Talk of the Town
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News Bites from Around the City
The funding for what will arguably be the most beautiful public space in the city is finally in place, as the Allen Morris Company, Agave Holdings, and the City of Coral Gables have formed a $10 million public/private partnership to transform Ponce Park. The lozenge-shaped park, across the street from Agave’s Plaza Coral Gables, has long been used only for public events, like FIFA viewing parties or the city’s annual pumpkin patch. Ponce Park will now become an elegantly walled neo-classic park with an Odeon band shell at one end, and a grand entrance with sculpture at the other. The Morris Company will oversee construction and cover any cost overruns….
The City has now officially launched its one-day permit program, after months of testing. The program allows residents to get permits in a single day, so long as the requests are for smaller residential projects that do not require structural or mechanical review – and so long as the permit applications are filed before 8 am. Applications submitted after 8 am are reviewed by the end of the following day….
Gables-based Baptist Health South Florida has purchased an office building at 2855 Le Jeune Rd. from City National Bank for $39 million. City National had used the building for its executive offices, but has since moved all 900 employees to a leased building next door at 2701 Le Jeune Rd. The purchase of the four-story 2855 building is part of Baptist Health’s continuing and rapid expansion…
The Coral Gables Museum has received a Knight Foundation grant for $250,000 to upgrade the main Carole A. Fewell Gallery. The City will also provide a matching contribution. The funds will not only replace flooring and upgrade the air conditioning system, it will install a state-of-the-art security system just in time for the Masterpieces in Private Hands exhibition, featuring 40 to 60 works from major Miami private collections for Miami Art Week and Art Basel in the first week of December….
The University of Miami Hurricanes are on another roll this year, after finishing last year’s season at No. 2 nationally. With a 5-0 record as of press time, the ‘Canes are now ranked No. 3 nationally in the AP Top 25 college football poll. In a sign of their resurgence, the team has signed a 10-year deal with Nike for more than $200 million. Miami had been an Adidas school since 2015, but that deal expires in June of next year. After that, the ‘Canes’ apparel will be Nike for the next decade…
The Quartz business news web site, which reaches 500,000 readers daily, has just posted its list of 10 Most Walkable Neighborhoods in America to Buy a Home. Surprise, surprise, Coral Gables makes the list, along with such renowned neighborhoods as Old Town Alexandria, South End Boston, Society Hill in Philadelphia, and Lincoln Square in Chicago – not that we need to encourage any more out-of-state homebuyers…
The biggest Gables residential real estate news in months went viral in October when agribusiness mogul Manuel Diaz put his Gables Estate mansion on the market for $148 million. The 14,000-square-foot Mediterranean Revival-style waterfront estate – which includes a private chapel, guest house and 245-feet of private deep-water frontage. The news was reported in such publications as Forbes, the New York Post, the Daily Mail (UK), and the Robb Report. If sold at the asking price, it would more than triple the record price of a home in Coral Gables. The grounds include 600 species of trees and exotic plants, reflecting Diaz’ horticultural background…
In less happy real estate news, Gables-based developer Rishi Kapoor has been sentenced to 11 years in prison for defrauding investors who pumped $89 million into his developments. Kapoor’s Location Ventures made a big splash with his Villa Valencia project near downtown Gables, which was the most expensive per-squarefoot condo at the time. Among other things Kapoor used investor dollars to purchase a $5.9 million home in Cocoplum, a 68-foot yacht, and a 2.8-carat diamond ring. Rishi pleaded guilty to money laundering and conspiracy to fail to pay payroll taxes…
Ever wonder what happens if you’re caught in a driverless Waymo and you need emergency help? You are not the only one. Coral Gables Police Chief Ed Hudak wondered the same thing, and for that reason had his officers train in how to access and disable the vehicles during emergency situations. “If [someone] is stuck in the middle of traffic, they’re going to call the cops,” says Hudak. “Minutes count, right? So, it’s how we break a window, how we get
in, how do we disable the vehicle.”…
For even the most ardent Beatles fan, the image is a bit shocking. For a brief time in the 1960s, an album titled “The Beatles: Yesterday and Today” featured the Fab Four with butcher smocks and various cuts of meats and baby dolls wrapped around them. They were pulled off the shelves in the U.S. because the image was just a little too much – not exactly in the spirit of the lovely Yesterday tune. Now you can buy one of these ultra rare albums at Fruit Fly Records in the Gables, down on U.S. 1 just south of Le Jeune Rd. The price? A mere $5,000…
The Great Budget Debate
The City’s Budget for 2026-2027 Is Set, but Not Without Last-Minute Wrangling
Coral Gables will spend $430 million this year, a sizeable jump from last year’s budget of $309.4 million. While there are increases in the cost for everything from public safety (up $3 million) to “general government” (up nearly $6 million), the biggest reason for the escalation is a massive jump in spending on capital improvement projects. Added to this year’s budget is the $70 million price tag for the Mobility Hub and $40 million for the restoration of City Hall. (Those two items will be funded by municipal bonds, to be paid off with parking revenues over the next decade.)
Overall, the city will spend $162.5 million on capital improvement projects in fiscal 2026-2027, which includes everything from the big projects to fixing sidewalks. Of the remaining budget, $254 million will be used to operate the city and $13.5 million used to service its debts.
Where those operating revenues come from was the focal point of concern, and debate, at the final Commission budget hearing at the end of September. The biggest part of those revenues come from property taxes – $146.6 million for the 2026-2027 budget. Those dollars came under threat at the hearing: At issue was the millage rate, which is currently 5.559 (each mill represents $1 in property taxes for every $1,000 of taxable property value).
At the budget hearing, the votes of four out of five commissioners were needed to keep the millage rate constant; it would otherwise have gone automatically to a lower “roll-back” rate of 5.1982. That would have cost the city revenue losses of more than $9.5 million, with grave consequences in cutbacks for investments in the city’s pension program, among other things. At first, four of the commissioners voted to uphold the current rate, with only Commissioner Melissa Castro voting to lower taxes in an apparent appeal to voters (she was up for re-election this year). Then Ariel Fernandez changed his vote to no, violating an earlier promise to uphold rates if the city funded his Elderly and Veterans with Disabilities grant programs. An elated Castro thanked him for “seeing my vision when I try to govern the city of Coral Gables.”
Mayor Lago pointed out that reducing the millage rate did little to help the more modest homeowners whose votes Castro hoped to attract, and that Amendment 3 will most likely pass and help them immensely. (If passed, Amendment 3 will raise the homestead tax exemption from $50,000 to $150,000 next year, and then to $250,000 the following year.) Only wealthy residents “will see a monstrous reduction” in property taxes if the city’s millage rates are lowered, he said.
In the end, Commissioner Fernandez agreed to change his vote back if residents were given a $75 refund on their garbage collection fees, and if his elderly and veteran grants programs were renewed. The cost for those programs was estimated at $800,000 and should be covered by surpluses remaining from last year’s budget. But that additional, unexpected expense reduced the Commission’s willingness to pay $1 million next year to help maintain the Underline. In the end they voted 4-1 to cover just half the request, with Castro – in favor of the entire $1 million – voting against.
The next challenge will come in 2028 and 2029 if Amendment 3 passes. The shortfall to the city for fiscal 2028 would be about $7.7 million, and about $15.4 million for fiscal 2029, according to city officials. – J.P. Faber