It's like a nightmare where nothing changes...

1. Oh yes, it’s election season coming up in Miami Beach, which promises to keep us filled to the gills with troubling but often hilarious news. The Beach will elect 4 of 7 of the City Commission this November. The Mayor slot is open because of term limits as are the seats of Commissioner/ Resident dental assistant/ Ethnic art critic Matti Herrera-Bower and Simon Cruz. Commissioner Michael Gongora, who filled a one year term must reclaim his seat this fall. So here are the candidates, and their status in the all important filling of jars of mother’s milk:

On the Mayoral side of things Simon Cruz is running far ahead of Herrera-Bower and Raphael Herman. Commission Seat 4: Jonah Wolfson and Luis Salom are running neck and neck with Linda Grosz trailing. Michael Gongora, the incumbent for Commission Seat 5 actually has a, ahem, challenger, Ivor Rose who has raised $0, which may not bode well for his candidacy. In one of the hottest commission seats, Commission Seat 6, has Elsa Urquiza with a slight lead over Frank Kuszewski, though Urquiza is entirely self financed at this point.

Simon Cruz, in his desire to finally get real estate developers, mortgage banker and other members of the housing industry involved in politics did some grass roots work in that community. Over eighty of these disenfranchised, hard working folks gave him baskets of leafy green cash from the fields they toil in, amounting to $27,500. Jonah Wolfson also decided to engage in community activism among his people- his people being high priced attorneys.

Much more forthcoming…


2. When the getting’s good… Sunny Isles Beach. Mayor Norman Edelcup, tells Comfort Homes that their site plan approval has expired and will not be renewed. The denial means the developer will now have to reapply under current zoning codes. Comfort Homes obtained their development rights from Triumph Development over a year ago. The cause of the delay is, surprise, a weak market. It underscores what may happen with a lot of projects that were brought for approval to lock into the more permissive codes but are in doubt in a soft market.


3. Some are looking for other defibrillators to bring a pulse back to Miami real estate-

Such as lower mortgage rates. Will lenders step in to deliver the zap of electric life? Maybe not, if the greater appreciation of risk premiums today influences them to require a greater spread from Treasuries, according to John Burford, senior vice president and investment portfolio manager at The International Bank of Miami. In simpler speak banks will tighten rather than relax access to money in this market climate.


4. It’s really my parents fault I have all these issues. So why not make them pay? South Florida’s young and upwardly mobile are looking for a way to shift taxes to established home owners.

5. The Related Group plans to level the late architect Morris Lapidus "Americana" in Bal Harbor. The 600 feet of private beachfront, on ten acres it didn’t stand a chance. Sheraton Bal Harbour Resort will be giving the pink slip to 648 of its employees come July.

Hotel operator Starwood Hotels & Resorts is partnering in a joint venture with builder-developer, the Related Group to build the St. Regis Resort & Residences, a 568 unit condo-hotel complex will replace it. In giving approval for the demo of this MiMo landmark, Bal Harbor officials may be hoping that Related will maintain their special version of commitment to affordable housing.

6. The poor will always be with us, even in Fisher Island. The working poor can at least get onto Jeb’s access restricted hideaway, which should be calculated into their benefits package. Let’s just hope they don’t unionize. Because that would be so… black. And that has to be bad right Café Porto Cervo?