, who havebeen loudly com-plaining over the lackof transit options and resulting trafficcongestion, can now breathe easily know-ing the MPO has finally taken decisiveaction to solve our traffic woes. Theyapproved what they call a “Smart” planfor transit.

This “Smart” plan is to study six cor-ridors for light rail (“LRT”) – a study thatwill take six to eight years. In the mean-time, nothing will be done.

At the same time they approved thisso-called “Smart” plan the MPO refusedto even consider approving a grant appli-cation already prepared by staff for afederal TIGER (Transportation Invest-

The WriterJames E. McDonald is the vice

mayor of the Village of Pinecrest.

ment Generating Economic Recovery)grant for $15 million for upgrading busservice on the South Dade busway to BusRapid Transit (BRT).

The grant, if won by Miami-Dade,would be matched by the state for ap-proximately $40 million and the countywould contribute another $40 million tocreate a state-of-the-art BRT system forthe South Dade busway servicing Home-stead, Florida City, Cutler Bay, PalmettoBay and Pinecrest with Metro at DadelandStation South.

The current bus service carries ap-proximately 15,000 riders per day. Thecommute times are long from Home-stead, Florida City and Cutler Bay. Astate-of-the-art BRT system would havesignificantly reduced commute time whileproviding commuters with new vehicles,

James McDonald

air-conditioned stations and pre-boardpaying like Metrorail to speed the pro-cess and reduce travel time.

All around the world, BRT has provento be quite successful, sustainable andaffordable as compared to the cost of lightrail, and, importantly, as BRT ridershipincreases it leads to necessary upgrade tolight rail in order to carry the increasedpassenger loads generated by BRT.

For example, the Ottawa, Ontario, BRTsystem is being converted to LRT; theRichmond BRT line in Vancouver, BC,was converted to LRT in 2010; the Or-ange Line BRT in Los Angeles is beingconverted to LRT because of capacityincreased needs, even though the publicwants to keep it as BRT! The VIVA BRTline in York, Ontario, almost 50 mileslong, is being considered for LRT.

Significantly, the BRT line in Cleve-land, known as the Health Line, is wildlysuccessful and has generated more than$15 billion in economic development alongits route.

You might ask, why on earth would theMPO not apply for a TIGER grant that, ifawarded and matched by both state andcounty dollars, would have provided reliefin two years for commuters from deepSouth Miami-Dade and spurred economicdevelopment along the route?

The answer is, with the exception ofthe Village of Pinecrest that supportedthe TIGER grant application, no otherelected officials or cities along the buswaysupported the application because of astrong desire to have light rail and a fearthat should the busway be upgraded toBRT, then LRT might never happen.

In other words, because of a fixationto have LRT (notwithstanding that rider-ship levels aren’t sufficient to presentlysupport LRT) and contrary to objectivefacts about what is happening in othercities, and contrary to the recommenda-tion of the professionals at Miami-Dade

Transit and Public Works Department,not one elected official from South Mi-ami-Dade, with the exception of thePinecrest Village Council, spoke out infavor of even applying for the Tiger grantand accordingly, the $15 million thatmight have been awarded to Miami-Dadewill go elsewhere!

Commuters from south county will getno relief, at least for a decade, if at all. Hadwe been awarded a TIGER grant and hadBRT been implemented, ridership alongthe busway would have increased to thelevel necessary to make LRT viable, all thewhile vastly improving transit service andhelping to take cars off the road.

And let’s not forget, when the light railcorridor study is completed in six to eightyears, we will see the battle of whichcorridor goes first and how to come upwith the billions to pay for it all.

In the meantime, South Dade commut-ers, you can thank the MPO for providingthe leadership we need to solve our trafficills and make our county more sustainableand attractive as a place to live!

Malaysian steamroller Genting has failedevery otherway to get OKsfor a massivecasino inM i a m i ’ sdowntown, sonow it has goneto court seek-ing to preventthe state attor-ney and thecounty fromjailing its op-erators when it opens illegal gamblinghere.

Nobody said these folks are anythingbut brazen. They’ve tried but failed forfive years to buy enough state legisla-tors to legalize what seemed likely to bethe world’s largest casino, so why notdo it illegally with court protection?

The incursion started in 2011 whenoperators of the Miami Herald, whosepredecessors once stood as a firm bas-tion against casinos in Miami, sold outthe Herald’s land to Genting for $236million and bought in Doral a site thatthey’ve also recently sold.

Genting announced a massive casinoresort on its Herald site and showedcommunity leaders how beautiful it

would be, promising in the presentationthat the resort would not be for localswho would lose their shirt but only theworld’s wealthiest, who could afford tolose it.

