A Subway Cafe
As part of an expansion and overhaul of its eateries in South Florida, Subway will open the region’s first Subway Cafe at Florida Atlantic University in Boca Raton. The Subway Cafe differs from the regular Subway in having more of a coffeehouse environment. The company is also installing new decors and concepts at its stores in the region with its “Metro” design. [more]
Florida Atlantic University’s new $70 million football stadium is set to open tomorrow in Boca Raton, and according to the Sun-Sentinel, its poised to have a big impact on both the school and the surrounding city.
The school has already expanded in advance of the opening, adding two dorms and 1,200 more students to the on-campus population. Further, enrollment and the number of applications for acceptance have reached record heights.
Coach Howard Schnellenberger compares it to downtown Louisville, which underwent a transformation after the University of Louisville unveiled its new football stadium. [more]
The first Max Planck research institute outside of Germany broke ground
yesterday, part of what Palm Beach County hopes will be a thriving
biotechnology hub at the 100,000-square-foot campus. To date, 31
scientists have moved from around the world to the institute, which
studies brain functions and how they are affected by diseases. Florida
Atlantic University and the Scripps Research Institute are already
working with Max Planck, with both relationships crucial as the
university prepares to launch its new medical school. The county has
invested serious time and funds in the Jupiter area, looking to attract
biotech researchers and jobs. [SFBJ]
Florida Atlantic University is looking at options to finance its proposed $74 million football stadium. According to the school’s general counsel, David Kian, a $62 million proposal from Regions Bank is being considered. Another $12 million is slated to come from funds marked for the Innovation Village student housing project. Constructions costs on the stadium, which would be a 30,000-seat, on-campus facility, are estimated at $62 million, and work is scheduled to start on the site in June. The school’s board of trustees will hear the funding proposal next month. [Palm Beach Post] 1 Comment
Bob Swindell, the Broward Alliance’s senior VP of business development since 2003, is expected to become the organization’s president and CEO, taking the reins of a development organization for a county that’s lost residents, businesses and tax revenues to the real estate collapse and a severe statewide recession. Long-time president and CEO James Tarlton resigned Oct. 30. Swindell, 48, owned an industrial supply company prior to joining the alliance. He serves as chairman of the Enterprise Development Corp. of South Florida and is on the board of the Florida Atlantic University Research and Development Authority and the South Florida chapter of NAIOP, the commercial real estate and development association. [SFBJ]
Proponents of the ambitious Miami 21 plan to rezone the city to a more pedestrian-friendly, less car-dependent metropolis now have a few thousand more reasons to make their case.
Walkability, it seems, pays. That might bode well for the plan, which last month was passed by the Miami City Commission. A study of 15 cities around the country concluded that homes located in neighborhoods that consist of a mix of common daily shopping and social destinations within a short distance command price premiums of $4,000 to $34,000 more than similar homes in areas less friendly to folks on foot. The study, titled “Walking the Walk,” was conducted by CEOs for Cities, a national bipartisan alliance of mayors, corporate executives, university presidents and non-profit executives dedicated to guiding urban development in sustainable directions.
The vision of Miami 21 evokes side-street driveways, skylines that transition from tall towers to smaller homes and hide condo garages with storefront facades. These and other elements in the redrawn zoning code aim to localize neighborhood designs that get people out of cars and onto sidewalks. Its concepts are similar to those seen in Mary Brickell Village, a development south of the Miami River. [more]
Florida Atlantic University’s School of Architecture is moving from
building to demolition. It is now offering training classes for workers
and supervisors involved in remediating properties affected by tainted
Chinese drywall. The school is developing a one-day worker safety
awareness class, and a supplemental two-day supervisor and worker
safety awareness training course. In October, the school plans to offer
the classes at its Fort Lauderdale, Jupiter and Port St. Lucie campuses. [more]
Seeing a movie for class should be especially easy for Florida Atlantic
University students, after a 73,000-square-foot building that broke
ground last week opens in 2010. The classroom and office building will
also house a cinema, to be operated by Living Room Theaters, that
highlights independent films. The $19 million classroom building has
been designed to meet the U.S. Green Building Council’s Leadership in
Energy and Environmental Design silver certification. [more]
