FYI Miami: November 7, 2019

Below are some of the FYIs in this week’s edition. The entire content of this week’s FYIs and Insider sections is available by subscription only. To subscribe click here.

CONSTRUCTION STARTS SLIDE: The value of new construction starts in South Florida fell 33% in September from September 2018, according to Dodge Data & Analytics, even while Miami-Dade County was setting a record for construction employment with 56,600 persons at work in the industry, up 7.4% from September 2018, according to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics. For South Florida as a whole, 145,200 persons were at work in construction, up 3.6% from September 2018, the federal agency reported. For the first nine months of the year, Dodge reported, the value of construction starts is down 6% from 2018’s nine-month total of $10 billion to just under $9.4 billion.

NORWEGIAN ENCORE ON ITS WAY: Norwegian Cruise Line’s 17th ship, the Norwegian Encore, is to be crossing the Atlantic from England this week to New York and headed to Miami for a christening ceremony Nov. 21. The line took delivery of the new ship from Meyer Werft in Bremerhaven, Germany, last week. It is nearly 1,100 feet long, with a capacity of almost 4,000 guests. It’s to begin seven-day voyagers from Miami to the Eastern Caribbean on Nov, 24, then shift to New York City for voyages to Bermuda, Canada and New England beginning April 22, before returning to Miami for trips to the Western Caribbean beginning Dec. 12, 2020.

MELREESE ON THE TEE: The future of the city-owned Melreese Golf Course and the proposed billion-dollar Miami Freedom Park project could be determined at a special Miami City Commission meeting at 9 a.m. Tuesday, Nov. 12. After a fall by Commissioner Manolo Reyes, a staunch opponent of the proposed development, the commission deferred three items to the special meeting: a 99-year lease to Miami Freedom Park, a resolution to cease negotiations with Miami Freedom Park LLC, and a discussion on the negotiations between the city and the developer. The billion-dollar Miami Freedom Park would bring a 25,000-seat stadium for a Major League Soccer team beside office spaces, retail and more to Melreese.

UHEALTH HEADS TO DORAL: The University of Miami Health System plans a 100,000-square-foot, four-story medical center in Downtown Doral that will be modeled after its Lennar Foundation Medical Center on the university’s Coral Gables campus, the system announced Tuesday. The center will rise near the intersection of Northwest 87th Avenue and 53rd Street, the announcement said. Earlier this year, the system announced a medical center at Solé Mia, the 184-acre mixed-use development in North Miami. The Doral center is expected to average 200 to 300 patients per day and employ 75 to 100 persons daily. It’s to open in the summer of 2022.