Then, halfway through the presenta-tion itself, Genting leaders interruptedone another to change course, announc-ing that they’d just bought the old OmniMall near the Herald and would immedi-ately make that a special vast casino justfor locals even before the new resortcasino rose.

But despite having in their pocketshired guns from large law firms andother prominent Miamians, Genting yearafter year has failed to get the FloridaLegislature to buy into its grand visionof a Malaysian firm picking everyone’spocket, rich and poor alike, and ship-ping the money abroad.

So Genting decided that if you can’tdo it legally, do it illegally. Just get thecourts to declare that you can’t be pros-ecuted and you then can get aroundstate regulators and state law and thepolice and whoever. That’s the currentgambit.

Genting wants to start its gamblingright now in just 7,500 square feet of itsOmni complex, part of the space whereJCPenney once offered bargain pur-

chases. But a Genting victory would beno bargain, and penny is the opposite ofwhat a Genting-style operation wouldcost the Miami economy in every way.

The complicated Genting gambit boilsdown to getting control of Gulfstreamracetrack’s Broward license for a com-panion slots parlor, saying that the li-cense actually covers Miami-Dade too,then moving the gambling to leased Omnispace while continuing the concurrenthorseracing that a slots operation re-quires at Gulfstream.

State regulators rejected this ploy twoyears ago and legislators again this yearbalked at anything that would win Gentingits downtown Miami gambling, so thecurrent step is to get the courts to saythat’s OK, you can break all the appli-cable laws and we won’t bother youabout it.

Of course, a slots and cards operationin 7,500 square feet would quickly morphinto more and more and more. Gentinghasn’t spent far more than $300 million onOmni and Herald land just for a small cardroom with slot machines. Once it hadcourt protection from prosecution, thesky would quickly become the limit thatGenting told us five years ago was its aim.

It’s no secret plot – just a plot that thejudges ought to waste no time tossing

right out of court.Up until now the Legislature has made

our gambling laws. Genting’s ownerssee that our system of lawmaking isn’tworking the way they want, so they’reasking the courts to make new laws justfor them in a declaratory judgment thatwhatever laws they break, they won’tbe penalized.

The fact that breaking some of thoselaws is a felony isn’t going to get inGenting’s way. The company is power-ful and accustomed to buying whateverit wants, including land from a newspa-per that got a bonus $8 million long afterthe deal closed. Is that buying land, orland and the press too?

The purported reason for the suit, itsays, is that “Omni is in doubt as to itsrights and seeks a declaration that thetransactions and activities contemplatedunder the Omni Lease are lawful and theconduct of same shall not expose Omnito criminal liability…”

We’ll save the court the time and costto reply, because Omni and its Gentingowners need have no doubt whatso-ever. Breaking the law is in fact breakingthe law, and in this country we stillprosecute lawbreakers.

That includes steamrolling operatorsof illegal gambling.

Free trolleys hurt busesThere’s no good reason we don’t

have what San Francisco has – a mo-bile, gps based app that shows, accu-rate, in real time, to the minute, whenyour bus or any other will arrive.

Regarding ridership falling, how manypassengers do the free trolleys, whichrun on the most major routes, take awayfrom bus ridership?

Ray Stein

Deregulate jitneys nowOne year daily bus rider here. No one

in Miami-Dade Transit cares that a bus

is smelly, late or doesn’t come at allbecause it only affects working-classpeople who won’t speak up.

Meanwhile, the county actively sup-presses independent bus services (jitneys)from operating. These jitneys provide aclean, reliable service and the money theygenerate stays within our community. Thecounty uses regulation to protect its mo-nopoly on group transportation and forceusers to use its unacceptable product.

Deregulating jitneys is something theycould do right now and doesn’t involvecostly investment in rail that will neverhappen.

Thomas Lindhart

LE T T E R S T O T H E ED I T O R

TODAY’S NEWSWEEK OF THURSDAY, MAY 19, 2016 MIAMI TODAY 7

92-member export teamset to build Mexico trade

NOTICE TO THE PUBLIC

CITY OF MIAMI, FLORIDA

PLEASE ALL TAKE NOTICE THAT a meeting of the City of Miami Commission

has been scheduled for Thursday, May 26, 2016, at the City of Miami City Hall, 3500

Pan American Drive, Miami, Florida 33133. A private attorney-client session will be

conducted under the parameters of §286.011(8), F.S. The person chairing the City of

Miami Commission meeting will announce the commencement of an attorney-client

session, closed to the public, for purposes of discussing the pending litigation cases of:

Miami-Dade County, et al. v. Florida Power & Light Company, et al., Case No. 3D14-

