The $248 Million Dollar Pie and The Ft. Lauderdale/South Beach-Miami Speedway

Where are the Homestead Events?

That $248,000,000 that the NASCAR race allegedly brings to Homestead every year is becoming more fictional every year. This year as in past years NASCAR race events are taking place in Fort Lauderdale and South Beach but what is happening in Homestead? The host city seems to be on the sidelines as local businesses struggle to capture the $248 million promise.

 http://nascarchampionshipdrive.com/home/

#1.) NASCAR’s three premier series will crown their champions November 16th-18th during the Ford Championship Weekend at the 1.5 mile, 18-20-degree variably-banked oval of Homestead-Miami Speedway.  The fan festivities begin with the Ford FanFest on Las Olas Boulevard in Ft. Lauderdale, a street party with driver appearances, food, and music. 

#2.)

The day may be ending, but the party is just beginning as NASCAR Championship Drive™ keeps the fun going long into the night with a free concert on the beach, featuring musical guests DAUGHTRY and featured guest Frankie J. There's no better way to prepare yourself for the electric atmosphere at Homestead-Miami Speedway and the final three races of the season!

• 
  THURSDAY
  NOVEMBER 15TH 2012
  Concert Begins - 6:00pm
• 
  LUMMUS PARK
  MIAMI BEACH
  Ocean Drive at 8th Street

• 7th & Collins (Garage)
  10th & Collins (Garage)
• 11th & Collins (Flat Lot)
  13th & Collins (Garage)

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Hey Trump Studio City Kool-Aid Drinkers, Ever Hear of Trump Television City?....

......Probably Not, So Read On!


From the Manhattan Institute
The West Side Rethinks Donald Trump’s Riverside South

Julia Vitullo-Martin, January 2004

So What Happened To Donald Trump’s Television City In Manhattan?

SEVEN FAILED PROPOSALS
Trump was far from the first suitor for the site. The first development proposal was made by Penn Central itself in 1962, during the development- and union-friendly Wagner administration. Penn Central wanted to partner with the Amalgamated Lithographers Union to build a mixed-use development, Litho City, on platforms over the trains. In 1969, the New York City Educational Construction Fund proposed a 12,000-unit residential development that went nowhere during the indifferent Lindsay administration. In 1975, the year of New York City’s brush with bankruptcy, Donald Trump optioned the site and proposed the same thing--12,000 apartments. None of the three proposals was truly serious.
Then in 1980, the Macri Group, who came to be known locally as the Argentines, optioned the site, and quickly proposed Lincoln West--a 7.3-million-square-foot project with 4,300 residential units. They were serious. They got the necessary rezoning in 1982 from the Koch administration. But they then failed to get financing, and lost the site.

In January 1985, Donald Trump bought the site for $100 million in partnership with Al Hirschfield--who had also been a partner with the Argentines--and proposed a 16.5-million-square-foot project, Television City, designed by architect Helmut Jahn. It included the world’s tallest building at 152 stories.

Trump hoped to entice NBC to move in as prime tenant. Outraged West Siders and civic groups, which had been active but relatively polite regarding Lincoln West, organized immediately in opposition.
In late 1986 Trump proposed a new 14.5-million-square-foot project, with 7,600 apartments in 60- and 70-story towers, and a regional shopping mall. This time his architect was Alex Cooper, who had been the lead architect for Battery Park City’s master plan and who was well-regarded by nearly everybody, including the good government groups. But Cooper’s reputation didn’t diminish West Side outrage, and opposition to the project’s size swelled.

Mayor Koch aligned himself with the community opposition, and said he would oppose any project larger than 7.4 million square feet, the old Lincoln West size. He also rejected out of hand Trump’s request for zoning waivers and a $1 billion tax abatement to attract NBC. An uneasy NBC announced in 1987 that it would not be moving to Television City.
Meanwhile, Donald Trump’s finances worsened into near bankruptcy. In 1990 the banks restructured his $2 billion in loans, and deferred payments on his $200-million loan for the Penn Yards project, which he began calling Trump City. But the banks urged him to produce a workable, buildable plan.
Everybody knew that wasn’t going to happen without community cooperation.

CUTTING THROUGH DEVELOPMENT GRIDLOCK
Meanwhile, a coalition of civic groups led by the Municipal Art Society, that had been suing to stop the project, riveted Trump’s attention. They were willing to see a much smaller project go forward. From his banks’ point of view, a smaller project was better than none at all. As the late Linda Davidoff, then Parks Council executive director, said, “The Riverside South project is going to test whether civic initiative can cut through the gridlock in the development process that has come about.”

