The owner of Marine Customs Unlimited, Brian O'Donnell and Florida Sportsman Boating Editor Dave East, revisit some of the most memorable builds and projects of this season of Project Dreamboat.
For more information on Florida Sportsman Project Dreamboat and to watch full episodes online in Full HD, visit www.floridasportsman.com/fspd.
6060 Southwest 13th Street (Inset: Marco Rubio)
1. Marco Rubio raises ask for West Miami home yet again [GossipExtra]
2. Taiwan's president will ask China Airlines to consider flight to Miami [The Next Miami]
3. Developer proposes new townhome development in Miami-Dade County [SFBJ]
4. Six Palm Beach realtors make top 250 in U.S. for sales volume [Palm Beach Daily News]
- Sean Stewart-Muniz
Matt Lauer (photo credit: David Shankbone via Wikipedia) and his Hamptons estate
From the New York site: “Today” anchor Matt Lauer has been identified as the mystery buyer of actor Richard Gere's sprawling North Haven compound.
Sources for the New York Post discovered that Lauer was the buyer of the 12-bedroom mansion.
Known as Strongheart Manor, the 6.2-acre North Haven compound hit the market in 2013 asking $65 million. It struggled to find a buyer and underwent several price chops and broker swaps. Its most recent asking price was $36.5 million.
Lauer is selling a Sag Harbor home and another Hamptons cottage, the source told the Post. However, he is holding onto a 40-acre Bright Side Farm in Water Mill.
The sale of Strongheart Manor comes in the midst of a battle over Gere's $250 million estate with his estranged wife Carey Lowell. [NYP] –Christopher Cameron
The Williamsburg Mini Mall (photo credit: Antonia's Journal)
From the New York site: Shopping malls evoke big box retail, chains and department stores. But increasingly, retail investors and property owners are seeking out mom and pop tenants.
Small retail business sales growth has outpaced that of its larger competitors nearly every month over the past four years, according to CNBC. And that has landlords looking at small businesses as a safe bet.
“They're performing far stronger than a restaurant tenant that we have there in 5,000 square feet that's national,” Anjee Solanki, national director of USA retail services at Colliers, told CNBC.
Kimco, the largest publicly traded owner and operator of open air shopping centers in North America, recently expanded a program that offers small businesses one year of free rent and reduced property charges from one to 19 states, according to CNBC.
“They're [shoppers] not going to find that tenant anywhere else, and that's ultimately what you're looking for,” Jesse Tron, an industry expert formerly with the International Council of Shopping Centers trade group, said. [CNBC] –Christopher Cameron
Avra Jain and the Vagabond Hotel
1. Avra Jain's Vagabond restaurant to re-brand in July [Miami New Times]
2. Florida Panthers star pays $2.9 million for home in Fort Lauderdale [SFBJ]
3. Gov. Rick Scott asked to investigate Palm Beach County's newest city [Palm Beach Post]
4. The U.S. housing market broken down in 9 charts [Wall Street Journal]
- Sean Stewart-Muniz
The crew of reel time Florida sportsman investigate Florida's water dilemma and fish the surrounding areas.
Fox Sports Sun
6/24 – 8:30 a.m. | 6/26 – 8:30 p.m. | 6/28 – 6:00 a.m.
Sportsman Channel
6/20 – 12 p.m. | 6/22 – 6:30 a.m. | 6/26 – 8:30 a.m.
For more information, including additional air times and the full episode guide, visit www.floridasportsman.com/rtfs.
From the New York website: CBRE and Jones Lang LaSalle's stock prices plummeted Friday, amid investor fears that Britain's vote to leave the European could cripple the companies' European business.
As of 2:20 p.m., CBRE's stock was down 8 percent for the day, while Jones Lang LaSalle's stock had fallen by 11.9 percent.
Green Street Advisors had estimated that property values in London could fall by as much as 20 percent in the first three years after Britain leaves the EU. That's bad news for CBRE, which last year made 18 percent of its revenue in Britain, and JLL – two leading global commercial real estate brokerage and services firms.
“Maybe transactions take longer and some get canceled. The same can happen for the leasing business, maybe space gets cheaper and corporations just don't lease as much space. All this can have an impact on the revenue streams,” William Blair & Co. analyst Brandon Dobell told Bloomberg. He added that more U.S.-centric firms like Marcus & Millichap and HFF will likely feel less of an immediate impact.
