FYI Miami: October 26, 2017

GROVE BAY GARAGE RE-DO: New bids for construction of a scaled-down municipal parking garage in Coconut Grove were due Oct. 22 to the Miami Parking Authority. The garage and its ground floor retail are part of a public-private partnership of the authority, the City of Miami and Grove Bay Investment Group LLC. The developer has leased about 7 acres from the city as part of an agreement to redevelop the waterfront north of City Hall into The Harbour. The garage was redesigned after bids came in more than double the estimated budget. One major change will lower it from three levels to two, but interior changes should result in about the same number of parking spaces: 333. Authority COO Alejandra Argudin told the city’s Off-Street Parking Board this month that staff may have a report on the new bids at the November meeting.

CONSTRUCTION STARTS REVERSE: Construction starts in Miami-Dade County fell 5% in the first eight months of this year and 10% in August alone, figures from Dodge Data & Analytics show. Residential construction starts were off 29% for the year while nonresidential construction starts rose 36%, Dodge reported. For the year as a whole, the value of nonresidential construction starts has surpassed residential construction, which in recent years was the larger share of starts valuation.

SCHOOL BUS LANES: Traffic may get a bit lighter in South Dade, as Mayor Carlos Giménez’s office is investigating the benefits of Miami-Dade County Public School buses using the South Dade Transitway to reduce congestion on the road. The South Dade Transitway is a dedicated lane for transit services from Dadeland South Metrorail Station to Southwest 344th Street. The mayor’s office is to work with the Miami-Dade Public Schools and federal and state agencies and submit a report to county commissioners in the next four months.

BID FOR GREATNESS: The charter for the Business Improvement District (BID) of Coral Gables has been renewed for five more years by a majority vote (62%) of its property owners, who agreed to retain the special assessment district. “This vote of confidence comes at a very important time when the streetscape project is in full swing, and we are seeing progress,” said Venny Torre, BID president, in a release. Over the past 20 years, the BID has focused on developing marketing strategies to promote Miracle Mile and downtown Coral Gables, said Taciana Amador, its executive director. It has created signature events including Coral Gables Restaurant Week, Taste of the Gables and Giralda Under the Stars, as well as spearheaded downtown Coral Gables’ centralized valet parking, holiday decorations and lighting programs. “With our charter renewed, we will continue to advocate on behalf of our members to ensure that we are creating a vibrant live, work, play environment,” Ms. Amador said.