In March 1991 Trump and the coalition of civics, which also included the Parks Council, Regional Plan Association, Riverside Park Fund, Natural Resources Defense Council, and Westpride, agreed to reduce the project’s size by 40% to 8.3 million square feet. The buildings would range from 30 to 40 stories, and the waterfront park would cover 23 acres. Design standards would impose variations among the towers, and the street plan would respect the existing West Side grid. In exchange, the civic groups promised to usher the Trump proposal through the land use review process.

And indeed they did. Despite the disapproval of Community Board 7, the project was almost immediately approved by the City Planning Commission and by Manhattan Borough President Ruth Messinger. The project passed the City Council in December 1992. Still, construction didn’t begin until the spring of 1997. The first building was finished in 1998, and six buildings are completed today.

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Be Careful What You Vote For Mayor, Bateman Votes For Debt Collector Despite Still Owing Homestead Thousands Himself

 

 Member of Golden Knights Parachute Team Carrying The Mayor, Just Like The Taxpayers Have Done For Six Years

Owing outstanding bills himself, Homestead Mayor Steve Bateman recently voted to expand the city’s use of a debt collector to chase down payments

Read more here: http://www.miamiherald.com/2012/06/21/2880217/debt-collector-may-be-calling.html#storylink=cpy

By Christina Veiga

cveiga@MiamiHerald.com

Homestead Mayor Steve Bateman recently voted to expand the city’s use of a debt collector — and the company could soon be giving him a ring.

City records show Bateman hasn’t paid thousands of dollars in fees owed to the city’s development services department. The bills date back to 2006.

Bateman, who voted to expand the city’s debt collections, did not return a call and emails for comment.

The mayor’s bills are owed to Homestead’s development services department for reviewing building plans. 
Bateman is the owner of the company Two Brothers Construction.

The original bills are for about $11,000. Bateman has failed to pay even though he got a 30 percent discount on the fees in February 2010, when the city’s then-development services director gave the mayor and 49 other contractors a break. The development services director said the people getting discounts were “charged too much” in the first place.

Development Services staff and the city’s spokeswoman did not respond to questions about whether Bateman will have to pay any late fees.

Bateman and the rest of the City Council voted on June 20 to expand the Homestead’s use of a debt collection agency to include more city departments. Now, the company, Online Information Services, will try to collect late bills from Homestead’s development services and finance departments, in addition to already collecting for the city’s customer service department.

The two new departments are owed almost $1 million in outstanding bills, according to city documents. The development services department is owed $600,000 from bills that span back almost a decade, while Homestead’s finance department is owed $345,000.

The debt collection agency’s cut, should it recover all the money, would be about $240,000, according to city documents.
 
Follow @Cveiga on Twitter.

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New ICE Detention Center? SW Ranches Out, Is Florida City Back In?

 

 Florida City has been interested in the facility since 2009 when the issue was discussed during a city commission meeting.

Florida City Mayor Otis Wallace sent a letter to a Miami-Dade commissioner saying that the center would be built at a cost of about $150 million and would house up to 2,300 detainees.

 

http://homesteadishome.blogspot.com/2009/03/florida-city-mayor-otis-wallace-says.html

 

 

Will This Help Or Hurt The Area? 

 

Don't Forget To Factor In How FPL Imported Most Of Their Workers From Outside Of Homestead/Florida City

 

 

Older Posts On The Subject

http://miamitodaynews.com/news/110310/story4.shtml

 

http://www.usimmigrationsupport.org/immigration-dentention-facility.html

BY DANIEL CHANG AND MICHAEL VASQUEZ

dchang@MiamiHerald.com

Federal government officials have abandoned plans to build an immigrant detention center in Southwest Ranches, authorities announced late Friday, bringing to a close a year-long fight by local residents and others opposed to the facility.

The announcement from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency, which would have staffed the detention center, was terse and offered little explanation for the decision.

“ICE has reevaluated its need for an additional detention facility in South Florida and has decided that it will no longer pursue a facility in the Town of Southwest Ranches,’’ read a written statement sent by Nestor Yglesias, an ICE spokesman in Miami. “We are examining our options for additional detention space in the region and will make the appropriate notifications when a decision about the way forward has been made.”

Torres declined to say if the agency is considering other South Florida locations for a detention center, or if ICE has decided that it has enough beds in the region.
For more than a year, ICE has said the Southwest Ranches location was at the top of its list to build one of the nation’s largest facilities to hold immigrant detainees. The proposed plan included at least 1,500 beds and 500,000-square-feet of space.