1467, before the Third District Court of Appeal; City of Miami v. State of Florida

Department of Environmental Protection, et al., Case No. 15-747, before the Division

of Administrative Hearings; In the Matter of Florida Power & Light Company Turkey

Point, Units 6 & 7, Docket Nos. 52-040 and 52-041, before the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory

Commission; and In re: Nuclear Cost Recovery Clause, Docket No. 160009, pending

before the Florida Public Service Commission. This private meeting will begin at ap-

proximately 3:00 p.m. (or as soon thereafter as the Commissioners’ schedules permit)

and conclude approximately one hour later. The session will be attended by the mem-

bers of the City Commission: Chairman Keon Hardemon, Vice-Chairman Ken Rus-

sell, and Commissioners Wifredo “Willy” Gort, Frank Carollo, and Francis Suarez;

the City Manager, Daniel J. Alfonso; the City Attorney, Victoria Méndez; Deputy City

Attorneys John A. Greco and Barnaby L. Min; Litigation Division Chief Christopher

A. Green, and Assistant City Attorneys Kerri L. McNulty, and Xavier E. Alban. A certi-

transcript will be made public upon the conclusion of the above-cited, ongoing litiga-

tion. At the conclusion of the attorney-client session, the regular Commission meeting

will be reopened and the person chairing the Commission meeting will announce the

termination of the attorney-client session.

Todd B. Hannon

City Clerk

#22799

‘There is a protocolagreement being finalizedbetween our ports andtheirs that will be signedat the end of the mission.’

Manny Mencia

‘Mexico is a good targetmarket right now becausetheir economy is doingbetter than many of theeconomies in Central andSouth America.’

Alan Becker

BY MARCUS LIM

Despite Bill Johnson’s near-ing departure as EnterpriseFlorida president and CEO, he’lllead a 92-member export devel-opment mission to Mexico Cityfrom May 23-26, bringing 35Florida businesses to match withMexican companies and seekingto expand cargo links betweenports in Florida and Mexico.

Alan Becker, vice chair ofEnterprise Florida’s board, saidMr. Johnson’s resignation won’timpact the mission and he’ll stillhead the visit as Florida Secre-tary of Commerce until June 24.

“Bill Johnson is an excellentsalesman for Florida businessso he will do a fantastic job,”Mr. Becker said. “Enterprise isextremely experienced with for-eign trade missions, so I expectthis to be a very successful tripas many Enterprise trips are.”

The companies on the mis-sion have never done businessin Mexico before, said MannyMencia, Enterprise’s senior vicepresident of international trade& development. The aim of thetrip is to introduce them in or-der to expand their business inthe country.

“Florida companies are usingthe mission to penetrate andexpand on to Mexico,” Mr.Mencia said. “This is what En-terprise does – we help Floridacompanies overseas.”

Some of the 92 Florida del-egates work for 35 companiesthat are participating inEnterprise’s gold key match-maker program that sets up one-on-one meetings with potentialMexican clients and partners.

Other delegates will work onthe secondary objective of build-ing traffic between the ports ofFlorida and Mexico. Accordingto Mr. Mencia, a strategic alli-ance between the Florida PortsCouncil and Mexican maritimeauthorities is likely to be formed.

“There is a protocol agree-ment being finalized betweenour ports and theirs that will besigned at the end of the mis-sion,” he said. “It is a corpora-tion agreement that they willtogether develop and researchmarket opportunities for ships.”

Four key ports hope to en-sure this by sending their ex-ecutive directors. They includeSteven Cernak of Broward

County’s Port Everglades,Wayne Stubbs of Port ofPanama City, Paul Anderson ofPort Tampa Bay and Juan Kurylaof PortMiami.

“This shows the importanceof our ports’ needs to increasebusiness with Mexico,” Mr.Becker said. “This is importanttrade so [the ports] are bringingtheir top person.”

He also mentioned the impor-tance of establishing trade bysea as the most efficient method,rather than the trade by roadthat Mexico employs across theborder of the Southwest.

“Mexico has not been one ofthe more active markets forFlorida, and we think we canchange that,” Mr. Becker said.“With some of the border prob-lems, trade by sea to Floridacan be more effective withMexico than some of the moredelayed trade by the roadthrough the border. This is partof the case we will be makingwhile we are there.”

Health businesses have alsoidentified the importance of thetrip, as organizations such asUnipharma LLC, the Universityof Miami Health System andPharmaTech LLC are some try-ing to expand their network inMexico.

Mr. Becker said the trip fo-cuses on Enterprise’s core mis-sion of bringing companies toexpand and promote trade inFlorida and helping the state’sown companies to export. Hepraised Mexico as a place ofhigh interest for this.

