Dolphins owner Ross mulls renovations
While New York hosts its first Super Bowl, Miami Dolphins owner and Related Cos. head Stephen Ross is trying to get back in the big game.
Dolphins CEO Tom Garfinkel recently told a Miami business group the team is revamping plans for extensive renovations at Sun Life Stadium, which last hosted the Super Bowl in 2010.
National Football League officials say major upgrades are needed before Sun Life gets to host another Super Bowl. The next chance for Miami is 2019.
Ross led a failed push for publicly funded stadium renovations last year.
It is unclear whether a new proposal would also include public money. Miami-Dade County commissioners supported a plan that called for $289 million over 30 years from a proposed county hotel bed tax increase, but the plan needed state approval, and the Florida House of Representatives did not even vote on it last spring.
Edgewater sees condo construction boom
Condo builders are increasingly targeting Miami’s Edgewater neighborhood, one of the few in South Florida with developable waterfront land.
Some of the most notable developers in the region have planted their flags there. At least 10 condo towers are proposed for the 20-block stretch of Biscayne Boulevard from Northeast 17th to 37th streets. Projects include Related Group’s Icon Bay and Paraiso Bay, Melo Group’s Bay House, mckafka Development Group’s The Crimson and Eastview Development’s Biscayne Beach.
Miami condo developer and film producer Valerio Morabito is considering jumping on the Edgewater bandwagon. He could build a series of low-rise condo buildings to offer a different product type from the high-rise projects that dominate the area.
Opportunistic land-bankers are also gobbling up Edgewater properties. Brazilian airline mogul Jose Afonso Assumpcao recently picked up a multi-property Edgewater site that has high-rise development potential. He has no immediate plans to build there.
Malaysian gaming giant finds downtown partner
Malaysia-based Genting Group formed a partnership with a prominent racetrack operator and dramatically revised the gambling component of its Resorts World Miami development, which withered in 2011 when state legislators refused to change Florida gaming laws to allow a $3.8 billion casino resort on the former Miami Herald headquarters site downtown.
Genting recently announced plans to team up with the owners of Gulfstream racetrack in Hallandale Beach for using Gulfstream’s permit to open 2,000 slot machines and simulcast betting on horse races as part of the larger mixed-use project.
To date, state regulators have refused to accept Gulfstream’s contention that the permit allows it to operate gaming facilities in both Miami-Dade and Broward counties. Genting could ask the legislature to clarify the law, push gambling regulators to change it or take legal action to try and secure the permit.