Every day, The Real Deal rounds up South Florida’s biggest real estate news, from breaking news and scoops to announcements and deals. We update this page throughout the day. Please send any tips or deals to tips@therealdeal.com
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The federal government will likely buy more homes as climate change intensifies. That move is expected to exacerbate housing inequality because wealthier counties can afford to arrange more government buyouts of homes in those affected areas, according to a study the Miami Herald reported on. “There is a real potential for our responses in a changing climate to make the fat cats fatter, so to speak, and to be to the detriment of our marginalized front line communities,” a co-author of the study said. [Miami Herald]
Stambul sold the Langford hotel in downtown Miami to the parent company of its operator, Eurostars Hotels. Hotusa, a hospitality conglomerate based in Barcelona, paid $37 million for the 126-key hotel. Stambul spent over two years restoring the historic bank building and adding onto the property. [TRD]
An oceanfront estate on Billionaires’ Row in Golden Beach sold at a hefty discount. Sheldon Schlesinger, a noted Fort Lauderdale attorney; and Barbara Schlesinger, a philanthropist and socialite — who both died in recent years — were the owners. It sold for $19 million to a hidden buyer, 55 percent off the original asking price of $42.5 million. [TRD]
President Trump faces another hurdle in shielding tax returns. A federal judge in Manhattan rejected the president’s defense that he is immune from criminal investigation. Prosecutors are seeking eight years of tax returns for an investigation into alleged hush money. [NYT]
Sheetz convenience store founder Robert Sheetz is now flipping luxury homes in Boca Raton. Sheetz sold a waterfront estate at 133 West Coconut Palm Road in the Royal Palm Yacht & Country Club for $11.45 million to the Trust of 133 West Coconut Trust. [TRD]
Amazon is getting into home entry. The retail giant invested an undisclosed sum in SmartRent, a two-year-old startup that provides keyless entry and other automation devices to owners of multifamily properties. The firm raised $32 million in June. [CO]
FDOT’s chief engineer said the street under FIU’s pedestrian bridge that collapsed in 2018 should have been closed while crews worked to repair the structure. Southwest Eighth Street should have been “completely closed to traffic if the contractor was undertaking activities that posed a risk to the public,“ engineer Will Watts wrote, according to the Miami Herald. The collapse in March 2018 killed six people. [Miami Herald]
Palm Beach Gardens approves $43 million recreation facility to be built as a public-private partnership with the Palm Beach North Athletic Foundation. The 200,000-square-foot project would include ice rinks, rock-climbing, basketball, hockey, curling and indoor golf, among other activities. The county will also have to approve the agreement because it owns the land where the rec center will be built. [Palm Beach Post]
Developers are “going SOLO” and betting on neighborhood South of Las Olas Boulevard. A surge of apartment development in downtown Fort Lauderdale is starting to spread south of Las Olas Boulevard, the southern border of the city’s central business district along the Tarpon River. [TRD]
Compiled by Katherine Kallergis