The Real Deal earlier on Friday recapped how the Brexit could impact Miami real estate. [Bloomberg] – Konrad Putzier
Aerial view of Palm Beach County
1. Five votes establish Westlake, Palm Beach County's newest city [Palm Beach Post]
2. Check out how 1960s Miami compares to now [The Next Miami]
3. Hermes to move from Worth Avenue to Royal Poinciana Plaza [Palm Beach Daily News]
4. Health inspector brings bad news for Tiger Woods' Jupiter restaurant [GossipExtra]
- Sean Stewart-Muniz
By Nick Wiley
Several recent editorials present an incomplete picture of the science behind FWC's comprehensive bear management program. We are highly confident in the cutting-edge, peer-reviewed scientific foundation supporting FWC staff recommendations regarding black bear management. The scientific methods we rely on have been proven repeatedly in bear populations across North America and further validated through substantial research in the Southeast and here in Florida. This robust body of science clearly supports that Florida's comprehensive approach to bear management, which includes hunting, is effective and sustainable.
FWC invests considerable staff expertise in bear conservation programs and places great emphasis on using the best possible science. We employ 13 biological experts with more than 110 years of collective science and management experience directly focused on black bears. To verify that FWC is relying on sound science to guide our decision making, we recently invited the top bear scientists from across the nation to examine and review Florida's bear management program. This expert panel, with over 170 years of combined experience directly involving bears, concluded that, “FWC is employing quality long-term data and scientific research to manage Florida's black bears.” You can view their full supportive statement at MyFWC.com/bear.
After receiving extensive input from the public, FWC Commissioners will weigh FWC recommendations for a more conservative bear hunt with three other options, including postponing the bear hunt in 2016. You can learn more and provide input at MyFWC.com/bear.
Some reports have led people to believe that FWC has not done sound scientific research and makes hasty decisions about wildlife management. This could not be further from the truth. It is our responsibility to make recommendations based on the best available science, and that is exactly what we are doing.
SSouth Beach
1. South Florida's drooping hotel performance shows slight improvement [SFBJ]
2. Lennar ramps up construction, prices in Q2 [ABC News]
3. Miami commissioner wants to speed up building permit review [Daily Business Review]
4. Waterfront Moorish Revival estate in Coconut Grove sells for $6M at auction [Curbed Miami]
- Sean Stewart-Muniz
A rendering of the new Gucci store
A new wave of luxury stores and restaurants is headed to Miami's Design District, including Gucci, Alexander Wang, Warby Parker and Estefan Kitchen, a Cuban concept led by Gloria and Emilio Estefan.
Gucci will build a flagship 7,000-square-foot store in the Design District, joining the already open Hermès, Tom Ford, Louis Vuitton, Cartier and others. Christian Louboutin will expand and open a flagship store next spring, according to Design District developer Dacra.
French fashion house Eres, retailer Cos, and Ahana Yoga have signed leases. Estefan Kitchen will open in the Palm Court, and Warby Parker will open its second Miami store about 1.5 miles away from its Wynwood location, which opened last year. Previously announced are three restaurants by renowned French chef and restaurateur Joël Robuchon.
The neighborhood currently spans an 18-block area north of I-195, between North Miami Avenue and Northeast Fourth Court. More than 60 stores and restaurants currently take up 700,000 square feet of retail space. The next phase will add more than 250,000 square feet of retail space, a 120-room hotel and a new 900-car parking structure, Dacra said.
The Stefano Ricci building, at 120 Northeast 39th Street, recently hit the market. Thor Equities owns that property.
Here's a full list of stores opening in the Design District by the end of next year.
The announcement brings the Design District to 30 percent filled, according to Women's Wear Daily, which first reported the news. Dacra CEO Craig Robins told the magazine that the area is still growing.
