Free Publicity President Brings To Palm Beach May Overshadow Negatives

While airports and some retail locations have been hurt by traffic and road closures during President Donald Trump‘s four visits to his Mar-a-Lago estate since Inauguration Day, leaders of Palm Beach County area business associations see his visits as priceless free marketing.

“There is no question that President Trump’s Winter White House in Palm Beach has clearly elevated the profile of the island and the surrounding areas,” said Kelly Smallridge, president and CEO of the Business Development Board of Palm Beach County. “There is no way we could have ever been in a financial position to have the name ‘Palm Beach’ mentioned so many times on national and international media outlets as often as when the President visits Mar-a-Lago. Our county clearly benefits.”

In addition to the free marketing, the exposure is bringing more people to the region, although any net benefits are hard to deduce because it’s high-season for tourism in Palm Beach.

“All we’re hearing is that it’s good, there’s a trickle down of people coming down into town … they rent hotel rooms and go out to restaurants,” said Penny Pompei, chair of Palm Beach SCORE, an office of the national business counseling and development organization.

Rick Rose, who leads walking tours in the posh Worth Avenue shopping district and is a proprietor at the Grandview Gardens Bed and Breakfast, says he’s seen “no uptick at all” at either of his businesses since Trump has been president. That’s partly because this is the height of the tourism season. However, he gets more questions about Palm Beach and Mar-a-Lago on his walking tours, especially from international visitors and journalists wanting to know more about the history of the area.

“They’re a little more interested in Palm Beach than they have been in the past,” Rose said.

According to Marley Herring, president of the Worth Avenue Association and owner of Marley’s Palm Beach Collection, the first Trump weekend visit presented some obstacles like traffic, but Palm Beach has since adjusted and is benefiting from the exposure. The first presidential weekend stay brought closures which blocked a normal entrance to Worth Avenue, but now visitors are getting used to the traffic detours.

“It’s equaled out. At first, that initial weekend, because no one knew the traffic patterns, that was hard to deal with. But you can see an uptick every weekend since,” Herring said.

During the president’s fourth weekend visit, it was back to business as usual along Worth Avenue.

“It’s been positive, and the fact is it’s getting better every week,” Herring said. “I think he’s just doing what he normally does, and what a great place to do it. It’s just beautiful here.”

Like airports, the waters around Palm Beach and Mar-a-Lago have restrictions put in place when the president is in town. But the marine industry doesn’t seem to be as affected as the airports. In fact, Chuck Collins, executive director of the Marine Industries Association of Palm Beach County, seems to have an opposite view.

“It’s probably one of the best things that have ever happened to us,” Collins said.

Collins is a marine veteran, having served as the former South Regional Director for the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. For Collins, who joined the Marine Industries Association a little over two years ago, Trump’s visits to Palm Beach County are some of the best advertising for the region’s beaches and waterways.

“Think of what happens when President Trump comes down here. This is the ‘Winter White House.’ What do you see when they film down here? Palm trees, greens, beaches, you see all the different boats in the marine industry, you see all different people paddle boarding, in swim suits,” Collins said. “People are watching this, and you know what they’re thinking? That’s where I want to be when I retire. That’s paradise.”

Collins is familiar with the benefits of free publicity. While at Fish and Wildlife, he was part of the team that decided to launch the python challenge, a special hunting season where hunters were allowed to target invasive Burmese pythons. And although at first there was some criticism, the python hunt netted Fish and Wildlife millions of dollars in free publicity.

“I got a bunch of criticism and I said, ‘Are you kidding? I’ve got 20-foot snakes down here.’ I ended up getting $40 million in free publicity,” Collins said. “That was one little event. Trump’s visits are going to be worth hundreds of millions of dollars in free publicity.”

This is Part IV and the final installment of the Business Journal’s series on the impact of President Donald Trump‘s weekend visits to Mar-a-Lago.

Click here to go to Part I of the Business Journal’s series on the impact of Trump’s visits to Mar-a-Lago, “Trump’s Winter White House visits hamper some businesses in Palm Beach, help others.”

Click here to go to Part II, “Regional airports suffer when Trump touches down.”

Click here to go to Part III, “The free publicity Trump brings may overshadow the negatives.”

 

Source: SFBJ

Broward Marina Owner Seeks Partner For Redevelopment Project

The owner of the Aquamarina Hidden Harbour and surrounding land in Pompano Beach is seeking a development partner should it receive approval for the property’s mixed-use redevelopment plan.

Aventura-based Aqua Marine Partners has a pending comprehensive plan amendment for its nine-acre site on the east side of Federal Highway from Northeast 15th Street to Northeast 16th Street.

Attorney Graham Penn, who represents the owner, said the plan would allow up to 343 residential units and at least 10,000 square feet of commercial/retail space. At least 10 percent of the site must be a use other than residential, he added. The exact size and design of the project would be determined later during the site plan process, likely with an experienced developer as a partner, Penn said.

