Pavilion from the Ocean

Pavilion from the Ocean

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This forum, by owners for owners, provides useful information for owners to view and discuss.

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South Florida home price gains outpacing most of the nation


South Florida continues to see higher home-price increases than most of the rest of the country, according to a leading indicator released Tuesday.

Prices in Palm Beach, Broward and Miami-Dade counties rose 7.4 percent in August compared with August 2014, figures from the Standard & Poor's/Case-Shiller index show. It was the region's 18th consecutive increase.

The index tracks prices in 20 major metro areas nationwide. Denver and San Francisco each had 10.7 percent annual increases in August.
Portland, Ore., (9.4 percent), Dallas (8.9) and Seattle (7.6) were the other metros outpacing South Florida.

Case-Shiller is widely considered to be one of the best measuring sticks for home values because it tracks the price of the same house over time. But the index lags local Realtor board numbers and does not include condominiums. Realtor boards release a median price for homes sold in a given month.
Nationally, home price appreciation "has settled into a nice groove over the past few months," Svenja Gudell, chief economist for real estate website Zillow.com, said in a statement. "This relative stability should continue into the foreseeable future."

While a shortage of listings has given some sellers the edge in negotiations recently, agent Jon Klein, who works in northwest Broward and southern Palm Beach counties, doesn't think the market favors buyers or sellers.

Buyers of starter homes often face bidding wars, but those looking at homes priced in the $450,000 to $750,000 range aren't rushing into deals, said Klein, of Real Living 1st Choice Realty.
"I am seeing houses stay on the market longer," he said.


Klein expects price increases to slow into next year. Home prices traditionally appreciate annually at 4 to 6 percent.

Luxury condo tower breaks ground at planned 65-acre project in Sunrise


Tower is part of planned 65-acre, mixed-use project called Metropica

Project had been planned during last real estate cycle but is just getting off ground

Developers want to build a total of 1,800 residential units near Sawgrass Mills mall





Read more here: http://www.miamiherald.com/news/business/real-estate-news/article41586912.html#storylink=cpy
Developers broke ground on a luxury condo tower in Sunrise on Tuesday, heralding the first stage of what they say will be a massive 65-acre, mixed-use development called Metropica near the Sawgrass Mills mall.

They also announced a host of new restaurants and shops for the project’s retail center, a 480,000-square-foot mall, including New York-based burger chain Shake Shack, Peruvian gastrobar Pisco y Nazca and clothing store Anthropologie.

The 28-story residential tower will include 263 condos with the luxury amenities that have become standard at projects downtown and on the beach: 24-hour gym, tennis courts, children’s play room, private club room, business center and movie screening room. Units range from $300,000 to more than $1 million, and are priced between $375 and $425 per square foot. That’s expensive for West Broward but still cheaper than new construction in Brickell ($641 per square foot) and Edgewater ($563 per square foot).

8 Number of luxury condo towers planned for Metropica development in Sunrise
KGH International Development and the Trillist Companies have formed a partnership to develop the tower, which is being designed by London-based Yoo Studio. KGH chairman and CEO Joseph Kavana said his company will break ground on the mall in early 2016. Trillist is a partner only on Metropica’s residential side.

Also announced for the mall are retailer Free People, jeweler Kendra Scott, organic eatery True Food Kitchen, Mexican chain Salsa Fiesta, gourmet food shop Oil and Vinegar, and gaming arcade/restaurant Kings Bowl.

The mall will be anchored by luxury dine-in cinema iPic.

The developers said they ultimately plan to build a total of eight luxury condo towers with 1,800 residential units. Kavana has owned the land since 1995, but his initial plans to develop were derailed by the financial crisis in 2007.





Read more here: http://www.miamiherald.com/news/business/real-estate-news/article41586912.html#storylink=cpy

Extreme/King Tide Advisory


The king tide is the highest predicted high tide of the year, produced by the orbits and alignments of the Earth, Moon and Sun. In Miami Beach, the king tides occur during the months of September, October, and November.

King tides are expected to be the highest tides of the year over the next week. Residents and visitors are encouraged to stay safe and exercise precaution during this period.

