Talk of the Town: October 2026
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News Bites From Around the City
Gables-based Bacardi, one of the city’s most engaged multi-nationals, has officially finished its move into their new five floors of offices at the South Tower of the Plaza Coral Gables. Besides housing the personnel to run their global operations (they now have more than 100 brands, including their legendary rums), the building also houses Bacardi’s collection of classic Cuban art and the memorabilia of Bacardi’s operations in Cuba before the Castro revolution forced them off the island ■ ■ ■ Looks like City Commissioner Melissa Castro is in trouble again with an ethics commission. You may recall that Castro was advised to stop using her office as city commissioner to advance her permit expediting business at City Hall by the Miami-Dade Commission on Ethics and Public Trust. Castro then “sold” her business to a colleague, changing one letter in the company name while retaining the same address and phone number. Now comes the Florida Commission on Ethics, which has found probably cause for an ethics violation of state statutes. Castro denies the allegation, while the investigation is ongoing ■ ■ ■ While they are big shoes to fill, we are happy to see that the University of Miami has announced the appointment of Matt Serletic as the new dean of the Frost School of Music. Serletic, a GRAMMY-winning producer and music industry executive, replaces beloved former dean Shelly Berg who served in that position for 19 years, taking the school to international heights (and raising $175 million in donations) ■ ■ ■ Kudos to global fashion designer Silvia Tcherassi, who keeps her world HQ and atelier in the Gables, for the latest Audermars Piguet (Swiss watch maker) campaign, with Serena Williams wearing Tcherassi’s ($1,690) Rowan dress ■ ■ ■ Kudos also to Gable- Stage for their amazing 17 nominations from the Carbonell Awards Committee for the 2025-2026 season, for everything from direction to lighting. Our bet is on Mark Dold for best male actor in Harry Clarke. Meanwhile, Actors’ Playhouse at the Miracle Theatre came in with a close second of 16 nominations, including 12 just for Man of La Mancha ■ ■ ■ It’s off the races again the Fairchild Challenge, in which students from across South Florida are challenged by Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden for the best solution to Innovative Green Design in urban spaces ■ ■ ■ Mean while Police Chief Ed Hudak and the Coral Gables Police Department win our admiration for the arrest of two suspects accused of burglarizing the home of Coral Gables residents Henry Parra and Adam Hlavaty, who both died in a helicopter crash while on vacation in Kenya. Hlavaty was on the board the Coral Gables Museum. The suspects broke into and ransacked their home upon learning about the crash, stealing valuables as well as their Range Rover ■ ■ ■ Not that he needs another award, but the always humble chair of Codina Partners, Armando Codina, received the George E. Merrick Award of Excellence at this year’s Coral Gables Chamber of Commerce annual meeting. The award is for community leaders who embrace and advance the vision of city founder George Merrick. ■
The End of a Bumpy Road
The Crystal Residence Wins Approval After a Five-Year Struggle
In the end, it was the concessions to landscaping, handsome design, open space, and especially a 99-year no-charge lease for the Crystal Academy that won approval from the Coral Gables City Commission for the 9-story Crystal Residence slated to replace the old St. James Lutheran Church at 110 Phoenetia Ave. In a 3-1 vote, the commission agreed to the zoning changes – mainly from religious to commercial purposes – needed to advance the project.
The square block that the Crystal Residence will occupy had been home to the Lutheran church since 1950, until the property was sold to developer Sergio Pino in 2021 for just under $10 million. Pino had intended to build a less-than-elegant blocky high rise of condominiums there but committed suicide before the project came to fruition. Pino’s widow sold the property to Chicago-based developer Fifield Companies for $16 million, but only after they re-designed the project multiple times to satisfy the city’s various boards (Planning & Zoning, Architects, etc.) as well as city commissioners such as Vice Mayor Rhonda Anderson, who insisted that the project save its specimen trees and provide wide, shaded sidewalks around the project.
A key issue in the process was what to do with the Crystal Academy, the city’s premier school for autistic children, which has operated inside the now deteriorating church buildings since 2009, when it was founded by director Maria Palacio-Pike. Developer Fifield, in an offer that won the hearts of at least three members of the commission, agreed to provide a rent-free space for the school, as well as a 4,000 square foot playground. Originally Fifield offered 5,000 square feet but increased that to 6,700 square feet at the insistence of Mayor Vince Lago, along with promising to spend at least $1 million for an internal build out of their space. Another winning element was the project’s providing 184 apartments, and 16 ground floor live-work units, rather than the condominiums envisioned by Pino. The city has made it a priority to encourage more affordable housing near the downtown, which means rentals.
The project had been opposed for years by civic activists led by Bonnie Bolton, daughter of famous women’s right advocate Roxy Bolton. Her main objection was the loss of the Garden of Our Lord, a walled garden portion of the church which was supposed to have plants germinated from seeds taken from holy sites in Jerusalem. In the end, the commission felt that preserving the garden, also run down after years of neglect, was not a sufficient reason to block the development.
There were other important factors looming as well, namely Gov. DeSantis’ Live Local Act, which allows developers to ignore local zoning ordinances so long as their building provides 40 percent of its space to “affordable” housing, which means for households earning 120 percent or less of the median county income. In other words, the 9-story building could have been twice or three-times higher under Live Local. Just look at the 38-story tower adjacent to the Douglas Metrorail station, which enjoyed a similar waiver from local zoning – albeit under the county’s RTZ ordinance, which also allows developers to ignore local zoning.
The only vote against came from Commissioner Melissa Castro, after it was revealed by attorney David Winker that many of the so-called residents who had spoken in favor of the project were actually not local residents. While the commission voted to investigate these false testimonies (the speakers were sworn, under oath, not to lie), their misrepresentations were not considered material to their decision to approve. Fifield officials expressed shock at the discovery, apparently the result of hiring a Florida company to collect signatures and testimony. – J.P. Faber
A New Manager On Deck
The City Commission Votes to Hire a New City Manager
The City Commission Vote (Above) and Jose “Joe” Gómez
It was not without remorse that the city commission voted to replace Peter Iglesias, the city manager who honchoed some of the biggest projects in the city’s recent history, with deputy city manager Jose “Joe” Gómez.
Iglesias, hired in 2018, was considered an exemplary city manager who brought to fruition the city’s downtown streetscape project,its new Public Safety Building (for the police and fire departments), its fourth Fire Station, and now the restoration of City Hall. He also oversaw the digitization of all city paperwork.
Gómez was voted 3-1 to replace Iglesias in January, when he is schedule to retire. Besides his three years with Coral Gables – allowing for a vetting of his management skills and work ethic – Gómez brings a considerable experience, including managing a team of 360 employees and a $600 million budget as director of public works for Miami Beach.
The “no” vote came from Commissioner Melissa Castro, who insisted that no hire be made prior to a national search, something which Mayor Lago had previously advocated. In the end, the commission felt that a national search, besides costing the city $100,000, would likely find no better candidate. For the record, when Castro voted to replace Iglesias in 2024 with Amos Rojas Jr. – an entirely unqualified candidate with no relevant experience – she did so only minutes after first seeing his resume. Amos quit after one year and was replaced by Iglesias after Commissioner Richard Lara was elected. He voted along with Mayor Lago and Vice Mayor Anderson to re-instate Iglesias – J.P. Faber