Andrew Sturner, CEO of Aqua Marine Partners, said he has committed to keeping the main boat storage and working marina on about 2.5 acres and the balance of the site would be redeveloped. He would move some of the marine repair operations into the existing dry stack building. Sturner hopes to reserve space in the new retail for his existing marine-related retail tenants.

“The goal is to keep 100 percent of the marine use,” Sturner said. “The one thing we are focused on is continuing to maintain the marine use and continue to own and operate the marina.”

Sturner’s group bought the marina at 2315 N.E. 15th Street from Huizenga Holdings in 2008. His company owns five marinas. Since Aqua Marine Partners is not a residential developer, Sturner hopes to find a partner with experience in that field.

“We are looking for something that compliments the marina lifestyle and the recreational boating lifestyle,” Sturner said.

Pompano Beach officials have been encouraging more mixed-use development in the city. In 2013, the city issued a transportation corridor study that advocated for residential projects with ground-floor retail along main roadways such as Federal Highway, Dixie Highway and Atlantic Boulevard. The city recently submitted a plan to the county to rezone much of Atlantic Boulevard, and part of Federal Highway, to encourage pedestrian-friendly mixed-use.

While that plan doesn’t include the Aquamarina Hidden Harbour site, Penn said he feels the development will match what the city is looking for.

Much of the space along Federal Highway in front of the Aquamarina Hidden Harbour is currently vacant. Penn said the development plan would require at least one public access point of viewpoint to the water from the surrounding streets.

“The comprehensive plan amendment for Aquamarina Hidden Harbour passed the city commission on first reading.” Penn said. “It will likely head to the county commission in May or June, and then require another city commission vote. We are trying to set the table for someone to come in and get the flexibility to design something that is really great.”

Click here for a SFBJ slideshow of the Aquamarina Hidden Harbour in Pompano Beach.

 

Source: SFBJ

Broward Sets Hearing On Medical Marijuana Shops

Medical marijuana shops could crop up on Broward’s main thoroughfares.

Commercial strips along Sunrise Boulevard, U.S. 441, Northwest 27th Avenue and Northwest 31st Avenue, also known as Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard, would be fertile territory for marijuana dispensaries, under a proposal county commissioners pushed forward Tuesday. Commissioners set a March 14 public hearing, where a final decision will be made.

Broward’s move Tuesday involves a tiny sliver of the county, the unincorporated areas. All other parts of Broward are represented by city governments, and city officials will settle the rules about where dispensaries can be within their boundaries.

Some of them, such as Sunrise, Boca Raton, Hallandale Beach and Fort Lauderdale, already have put temporary moratoriums in place while they wait to see the state’s new rules. Palm Beach County also put a moratorium in place.

Any pot shop in unincorporated Broward would be required to have 24-hour security and video surveillance cameras, under what’s proposed. The company would have to employ a medical director, and the owner would have to undergo a background check. The shops could not be within 1,200 feet of a church, school, daycare center or another marijuana dispensary. The shop would have to close by 9 p.m. Even with the correct zoning, the dispensaries, where patients would obtain medical marijuana, could not be opened without County Commission approval. One criteria would be that it is “compatible with the community character.’’

The only sites where marijuana could be cultivated and processed would be in industrially zoned areas.

  • In unincorporated Broward, the only industrial zoning is along the east side of Northwest 27th Avenue, south of Sistrunk Boulevard, and just north of Broward Boulevard, between Northwest 25th Terrace and Northwest 25th Avenue, zoning maps show.
  • Northwest 27th Avenue has the most medical marijuana zoning, in the proposal, from Sunrise Boulevard south to just before Broward Boulevard.
  • The portion of U.S. 441 affected by the proposed law is in Broadview Park, on the west side of the highway, from Davie Boulevard south to Interstate 595.
  • Along Sunrise Boulevard, the dispensary zoning is on the south side, from Northwest 31st Avenue to Northwest 27th Avenue.
  • On Broward Boulevard, just one corner at Northwest 25th Avenue meets the zoning rules.
  • And along the east side of Northwest 31st Avenue, a section from Sunrise Boulevard north to 13th Street would be eligible for marijuana establishments.

Residents in the community weren’t aware of the proposal, the Rev. Jesse Scipio said. Scipio, president of Boulevard Gardens Home Owner Association, said marijuana shops have no place in his community. Boulevard Gardens, north of Broward Boulevard between Northwest 31st to Northwest 24th avenues in central Broward County, has some of the intense commercial zoning proposed for pot shops.

“I don’t understand why we weren’t aware that was the county’s proposal,’’ Scipio said. “They didn’t come to us at all and ask us, ‘Would you want to have that?’”

Scipio said the community already has problems with drug users and doesn’t need medical marijuana added to the mix.