“Mexico is a good target mar-ket right now because theireconomy is doing better thanmany of the economies in Cen-tral and South America,” he said.Enterprise hopes the trip toMexico will yield results to ex-pand on the foreign tradeeconomy in which, accordingto Mr. Becker, Florida currentlyleads all other states.

“To open up markets toFlorida goods is critical becausethat’s what helped small andmid-sized companies grow,”Mr. Becker said. “We more thanany other state participate inexports. The percentage ofFlorida business exporting ishigher than any other state andwe want to see that grow.”

TODAY’S NEWSWEEK OF THURSDAY, MAY 19, 2016 MIAMI TODAY 11

Soccer field vow kicked out of Marine Stadium Flex Park

‘We already decided thedirection and it was notfollowed.’

Frank Carollo

Drawings circulated at the time Miami commissioners approved boat show plans showed soccer fields.

Lennar housing site can rise despite arsenic contamination

BY JOHN CHARLES ROBBINS

Children won’t be playingsoccer at the Miami Marine Sta-dium Flex Park any time soon –if ever.

About a year ago, as City ofMiami officials worked quicklyto secure the Miami Interna-tional Boat Show for VirginiaKey, a promise was made thatthe proposed flex park next toidled Marine Stadium would betransformed into sporting fields31 days after the boat showvacated the property.

That did not happen, and somecity commissioners aren’t happyabout it.

The city owns most of thebarrier island, and allowing useof the land around the stadiumfor the boat show has led to badblood with neighboring Villageof Key Biscayne and a flurry oflitigation. Village leaders fearover-use of the stadium andgrounds, leading to a cripplingaddition of traffic onRickenbacker Causeway, theonly road in and out of KeyBiscayne.

City commissioners approvedspending more than $20 millionto create the flex park – from anew hard surface to electricconnections and acres of elabo-rate tents – with its first usebeing the 2016 boat show inFebruary.

At the end of the commission’sMay 12 meeting, CommissionerFrank Carollo brought up theflex park. He mentioned theadministration’s promise of soc-cer fields 31 days after the boatshow cleared the property.

The boat show came and went.The 31 days came and went. Nosoccer fields.

Word surfaces that the ad-ministration wants to go a “newdirection,” said Mr. Carollo, yetthe topic is not brought back tothe commission.

“I think we need to have thatdiscussion,” he said.

“I agree. It was part of thedeal,” said Chairman KeonHardemon. The promise of alarge park space with artificialgreen turf helped persuade thecommission to forge ahead withexpensive improvements to thesite, he said.

“If not for this, there may nothave been a flex park,” said Mr.Hardemon.

City Manager Daniel Alfonsosaid the effort to secure the boatshow for the site “was donesomewhat hurriedly,” on a di-rective from commissioners.

Once engineers and workersbegan making improvements,slope and drainage issues madeit difficult to apply artificial turf,he said.

“Astroturf will not work,” Mr.Alfonso said. “We can’t putgreen turf on top [of the newhard surface]… it won’t be alevel field.”

Mr. Carollo said the commis-sion should have been informedwhen those issues arose. Hesaid it’s a problem that the ad-ministration is going a new di-rection without involving com-missioners – the policymakers.

“Right now, we haven’t de-cided,” Mr. Alfonso said.

“We already decided the di-rection and it was not followed,”Mr. Carollo said.

Mr. Alfonso eventually said,“I agree. We should have comeback earlier.”

Mr. Hardemon agreed thework was done quickly butasked, “Was the space everevaluated?”

Mr. Alfonso said staff be-lieved it was possible to convertthe space back to a turf-cov-ered area, but when they beganwork to bury footings for thelarge tents and put in the drain-age fields “things came up.”

Because of a change in eleva-tion at the site, it would be very

difficult to make the area intolevel playing fields, “so westarted looking at other options,”he said.

Uses at the flex park beyondthe boat show were never de-fined, though some city offi-cials talked of youth and adultsoccer leagues possibly usingthe large area south of the sta-dium.

Commissioners last year wereshown colorful renderings de-picting players using four side-by-side soccer fields next to thestadium.

“Our intent is to come up withan organized plan,” Mr. Alfonsosaid of the open space. He saidsome groups have expressed in-terest in using the tents and thesite, including one planning a

Dolphins fan fest. The spacecould also be used for autoshows, a home show or eventstied to Art Basel, he said.

“We’ll put a calendar to-gether,” Mr. Alfonso said ofevents for the flex park. Theboat show will remain the big-gest user, he said, and perhaps“smaller, less invasive” eventscan fill in the other days.