Avoid tidal flood-prone areas such as State Road A1A (Indian Creek Drive) southbound between 40 and 29 streets during the high-tide periods. For your safety, street closures may occur periodically in this area. Seek alternates routes if necessary. 


The city's mitigation efforts include temporary pumps, an innovative barrier dam along Indian Creek Drive, drain plugs, and a vacuum truck. We have also expanded the parking flood relief program to the residents in the Indian Creek neighborhood. Temporary traffic detours may be necessary.
Tides can vary based on a number of conditions and take two to four hours to rise and recede. Please factor in those periods.

Based on current high tide predictions we recommend extra caution during these high tide periods: 
 
Friday, October 23 at 6:25 p.m.   
Saturday, October 24 at 6:57 a.m. & 7:20 p.m.
Sunday, October 25 at 7:54 a.m. & 8:13 p.m.  
Monday, October 26 at 8:48 a.m. & 9:04 p.m.   
Thursday, October 27 at 9:40 a.m. & 9:54 p.m.   
Wednesday, October 28 at 10:30 a.m. & 10:43 p.m.  
Thursday, October 29 at 11:20 a.m. & 11:33 p.m.
Friday, October 30 at 12:10 p.m.  
Saturday, October 31 at 12:23 a.m. & 1:01 p.m.   


For additional information visit: www.mbrisingabove.com or check out the City of Miami Beach Environment & Sustainability Instagram page: @mb_risingabove

Scott Robins sells Washington Avenue retail for $18.6M


Amid a wave of redevelopment along Miami Beach’s Washington Avenue, developer Scott Robins has sold a prime retail property on the avenue for $18.55 million, more than 25 times what he paid for it in 1992, county records show. 

Robins’ 8th Street Washington Holdings LLC sold the 17,500-square-foot building at 743 Washington Avenue to Jamestown, an Atlanta and New York-based real estate investment and management firm – the second notable Miami Beach acquisition for the company this year.
The two-story building, on the corner of Washington and Eighth Street, was listed for $18.95 million in May 2014. The last recorded sale for the 19,500-square-foot lot was in 1992 for $730,000. It was built in 1965, according to Miami-Dade County records.

Marcus & Millichap’s Drew A. Kristol and Kirk Olson were the listing agents.
Washington Avenue is experiencing a new wave of redevelopment, as the city considers new measures that are designed to increase hotel space and retail and dining opportunities on the street, which lags far behind Lincoln Road and Ocean Drive in attracting first tier retail, dining and hotel venues.

Jamestown also purchased a Victoria’s Secret-anchored property on Collins Avenue in March for $25 million. Jamestown, which has a $7.6 billion portfolio in the U.S. and a related company based in Germany, Jamestown US Immobilien GmbH, also owns the Guess building at 736 Collins Avenue.
Robins, along with Miami Beach Mayor Philip Levine, listed a newly constructed building off Lincoln Road, for $30 million in July. Suitsupply, a European men’s brand, is leasing space at the property.

South Florida homes sales jump, but condo sales down in Miami-Dade in September


Single-family homes in Miami-Dade County sold at a good clip in September, but it was a down month for condos.
The housing market in Broward County was strong in both sectors.
In Miami-Dade, 1,200 single-family homes were sold in September, up 2.9 percent from September 2014, according to a monthly report released Thursday by the Miami Association of Realtors. But condo and townhome sales fell to 1,307 for the month, down 8.3 percent year over year.
Miami’s downtown building boom is now starting to bear fruit, with about 4,000 new condo units scheduled to hit the market next year. The new inventory and a strong dollar are combining to depress existing condo sales, particularly by foreign buyers.
Cash deals — a good proxy for foreign buyers — fell to 48.7 percent of all home sales in September, down from 55.8 percent in September 2014, the association said.
$285,000Median sales price for a single-family home in Miami-Dade
Prices remained strong in both sectors, but especially for single-family homes, where inventory now stands at a tight five months of supply. A healthy market generally has between six and nine months of supply.
Median single-family home sales prices in Miami-Dade hit $285,000 in September, compared to $250,000 in September 2014. That’s up 14 percent. Median condo prices rose to $200,500 from $195,00 a year ago, up 2.8 percent. Condo inventory is rising steadily and now stands at about nine months.
Meanwhile, in Broward County, which is less reliant on foreign buyers, sales and prices were up in both categories.
$290,500Median sales price for a single-family home in Broward
Broward had 1,470 single-family home sales in September, up 12.6 percent from September 2014, according to the Greater Fort Lauderdale Association of Realtors. Condo and townhome sales for the month stood at 1,439, up 6.4 percent year over year.
The median sales price for single-family homes jumped to $290,500 in September, up 7.6 percent from a year ago. Condo prices ticked up slightly to $133,000, up 0.8 percent year over year.