“Let’s put it this way: You’ve got a small fire and you’re going to add fuel to the fire,’’ Scipio said.

Broward Commissioner Dale Holness said the community’s opinions will be considered. A Feb. 22 public hearing will be held by county staff. Their recommendation will go to the County Commission for the March 14 final vote. He said the proposal gives the County Commission “leeway,’’ requiring their permission for any dispensary business to open.

“This is now putting the public on notice that we’re considering it,’’ said Holness, who represents the unincorporated areas. “We can make adjustments as the community wishes, or come back and say we want a moratorium.’’

Florida voters on Nov. 8 amended the state Constitution to expand the legal medical uses for marijuana and required the state Department of Health to regulate the business. For now, there are seven licenses to grow, process and distribute medical  marijuana, and only one, in Miami-Dade County, is in South Florida. But state legislators are considering bills that would allow the number of marijuana dispensaries to grow.

The Feb. 22 public meeting of the planning and development management division on the county’s proposed ordinance is at 10 a.m. The Local Planning Agency meeting is held in room 329F in the Broward County Governmental Center, 115 S. Andrews Ave., in downtown Fort Lauderdale. The County Commission’s March 14 final public hearing will be held at 10 a.m. in the same building, in room 422.

Click here for the Sun-Sentnel news video ‘Commissioners Set March 14 Public Hearing For Medical Marijuana Shops”

 

Source: SunSentinel

Broward Takes First Steps Toward ‘Downtown West’

But for the hockey arena on it, the 143 acres of public land on the edge of the Everglades in Sunrise is a clean slate.

In the coming 20 years, the county intends to fill in the grassy blanks with Downtown West, a mix that could include condos, stores, restaurants, offices, maybe even a casino.

This week, Broward County embraced a development vision for the land, a potential playbook created by the Urban Land Institute. The nonprofit real estate consultancy visited the site, studied it and issued the report this month. To carry it out, the County Commission agreed Tuesday to hire two real estate employees, including a director of real estate.

The institute’s land-use experts said the county-owned BB&T Center, a giant venue surrounded by parking spaces, represents “an opportunity lost.’’ The consultants said visitors leave the arena after shows or games because there’s nothing there to capture them. They suggest the land be developed thoughtfully, and slowly, with a potential mix of housing, a hotel, office space, retail, a casino and the hockey arena.

“The undertaking is huge and could be controversial,” said Broward Commissioner Nan Rich, who represents most of Sunrise. “There’s a lot of potential. But we have to get it right, and that’s the challenge.’’

The mix of development — including whether casino rights are obtained and whether the Florida Panthers hockey team remains in the arena — will be determined in the coming years. The development is expected to complement what’s around it: America’s largest single-story retail mall, Sawgrass Mills, condo towers and  Metropica, a $1.5 billion development on Northwest 136th Avenue and Sunrise Boulevard that’s in the planning stages.

Sunrise Mayor Mike Ryan said he’s “thrilled’’ the county is taking the opportunity so seriously. He said the arena never was expected to stand alone, as it has since its 1998 construction. Sunrise supports development of the land, he said, and the market will determine the right mixture of uses.

“We’re a partner in trying to help find something that works in the context of what’s already there,’’ Mayor Ryan said.

The land for years was in the hands of the hockey team owners, who never used it. The Panthers, a National Hockey League team, plays in the county arena, and an affiliated company operates it. In a reworked agreement in December 2015, the county won back development rights to the land surrounding the arena. The deal increased the public subsidy of the team by $86 million, to $342 million. The new agreement aims to keep the team in the BB&T Center until 2028.

The county brought Urban Land Institute to town last summer to brainstorm possibilities for the land around the arena, and to look at possibilities if the Panthers ultimately depart. After visiting in June, the institute’s participating experts interviewed those involved in the arena and the site and conducted research, producing the report released this month.

The consultants explored three alternatives: the Panthers extend their lease, and a casino is added; the Panthers extend their lease, and office and housing are added; and the Panthers leave, the arena is demolished, and housing, a casino and offices are added. The third option would bring in the most tax revenue and income to the county, at an estimated $391.3 million over 11 years, the report said.

“Limited initial demand exists for new development on the site,’’ the report says, “However, over time, more opportunities will arise.’’

The development report lays out a timeline from now to 2040 for remaking the acreage.

“Redevelopment of the arena site will require a long-term, patient approach that will take more than 20 years,’’ the report says.

It also acknowledges that market forces, including potential downturns, remain unknown. The path to development started Tuesday with the agreement to hire real estate overseers. The expense of a real estate director and project coordinator is expected to be $275,000 a year, a county memo says.

The consultants suggest the county start by assembling a Downtown West Broward Leadership Council, a hub for public input and problem solving. Ryan said one thorny issue will be management of traffic. He’s advocating construction of Sawgrass Expressway ramps to and from the north, to help drivers reach and depart from the site. He also said it’s important that the county not build anything that would compete with or detract from nearby development.

