The Real Deal identified the top lobbyists behind Miami’s biggest developers, the hired guns who know the ins and outs of local government and get projects across the finish line.
In our latest issue, Coconut Grove developer Michael Swerdlow acknowledges that hiring lobbyists is “a necessary evil.” But he likes his very much, he says.
There’s Ron Book, who my colleague Francisco Alvarado refers to as “the godfather of Miami-Dade’s lobbyist industry.”
Book represents billionaire developer and Miami Dolphins owner Steve Ross, Bal Harbour Shops owner Whitman Family Development, multifamily developer Atlanta Pacific Communities and the Florida Apartment Association. Many local governments also hire him to represent their interests in Tallahassee, including Bal Harbour, Coral Gables, Miami, Miami Beach, Fort Lauderdale, and Miami-Dade and Broward counties. He insists he has a firewall in place to avoid conflicts, which some dispute.
There’s also Iris Escarra, an attorney at Greenberg Traurig, whose clients include 13th Floor Investments, Mast Capital, Related Group and NR Investments — all active in the city of Miami. Escarra says she’s speaking with city employees every day.
“We know where the sticking points are going to be,” says Escarra, who spent three years as a Miami assistant city attorney before joining Greenberg in 2005.
Former Miami city commissioner Humberto Hernandez, who goes by Bert, was convicted of voter and bank fraud and served three years in prison in the late 1990s and early 2000s. But his connections have helped him as a lobbyist. He has more recently represented Hyatt Hotels Corp., which is working with Gencom to develop a $1.7 billion, three-tower project in Miami; and Miami Freedom Park, the partnership that includes the billionaire Mas brothers and soccer superstar David Beckham.
“I have been wrapped up in this world for many years and met so many people, not just elected officials, that have opened doors for me to represent and help these developers,” Hernandez says.
What we’re thinking about: Venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz, which manages $7.6 billion in crypto-related assets, exited its South Beach office lease earlier this year. The firm’s move to Miami helped fuel the hype of companies expanding to South Florida. Who’s next? Send me a note at kk@therealdeal.com.
CLOSING TIME
Residential: Financier Donald Sussman sold his 20,000-square-foot, 10-bedroom, 15-and-a-half bathroom estate in Fort Lauderdale for a record $70 million. A Delaware LLC purchased the waterfront 2.7-acre property at 5 Harborage Isle, and the buyer plans to demolish the main house and build a smaller home on the lot.
Commercial: Publix paid $50.7 million for the shopping center at 4601-4777 South University Drive in Davie. Southeast Centers and PGIM, the real estate arm of Prudential, sold the property. It’s one of seven centers that the grocery giant acquired in Florida recently, for a total of $224 million.
NEW TO THE MARKET
Minor League Baseball team owner Bruce Quinn and his wife, Susan Quinn, listed their 2-acre estate in Stuart, Florida for $47.5 million. The 11,606-square-foot, five-bedroom home at 3016 Southeast Dune Drive is listed with Martin Conroy of Sailfish Point Realty. It includes a bowling alley, game room, theater, koi ponds and a lazy river pool and spa.
A thing we’ve learned
Chinese weightlifter Guo Lingling broke her own record and the world record twice, lifting 122 kilograms and 123 kilograms at the Paralympics in Paris, earning a gold medal. That’s the equivalent of 269 and 271 pounds.
Elsewhere in Florida
- The whistleblower who leaked information about Florida Department of Environmental Protection’s plan to build golf courses, hotels and more at nine state parks was fired, the Tampa Bay Times reports.
- Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro’s plane was seized in the Dominican Republic and extradited to the U.S. The Department of Justice alleges the plane was “illegally purchased for $13 million through a shell company and smuggled out of the United States for use by Nicolás Maduro and his cronies,” NBC 6 reports. It’s been a little over a month since Maduro declared himself the winner of Venezuela’s presidential election, which the U.S. disputes.
- Twenty-seven people were arrested by the FBI and face charges of trafficking cocaine, including John Robert Strama Jr., the owner of a powerboat racing team in South Florida. Those arrested are primarily from the Florida Keys and Miami-Dade County, according to Channel 10.