“We're in a market that's generally down. The Russians, Brazilians and the dollar have impacted things. Miami is way down,” he told WWD. “On average, we're up. Some of our stores are struggling and some are doing well.” – Katherine Kallergis
Screenshot from a video of falling furniture during a Miami storm (via Miami New Times)
1. Furniture flies off downtown Miami condo tower balconies during storm [Miami New Times]
2. Bank vacates building where BCC's expansion is planned [The Next Miami]
3. Butcher Shop grill for West Palm on hold till impact fee resolved [Palm Beach Post]
4. New development is booming in Plantation [GlobeSt]
- Sean Stewart-Muniz
From left: Donald Trump and Jeffrey Epstein
From the New York website: A new lawsuit filed in federal court accuses presidential hopeful Donald Trump of raping a 13-year-old girl at Jeffrey Epstein's Upper East Side New York mansion on multiple occasions more than 20 years ago.
The woman, who alleges the rapes occurred in 1994, filed a civil complaint in New York Federal Court on Monday against the presumptive Republican nominee and Epstein, a notorious ex-hedge funder previously convicted in a prostitution scandal involving minors in Palm Beach. Trump allegedly attended at least four of Epstein's parties at 9 East 71st Street in New York, known as the Wexner Mansion. The plaintiff, like other girls at the house, was lured to the parties with a promise of a modeling career, the lawsuit claims.
Testimony attached to the complaint alleges that a woman - identified only as Tiffany Doe - was hired by Epstein to recruit young girls for his parties. The woman allegedly met the plaintiff at Port Authority Bus Terminal and told her the parties would help connect her to the right people to launch her career.
The lawsuit, which repeats some allegations made in a dismissed complaint filed in California in April, offers a graphic account of the young girl's alleged encounters with Trump, the worst of which is described as a “savage sexual act.” The lawsuit claims that during this instance, Trump tied her to the bed and struck her face with his hand, saying he could do what he wanted, despite her pleas for him to stop. The complaint alleges that Epstein raped her twice.
Michael Cohen, special counsel to Trump, had not yet read the new allegations when reached by phone. An attorney for Epstein could not immediately be reached for comment. In response to a similar lawsuit filed back in April, Trump categorically denied the claims. That lawsuit was dismissed in May.
It should be noted that anyone can file a civil complaint in federal court. The statute of limitations in New York for civil rape cases is five years, but Monday's complaint argues that the time limit should be waived, noting that the plaintiff was too frightened to report the abuse because Trump had threatened that if she did “her family would be physically harmed if not killed.”
“Both defendants let plaintiff know that each was a very wealthy, powerful man and indicated that they had the power, ability and means to carry out their threats,” the complaint claims.
New York discarded its statute of limitations for criminal sexual assault cases in 2006. A spokesperson for District Attorney Cyrus Vance Jr. in Manhattan declined to comment on the lawsuit.
On April 26, a woman identified as “Katie Johnson” filed a similar rape complaint against Trump and Epstein in a California court. That case was dismissed in May because Johnson did not file the proper paperwork. The address she listed in California papers was found to be an abandoned property.
In the suit filed in New York on Monday, the “Jane Doe” plaintiff is revealed to be the same plaintiff as in the California suit. Details in the New York complaint differ slightly, however, including a claim that Trump's comments to the media after Johnson filed the California suit amounted to defamation. The new complaint also alleges that Trump knew the plaintiff was 13 years old at the time of the alleged assault, something that does not appear in the California filing.
After Johnson submitted the first suit in April, Trump vehemently denied the allegations, saying “these allegations are not only false, but disgusting at the highest level and clearly framed to solicit media attention or, perhaps, are simply politically motivated. There is absolutely no merit to these allegations. Period.”
An attorney for the plaintiff, Thomas Meagher, did not immediately return requests seeking comment. The website for Meagher's New Jersey-based firm indicates that it primarily specializes in intellectual property law.
Epstein, a billionaire financier and current registered sex offender, pleaded guilty in Palm Beach County to soliciting an underage prostitute in 2008 after a lengthy investigation. He served 13 months in jail. In 2015, a woman named Virginia Roberts accused Epstein of making her a sex slave in the service of the likes of Prince Andrew, Duke of York and the Harvard law professor Alan Dershowitz. Several other women have reached settlements with Epstein outside of court.
Jeffrey Epstein's brother, Mark Epstein, said in a deposition in 2009 that Trump flew on Epstein's private jet at least once in the past. The relationship between the two predates that allegation by some years.