“It’s critical to get participation from everyone from the beginning,’’ Broward Commissioner Nan Rich said.  “One thing is clear, there has got to be a lot of involvement from the community. When you’re developing something this size, I don’t want to superimpose things on people that live in an area.’’

Click here to view the SunSentinel video ‘Broward Embraces Development Vision of Downtown West’

Click here to view the SunSentinel video ‘Broward Explores Developing Land Around BB&T Center’

 

Source: SunSentinel

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Canadian Drug Firm Buys Miramar Warehouse For $50 Million

Canada-based generic pharmaceutical company Apotex Corp. bought a warehouse in Miramar for $50 million.

An affiliate of Apotex, called Sherm Realty Corp., bought the 302,864-square-foot warehouse Jan. 31 for $165 per square foot.

The seller was Atlanta-based industrial property developer IDI Gazeley, which built the warehouse in 2014.

5501 SW 29 Street in Miramar

The warehouse is located on a 20-acre lot in a corporate park that IDI Gazeley developed at 15501 Southwest 29 Street in Miramar, northwest of Miramar Parkway and Interstate 75. The park’s tenants include Kellstrom Defense Industries Inc.

Colliers International reported that the pace of industrial-space absorption in Broward during last year’s fourth quarter was the fastest in a decade and supported “skyrocketing” lease rates. Colliers reported that 37 percent of all Broward industrial space leased last year was leased in the fourth quarter, about 936,000 square feet.

 

Source: The Real Deal

Pompano May Turn Blighted Inland Area Into A Waterfront Urban Oasis

The city’s blighted northwest section might be land-locked, but its vacant lots could soon become waterfront property.

City officials say they plan to build a set of canals in a kind of project never before seen in Florida. And once it is complete, they hope that high-density housing, hotels, restaurants and stores will then be built around it.

River Walk in San Antonio, built in the 1930s, is the model, said Emily Marcus, a project manager with the city’s redevelopment agency.

“Pompano is a blank slate to really develop properly,” said Nguyen Tran, who oversees northwest redevelopment.

A main canal would run along the half-mile stretch between Interstate 95 and Dixie Highway, north of Atlantic Boulevard and south of Northwest Third Street. A concept drawing shows small canals also running north to south. Currently, the only other canal in the area runs underneath Atlantic Boulevard.

In this new vision, pedestrian bridges would invite strolling over the main canal. Sidewalks and seawalls would line the waterway. It would build on the ambience created in the last two years with the opening of two city-owned art venues in the area.

Carlos Adoriso, a county engineering supervisor, said he’s never heard of a project like this in the area before. But city officials are determined to transform this 38-acre swath of old houses, boarded-up structures and vacant lots into a place where people can work, live and go out for the evening without getting into a car.

“Pompano has very little urban housing for college graduates,” Marcus said. “You look at the millennials, who have the low rate of getting their driver licenses. They are looking to live in urban pedestrian locations.”

A designer for the project will be selected sometime this year. And city officials expect it will take two or three years before construction can start, depending on the speed of permits from the state and county. But some redevelopment is already starting to take place in the area.

The 731 Retail Shoppes, which the city redevelopment agency built and opened in 2014, was the first new retail in the area in 40 years, city officials say. It would be across the street from the main canal.

Last fall, ground was broken on City Vista, a 111-unit apartment complex with ground floor retail that the redevelopment agency will manage and that is within sight of the main canal.

 

Source: SunSentinel

Port Of Palm Beach, Cuba Officials To Meet Friday To Sign Agreement

In the late 1950s the Port of Palm Beach conducted more trade with Cuba than any other port in the world.

Starting in 1946, the West India Fruit and Steamship Co. transported everything from cars to fertilizer, household goods and food to Cuba from the Riviera Beach-based port, and Cuba sent commodities such as sugar, tomatoes, pineapple, and of course, rum, back on the ships.

The company began the Havana Car Ferry service in 1947. It offered a quick, reliable carload freight service between the port and Cuba, according to “Gateway,” a magazine the port used to publish. The trade ended in August 1961 when the U.S. imposed an embargo on all shipments to Cuba after Fidel Castro took control. Trade with Cuba made up half the port’s business, and when the trade ended, the port almost died. It had to borrow money to make payroll to pay its three employees.

On Friday morning, an important step toward once again ramping up trade with the island nation is scheduled to take place. A delegation from the National Port of Administration of Cuba and Port of Palm Beach officials will meet to sign a memorandum of understanding in the port’s boardroom.

The agreement outlines joint initiatives the two parties will undertake, stating that it is “within their mutual interest to establish an alliance of cooperation aimed at facilitating international trade and generating new business by promoting the all-water route between Asia, Europe, Latin America and the Gulf Coast of the United States through the Port of Palm Beach and the Ports of Cuba.”

