Even though the average price for a hotel room dropped 21 percent for the period between January and June compared to the same time last year, Miami still has, on average, some of the most expensive room rates in the nation. But the data reflects only bookings made on Hotels.com, so we…
Just about every interesting statistic in the news these days somehow relates to the economy — or at least the talking heads try to relate it to the economy. Fewer Cubans migrating to America? It’s because of the recession. Lower divorce rate? The recession. People trying their hand at prostitution?…
Not long ago, a 47-year-old Liberty City guy named Slim died. His brother Larry and sister Helen are unemployed, so they didn’t have the money for a standard funeral. What to do? They headed for Opa-locka’s Funeral Store, a drab pink building on NW 119th Street bearing the slogan “Caskets-4-less.”…
Normally politicians’ Twitters are horrendously boring things. Dan Gelber’s is no exception, except for about a minute ago when the state senator from Miami Beach and attorney general candidate roasted Charlie Crist, and in effect, RPOF chair Jim Greer.Crist visited Toussaint L’ouverture Elementary School today for a hurricane preparedness visit…
Florida dominates the list of 20 metropolitan areas still struggling to make an economic turnaround. Eight Florida areas make up the bottom rung of worst-performing cities in Brooking’s latest MetroMonitor Report. In addition to Miami/Ft. Lauderdale/Pompono Beach, Bradenton, Cape Coral, Jacksonville, Lakeland, Orlando, Palm Bay, and Tampa are also included in bottom…
Don’t get us wrong — Miami still attracts the olds by the tour bus full, but we’ve come a long way in distancing ourselves from our ’70s reputation as America’s retirement home. Then along comes Money magazine to list us as the 13th best place to retire in the nation. The problem…
First the models began leaving South Beach, and now, almost predictably, so is painfully hip hotelier Andre Balazs. According to the Miami Herald, Balazs is set to sell the Raleigh, which the newspaper describes as “a favorite stop for celebrities and local hipsters.” The sale will take Balazs almost completely out of…
Last year, Fisher Island was sitting pretty at the top of Forbes’ most expensive zip codes list. This year, it has tumbled to 33rd place. Not coincidently, the price for the only single-family waterfront home on the island was recently slashed by $3 million. This year, in the exclusive Fisher Island zip code 33109,…
Sales for single-family homes soared 64 percent in July in the Miami metropolitan area compared to the same numbers for July 2008. Meanwhile, sales for existing condos rose 48 percent over last year. The numbers continue a trend of home sales rising in each of the past 12 months, according…
Florida’s unemployment numbers for July are in, and things have stayed pretty much stable since June. The state’s jobless rate is still at 10.7%, which represents 987,000 out of work Floridians. That’s still 4.4% higher than one year ago, and 1.3% higher than the national level. Meanwhile Miami-Dade’s jobless rate also…
The recession might have you feeling poor, but the Miami/Fort Lauderdale metropolitan area is still the 10th richest in the nation in terms of combined personal income. Buffalo Business First analyzed personal income for the top 72 markets in America based on salary, interest payments, dividends, rental income, and government checks, and South Florida…
Something was funny about the landlord. A little too eager, maybe, but — for a pocketful of extra cash — aren’t we all these days? Renter Sandy Sanchez, a straight-talking 54-year-old, didn’t think much of it. She stood inside a spacious two-bedroom duplex on NE 112th Street last week and…
The annual Mercer’s cost of living survey “measures the comparative cost of over 200 items in each location, including housing, transport, food, clothing, household good,s and entertainment,” according to its website. Your wallet will be happy to know that of the 143 cities measured, Miami barely cracks the top 50. Coming…
An email alert from North Miami Councilman Scott Galvin bears more bad news for a troubled residential and commercial development in his city.Galvin informs North Miami residents not to bother showing up for a town hall meeting scheduled for tonight to discuss what the heck is gonna happen with Biscayne…
One of Miami Beach’s most eccentric homes, a 10-bedroom, two-story mansion built in 1925 in the style of a medieval castle — complete with moat, draw bridge, gargoyles, and turrets — caught fire this morning. Firefighters got the blaze under control, but the AP’s YouTube channel has this video of the blaze. The…
Poor, ridiculously wealthy sports superstars. They just can’t seem to break even on their real estate transactions here in Miami. Shaq recently unloaded his Star Island spread for $19 million less than his high asking pirce. Now, Alex Rodriguez is following suit by dropping the asking price on his Coral Gables abode…
Riptide has maybe one too many friends and acquaintances who call Williamsburg, the painfully trendy Brooklyn enclave commonly seen as ground zero for everything hipster, home. At the end of the day, we love them, but sometimes they talk with such jaded snootiness it recalls Brüno minus the affected Austrian accent. “Hey, have you heard…
In April, we brought you “Treasure Island”, the story of big-time spine surgeon and developer Charles C. Edwards being accused of defrauding a North Bay Village condo building out of $233,000 that was supposed to go towards insuring the place.In three sentences: in 2004, Charles and son James Edwards were…
South Beach Condo Blog, which earlier reported Shaquille O’Neal’s Star Island manse went for a deeply discounted $19 million, is now reporting the buyer is none other than Vladislav Doronin. Roughly translated from Russian, “Vladislav Doronin” means “Naomi Campbell’s boyfriend.” Doronin, a billionaire who made his fortune in real estate, has earned a reputation as…
There once was a time, before the real estate crash, before the credit crunch, and before the global economic meltdown, when Shaquille O’Neal figured he could sell his Star Island mansion for between $32 and $35 million. That was 2005, and this is now. Joan Fleischman reported this morning that Shaq…
We imagine Florida International University higherups had some tough meetings to attend when they cut both the school’s cheerleading squad and marching bands this week. Imagine facing a roomful of cheerleaders to let them know their services are no longer needed. “But, we’re cheerleaders…” “I know, and we just can’t afford you right…
Sorry Leonard Pitts Jr., you can’t have your cake and eat it too. In March, The Miami Herald’s star columnist dashed off a “you damn kids, stay off my lawn”-style column in which he solemnly promised never to used Twitter, and claimed it’s only useful for those who find “value in banality,…