He cited, as an example, apaddleboard competition held ona recent weekend at the site.

The city manager said he in-tends to take these ideas to thenewly established Virginia KeyAdvisory Board and then thecity commission.

Mr. Alfonso said he will dis-cuss with the new board mem-bers “how to best activate thatspace.”

It is one of several issues tobe considered by the new board.

The commission establishedthe advisory board in January toadvise the commission on themission, vision, business plan,governance and operation of theisland and basin, the implemen-tation of the Virginia Key 2010Master Plan, and the restorationof Marine Stadium, abandonedand deteriorating since Hurri-cane Andrew in 1992.

In an email to Mr. Alfonso onMay 11, the advisory board’schairman, Gregory Bush, men-tioned the importance of refer-ring any impending actions re-lated to Virginia Key to the newboard “before they are put be-

fore the commission or are imple-mented by your administration.”

Mr. Bush also informed thecity manager of the advisoryboard’s May 2 vote requestinga deferral of any decision on thecurrent request for proposalsprocess related to the marina onVirginia Key “until our boardhas made its recommendationto the commission.”

Mr. Bush also said the boardshould be provided with the 2010Virginia Key Master Plan thatwas adopted by the city com-mission in July 2010.

In a response email writtenthe same day, Mr. Alfonso wrotein part, “The Marina RFP hasbeing ongoing for some time.There are two protests of theAward from the losing bidders.The Protests will be heard atCommission on May 26.”

The advisory board’s nextmeeting is scheduled for 5:30p.m. May 24 at City Hall.

Mr. Alfonso concluded hisemail to Mr. Bush writing, “Weintend to go to the meeting onthe 24th and speak to the boardabout the key issues you men-tioned. Looking forward to ourworking together.”

Mr. Alfonso copied the re-sponse email to all five city com-missioners and Mayor TomásRegalado.

The new board has also in-vited city Planning DirectorFrancisco Garcia to make a pre-sentation on the master plan.

The board is also being askedto review a fund-raising pro-posal to generate money forrestoration of the marine sta-dium. Commissioners brieflydiscussed the matter May 12but deferred so the new boardcould consider the idea.

Heineken USA reached out tothe National Trust for HistoricPreservation to partner in acrowdfunding campaign to raisefunds to assist with renovationof the stadium. The campaignmight include auctioning offsome of the stadium’s seats.

Commissioner Ken Russellsuggested the parties go beforethe new advisory board, notingthere could be concerns aboutnaming rights, sponsorships,signage or other related issuestied to Heineken’s involvement.

All of the commissioners andMayor Regalado support restor-ing the stadium.

BY SUSAN DANSEYAR

Developers can proceed with a residen-tial community on a Northwest Dade agri-cultural site near the planned AmericanDream Miami mega mall, provided thecounty’s Department of EnvironmentalResources Management reviews plans toensure environmental contamination foundthere isn’t spread.

Arsenic was found in soil samples at thevacant site and the owner must rehabilitatethe land to comply with clean-up levelscounty code requires, environmental re-sources (DERM) officials reported in amemo to Commissioner Jose “Pepe” Diaz,who represents the district in NorthwestMiami-Dade.

An April 15 letter was sent Lowell S.Dunn, referred to as the property owner.

Online reports indicate Mr. Dunn died inNovember 2006 and his wife, Berry Dunn,sold the property to Lennar Homes, whichsubmitted a required assessment of soilsreport to DERM on Feb. 25 and a samplingand analysis plan on April 7.

The soils contain concentrations of ar-senic that exceed the Miami-Dade Countysoil cleanup target level, DERM officialstold Miami Today. “The consultant for theproperty owner contends that the arsenic isnaturally occurring from muck and notfrom an anthropogenic release,” they saidin a written statement. “DERM is requiringfurther testing to evaluate their contentionand ensure proper assessment andremediation of the site.”

Arsenic is a known carcinogen, DERMofficials said. The likelihood of potentialharm to human health can be attributed to

several factors: exposure pathway routes,degree of contamination and length of timea person is exposed to the contaminant, andphysical and chemical properties of thecontaminated soil.

Attorneys Cristina Lumpkin and HowardNelson of Bilzin Sumberg Baena Price &Axelrod LLP represent the property owner.Neither responded to repeated requests forcomment last week and early this week.

Only arsenic contamination in soil hasbeen documented at this time, DERM offi-cials said.

Historic aerial photographs of the DunnTwo Lakes property, located west of In-terstate 75 on the north side of Northwest154th Street, indicate the southeasternportion of the northern lake previouslycontained an animal slaughterhouse alongwith sheds and equipment, and suggest

there was land clearing of trees or shrubson the northwest corner, possibly usingchemicals.

