FYI Miami: December 11, 2014

BADIA SPICES: Local spice manufacturing giant Badia Spices Inc. is on its way to opening a second distribution facility. The Miami-Dade County Commission gave final approval for a $10.5 million bond to be issued to finance Badia’s expansion. The Miami-Dade Industrial Development Authority, which is a separate entity from county government, is to issue the $10.5 million bond and Badia is to repay the debt. The authority’s board had already signed off on the issuance but the county commission’s OK was also needed. Badia wants to expand because of an uptick in sales – in 2013 the company recorded $102 million in sales, up 14% from the previous year, according to county records. The Miami-Dade Commission OK’d the bond issuance Dec. 2.

STRETCHING THE LIMIT: A proposal to expand the boundaries of Miami’s Design District has been delayed a couple of weeks or longer. The matter was first on the agenda of the city’s Planning, Zoning and Appeals Board in November but continued to Dec. 3. That meeting was canceled due to lack of a quorum and all agenda items were continued to the next scheduled meeting Dec. 17. A firm called 4201 NE 2nd Avenue LLC has joined Miami Design District Associates LLC in requesting an expansion of the Special Area Plan, first OK’d in 2012. The plan is to add two properties at about 220 NE 43rd St. The expansion would add about 1.86 acres, 82 residential units, 70,000 square feet of commercial space, 304 parking spaces, 4,049 square feet of civic space and 5,264 square feet of open space to the overall Design District. The city commission will have the final vote on the proposal.

FUNDING STALLED: Two projects – a mixed-use development in Overtown and an ambulatory center for patients with neurological conditions – were sidetracked in their endeavor to receive taxpayer funding to cover part of their cost. Overtown Gateway Partners wants to build a $300 million development, Overtown Gateway, and had requested $6 million in bond debt funding. The non-profit Neuroscience Centers of Florida Foundation wants to build the ambulatory center at Douglas Road and Southwest 15th Street and had requested $7.5 million in bond debt funding. Without much discussion, the Miami-Dade County Commission deferred giving final OK to the requests at the Dec. 2 meeting. Commissioner Audrey Edmonson, who sponsored the Overtown bond debt funding item, didn’t give a reason why she asked for the deferral. The commission is to take up the requests again Dec. 16.