Read more here: http://www.miamiherald.com/news/business/real-estate-news/article40889919.html#storylink=cpy

Miami Beach approves convention center renovation - $500M project is largest ever project for the city


After years of false starts, Miami Beach commissioners have approved a massive overhaul of the city’s aging convention center with the goal of boosting occupancy rates from a current average of 50 percent to 70 percent in five years.

In a unanimous vote late Wednesday commissioners approved a guaranteed maximum price of $514.4 million for sole bidder Clark Construction to complete the project by June 30, 2018. Work will start immediately following this year’s Art Basel extravaganza in December, with most construction to be finished by Art Basel 2017.

City officials said they will buy some construction materials on their own, saving about $6 million in sales taxes, and bringing the maximum guaranteed price down to $509 million. Owner’s contingency fees, insurance premiums and additional staff costs are expected to bring the total cost of the project to $615.7 million, making the renovation of the 58-year-old building the most expensive project ever undertaken in Miami Beach. The project will be funded by a 1 percent increase in the city’s resort tax, which voters overwhelmingly approved in 2012, three bonds and a parking enterprise fund.
Clark Construction will serve as a general contractor and nearly 200 sub-contractors are expected to be involved in the massive project. Maria Hernandez, project director of the convention center district told The Real Deal that the construction timetable involves starting on the east and north side of the building and then moving to the west side, where most heavy construction will take place. At that point, more than 1,000 workers will be working on the project on a daily basis, costing more than $1 million a day.

Hernandez said the centerpiece of the renovated convention center will be a 60,000-square-foot ballroom. The existing structure does not have a ballroom, which she said limits its tenants to trade and consumer shows.

“In the future we really want to attract the conventions, and they need to have that ballroom and those meeting rooms, and flexible arrangements which is what we are going to give them in the future,” Hernandez told TRD. The renovated building will have about 5,000 square feet of additional exhibition space and 874 parking spaces.

Denver-based Fentress Architects, in collaboration with local firm Arquitectonica, have designed an undulating white façade for the 1.4 million-square-foot building. The overhaul of the 52-acre convention center district includes extensive telecommunications upgrades, as well as the construction of a $10 million park on a 6-acre site just across the street. Extensive drainage improvements to the area will also include a storm water connection culvert designed to mitigate sea-level rise issues.

Still unresolved is whether a convention center hotel will be built on an adjacent parcel at the corner of 17th Street and Convention Center Drive. Convention and tourism officials say the convention center needs an anchor hotel. Portman Holdings has submitted plans to build a 300-foot tall, 800-room hotel on land at the site that the city intends to lease. However, at least 60 percent of Miami Beach voters must approve the lease. Plans for the hotel were put on hold in September after a poll commissioned by the developer found only 56.5 percent of likely voters supported the hotel plan. Based on those findings, commissioners agreed to delay putting the hotel measure before voters until the March 2016 primary vote.

Miami's next hot spot? A developer wants to spend $1 billion on Miami River complex


Promising to invest $21 million into public spaces, a developer is seeking special permission Thursday to turn six acres along the Miami River into a $1 billion complex of shops, restaurants and towers with more than 1,600 condos and apartments.

The Miami River project, located between Southwest Second and Third Avenues, the river and Southwest Seventh Street, includes two 58-story and two 60-story glass and steel towers overlooking two low-rise commercial buildings to the north along a public river walk with boat slips. Elevated walkways and gathering spaces orbit parts of the project, and a new, private street would cut north to the river through the district’s core, lined the whole way by three stories of retail.