Some good news from American Sportfishing Association: HR 3094 has passed the House Natural Resources Committee. Now would be a good time for Florida anglers to contact their Florida U.S. House Representative and urge him or her to support this important bill as it moves forward. It would give Gulf states the ability to set their own limits for red snapper, which should greatly help even out the available days for recreational anglers. The FWC would do a much better job than the Gulf Council on this score.
Find your Rep here:
https://www.govtrack.us/congress/members/FL
Here's details about the Bill, from American Sportfishing Association:
House Natural Resource Committee Advances Solution for Gulf Red Snapper
Washington, DC – June 16, 2016- On the heels of another unreasonably short recreational red snapper season in federal waters of the Gulf of Mexico, yesterday the House Natural Resources Committee passed H.R. 3094, the Gulf of Mexico Red Snapper Management Authority Act (H.R. 3094). Introduced by U.S. Rep. Garret Graves (R-La.), and with the support of 42 bipartisan co-sponsors, H.R. 3094 offers a proven, state-based solution to ensure America's anglers have more than just nine days to access the healthiest population of Gulf red snapper in history.
“We are very grateful to Committee Chairman Rob Bishop, Congressman Graves and the Members of the Committee who voted for this bill and for better management of the Gulf red snapper fishery,” said Jeff Crane, president of Congressional Sportsmen's Foundation. “The current federal model is clearly not working, and it's time for a more balanced approach to the management of this fishery.”
Congressman Graves' bill will extend formal federal recognition to the historic agreement between the five Gulf States to accept joint responsibility for the management of the red snapper fishery in both state and federal waters. The bill also ensures the current individual quota shares of the commercial fishery are protected.
“After many years of disappointment, the strong bipartisan vote in favor of reforming Gulf red snapper management heralds a brighter future for marine recreational fishing,” said Center for Coastal Conservation President Jeff Angers. “Hopefully 2016 will be the last year anglers and coastal communities will have to endure the contorted federal mismanagement in this fishery.”
Through their highly successful management of species like red drum, speckled trout, snook and numerous others, the states have demonstrated they can effectively manage fisheries for both sustainability and access.
“The Natural Resources Committee's overwhelming bipartisan passage of H.R. 3094 is clear validation of what we have argued over the years: federal management has failed recreational fishermen,” said Patrick Murray, president of Coastal Conservation Association. “The fact that you have Members of Congress, both Democrat and Republican, from across the nation supporting this legislation, shows that this fishery needs state-based innovation that this bill will provide.”
In light of the inability of the federal data collection system to accurately measure recreational angler harvest, all five Gulf States have implemented their own systems of angler data collection. These new programs, combined with their existing robust sampling procedures of the red snapper population itself, will position the states well to assume the new management responsibility.
Mark Wilson, president and CEO of London Bay Homes in Naples
London Bay Homes, a luxury home builder, bought 55 vacant acres next to a Naples golf course for $33.7 million.
Naples-based London Bay bought the land at 7450 Golden Gate Parkway, next to the Naples Grande Golf Club, where the company plans to build as many as 250 homes and generate more than $300 million of project revenue.
Mark Wilson, president and chief executive officer of London Bay, told the Naples Daily News the land purchase followed more than six months of discussion and negotiation. The $33.7 million sale price equals $612,727 per acre.
Wilson also said his company's Naples development will include residences with “spectacular lake and golf course views.”
The 55 acres, which includes a lake, is zoned for residential construction and is part of the Grey Oaks Planned Unit Development near downtown Naples.
The seller is Naples Grande Holdings, limited liability company, and the seller's representatives in the deal were Randy Thibaut, CEO of Land Solutions Inc. in Fort Myers, and Douglas Meschko, a broker associate of the firm.
Meschko told the Naples Daily News, “We had a lot of suitable buyers.”
The land last sold in 2006 for $36 million, according to Collier County property records. [Naples Daily News] - Mike Seemuth
176 Sunset Avenue, Palm Beach (Credit: Andy Frame via The Fite Group)
The $5.9 million sale of a never-occupied luxury townhouse in Palm Beach appears to be the highest-priced sale of a non-waterfront townhouse on record in the town.
