The Miami Beach Convention Center
Eight developers have responded to Miami Beach’s request for proposal for a new convention center, the South Florida Business Journal reported. The project calls for 6.2 million square feet of development that would include a convnetion center, a hotel, outdoor public spaces, parking, restaurants, entertainment, retail and residences on the 52-acre site. [more]
Miami Beach Convention Center
More than 19,000 homeowners could get help with their mortgages this week at an expo in Miami Beach put on by Bank of America, the South Florida Business Journal reported. The bank, which has approximately 1 million mortgages in Florida, booked 140 rooms at the Miami Beach Convention Center for the event, which will take place from Thursday to Saturday. [more]
Miami Beach City Manager Jorge Gonzalez and the Miami Beach Convention Center
In their efforts to find a developer for a revamped Miami Beach convention center, city officials are accusing one another of illegally aiding particular private developers.
The Miami Herald reported that City Manager Jorge Gonzalez pushed the city’s purchasing director to resignation because he was favoring one of the firms bidding on the convention center project even as his job requires him to get the best deal for the city. The purchasing director, Gus Lopez, allegedly resigned because he gave confidential information about the project to a developer before it could be publicized legally. [more]
From left: Mayor Matti Herrera Bower and the Miami Beach Convention CenterMiami Beach Mayor Matti Herrera Bower is urging city commissioners to vote against the expansion of gambling in Miami Beach, the South Florida Business Journal reported.
Bower has authored a resolution for Wednesday’s city commission meeting that opposes casinos, claiming they harm non-gambling businesses, are socially and economically costly, promote corruption, encourage traffic and generally worsen quality of life.
But according to the Journal, one of the motives of the vote is to return the focus to the Miami Beach Convention Center. 1 Comment
Seven consulting firms are vying to oversee the overhaul of the Miami Beach Convention Center, Miami Today reported, with a final decision to come from city commissioners in the next two weeks. An evaluation committee is set to meet on July 1 and 5, said Miami Beach Procurement Director Gus Lopez, and the city manager’s recommendation will be presented to the mayor July 13.
The selected firm will be paid around $100,000 to help find necessary funds, conceptualize a plan, bring in key participants and negotiate terms, Miami Today said. [more]
Miami Beach commissioners unanimously voted Wednesday to support a yet-to-be-filed state bill that would create a funding mechanism for a proposed renovation of the city’s aging convention center, but not for Sun Life Stadium, home to the Miami Dolphins. The vote reinforces the city’s position that the two renovation projects should not be linked, and that the football team should not get public money to revamp its stadium, the Sun Sentinel reported. The bill would enable a 1-cent increase of the county’s convention development tax, which would have to be approved by county commissioners. [more]
The Miami Dolphins are seeking a change in state law that would let Broward County spend hotel taxes across county lines, on a $225 million renovation of the team’s stadium in Miami-Dade, according to the Miami Herald. Mike Dee, Dolphins CEO, revealed the proposal in a speech before a business group in Miami today, describing a funding package that would also use Miami-Dade hotel taxes to fix the 1987 stadium and pay for a major renovation of the Miami Beach Convention Center. While the Dolphins have sought Miami-Dade hotel taxes for at least a year, the public bid for taxes in Broward marks an escalation in the team’s effort to persuade taxpayers that the stadium is a major economic boost for the region. [more]
A panel of experts set up by the Urban Land Institute supported the idea
of a convention center in downtown Miami. “It does make sense,” said
attorney Andrew Robins, the panel’s chair. There is significant
opposition, however, from Miami Beach, the site of the aging Miami Beach
Convention Center. “[A downtown center] could distract from the focus
of building and enhancing [the Miami Beach Convention Center] and could
potentially gobble up some of the funding,” said Miami Beach City
Manager Jorge Gonzalez. “It really gives us some reason for concern.”
The five-member panel said the Miami facility would be focused on
different kinds of events, like classroom space and meetings, whereas
Miami Beach emphasizes exhibitions and trade shows. [Miami
Herald]
Design Miami, the annual four-day December furniture and interior design show traditionally held in a 30,000-square foot tent in the city’s Design District, is likely moving to Miami Beach next year, pending approval by Miami Beach commissioners Wednesday. The Miami Beach version of the show would coincide with the Art Basel Miami Beach and would be located directly across the street. The proposed, three-year lease would relocate the show to a parking lot near the city convention center for between $50,000 and $75,000 a year. Design Miami attracts an estimated 20,000 visitors each year. [Miami Herald]
A little over a month after offering a counseling session to more than 24,000 homeowners in West Palm Beach, the non-profit Neighborhood Assistance Corporation of America will hold another foreclosure prevention expo, this time at the Miami Beach convention center for five days, starting April 15. The NACA, which receives government funding, offers help on mortgage modifications. The group has sponsored 13 other such events in the U.S. For every successful modification that ends up with the borrower making three on-time payments, banks pay the Boston-based group $500. [Sun Sentinel] Comments