Port of Palm Beach executive director Manuel “Manny” Almira, who was born in Cuba, said he has relentlessly pursued the project for the last six years. He has worked with the previous Cuban Ambassador Jorge Alberto Bolaños Suarez and now is working closely with Ambassador José Ramón Cabañas Rodríguez and Rubén Ramos Arrieta, minister counselor at the Economic & Trade Office, Cuban Embassy, who have requested that the Cuban government approve the agreement.

From what Almira has been told, only two other ports in Florida, Port Everglades in Broward County and Port of Tampa, have been selected to sign the agreement. Almira said he believes the accord is one of the many steps that would pave the way for a service or services to be established from the Port of Palm Beach to Cuba.

The Cuban delegation plans to make a presentation about the island nation’s Port Mariel special development zone, inland waterway, seaport capabilities and the foreign trade investment to local business people at the port and throughout Palm Beach County.

During its visit to Palm Beach County that starts on Thursday, the delegation will attend a Northern Palm Beach County Chamber of Commerce breakfast, have lunch on the Grand Celebration cruise ship based at the port, make a presentation to the Palm Beach County Commission and attend at event at CityPlace in West Palm Beach. The group will depart for Washington, D.C. on Saturday.

Port Mariel, on Cuba’s northwest coast, is one of three container ports, along with the ones from Santiago and Havana, but Mariel’s is the largest. Mariel opened its container terminal in 2014, and two-thirds of the $900 million project was financed by Brazil.

Mariel is planning its transformation into a major transshipment hub, and becoming the first port of call for “neo-Panamax,” the newer, larger container ships going through the Panama Canal to the U.S. according to published reports.

Some of the joint initiatives planned include marketing, market studies, modernization and improvements and training. Many other things have to occur before trade can begin. Any and all shipping lines expecting to establish service to Cuba must first meet and obtain the license from the Office of Foreign Asset Control, Department of U.S. Treasury.

“Once that license is obtained, then the company will need a license to operate in Cuba. One of the benefits of having an agreement is so that the port can direct businesses to the appropriate transportation ministers in Cuba,” Almira said.

Representatives from the National Port Administration of Cuba scheduled to visit the Port of Palm Beach include:

  • Eradis Gonzalez de la Peña, CEO of Almacenes Universales S.A.
  • Ernesto Viñas Betancourt, advisor of the Vice Minister of Transportation of Cuba
  • Ana Teresa Igarza Martinez, general director of Mariel Special Development Zone
  • Tania Vazquez Garcia, official within the Trade Policy Division with North America, Ministry of Foreign Trade and Investment
  • Rene Rolando Fernandez de Lara Cabazas, director of Inland Waterway and Sea Transport, Cuban Ministry of Transport
  • Joe Lago, First Secretary, Embassy of Cuba
  • Jose Leonardo Sosa Barrios, Deputy Director, Mariel Container Terminal, Port Mariel

From 1946 until 1961, trade thrived between the Port of Palm Beach and Cuba. The West India Fruit and Streamship Co. operated the ships which transported cargo in rail cars.

Here’s a look at Imports and Exports.

Exports From The Port: fats and oils, brick, lumber, phosphate, eggs, agricultural equipment, horses, mules, cars, trucks, tractors, locomotives, railway equipment, fertilizer, industrial chemicals, canned food, meat, fruits, machinery, drugs, household goods, milk, industrial equipment, soap, tallow, tinplate and packaging material

Imports From Cuba: sugar, bones, rum, fibers, fruit, pineapple, oil, tobacco and vegetables

Sources: U.S. Department of Agriculture Economic Research Service, “Florida Havana Railroad Ferry,” Gateway magazine, September/October 1975

 

Source: Palm Beach Post

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Boynton Beach Medical Building Commands $14.8M

A Cleveland-based owner and manager of medical office buildings bought one in Boynton Beach for $14.8 million.

Woodside Health bought the 50,000-square-foot Boynton Beach Medical Center. Bob Mion and John DePersio, agents of Coldwell Banker Commercial NRT, helped to close the deal, which closed at $296 per square foot.

The building at 10151 Enterprise Circle Boulevard in suburban Boynton Beach last sold in 2007 for $10 million, or $200 per square foot. The Palm Beach Post also reported that Barclays Bank made an $11.5 million mortgage loan to Woodside Health.’

 

Source: The Real Deal

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CRE Florida Partners Represents Investor In IRC 1031 Exchange Of Pompano Beach, Oakland Park Industrial Real Estate

cash

Michael Rauch, Senior Managing Partner with CRE Florida Partners and Rauch | Robertson & Co., recently negotiated the sale of an industrial property located at 741 NE 42ndStreet in Oakland Park.