Therefore, additional soil samples mustbe collected and analyzed for a number ofcontaminants.

The time required for remediation can’tyet be estimated, DERM officials said.However, development can continue aslong as developers notify the division ofwork that might affect the environment.

“Development can occur concurrent withsite assessment and remediation,” officialssaid, “provided that plans related to dewa-tering, drainage, soil management, and/orconstruction are reviewed and approvedby DERM prior to development to ensurethe contamination is not spread and allcontaminated media is appropriately handledand addressed.”

COMMERCIAL & OFFICE SPACEWEEK OF THURSDAY, MAY 19, 2016 MIAMI TODAY 15

Wynwood special areagetting a final massage

Miami is seeking a partner who would build new city offices and could develop on its current river site.

City office deals get second delayPhoto by Maxine Usdan

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6625 Miami Lakes Drive, Miami Lakes

BY JOHN CHARLES ROBBINS

Developers eyeing the MiamiRiver as the next hot locale forgrowing Miami have some ad-ditional time to put in an offer topurchase a prime riverfront par-cel – the city government’s ad-ministrative building.

Miami Riverside Center is at444 SW Second Ave. Earlierthis year the city hired CBREInc. to solicit interested partiesto submit proposals for the re-location of the city’s adminis-trative facility, and subsequentdisposition of the existing facil-ity.

The goal is to obtain newClass A office space for thecity’s administrative officeswithin city limits. In addition,proposers are encouraged toacquire the existing Miami Riv-erside Center.

On Monday, the city an-nounced a revised deadline date,from May 17 to 2 p.m. June 20.This is the second extension onthe solicitation.

Since the original posting ofthe offering memorandum forthe sale of the Miami RiversideCenter and request for propos-als for a new administrative fa-cili ty, there have severaladdendums regarding deposits,restrictions, bonds and otheritems. Those details are avail-able on the city’s website.

The city’s Department of RealEstate and Asset Management,working with CBRE Inc., islooking for qualified develop-ment teams or joint ventures topurchase the existing officebuilding, which will be vacatedupon completion of a new facil-ity, or design, construct, struc-ture a lease to own agreementor convey to the city a morethan 375,000 gross square footoffice building on private or city-owned land.

Miami Riverside Center is374,661 square feet, comprisedof the 194,679 square foot build-ing, and 179,982 square footgarage. The site is 3.15 acres,which includes the building siteand vacant land to the south.The high-profile parcel is nextdoor to city-owned open greenspace with three boat slips.

The 23-year-old building isdeemed “unable to fully and sat-isfactorily meet the city’s fu-ture operating and client ser-vice needs.”

The city hopes to have a newoffice building constructed, ormay purchase an existing facil-ity to house multiple city de-partments. The city may alsoenter into a lease to own trans-action structure, according tothe solicitation.

The city’s new office facilityis anticipated to take approxi-mately two years to complete,

with a move-in no later thanspring 2019, according to CBRE.

City Manager Daniel Alfonsohas said land along the river hasbecome very valuable and thatthe Miami Riverside Center isnot the “highest and best use”of the site, which with the pub-lic benefit program could holdup to an 80-story building.

It was last fall when Mr.Alfonso said city officials wereconsidering a property sale orswap as they look for a newhome for the growing govern-ment operations.

Sale or lease of the cityriverfront land would requirevoter approval.

According to the Miami-DadeCounty Tax Appraiser’s Office,the building and land at 444 SWSecond Ave. has a market valueof more than $22.2 million. Theland at 460 SW Second Ave. –the open green space with threeboat slips – has a market valueof more than $9.8 million.

BY CATHERINE LACKNER

Having won unanimous approv-als of a Special Area Plan by theWynwood Business ImprovementDistrict (BID) and Miami’s Plan-ning, Zoning, and Appeals Board,Mana Wynwood developers are“working with city staff to finalizekey details before presenting tothe city commission,” said DylanFinger, project manager.

The special area designationprovides various entitlements forMoishe Mana’s 30-acre project,which would run from North-west Second Avenue west to I-95between Northwest 22nd and 24thstreets. The purpose of the desig-nation is to allow sites greater than9 acres to be master-planned tobetter integrate public and privateimprovements and infrastructure.

The first phase, planned for2337 NW Fifth Ave., would in-clude a 200,000-square-foot com-bination beauty academy, bou-tique hotel, restaurants, show-rooms and other space. The struc-ture would become corporateheadquarters for Luxury BrandPartners, a firm that is partneringwith Mr. Mana to build the acad-emy.