The new owner is Dude Holdings LLC. The deed links the limited liability company to billionaire Charles Johnson, chairman of Franklin Resources and Franklin Templeton Investments. The Palm Beach Daily News also reported that the four-bedroom townhouse at 176 Sunset Avenue has 4,724 square feet of living space, and it is the first townhouse built on speculation in Palm Beach in 13 years.
Brown Harris Stevens agent Liza Pulitzer represented the buyer.
Johnson and his wife Dr. Ann L. Johnson are seasonal visitors to Palm Beach, and the family has been active in the town's real estate market. Last December, for example, the Johnsons' daughter Holly Bartlett bought a house at 325 Garden Road in Palm Beach for $7 million.
The listing agents for the townhouse on Sunset Drive were Toni Hollis and Gloria Moré of The Fite Group. They were unavailable for comment.
They had listed the townhouse for sale in September 2014. The initial pre-construction asking price was $6 million. [Palm Beach Daily News] - Mike Seemuth
Collage of renderings proposed for the Miami Dade College site in downtown Miami
1. Nader refuses to sign MDC's affidavit regarding detective [The Next Miami]
2. Bank fund targeting affordable housing in South Florida [Sun Sentinel]
3. Fort Lauderdale office market heating up [GlobeSt]
4. U.S. housing starts fell 0.3%; supply seen tightening [Wall Street Journal]
- Sean Stewart-Muniz
Rendering of the SLS Brickell
1. SLS Brickell to Open October 2016 [Miami New Times]
2. China City Construction updates its plans for Brickell site [The Next Miami]
3. Publix planned at gateway to the Keys [FlKeysNews]
4. Golden Beach home sells for third time in three years [Curbed Miami]
- Sean Stewart-Muniz
A rendering of the two-tower Apeiron at the Jockey Club project in North Miami
It looks like the legal fight between developers and unit owners of an aging North Miami condo complex is starting to boil over.
This week, developers of the ultra-modern Apeiron project and the condo associations of the Jockey Club lobbed lawsuits at each other aimed at control of the condo complex's common areas.
Apeiron Miami, led by Horst Schulze, Michael Bedner and Muayad Abbas, wants to build an ultra-modern condo and hotel complex on 13 acres of common grounds at the Jockey Club condo complex at 11111 Biscayne Boulevard, which it purchased for $3.25 million in 2014. Plans call for two 40-story towers with a total of 90 hotel rooms and 240 condos, with the residences receiving service from the hotel portion. As it stands now, the Jockey Club complex has three condo towers, two of which are 21-stories and one is 13-stories. They were built between 1971 and 1982 and house 411 units in total.
In March, the Apeiron team ran into trouble when the condo associations of two Jockey club towers - Jockey Club I and Jockey Club II - filed suit to try and stop the development, alleging Apeiron was trampling over a pair of binding agreements dating back to 1977 and 1995 that essentially blocked all further development at the club.
The situation became even messier when Jockey Club III pledged support for Apeiron, with the other two associations alleging their counterpart had been bought out by the developer to the tune of $10 million.
These most recent suits were filed in quick succession to the 11th Judicial Circuit Court of Miami-Dade County.
On one end, the Jockey Club I and II associations are alleging that Apeiron is trying to wrest control of maintenance for the common areas, and that Jockey Club III has stopped making any contributions to the shared maintenance costs.
Gary Waldman of Heller Waldman, the plaintiff's attorney, told The Real Deal that Apeiron's strategy is to leverage control of the common areas to help gain county approvals for its project.
Waldman said that could lead to neglect for a number of necessary maintenance issues in the complex, because Apeiron wouldn't want to fix something it is going to demolish in the future.
“On their best day, they won't be shoveling the ground for one to two years,” he said. So Apeiron is basically saying “'We're not going to fix it, because eventually we're gonna build here.”'
The suit the associations have filed is seeking damages and relief from Apeiron, which would legally prevent it from taking over management of the Jockey Club's common areas, as well as requesting that Jockey Club III continue making its maintenance payments.
The point of view painted in Apeiron's suit, however, is much different. It alleges that the Jockey Club's maintenance has been severely mismanaged, with no official budget, work done without permits that has drawn notices of violation from the county, and no payroll records for employees.