Miami commissioners will vote Thursday on whether to allow CG Miami River LLC to build the 4.2-million-square-foot project, which is taller and denser than what’s allowed by right on the site. The proposal comes before them with the blessing of Miami’s administration, which is partnering with the developer to seek special zoning regulations and extra density in exchange for millions in upgrades to Jose Martí Park and the river walk.

“We are creating a new neighborhood that will transform the Miami River’s urban environment into a dynamic, sustainable and safe mixed use destination that will connect the energy of downtown and Brickell to the cultural richness of Little Havana,” developer Ari Pearl said in a statement.
The design has been in the works for more than a year, dating back to when developer Pearl and the New York-based firm Chetrit Group assembled six acres of land from various owners along the Miami River, including the Finnegan’s River restaurant and the Pleasure Emporium adult superstore. CG Miami River LLC purchased the land for roughly $100 million, enticed by the river and the area’s proximity to Brickell.




Read more here: http://www.miamiherald.com/news/local/community/miami-dade/article40495668.html#storylink=cpy

TO BEG OR BORROW

By Eric Glazer, Esq.


Each year your condo association or HOA is required to pass an annual budget that in theory should pay all of the bills of the association.  The statutes require this.  Then a storm hits, or balconies start deteriorating and many Associations suddenly find themselves in desperate need to repair the common areas with no reserve funding to rely on.  Boards now are faced with a difficult choice.  Do we special assess everyone, or do we borrow money from bank.  Often times, rather than pass a huge special assessment and force everyone to instantly dig deep into their pockets, many associations turn to banks for a loan.  The question is…is there anything in the condominium or HOA statutes that would prohibit this.  In simple terms, the answer is no.  In fact, borrowing money is expressly authorized in the Florida not-for-profit corporation statute.  So, unless there is a specific restriction in your governing documents that prohibits the Board from borrowing money, there really are no restrictions. 
 
When borrowing money from a bank, the association will be required in the loan documents to pass a special assessment in an amount sufficient to fund the repayment of the loan, or promise to include the debt payments in the annual budget.  Several years ago, The Director of the Division of Florida Land Sales, Condominiums and Mobile Homes issued a Declaratory Statement that allows Condominium Associations to permit owners the option of paying the special assessment in full without interest or paying the assessment with interest over time.   The decision does not say the association must offer the option, only that it may offer the option.
 
            The association will be required to sign lots of documents, including a Collateral Assignment of the right to collect assessments.  This simply means that if the association doesn’t pay back the bank – the bank has the right to collect the monthly or quarterly assessments directly from the owners.  In a condominium, one thing the association will not have to sign however is a mortgage.  That’s because the association does not own any property that can be mortgaged.  Remember, all of the owners own the common areas, not the association.
 
            Some board members believe borrowing money is a bad idea because loans are generally repaid over a longer period of time than it would take to collect a special assessment.  The loan repayment is seen as a drag on the long term financial resources of the association.  Others see the ability to borrow as a god send, making repairs to the property possible because most members cannot afford an immediate expensive special assessment.

Miami Beach Raises Metered Parking Up to $4 an Hour


Working a minimum-wage job in Florida no longer even earns you two hours' worth of curbside parking in South Beach. Starting on Monday, Miami Beach hiked parking prices for surface lots and curbside parking spaces across the city, but not all hikes were equal. The biggest hike? Parking at curbside meter spaces on South Beach just went from $1.75 an hour to a whopping $4 an hour.

The $1-per-hour parking in public garages in South Beach is also now a thing of the past. With the exception of the Fifth and Alton garage, which still allows free parking for up to two hours, all public garages in South Beach now charge a base rate of $2 an hour.

(Update: A city spokesperson has clarified that parking garage rates haven't actually increased just yet. The city is still working to update its electronic parking app to work with garages, and until it's up and running, garages are still $1 per hour.)

Know a friend on South Beach who can get you a daily visitor parking pass? Yeah, well that just got more expensive too. Those were raised from $1 to $3.

Public surface parking spaces on South Beach also went from $1.75 to an even $2 an hour.