About 2,500 residential unitsare to come later, and the projectincorporates parking garages andMana Commons, an open-spaceparcel of about 168,000 squarefeet that would be available to thepublic and also for special events.

In March, the BID wrested sev-eral concessions from the devel-oper in exchange for its support.They included a promise to gradu-ate the height of buildings in thewestern zone depending on howmuch of the base construction onthe eastern side had been com-

pleted or is underway.Once 25% of the eastern zone is

out of the ground, 16-story build-ings are cleared to rise in thewestern zone; once 30% is com-pleted, buildings in the westernzone can be 20 stories tall. Finally,when 35% of work is underwayon the eastern side, a 24-storyresidential tower can rise in thewestern side.

The developer’s team alsoagreed that a maximum of 25% ofthe residential units (excluding thehotel) in the eastern portion wouldbe developed within the next sevenyears. Then maximum alloweddensity – in keeping with the restof the agreement – will be allowedin the western portion. They alsoagreed that $4 per bonus squarefoot will be paid to the WynwoodPublic Benefits Fund, and to sev-eral other concessions.

“The Mana team has been work-ing on the project for more than ayear and we have been collaborat-ing with the city, the Wynwoodcommunity and key stakeholdersalong the way,” Mr. Finger said.“Mana stakeholders are extremelypleased that the project has been acollaborative effort.”

“The team at Mana is thrilled bythe support we have received fromthe Wynwood community, andwe will continue working togetheron the process moving forward,”said Shai Baitel, the project’s di-rector of strategy. “We are ex-cited to work with our neighborsto grow the influence ofWynwood and Mana in SouthFlorida and around the globe. Manawill be successful because wehave truly collaborated with thecommunity and our plans containelements and ideas from our neigh-bors.”

COMMERCIAL & OFFICE SPACE WEEK OF THURSDAY, MAY 19, 201616 MIAMI TODAY

MiamiCentral announces its trainload of downtown eateries

Macy’s never announced its plans for its downtown store even as it planned to enter Miami Worldcenter.

After Worldcenter deal flops, Macy’s sits pretty downtown

Multiple eateries planned for Central Fare would include a location for Little Havana’s Azucar Ice Cream.

Photo by Maxine Usdan

BY CAMILA CEPERO

Macy’s says it will continueoperations at its downtown Mi-ami location in the wake of los-ing a potentially prime new lo-cation in the 27-acre MiamiWorldcenter mixed-use projectscheduled to break ground soonjust north of downtown Miami.

The project, which was origi-nally expected to include an en-closed mall, scrapped thoseplans in favor of the develop-ment of a high street plan.

Now, the Macy’s downtownlocation continues business asusual, said Macy’s regionalspokesperson Melissa Goff.

“There is nothing new as faras our location in the down-town Miami area,” she said.

Macy’s and Bloomingdale’s,owned by Macy’s Inc., wereplanning to develop 300,000square feet of retail in the origi-nally planned 760,000-square-foot enclosed mall, with 195,000square feet of that space beingexclusively for Macy’s.

However, Macy’s never offi-cially announced the plans forits current downtown location,

even during negotiations for thenew Miami Worldcenter store,Ms. Goff said.

In late 2006, however,Macy’s complained to Miami’sDowntown Development Au-thority and the city aboutdowntown’s appearance andsafety issues, raising concernsthat the national retailer couldleave the urban core.

“While the recent economicdevelopment is encouraging,our store and company’s divi-sional headquarters need to bein an environment that is con-ducive to success,” Ms. Goffsaid during the early discussionof downtown’s retail problems.

In the 10 years since, thestore has been generally am-bivalent about keeping its down-town location.

“We have never announced thatthe downtown location was mov-ing or closing,” Ms. Goff said.

Macy’s leases the space itoccupies in the two buildingson the southwest and southeastcorners of the South MiamiAvenue and Flagler Street inter-section that connect by an el-evated walkway.

From chocolate to dumplings,bagels to smoked meats, andhot dogs to empanadas, CentralFare in the heart ofMiamiCentral promises to sat-isfy a train station full oftastebuds.

Last week, MiamiCentral an-nounced a list of food busi-nesses signed to occupy the 11-acre mixed-use development inthe heart of downtown.

Opening in summer 2017,Central Fare will encompassabout 50,000 square feet on thefirst and second levels ofMiamiCentral.

Central Fare, described as a“dynamic, urban marketplace,”is to offer up multiple culinaryexperiences – featuring chefsBryan and Michael Voltaggio,Richard Hales of BlackbrickChinese, and Andres Barrientosand James Bowers of MiamiSmokers, among others.

