Pritzker-prize architect Rafael Moneo to design Jockey Club condo project

Moneo won architecture’s highest honor

The 13-acre development includes 240 luxury condo units, a 90-room boutique hotel

Jockey Club residents filed a lawsuit against the development

The once-thriving Jockey Club in North Miami is getting a revitalization with an award-winning touch.

Spanish architect Rafael Moneo, a winner of the Pritzker prize in 1996, will design the property’s transformation into Apeiron Miami, a complex including 240 luxury condo units, a 90-room boutique hotel and a new deep-water marina, in addition to the 411 existing condo units. Apeiron, which means “without limits” in Ancient Greek, will encompass 13 acres of land at 11111 Biscayne Blvd.

The project will be Moneo’s first Miami venture, joining other leading architects who have left their mark in Miami, such as Rem Koolhaas, Bjarke Ingels and Zaha Hadid, who died Thursday from a heart attack. Moneo’s work includes cathedrals, high-rises, museums and prominent government buildings around the world.

The former chair of Harvard’s architecture department said he will work to incorporate a design that connects the interior spaces to the outdoor landscape along Biscayne Bay.

“One of the first things to strike me about the chance to build at Apeiron was the opportunity to design not just with the architecture, but with the gardens, with the marina and with the views,” Moneo said. “I think what will distinguish the buildings there is the way they are integrated with an experience enriched by all these ingredients.”

Earlier this month, the property was the subject of a lawsuit filed by the more than 250 families who live in the two existing towers of the Jockey Club. According to the lawsuit, the project plans violate existing agreements from 1977 and 1995 restricting development of the common areas on the 22-acre property.

Residents hope to permanently block development in the area.

Read More: http://www.miamiherald.com/

South Florida home prices teeter upwards at slower rate

Home prices across the tri-county area increased by 6.8 percent in January compared to the previous year

South Florida outpaced by nine U.S. cities, including Tampa

Home prices across South Florida continued on an upward trajectory in January but at a smaller clip than in December, according to data released Tuesday.

Prices in the local housing market have increased 6.8 percent compared to January 2015. In December 2015, prices rose by 7.1 percent over the year prior, according to the Case-Shiller Indices, a closely watched housing market indicator. Month-to-month, home values in Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach counties were up 0.4 percent over December.

“Any kind of slowdown that we’re experiencing in the market is a very healthy slowdown,” said Daniel de la Vega, president of One Sotheby’s International Realty. “Prices have gone up year over year, and it’s about time they level off a little bit.”

South Florida was outpaced by nine cities around the country in price increase, including Tampa and Seattle.

“Most of the fast-growing cities are out west, and all this reflects that we have faster growing incomes in the west,” said Kwame Donaldson, an economist at Moody’s Analytics. “These higher incomes are leading to home prices increasing. But Miami is still getting really good growth because home prices . . . are still well below what they were before housing bust.”

The Case-Shiller January results are in line with data released this month by Miami-Dade and Broward Realtors, which saw price increases in both single family and condo sales in February.
In Miami-Dade, February sales prices for existing single-family homes increased 6.4 percent, to $270,221 from $254,000 one year prior; the median sales price for condominiums rose by 9.5 percent that month, to $206,950 from $189,000, according to the Realtors.

In Broward, single-family home prices rose by 4.9 percent ($299,000, compared to $285,000 in February 2015). Townhouses and condos increased by 6.6 percent (to $136,500, compared to $128,050 in February 2015).

Donaldson and de la Vega predict a continued leveling and growth of the local housing market.

Read More: http://www.miamiherald.com/

Luxury condo to break ground along Miami River

Project will be built on parcel of land purchased for record-breaking $125 million in 2014

Tower will feature 384 residential units

Tentatively called Epic 2

Despite reports of a softening condo market, a new one may be on the way along the Miami River.
Riverwalk East Development, led by German Coto of Argentine supermarket chain Coto, and his wife, Gloria, revealed plans to build a 70-story luxury condo at a Miami River Commission meeting on March 15, according to commission chairman Horacio Stuart Aguirre.

“What’s not to like? And the answer is, ‘Nothing!’” Aguirre said. “It will make a significant contribution to the city of Miami skyline.”

The project will be constructed at 300 Biscayne Boulevard Way on a 1.25-acre parcel of land the development firm bought in July 2014 for $125 million, a record high for a property of its size in South Florida.

The proposed 817-foot tower will include 384 residential units with 561 parking spaces.
Aguirre said the development will be home to “foreign buyers with big bucks.”
“It’s not families from Pinecrest coming to buy these condos,” he said. “I hope we have these buyers.”