Apeiron filed an emergency motion with the court to have a third-party receiver appointed for managing the common areas, though the judge has since ruled that the situation is not an emergency.
5396 North Bay Road
1. Rock star's former Miami Beach manse rented for $50,000 per month [Curbed Miami]
2. Major developers donated to Miami commissioner Francis Suarez [The Next Miami]
3. In S. Florida, buying a home beats renting after about 2 years [Sun Sentinel]
4. What's driving the MiMo revival? [GlobeSt]
- Sean Stewart-Muniz
Two back-to-back July marlin tournaments are on tap for anglers in the Florida Keys.
The first is new and being staged in Marathon as a cost-effective prelude to the Key West Marlin Tournament, a decades-old event steeped in angling history and coinciding with the annual Hemingway Days festival in Key West.
The inaugural July 15-17 event is to be held at the Hyatt Place Faro Blanco Resort & Yacht Club. The $600 boat fee includes entry for two anglers.
First- through third-place teams in the pre-tournament are to compete for marlin division trophies as well as fun fish awards for the three heaviest dolphin fish, wahoo and tuna (yellowfin, blackfin and skipjack).
Tournament chairman Tim Greene said the top-scoring team in the pre-tournament is to be entitled to free entry (valued at about $2,000) into the following week's Key West Marlin Tournament, set for July 20-23 and featuring $50,000 in cash prizes including $25,000 for the winning team.
Final registration for the pre-tournament is set for 5-7 p.m. Friday, July 15, at the Hyatt Place Faro Blanco Resort & Yacht Club, located at 1996 Overseas Highway bayside in Marathon. A captains meeting is to begin at 7 p.m.
Fishing is scheduled Saturday and Sunday with daily weigh-ins at Faro Blanco, which also is to host the Sunday night awards banquet.
Key West Marlin Tournament activities and daily weigh-ins are being staged primarily at Dante's Restaurant and Pool Bar, located at 951 Caroline St. in Key West.
The awards banquet is set for the Westin Key West on the evening of Saturday, July 23.
Bacardi Oakheart is the primary sponsor of both angling competitions.
Tournament information: www.keywestmarlin.com or 305-292-2710
A Walmart.com fulfillment center (Wal-Mart)
From the Los Angeles website: Online shopping addiction seems to have an upside for industrial real estate investment trusts.
Thanks to the rapid growth of e-commerce, industrial REITs have been performing exceptionally well. Shares rose 17.3 percent this year - compared to 6 percent for all equity REITs and 1.7 percent for the S&P 500, according to Green Street Advisors.
The growth is driven by online retailers' rising demand for distribution centers, the Wall Street Journal reported.
Tenants in the top 47 markets occupied about 102 million more square feet by the end of 2015 than in the beginning of that year, up from 93 million in 2014.
In the first quarter of 2016, industrial REITs like Prologis and Duke Realty have posted strong earnings.
But beyond the numbers, investors are beginning to realize that online retail will be an irrevocable driver for industrial square footage demand, as online distribution usually requires more inventory space and logistics coordination than brick-and-mortar stores.
“If you look at major retailers like Wal-Mart, warehouses are set up to send truckloads of goods to individual stores,” James Connor, chief executive of Duke Realty, told the Journal. Online distribution centers, however, “are set up exactly the opposite,” he added. “Everything goes out in onesies and twosies.”
But it won't always be smooth sailing for industrial property owners, analysts warn. Dimmed consumer spending would raise the vacancy and lower rents, and things may fluctuate as online distribution processes grow more sophisticated.
On the other hand, retail REITs are also doing pretty well as modern mall operators such as Simon Properties thrive. In the past five years, as The Real Deal reported in the retail special market report, retail REITs have outperformed eight of the nine other types of REITs, including industrial, office, residential and mortgage. [WSJ] - Cathaleen Chen
Kluge estate in Palm Beach
1. Demo approval clears way to divide Kluge estate in Palm Beach [Palm Beach Daily News]
2. AirBnB might have to divulge secret owners to Keys tax collector [Miami Herald]
3. New Metropolitan apartment complex opens in Wilton Manors [Sun Sentinel]
4. Monroe County considering a settlement for construction dispute [Florida Keys News]
- Sean Stewart-Muniz
