FYI Miami: May 27, 2021

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.

GRAB THOSE MAYORS: Two weeks to the day after Miami Mayor Francis Suarez announced the move of his law practice to Los Angeles-based litigation firm Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan as it opens a Miami office, it was announced this week that he is also joining two-year-old Miami-based private equity firm DaGrosa Capital Partners as senior operating partner. Those are all simultaneous jobs as he also prepares to serve as the next president of the US Conference of Mayors for the 2022-23 term. Meanwhile, the day the mayor announced a move from Greenspoon Marder to join his latest law firm, Greenspoon announced that Xavier Suarez, the current mayor’s father and former Miami mayor starting in 1985 and for later terms, was joining the firm as of counsel. 

COUNTY, SWIFTLY UPDATE: The Miami-Dade Department of Transportation and Public Works (DTPW) has partnered with transit data platform Swiftly to provide real-time text updates on Metrobus routes. The partnership, announced this month, works like this: A rider waiting at a bus stop can text the stop ID number to GOMDT (46638) and instantly receive tracking info for the next arriving bus and route. If multiple routes serve the stop, the automatic reply will include arrival times for them all. Users can also add the route number after the bus stop ID – such as “7964 2,” where “2” is the route number and “7964” is the bus stop ID – to get information only for that specific route. DTPW will also use the data Swiftly collects from GPS-equipped Metrobuses to help improve running times and service speeds. A press note said Swiftly’s analytics support nonprofit Transit Alliance Miami’s “Better Bus Project” to redesign the Metrobus network, which is to be finished later this year, and “other DTPW planning initiatives.” 

CONSTRUCTION FINANCED: The Estate Companies said it closed $76 million in construction financing from Bank OZK for Soleste NoMi Beach, a 685,957-square-foot, 23-story rental community with 367 units and 2,708 square feet of commercial space at 16395 Biscayne Blvd. in North Miami Beach. The 1.78-acre waterfront property is on Biscayne Boulevard at 163rd Street. Groundbreaking is slated this quarter.

PALMETTO BAY HOSPICE SITE: OpusCare of Florida broke ground last week on a free-standing 13-bed inpatient hospice unit at 9730 E Fern Street in the Village of Palmetto Bay. The 13 private suites will have a meditation garden, chapel, and dedicated areas for counseling, spiritual, and bereavement services.