The tower is tentatively dubbed Epic 2, after the site’s former moniker, Epic East. The 70th floor of the building, shaped like the sail of a boat, will feature a lighthouse.

“I call it ‘artistic architecture,’” Aguirre said. “As opposed to blasé, unimaginative square blocks they were building in the ’70s on Brickell. This is delightfully stylish.”

Read More: http://www.miamiherald.com/

KNOW YOUR CONDO ACT: Is my association required to hold regular meetings on a monthly basis?

Every association must hold an annual meeting of the members and a budget meeting. There is no requirement in Chapters 718 or 719, Florida Statutes, for regular meetings of the unit owners or the board of directors. The documents of the association, however, should be reviewed for any such requirements. Note: if 20 percent of the voting interests in a condominium association petition the board to address an item of business, the board, within 60 days after receipt of the petition, shall place the item on the agenda at its next regular board meeting or at a special meeting called for that purpose. 

Condominium: Sections 718.112(2)(c), (d) & (e), Florida Statutes
Cooperative: Sections 719.106(1)(d) & (e), Florida Statutes

Click Here for more: http://www.myfloridalicense.com

We Need this NOW! - Online Voting System!

Becker & Poliakoff launches New Online Voting System! 

Today is a very exciting day as we announce the launch of BPBALLOT, the proprietary online voting software system developed by the law firm of Becker & Poliakoff.

It has been almost 9 months since Florida law was changed on July 1st, 2015 to allow members in all types of community associations in Florida to cast votes online rather than using paper proxies and ballots. BPBALLOT represents a sea change for communities throughout Florida who have struggled for years or decades to encourage member participation in votes to elect directors, amend the governing documents, waive reserves, approve material alterations, etc.

For communities with significant out of state (and out of the country) owners, BPBALLOT will allow those members to be more engaged with their communities. Other benefits can include fraud prevention, cost effectiveness and the ability to cut down significantly on the time it takes managers and boards to handle membership votes..

The Miami Herald recently ran an investigative series on association voter fraud uncovered in two Miami-Dade communities. In one condominium they had 115% voter turnout and in the other they uncovered more than 80 forged signatures on ballots. The reality is that if you do not have paper ballots, you do not have the ability to forge a signature or tamper with a ballot box. While online voting will not appeal to everyone, it does represent the ability to use technology to overcome some of the problems which have plagued associations in Florida for far too many years.

For more information about BPBALLOT please visit www.bpballot.com. 

UPDATE : Construction debris including small fragments of glass found in our beach

Sand Restoration Again?  Who messed up?

From our previous post:

"...the material was placed, construction debris including small fragments of glass, tile and concrete were found at the northern portion of the beach renourishment area.  The state would not allow any material to be removed from the beach during turtle nesting season (May 1 to October 31). Now that turtle nesting season to a close,  FDEP is requiring that the Chateau Ocean Group remediate any impacts to the state owned beach."

See Original Post: http:/i/pavilioncondo.com

EQUAL RIGHTS FOR ALL ASSOCIATIONS?

By Jan Bergemann

  

The Florida legislature tried, but the Florida Supreme court surely didn’t agree.

  

According to the Florida Supreme Court there are no equal rights created by the legislature, if the governing documents don’t contain the few magic words: “as amended from time to time.”

What a big difference a few words can make.

The story started in 2007, when State Representative Julio Robaina filed HB 1373, answering the calls from many condo owners who complained that a small amount of commercial owners had more voting powers than all the private owners together. Their main issue: Lots of the owners’ maintenance fees were used for the benefit of the commercial owners. The bill passed, but the commercial owners filed a lawsuit that went all the way to the Supreme Court. And the Florida Supreme Court upheld the “holy” contract right, much to the dismay of millions of owners of property in community associations.

The Supreme Court’s ruling: Only if the governing documents of the association contain the words “as amended from time to time” can newly enacted laws be applied for associations already in existence at the time when the bill was enacted by the legislature.

  

Julio Robaina’s comment after the commercial owners filed the “GRAND” lawsuit: “We heard so many complaints from owners that we thought it's high time to file this bill. But as soon as owner-friendly laws are enacted the industry sues."

  

I guess that sums up the fate of family’s living in associations.

  

I guess you all know what happened after the RULING OF THE SUPREME COURT, but do you know how it all started? If you want to read the whole story, please click here:

http://www.ccfj.net/CCFJSupCourtFLGRAND.htm 

Read More: http://www.hoa-condoblog.com/