Mid-Beach, from 23rd to 44th streets in the Collins Avenue and Indian Creek areas, also saw price increases. Curbside meters there went from $1 to $3. Surface lots doubled from $1 to $2. The metered hours there were also massively increased from 8 a.m. through 6 p.m. to 9 a.m. through 3 a.m.

Miami’s downtown building boom drawing to a close


The last time a building boom ended in South Florida, the region's entire economy crashed too. Now, as luxury condo sales slow and the dollar grows stronger, analysts fear the wheels of the current cycle are once again grinding to a halt.
But this time they’re predicting a soft landing, in part because developers didn’t have enough money to overbuild. And single-family homes and ultra-luxury Miami Beach condos may not even feel a bump.
 
The problem slowing down today’s cycle is simple: plummeting foreign currencies are hurting Latin American and European buyers. Those buyers have been driving a boom that launched in 2011 when the dollar was weak.
“From my perspective, what we’re seeing is a marked slowdown tied to the strengthening of the dollar,” said Alicia Cervera, managing partner at the brokerage Cervera Real Estate. “The foreign buyers responded to the stronger dollar by stopping in their tracks. That’s fairly common when there’s a significant adjustment in currency.
“Think of it this way: People were quoted the price of a dollar for a pen. They thought they were paying a dollar. But then with the currency adjustment, they’re now paying $2. If you’re offered the pen for $1, it’s hard to come back and pay $2 for that same pen.”
Already inventory is comparatively high — and expected to grow next year, with developers delivering the most units downtown Miami has seen in a decade. Industry watchers say we’ve reached a tipping point.
 
“The next six months are going to be a strong barometer of where we are in the market,” said Anthony Graziano, senior managing director of Integra Realty Resources, which will release its latest study on the downtown condo market Thursday.
The Miami Herald was given exclusive access to the study, which was commissioned by the city of Miami’s tax-funded Downtown Development Authority and covers the downtown condo market through August.
The report concluded that downtown developers have readjusted their sales expectations as “increased inventory, rising land and construction costs, and fewer international buyers changed local market dynamics.”

Since 2007, the dollar is up nearly 200 percent against the Argentine and Venezuelan currencies, 164 percent against the Russian ruble, 119 percent against the Brazilian real, 35 percent against the Canadian dollar and 27 percent against the Euro, according to research conducted by EWM Realty International.

Read more here: http://www.miamiherald.com/news/business/real-estate-news/article39189630.html#storylink=cpy





Read more here: http://www.miamiherald.com/news/business/real-estate-news/article39189630.html#storylink=cpy

Chinese developer buys one-acre Miami Beach lot for $38.5 million


A Chinese developer paid $38.5 million for a .98-acre Miami Beach lot in a deal that closed Thursday.
.
It’s not the company’s first entry into the Miami market. Last year, China City Construction paid $74.7 million for a 2.4-acre site in Brickell.

Developer Don Peebles, who sold the waterfront site at 6747 Collins Ave. in North Beach, had planned to build a boutique luxury condo called Bath Club Estates. But he pulled out of the project in August, saying it was too small of a site to develop. He paid just $4.6 million for the property in 2010.

Prominent Miami real estate brokers have traveled to China in recent months to attract buyers from a previously untapped source. Economic and political turmoil in Latin America has led to a slowdown in Miami’s downtown condo market.

“This beachfront site is ideally situated in one of the nation’s most sought-after real estate markets, a top-performing hotel market and a place where residential sales top $2,000 per square foot,” CBRE senior vice president Robert Taylor, who represented the seller, said in a statement. “Barriers to entry here are extremely high and land suitable for development isn’t often available; as a result, the site is among the rarest-of-the-rare — an opportunity for a visionary developer to create a prestigious luxury condominium or hotel right on one of the world’s most famous beachfronts.”

China City recently sold a 45 percent stake in its Brickell property to a Hong Kong developer, the blog The Next Miami reported earlier this week. It has said it plans a mixed-use project on the site but may wait until the next real estate cycle to begin building.

