National Hotel in Miami Beach closes after failing fire inspection

National Hotel in Miami Beach closes after failing fire inspection - MiamiHerald.com: "In an interview, Roy did not provide a detailed explanation as to the problem behind the closing. He said the city ordered the oceanfront hotel closed after it conducted building and fire inspections. Roy said the hotel at 1677 Collins Ave. is preparing the proper paperwork to satisfy inspectors, and that repairs aren’t needed to reopen."

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Miami Beach commission to fight Miami Watson Island plan

Miami Beach commission vows to fight Miami’s Watson Island plan - Miami Beach - MiamiHerald.com: "It was a scene of rare harmony at Miami Beach City Hall commission chambers last week — inspired by a sneaky move by city officials across the bay in Miami, acting in league with mega-developers Jorge Perez and Stephen Ross, that would put a long-stalled plan for a shopping and hotel complex on Watson Island on steroids, choking off access to the MacArthur Causeway and South Beach. At least that’s how everyone in the room saw it, including every single Beach commissioner, Mayor Matti Herrera Bower, and representatives of 14 neighborhood and civic groups who have banded together to fight the project. “We are having a sneak attack on Miami Beach,” veteran Beach activist Frank del Vecchio, speaking on behalf of the coalition, told commissioners. “We’re mad. We didn’t know about it. This is a real threat to everyone who uses our causeway…. Go fight it.” And so they will. . .. "

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Miami-Miami Beach rail link study

Miami-Miami Beach rail link to be studied - Miami Beach - MiamiHerald.com: "Almost a decade after a project to build a rail line between Miami and Miami Beach stalled, the Miami-Dade Metropolitan Planning Organization on Thursday unanimously approved funding for a study that could revive the plan. The MPO, the transportation planning panel that includes county commissioners and other elected officials, acted after Miami-Dade County Mayor Carlos Gimenez urged approval of the study as a way to ease traffic on roads linking Miami and Miami Beach. “If we don’t do something about traffic in Miami Beach, it’s going to kill the tourism industry,” Gimenez told MPO members during their monthly meeting at County Hall.". . ." (read more at link above)

South Beach ACE wins bid to overhaul Miami Beach Convention Center - South Florida Business Journal: Late on Wednesday evening last week, the Miami Beach commission took a leap of faith that South Beach ACE's costlier and more ambitious $1.2 billion renovation plan for the convention center and its district would help draw more people and money to the city for several decades.

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Miami Swim 2013 Fashion Week videos

FashionTV takes you to sexy Miami Beach, where designer Kimberly Gordon presented her Wildfox 2013 Swimwear collection during Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week Swim. Before the show began, the flawless models were caught up behind the curtains, prepping for the show in hair and makeup. Wildfox's Summer 2013 collection is all about having as much fun as possible, being a girly girl and basically, not taking life too seriously. 

Swim Week  —  a flurry of trade and fashion shows, parties and other events surrounding swimwear, the fashion world is again aiming the spotlight on South Florida. Here, the Miami aesthetic reigns, with more bright colors, prints and flowing, cutting-edge styles.

Whether designing swimwear, footwear, children’s or menswear, women’s apparel, evening and bridal gowns or lingerie, fashion designers are flourishing in Miami, where barriers to entry are lower, and competition less fierce than in other U.S. design hubs like New York or Los Angeles.

Swim Week puts focus on Miami designers - Business - MiamiHerald.com: "The Swimwear Association of Florida’s SwimShow, July 20-23, is in its 31st year, and is the longest-running and largest annual swimwear trade show in the world. Located: Miami Beach Convention Center. Features: 2,500 lines from 60 countries — up from 25 brands when the show launched at The Merchandise Mart in 1982. Attendees this year: Nearly 9,000, up from less than 100 in 1982."

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Miami Beach's glamorous past in Magic City

'Magic City' captures Miami Beach's glamorous past
Reading Eagle
As someone who grew up in Miami Beach, Glazer said capturing the right feel for "Magic City" meant bringing the production to South Florida. There had been discussions about filming mainly in California or somewhere else and then coming to Miami Beach ...

La Gorce mansion in Miami Beach fetches $30 million
MiamiHerald.com
A spectacular Mediterranean-style estate at 42 La Gorce Circle, sold Monday for $30 million. The sale was the highest to date in the gated community of La Gorce Island, Miami Beach. The 8-bedroom, 9-1/2 bath house had once belonged to flamboyant Miami ...

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Miami Beach has traffic concerns about Related Watson Island project

Miami Beach has traffic concerns about Related Watson Island project
South Florida Business Journal
Miami Beach City Manager Jimmy Morales dropped by downtown Miami recently to talk about a hotel, convention facility and retail project planned for Watson Island that could have a negative impact on traffic heading between the island and the mainland....

It’s Miami vs. Miami Beach in heated tussle over massive Watson Island plan - Miami-Dade - MiamiHerald.com: " . . . Sarnoff also expressed irritation that Beach City Manager Jimmy Morales showed up to an advertised DDA public meeting at which the Island Gardens expansion was to have been discussed. The discussion did not take place because Sarnoff had the item taken off the agenda at the last minute, Goyanes and others said. Sarnoff said Beach officials and members of the public will have a chance to debate the plan in future hearings before Miami’s planning board and City Commission, when and if the plan is formally submitted to the city. . . ."

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Miami Beach Convention Center project impropriety?

Accusations of impropriety fly in Miami Beach Convention Center project - Miami Beach - MiamiHerald.com: " . . . In an email to the Miami Herald sent Thursday, the ACE team said it wants Miami Beach to, among other things: “investigate how and why Portman-CMC’s July 8 submission came to be remarkably similar to our July 5 submission, including why their rent would change on the retail north of 17th Street, which had nothing to do with the ‘misunderstanding’ purported by Portman-CMC; and acknowledge publicly that the City Consultant should not have solicited Portman-CMC’s July 8th memo to begin with.”"