Corrections Corporation of America, the private prison contractor vying to bring the detention center to Southwest Ranches, issued a written response through Steve Owen, a company spokesman:
“One of the greatest values we offer our government partners is the flexibility to meet their changing circumstances,’’ Owen’s statement read. “We understand ICE’s decision not to proceed with a civil detention facility. We are grateful for ICE’s tentative selection of our site and Southwest Ranches’ interest in partnering with CCA.’’

CCA owns the approximately 24-acre property just east of U.S. 27 between Sheridan Street and Stirling Road in Southwest Broward where the detention center would have been built. The company has been working with Southwest Ranches town leaders since about 2005 to bring the facility to Southwest Broward.

ICE’s Friday night announcement was welcomed by neighboring Pembroke Pines commissioners, who have been opposed to the center being built in an area that includes a county landfill and a state prison but also thousands of homes and several schools.

“We don’t want that stuff in Pembroke Pines,’’ said Iris Siple, a Pembroke Pines commissioner.

“It was not a very popular idea here,’’ said Angelo Castillo, another Pembroke Pines commissioner.

“In fact, that’s understating it. It was a dreaded idea.”

Read more here: http://www.miamiherald.com/2012/06/15/v-fullstory/2851928/ice-pulls-plug-on-immigration.html#storylink=cpy

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Donald Trump Sets Sites (Sights) On Homestead

Are You Ready For This? 

Trump Studio City?

Donald Trump International Hairport?





MIAMI (CBS4) – Real estate mogul Donald Trump has unveiled big plans to build a new city in South Florida.

During Tuesday’s meeting of the Miami-Dade Commission, plans were unveiled for Trump Studio City, an ambitious 800 acre film studio.  The Donald is attempting to recreate Hollywood studios in Homestead.
The land he has his eyes on has sat vacant decades near the Homestead Air Force Reserve base.  It was deeded over to the county after Hurricane Andrew. Twenty years later the area suddenly has new life.

“It could inject as much at $262,000 in local revenue (a day),” Michael Cohen told commissioners.
Cohen, a vice president with the Trump organization, pitched county commissioners that they want to build a Universal Studios of the South.  Armed with renderings and layouts, the organization is proposing to build one of the largest studios on Earth.

“The vision for this project is a massive studio city that would range in studio size from 25,000 square feet to 250,000 square feet. With 15-20 acre back lots that really handle any type of movie. Any type of television series that could ever be dreamed of,” said Cohen.

“It’s ambitious,” CBS4′s David Sutta responded.


For depressed Homestead and Florida City it could create thousands of jobs and bring the housing market back. Commission Chairman Joe Martinez is front and center pitching it.

“You got to dream. Las Vegas came out of the desert. People didn’t think it could be done,” Martinez said.
Reality is it couldn’t be done in 2001 when Martinez pitched the idea of a Homestead studio for the first time.

“Back then I thought that it was such a great idea that I thought I would just propose it to my colleagues and it would pass and people would flock here. I’ve learned. I’ve matured. And I knew I had to get someone with a name,” Martinez explained.

Trump certainly is that.

“Is it ambitious? Yes. Is it doable? Yes. It’s a not a dream. And if it doesn’t occur it’s because we messed it up in the county,” Martinez said.

Smaller studios recently built-in Miami have not fared well but commissioners seemed optimistic.  Some are even flirting with the idea of giving the land to Trump for free.

 http://miami.cbslocal.com/2012/06/05/trump-wants-to-build-film-studio-in-homestead/

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Would Mayor Bateman's "Local Preference" Have Applied To Venezuelan Children Living At The Stadium Under A Canadian Company's Sponsorship?

This is just one more reason why an accounting of where the current attendeees reside that are enrolled in the Keys Gate Charter Schools is warranted. In the prior story we showed documentation of contract terms between the Candian firm Gigantes Baseball Group and La LEY Sports asking La LEY to assist in arranging for four spots from each of the Kingman Road Charter Schools.

We all see cars going to the turnpike after picking up their kids in the afternoon, flying down the turnpike, Kingman, Palm and  Speedway Boulevard and dropping them off in the morning. Yet Homestead gives away land, treasure and manpower on a daily basis to support "Homestead's students" but are they all really residing in Homestead? The time has come to audit CSUSA and make adjustments to the contract. The City Council under Mayor Bateman's pledge agreed to expend the necessary items for the good of Homestead's students, have they been played, again?

What percentage of kids are actually from Homestead? Surely, Mayor Bateman wants the local kids to prosper with a "good education partially funded by the City of Homestead" as well as the "local businesses that are fully funded by the City of Homestead", isn't that right Mayor?

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