Sea Level Will Swamp Miami, New Orleans: Study


Say goodbye to Miami and New Orleans. No matter what we do to curb global warming, these and other beloved U.S. cities will sink below rising seas, according to a study Monday.

But making extreme carbon cuts and moving to renewable energy could save millions of people living in iconic coastal areas of the United States, said the findings in the Oct. 12 edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, a peer-reviewed journal.

We hear the two terms used all the time, often interchangeably. What's the meaning of these words and how do people perceive them?
DCI
Scientists have already established that if we do nothing to reduce our burning of fossil fuel up to the year 2100, the planet will face sea level rise of 14-32 feet (4.3–9.9 meters), said lead author Ben Strauss, vice president for sea level and climate impacts at Climate Central.

The big uncertainty is the issue of when.

"Some of this could happen as early as next century," Strauss told AFP
.
"But it might also take many centuries," he added.

"Just think of a pile of ice in a warm room. You know it is going to melt, but it is harder to say how quickly."
To bring this issue home for people in the United States, the study pinpoints at-risk land where more than 20 million people reside.

The authors projected business-as-usual carbon emissions, in addition to the complication of the melting West Antarctic ice sheet, a process some experts fear is irreversible.

They also considered what might happen if the world were to make a big turnaround, reaching peak carbon emissions by 2020.

This radical scenario would have to occur far earlier than the current aim of some world powers to peak by 2050, said Strauss.


Hedge fund billionaire bought $60 million Miami Beach penthouse


Kenneth Griffin, CEO of Citadel, is reportedly the buyer of the record-breaking $60 million penthouse at Faena House.

The 12,516-square-foot unit has eight bedrooms and a 70-foot-long rooftop pool

Previous record was $47 million paid for an Indian Creek mansion in 2012

The buyer who shattered local real estate records by buying a $60 million Miami Beach penthouse late last month is South Florida-born hedge fund billionaire Kenneth Griffin, according to a report in The New York Times.

The Times reported that “people familiar with the deal” said Griffin, the founder and CEO of Chicago-based hedge fund Citadel, bought the eight-bedroom penthouse at Faena House in Mid-Beach for $4,794 per square foot.

Griffin grew up in Boca Raton and attended Boca Raton Community High School, according to a profile in Chicago Magazine.

$7 billion Net worth of hedge fund mogul Kenneth Griffin

Forbes pegs Griffin’s net worth at about $7 billion. He paid $10 million above asking price for the 12,516-square-foot unit at the ultra-luxury 18-story tower built by Argentine developer Alan Faena.

The deal was done through a Delaware corporation that lists no owner or board members. Delaware state law does not require companies to reveal their owners. Wealthy buyers often use such tactics to obscure their identities and prevent them from showing up in public property records.

The previous sales record for a local home was an Indian Creek mansion that went for $47 million in 2012. The record for a condo was a unit at the Continuum in South Beach that sold for $27.5 million, or $3,342 per square foot, in 2014.

18-acre development site hits market in North Miami Beach


A 17.7-acre parcel of land in North Miami Beach is up for sale as the city tries to attract developers with new zoning regulations.
“This is the only site in the area that is a blank slate,” said Cary Cohen, senior vice president at Flagler Real Estate Services, which is handling the sale. “You could do retail, commercial, hotel, office, even a charter school. And it’s shovel-ready.”
The roughly triangular lot, a former distribution site for Peoples Gas, is bordered on the north by Northeast 159th Street, on the west by Northeast 19th Place and on the southeast by West Dixie Highway. It lies just to the west of Biscayne Boulevard.
The current owner, real-estate investor Jacob Elharar, said he would be willing to sell all of the site, which is being marketed under the name Biscayne Village, or just part of it.
“We’ve had offers in the $30 million to $50 million range,” said Elharar, who paid $17 million for the land last year through a Delaware-based corporation. Elharar has sought development partners for the site in the past. Its previous use by the gas distributor required environmental remediation to remove contamination.
A lawsuit alleging that Elharar and partner Amram Adar unfairly took over real-estate broker Emile Farah’s stake in the property was recently settled out of court, according to Elharar’s attorney Joseph Geller, who also serves in the Florida House of Representatives.
In March, the city of North Miami Beach rezoned about 41 acres of land to allow for high-density, mixed-use development. Biscayne Village lies in one of those rezoned areas. Developers can now build up to 2,300 residential units and 2.5 million square feet of commercial space on the site, which has an address at 15780 W. Dixie Hwy.
“The overall vision is to capitalize on the world-class location that we have here in North Miami Beach,” said Mayor George Vallejo. “We had to change our codes in order to support people coming in, reinvesting, redeveloping.”
Elharar said he moved on the land last year because he believed the rezoning would pass the city council.
“We knew the city’s agenda was to move things forward,” he said.
Just to the northeast of the Biscayne Village site, a team of developers recently paid $23.5 million for the land that Dean’s Gold strip club now calls home. The new owners, Privé Land Banking and CK Holding Group, said they plan to redevelop the property.
Also nearby, developers 13th Floor Investments and Key International have announced a plan to build two 32-story, luxury condo towers on bayfront land.