The property, which sold for $1,440,000, or $96 per square foot, is a free-standing industrial building with a 1-acre adjacent outside storage yard. The building features 22’ clear ceiling height and several grade level overhead doors.

“This acquisition represents the ‘up-leg’ purchase of an IRC1031 tax free exchange,” explained Rauch. “We are very pleased to have successfully represented this buyer in both the ‘down-leg’ sale and ‘up-leg’ purchase phases of this tax free exchange.”

Rauch represented the buyer in the transaction.

 

 

 

 

Changes On County Commission Could Signal New Approach To Development

Palm Beach County has been a party for developers during the past couple years. Comprehensive plan changes, zoning changes, they’ve won steady approval from county commissioners.

But November’s elections brought two new commissioners to the dais. The mayor’s gavel has been passed to a different commissioner. And early indications are that the music has stopped. The party might not be over – lots of approved projects have not yet been built – but the cover charge appears to be on the rise.

That’s rare and welcome news for environmentalists and preservationists, who have spent much of the past two years wailing in vain that the county was growing too much and in the wrong areas.

“It seemed to me that everything automatically passed,” said Drew Martin, conservation chair of the Loxahatchee group of the Sierra Club.

The list of agreed-to, pro-development requests has grown over the past two years.

Minto

In 2014, Minto Communities wanted land use changes to accommodate a massive project: 4,500 homes and the development of 2.1 million square feet of non-residential space in The Acreage.

After months of packed meetings, protests and complaints from environmentalists and preservationists, the commission voted 5-2 in favor of the request.

The county and Minto agreed to several conditions of approval dealing with such things as land set-asides for drainage, schools and parks. Minto, however, flipped the script on the county, backing the area’s incorporation as the new city of Westlake in a move that bewildered and angered commissioners.

It is unclear whether Minto must adhere to the conditions it negotiated with the county.

The Agricultural Reserve

Last fall, some land owners in the Agricultural Reserve, a 22,000-acre farming zone west of Boynton Beach and Delray Beach, wanted the county to lift restrictions limiting the type of parcels that could be used for preservation.

The county requires that 60 acres be set aside for every 40 that’s developed in the reserve. But if the parcel a developer wanted to use to meet that preservation requirement was smaller than 150 acres, it had to be contiguous to another parcel already in preservation.

The goal was to allow for some development in the reserve while at the same time preserving much of it for agriculture.

But smaller landowners complained that the rules unfairly depressed the value of their land, forcing them to remain in unprofitable nursery or farming operations.

Those landowners pressed commissioners to scrap the so-called contiguity rule, and, with a vote of 5-2, that’s just what they did.

Indian Trails Grove

In September, GL Homes asked the county to change its comprehensive plan to accommodate a project including 3,900 homes and the development of 350,000 acres of non-residential space on 4,900 acres west of 180th Ave. N. and south of Hamlin Road.

Environmentalists and preservationists made familiar arguments — too much development, too much stress on roads. The commission voted 6-1 to grant GL Homes’ request.

Iota Carol (AKA Delray Linton Groves)

An affiliate of a Newport Beach, Calif. investment firm asked the county to change its comprehensive plan to accommodate a project including 1,030 homes on 1,288 acres west of The Acreage.

Again, environmentalists and preservationists asked commissioners to deny the request, and commissioners again refused.

Zoning changes for the Indian Trails Grove and Delray Linton Groves projects are expected to come before the commission this year.

 

That commission is different from the one that approved development requests over the past couple years.

Shelley Vana and Priscilla Taylor, consistent votes in favor of development projects, have been replaced on the commission by Dave Kerner and Mack Bernard.

And the mayor’s gavel has been passed from Mary Lou Berger, who has also favored development projects, to Paulette Burdick, who has been the commission’s most persistent critic of them.

The changes have had an immediate impact.

In December, the county debated whether it should agree to sell 571 acres in the Agricultural Reserve it owns jointly with the South Florida Water Management District.

The 571 acres are part of a larger tract the county purchased in 2000 using public money raised to acquire land for preservation or agriculture. Two years later, the water management district purchased a 61 percent stake in the 571 acres with plans to use it as the site of a reservoir.

The district no longer plans to have a reservoir built there and wants to sell the land. Because the land is jointly owned, the county would have to agree to the sale.

Environmentalists and preservationists said the sale could one day lead to more development in the reserve.

A majority of the commission — Burdick, Melissa McKinlay and the two new commissioners, Kerner and Bernard — said they weren’t prepared to vote in favor of a sale.

The commission eventually voted to conduct a joint meeting with the district’s board of governors to see if it’s possible to head off possible legal action over the land.

“They are showing they are being more moderate,” said Karen Marcus, a former commissioner. “These folks are more skeptical of projects.”

Burdick, denied the gavel in a rebuke two years ago, now has broad authority to set the terms of debate. As chairwoman of commission meetings, she can decide not to accept a motion and extend or restrict the time allotted to speakers.