Featuring six restaurants andmore than 20 food and retailpurveyors, Central Fare andthe Voltaggio restaurant arebeing designed by hospitalitydes ign and concept f i rmAvroKO.

“Mirroring the vibrancy andcultural diversity of Miami, Cen-tral Fare will reflect the eclecticenergy of its residents and trav-elers, providing authentic, well-crafted experiences bringingtogether food, beverage, ideasand community,” said DavidMcIntyre, senior vice presidentof operations for MiamiCentraland Brightline.

“This will be the new gatheringplace, a unique culinary destina-tion, showcasing the talents ofboth local and national artisans,tastemakers and chefs,” he said.

MiamiCentral will be home tothe Brightline express intercitypassenger rail service, witheventual connections to FortLauderdale, West Palm Beachand Orlando.

The sprawling facility will joinMetrorail, Metromover and oth-ers modes of public transporta-tion, and be augmented by a mixof commercial real estate, of-fices and apartments.

The signature dining experi-ence will be Monger by theVoltaggio Brothers, Bryan andMichael Voltaggio’s first col-laborative restaurant in Florida.Both known for their time onBravo’s “Top Chef,” the twohave also been featured on pro-gramming for the CookingChannel, Food Network and theTravel Channel.

The 10,000-square-foot res-taurant will feature separatekitchens and coordinating din-ing areas to represent three dis-tinct resources: fishmonger,butcher, and green grocer.

Guests will be able to curatetheir own meals through an in-teractive menu inspired by thegrocery list.

“MiamiCentral and Brightlineare transformative projects andwe knew right away that wewanted to be a part of it,” saidBryan Voltaggio.

“We have family in Floridaand visit often. Creating a sig-nature dining experience inSouth Florida is an importantnext step for us, and Mongerwill be unlike anything we’vedone before, and a capstone forCentral Fare’s already compel-ling offerings,” Mr. Voltaggiosaid.

According to MiamiCentral,the culinary lineup at CentralFare will also include:

Azucar Ice Cream Com-pany: Cuban-American SuzanneBatlle has created an ice creamand sorbet boutique that hasreceived accolades.

Blackbrick Chinese: Rich-ard Hales is chef/owner ofBlackbrick Chinese, SakayaKitchen, Dim Ssäm à gogo and

Bird & Bone. Hand-made dimsum and special dumplings,house-made noodle bowls andlocal farm-driven fried ricedishes will be served.

Doggi’s: Making food withlove and fresh ingredients,Yoleida Galiano and her sons,Giovanni and Carlos Esteves,from Venezuela, are working tomake the arepa as famous as thetaco – offering more than 20varieties. Items rounding outthe menu include empanadas,patacones, pepitos, hot dogs andcachapas.

Miami Smokers: The HogBosses – Chefs Andres Barrientosand James Bowers – are on amission to bring timeless curingand smoking techniques to Miamiconsumers. They utilize the mostsustainable and locally-availableproducts with old world tech-niques to create all natural bacon,artisanal charcuterie, smokehousesandwiches, sausages and bacon-

infused desserts.Romanicos Chocolate:

Founder Alejandra Bigai drawson the flavors of her childhoodin Venezuela to create qualityconfections using only realchocolate.

Rosetta The Italian Bakery:Rosetta combines a mix of his-tory, the highest quality ingre-dients exclusively made in Italy,and timeless traditions to createauthentic Italian sandwiches,pastries, focaccia and more.

Toasted Bagelry & Deli:Toasted’s homemade bagelscombine the professional touch,New York and New Jersey taste,with a Miami twist. Twin broth-ers Islam and Khaled preparefresh baked goods daily. Menuitems include a large selectionof bagels and toppings, om-elets, deli sandwiches, saladsand panini’s.

Two weeks ago, MiamiCentralannounced the anchor tenantsfor its flagship office facility atTwo MiamiCentral. The officetower includes 190,000 squarefeet of Class A office space.

The anchor tenants are Ernst& Young LLP, a global leader inassurance, tax, transaction andadvisory services; and Regus,the world’s largest provider offlexible workplaces.

In addition, Florida East CoastIndustries will relocate its head-quarters from Coral Gables.

“We consulted with world-class architects to design andcreate an office environmentthat is highly integrated with in-building connectivity to a rangeof transportation options, in-cluding access to our Brightlineinter-city, express train ser-vice,” said John Guitar, seniorvice president of business de-velopment, for MiamiCentraland Brightline.

MiamiCentral was designedby Skidmore, Owings & MerrillLLP.

WEEK OF THURSDAY, MAY 19, 201624 MIAMI TODAY

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