SHOULD THE BOARD HIRE A BOARD MEMBER’S COMPANY?


By Eric Glazer, Esq.

            Let’s say your condominium building needs a paint job.  It just so happens that the President of the association is the owner of a general contracting firm.  He tells the Board to stop racking their brains trying to find a company.  He promises to have his company do the job right.  He will certainly give the association the best price.  His company will provide a warranty.  He will personally supervise the job.  All required permits, if any, will be pulled.  And in the end…..it will look like Michaelangelo himself painted the property. 
  
            Two questions…….The first is whether or not the Board of Directors can enter into a contract with a company that a fellow director has an interest in.  The second question is…even if the law allows for such a contract, is it a good idea?

            For both condominium and homeowner associations the law states:
(As to any contract or other transaction between an association and one or more of its directors or any other corporation, firm, association, or entity in which one or more of its directors are directors or officers or are financially interested:

(a) The association shall comply with the requirements of s. 617.0832. (full disclosure)
(b) The disclosures required by s. 617.0832 shall be entered into the written minutes of the meeting.
(c) Approval of the contract or other transaction shall require an affirmative vote of two-thirds of the directors present.  (The director who is interested cannot vote)
(d) At the next regular or special meeting of the members, the existence of the contract or other transaction shall be disclosed to the members. Upon motion of any member, the contract or transaction shall be brought up for a vote and may be canceled by a majority vote of the members present. Should the members cancel the contract, the association shall only be liable for the reasonable value of goods and services provided up to the time of cancellation and shall not be liable for any termination fee, liquidated damages, or other form of penalty for such cancellation.
   
          So, Florida law does allow the association to enter into a contract with a director’s company.  But is that a good idea?  There are situations where such an arrangement can work out fine.  The job gets done, the service is performed, the association saves money, and everyone is happy.  When it goes bad however, it’s an uncomfortable situation for everyone.  Remember, the road to hell is paved with good intentions.

            Doing business with a Board member or their company.  Good idea or bad?

Car2go expands service to Miami Beach

The car-sharing company car2go is expanding its business into Miami Beach.
Car2go members will be able to hop in a Car2go vehicle throughout Miami and Miami Beach 24-hours a day and pay only for the time they use.
The cars can be parked in a city metered space, a residential neighborhood street within the car2go Home Area, or a car2go designated parking space. All tolls are covered by the company.
New members can register with the promotional code BEACH to receive discounted registration and 30 minutes of free drive time.

South Florida home prices rise in second quarter

South Florida home prices continued their steady growth in the second quarter of 2015.

The median sales price for single-family homes in Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach counties hit $289,000, up 7.4 percent from the second quarter of 2014, according to a quarterly report from the National Association of Realtors released Tuesday.

The median sales price for condos in South Florida also rose to $156,000, up 7.1 percent year-over-year.

Since the economy began recovering local real estate values have skyrocketed, largely fueled by foreign investors, but the pace of growth has slowed over the last year.

Even with the slowdown, rising prices are still making it hard for many residents to find affordable housing because wages aren’t keeping pace. In Florida, per capita income is up just 1.2 percent so far this year, according to the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis. That’s made South Florida one of the least affordable housing markets in the country.