In addition to zoning requests on big projects, commissioners this year are expected to conduct a workshop on the county’s workforce housing program, set up to require developers to include lower-cost housing in their projects.

Developers don’t like the requirement and have frequently exercised their right to pay a fee in lieu of building the less expensive housing. Burdick has argued that the buy-out costs should be scrapped or raised so the county gets more money to help provide affordable housing or developers are more inclined to build it.

When the program was discussed in the past, Burdick’s frustration with the buy outs would induce eye rolls from colleagues who argued that developers were merely exercising their rights under the program.

The new commission, however, has chosen her as mayor.

“That they selected Commissioner Burdick to be the mayor, that was thoughtful,” Marcus said.

Burdick said she does not believe she alone can make the commission more wary of development projects.

“I’m only one voice,” she said. “I am hopeful that my new colleagues will look at the economic impacts of some of these new projects.”

That some projects have already moved forward through comprehensive plan changes does not mean zoning changes will follow, Burdick said, adding that she does not believe the rejection of zoning requests will automatically prompt lawsuits from developers.

“We’re not taking away any of their current entitlements,” Burdick said.

 

Source:  Palm Beach Post

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Marine Trade Group Gets OK For Foreign Trade Zone In Fort Lauderdale

A new marine industry foreign trade zone has gotten the green light to take off in Fort Lauderdale.

Trade group Marine Industry Association of South Florida said this week it’s won approval from the Foreign Trade Zone (FTZ) Board and Fort Lauderdale’s FTZ No. 241, to create a 16-site foreign trade subzone.

“This is a first of its kind in the United States,” said Phil Purcell, MIASF executive director, in a statement. “Fort Lauderdale is already known as the yachting capital of the world and will now be known for introducing the first FTZ subzone dedicated to the recreational boating industry.”

FTZ restricted-access sites are shielded from the immediate imposition of duties by U.S. Customs, and are empowered to defer, reduce, or eliminate them on foreign products.

“The 16 businesses that will be included in the subzone operate as either a commercial marina, marine parts and components business or a yacht repair facility,” MIASF spokeswoman Kelly Skidmore said.

“Now that the initial filing for FTZ status has been approved, we are excited to begin working with each marina or marine distributor site to activate in compliance with U.S. Customs and Border Protection regulations,” said Gary Goldfarb, chief strategy officer of Interport Logistics of Miami, an FTZ operator and advisor. “There are so many more options for the industry under a FTZ and, as a result, we expect this will be a very active sector for jobs for years to come.”

Others agree.

“Strengthening our marine industry by creating an environment that will encourage more business is the key reason to pursue Foreign Trade Zone activity,” said Karen Reese, administrator for the city’s FTZ No. 241, based at the Fort Lauderdale Executive Airport.

“Providing economic incentives through our Foreign Trade Zone program will enable marine industry businesses to free up important resources that can be used to expand operations, increase revenue, and create additional jobs and career opportunities for our community, while also serving as a valuable tool for future business attraction and retention,” Fort Lauderdale Mayor Jack Seiler said.

 

Source: SunSentinel

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Fla. Firm Leaders Bullish on 2017; Eyes on Real Estate, Corporate Work

Following a year marked by a contentious presidential election and likely changes to come in U.S. policy prescriptions, law firm leaders in Florida are largely optimistic about their firms going into 2017 and expect to see growth in Miami, according to a recent survey of firm leaders and administrators in the region.

“We’re more optimistic today in light of the election,” said Holland & Knight managing partner Steven Sonberg, discussing his personal outlook on the year to come. “The economy was in pretty good shape, and it seems clear with Donald Trump as president, he intends to add fuel to the economy.”

Sonberg isn’t the only firm leader in Florida looking forward to the coming year, according to ALM Intelligence’s Law Firm Leaders survey, which collected responses from administrators and leaders from 56 law firms in the Miami region. The survey was completed in September and October, before Trump’s victory.

In the survey, 29 percent of respondents said they were very optimistic about their firm’s prospects in 2017, while another 64 percent said they were somewhat optimistic. Seven percent said they were uncertain about the coming year, while no firm leaders said they were pessimistic about 2017. The survey also showed that 69 percent of firm leaders in Florida expect deal flow in 2017 to increase moderately over 2016, with another 8 percent expecting a significant increase. While no firm leaders expected deal flow to decrease, 23 percent said that they anticipated flat growth.

The greatest percentage of respondents, 46 percent, said they would expect to see corporate work provide the most revenue growth next year, with litigation as the second most popular response, at 23 percent. Fifteen percent said that they expect to see the most growth in real estate, while 8 percent selected bankruptcy and intellectual property.

