FYI Miami: November 3, 2022

Bellow 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.

PORT’S FIRST AFRICA LINK: PortMiami has added its first connection to Africa with trade via Tangier-Med, Morocco, as the world’s third-largest shipping company introduced a new service with its first call at PortMiami last week. CMA-CGM added the MedGulf, a new weekly service connecting the Western Mediterranean to PortMiami and the Mexican ports of Veracruz and Altamira. The new service gives PortMiami a third route to reach the east coast of Mexico, which the port calls “a key market for ocean growth as the border congestion is moving more and more Mexican cargo to an all-water route.” At the other end, the trade via Tangier-Med links to Italy and Spain, PortMiami’s top two European trading partners.

BRICKELL APARTMENTS PLANNED: Alta Development, led by Henry Pino, last week closed on just under a half-acre in the Brickell corridor where it plans midmarket apartment construction. The 0.47-acre site of two parcels at 180 and 160 SW Ninth St. allows construction of up to 48 stories and more than 531,000 square feet of floor space. Alta paid seller Progesti Corp. $15 million for the land. “Alta Development secured RTZ (Rapid Transit Zone) zoning from the county before closing, increasing the allowable development density almost threefold to 500 buildable units per acre,” said Vergilio Fernandez of Colliers, which facilitated the sale. “We continue to see developers getting creative as they work with the county to gain benefits that provide additional value to the deal.” The percentage of renter-occupied units in Brickell has increased from 47% in 2010 to 59% this year, Colliers said.

SOUTHSIDE PARK BROWNFIELD: The Miami City Commission unanimously declared Southside Park a brownfield site last week due to high levels of arsenic and other heavy metals that contaminate the soil. JDS Development Group, a New York-based firm that plans to build One Southside Park on the property, is now eligible for financial aid from the state to offset expenses related to the site’s cleanup under Florida’s Brownfields Redevelopment Act.

MORE SISTER CITIES: Miami-Dade County now has 32 official sister cities around the globe and is seeking more, Miami-Dade Mayor Daniella Levine Cava told the Consular Corps of Miami at its monthly lunch last week at the Biltmore Hotel in Coral Gables. In speaking to the corps, which has representatives of more than 50 nations, the mayor for nominations to increase that number. In addition to that number, many of the county’s municipalities have their own sister cities.