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Bimini ship superfast?

Start date for Bimini ship still unknown - Business - MiamiHerald.com: " . . . A U.S. Coast Guard team was back on the 32,000-ton Bimini SuperFast Wednesday after the ship failed to meet safety requirements last week and was not allowed to sail on its planned introductory voyage last Friday. Janet Espino-Young, inspection division chief at the Coast Guard, told the Miami Herald that though personnel had been inspecting the ship throughout the afternoon, it would not be cleared for sailing by the end of the day . . ."

Update:
Genting ship still undergoing safety inspections, sailing tentatively set for Wednesday - Business - MiamiHerald.com: "Genting, the Malaysian company that owns the ship, eyed Wednesday as a goal for sailing, but it’s too early to tell whether that goal will be met, said Janet Espino-Young, chief of the inspections division. Before the ship can set sail with or without passengers, back up generators must be working, she said. The company had originally hoped to begin whisking crowds to Bimini by June 28."

Update#2 (July 10, 2013):
SuperFast still does not meet fire safety standards - Business - MiamiHerald.com: "Don’t plan to hop aboard Genting’s Bimini SuperFast ferry this weekend.The 32,000-ton casino boat needs more overhead sprinklers before it can carry passengers to the Bahamanian island resort, where it recently opened a casino. It is unclear when the 1,500-passenger ship will meet those fire protection standards, said U.S. Coast Guard inspector Janet Espino-Young. . . ."

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Miami Beach -- snooze you lose

Miami Beach could lose more than $500,000 for housing because it lost track of the money - Miami Beach - MiamiHerald.com: "Miami Beach has to give back more than half a million dollars of federal grant money meant for housing projects because the city didn’t spend it within the required time frame. A department head lost her job over the issue, and the city is appealing to get the money back. . . ."

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Petition has enough signatures for a referendum in Miami Beach

Petition has enough signatures for a referendum in Miami Beach - Miami Beach - MiamiHerald.com: "Miami Beach Commissioner Jonah Wolfson pushed the initiative, which would change the city’s charter to require 60 percent voter approval for the sale, lease or conveyance of most land within the city’s convention center district. Currently, only a simple majority of voters have to give such approval, and only for some parking lots within the 52-acre site."

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Gleason Theater should be demolished?

Miami Beach Planning Board says Gleason Theater should be demolished - Miami Beach - MiamiHerald.com: If you ask Miami Beach’s Planning Board, the Fillmore Miami Beach at Jackie Gleason Theater can be demolished to make way for a new convention center district . . . .Those are just two of the recommendations the board voted on Tuesday to send to city commissioners, who will vote on July 17 to choose one of two teams for the billion-dollar project. Preservationists have rallied around preserving the theater and commissioners have suggested they may not support building more residential units. . . .

Aria Buys South Beach Property - WORLD PROPERTY CHANNEL Global News Center: "Aria Development Group has purchased a 7,310-square-foot, two-story, multi-family property in Miami's famed South Beach neighborhood, with plans to redevelop the parcel into a 10,000-square-foot retail complex. Aria principals Joshua Benaim, Tim Gordon and David Arditi, in partnership with Wexford Capital and 13th Floor Investments, paid $5 million for the 0.16 acre site located on Collins Ave., between 5th and 10th Streets. "Aria Development Group recognized the property's potential for a 'higher and better use' in the shopping district," said Miguel Alcivar, an associate with CBRE's Private Capital Group who represented the property's seller, FCI Miami Beach One. Aria is also the group developing 321 Ocean, a boutique residential development, in South Beach's South of Fifth neighborhood. (read more at link above)

Genting ship could bring 3,000 people a day to its Bimini casino - Business - MiamiHerald.com: Commenter: ""Unspoiled Bahamian island"? Not if Genting has its way. This foreign developer plans to blast and dredge through Bimini's reef tract and dump the fill on top of a popular dive site to make a cruise ship terminal. The boat's capacity is equal to the entire population of the island itself, and Bimini does not have the infrastructure (waste management, fresh water, etc.) to handle it. This is all being done without local Biminite input, and when the local government found out, they asked for help in petitioning the Government of the Bahamas to deny this proposal that would destroy Bimini's reefs, the foundation of the island's tourism industry. If this seems like an obviously bad idea to you, please join the 1,300+ people that have signed the petition in the past week to stop this ridiculousness. Demand a more sustainable plan for Bimini's economic future! " https://www.change.org/petitions/prime-minister-perry-g-christie-stop-plans-to-construct-a-cruise-ship-or-ferry-docking-terminal-off-bimini-s-western-shore

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Read more here: http://www.miamiherald.com/2013/06/25/3470405/miami-beach-planning-board-says.html#storylink=cpy

Towering Expansion for Courtyard Miami Beach Oceanfront

Towering Expansion for Miami Hotel
Meetings Focus
Courtyard Miami Beach Oceanfront, on Collins Avenue, is gearing up for opening of its new 93-room Oceanfront Tower this fall. A vintage South Beach classic, the elegant 263-room hotel was originally constructed as the art deco Cadillac Hotel. The ...

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Miami Still King to International Homebuyers

Miami Still King to International Homebuyers
Multi-Housing News
Results showed that searches from outside the U.S. accounted for 4.3 percent of all searches, with more than 25 percent of searches in a handful of truly global neighborhoods—with Brickell Ave/Brickell Key, Biscayne Blvd., Miami Beach/South Beach, and ...

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