Meanwhile, 62 percent of respondents said that they expected bankruptcy and restructuring to be the most financially challenging practice area in 2017. Litigation was named as the most potentially challenging by 31 percent of firm leaders, and another 8 percent pointed to real estate as an expected challenge. A large majority, 80 percent, of respondents said they expected their firms’ billing rates to increase by 5 percent or less in 2017, with the other 20 percent saying they plan to keep their rates at 2016 levels.

Firm leaders were also generally bullish on their firms’ financial outlook for 2017 in terms of the amount of profits taken home by partners. While 20 percent of respondents said they would expect profits-per-partner to decrease, the remainder said they anticipated increases—50 percent said they expect partner profits to grow by 5 percent or less, while 30 percent expected growth of more than 5 percent.

National Comparison

For the most part, the outlook among firm leaders in the Miami regional market closely tracks those of firm leaders in a nationwide survey also conducted by ALM Intelligence. But there were some differences in few key areas—including firm leaders’ optimism about their own firm’s prospects, the likelihood of an increase in deal flow and revenue growth from corporate work in 2017.

Compared to a nationwide survey, which included responses from 103 law firm leaders, a higher percentage of firm leaders in Florida were very optimistic about their own firm’s prospects in the coming year, and a greater percentage of those in the Miami region were more likely to expect increased deal flow and revenue growth from corporate work.

Discussing the results of the nationwide survey with DBR affiliate The American Lawyer, legal consultant Kent Zimmermann of the Zeughauser Group suggested that a change in presidential administration may have some impact on the mix of practice areas providing the most revenue growth for firms. Both the nationwide and regional surveys were conducted in September and October, before the election.

As specific examples, Zimmermann noted that, depending on the policy choices of President-elect Donald Trump, law firms could see more international trade, regulatory and tax work.

“Generally, change in Washington has historically been good for law firms,” Zimmermann told The American Lawyer, “but this particular change will be a mixed bag for law firms, and there will be ups and downs.”

Nationwide, 32 percent of firm leaders said they expected to see the most revenue growth from corporate work, while 27 percent pointed to litigation as the most likely revenue growth driver in 2017. In the Miami region, by contrast, 46 percent of firm leaders selected corporate work as the area that would see the most revenue growth, while only 23 percent said they expected litigation to see the most growth in 2017.

Holland & Knight operations and finance partner Douglas Wright also described likely policy changes in a Trump administration as an opportunity for more legal work in certain areas—the president-elect has, for instance, promised to focus on infrastructure projects and has expressed an interest in overhauling the U.S. tax code.

“I think it’s likely that the tax code is overhauled,” said Wright. “And that really hasn’t happened since 1986, so I think those changes … will require businesses and individuals to reevaluate their structure and business planning.”

Firm Expansion

The nationwide and regional outlook on real estate practices also had some slight differences—10 percent of firm leaders in the national survey said they would expect to see the most growth in their real estate practices; in the Miami regional results, 15 percent of firm leaders said they expect real estate to be the practice with the most growth next year.

Sonberg expects his firm’s real estate work to continue at a high level. That’s especially true in Florida, he said, where real estate developers are remaking the landscape around Miami by eyeing potential projects in Broward and Palm Beach counties. He and his colleague, Wright, also noted an ambitious plan by Tampa Bay Lightning owner Jeff Vinik to develop an area in downtown Tampa.

GrayRobinson President Mayanne Downs had a similar take, saying that in light of increased real estate development, she’s seen a high demand for legal work in the realms of land use, permitting, planning and zoning. She also noted she’s starting to see an uptick in construction-related litigation that’s followed some of the real estate development in the state in the recent past.

“Real estate transactions are up,” Downs said, “and with that, all the stuff that goes with it.”

Law firms themselves have their own real estate and expansion plans. Downs noted GrayRobinson has a relatively new office location in Miami after relocating in 2015 to the downtown Wells Fargo Center. And Sonberg said Holland & Knight plans to add a sixth floor to its lease in the South Florida hub city.

Those developments appear to align with the survey results—83 percent of firm leaders in Florida said they expect to add lateral partners in Miami next year. The next most popular responses were New York, where 33 percent of firm leaders said they expect to hire laterals, and in Los Angeles and Chicago, where 17 percent said they expect to add to their partner ranks.

Overall, 72 percent of survey respondents said they would expect in 2017 to increase their firms’ total head count by 1 to 5 percent, while 14 percent anticipated more growth of 6 to10 percent. The remaining 14 percent of firm leaders said they expected to keep their lawyer head count the same in 2017 as it was in 2016.

Downs, for her part, said she’s focusing on hiring in Miami, but she also stressed that she’s engaged in a lot of recruiting throughout many of GrayRobinson‘s offices in Florida.

“Miami is buzzing. … It’s almost as if there’s an electric hum in the air,” she said. “So Miami for sure. But I really am seeing the excitement around the state.”

Source: DBR