December Talk of the Town: New UM prez, a New Opponent for Lago, and More
Kudos for GableStage
Each year theater companies in South Florida vie for recognition by the Carbonell Awards, whose winners are announced in November. Nearly 90 productions at 29 different theaters were evaluated this year by more than 40 experienced judges, who issued 20 awards for the 120 finalists. While it won only a single Carbonell, this year GableStage brought home the biggest award of the night: Outstanding Production, Play, for The Lehman Trilogy. That is akin to winner Best Picture of the Year at the Oscars.
“Sometimes, almost inexplicably, the most insanely ambitious and complex productions – the ones with so much riding on them, where almost everything can go wrong – turn out to be the most joyful and effortless,” said Bari Newport, who is the producing artistic director at GableStage and who also personally directed the Lehman Trilogy, a three-hour play about the rise and fall of the Lehman Brothers financial services firm. “In looking back at the experience of producing and directing this production, the facile collaboration amongst many is what I am most proud of. It fills me with pride that this work is being recognized,” she says. Newport is now in her fourth season as the guiding force behind GableStage. – JP Faber
A New Prez
The University of Miami’s Board of Trustees elected Joe Echevarria, the former CEO of UM, to be the seventh president of the university on October 18. Echevarria graduated from UM in 1978 with a B.A. in business administration and promptly began his career at Deloitte, where he became CEO in 2014.
The trustees used an internal committee composed of 11 deans, faculty, and board members, which helped accelerate the process. The vote for Echevarria, the favorite since his appointment as acting president in mid-June, was unanimous.
In 2020, Echevarria was appointed as the CEO of UM, a unique position necessitated by UM’s vast financial portfolio. During his tenure, he invested over $13 million in faculty compensation at the Gables and Marine campuses and another $60 million for medical school faculty. He also achieved revenue growth of 54 percent and improved the operating margin from $25 million to $351 million. – Patrick McCaslin
The High End of Real Estate
The prices for mansions in Coral Gables continue to skyrocket, especially if on the water. One recent closing was a real eye opener – an empty lot in the gated Old Cutler Bay neighborhood at sold for $18.2 million. Granted, that was less than the asking price of $19.9 million when put on the market in October last year. But it was still a handsome gain for the Sashimi Properties, which bought the 0.8-acre site in 2022 for $16 million. Still, it’s not the most expensive home sale in Miami-Dade County; in October, David and Victoria Beckham spent a whopping $72 million for a spec mansion on North Bay Road in Miami Beach. Closer to home, supermodel Elle Macpherson sold her mansion in the gated Journey’s End community for $18.5 million, even though the 1.7-acre property was not on the water. She purchased the property for $8.1 million back in 2018. Records show that the buyer for the empty lot in Old Cutler Bay was business consultant Paul Warshaw. – JP Faber
Lago’s New Opponent
At the last Coral Gables municipal election in 2022, Mayor Vince Lago won re-election unopposed after candidate Jackson “Rip” Holmes withdrew at the behest of now Commissioner Ariel Fernandez. Because there was no opposition, Lago was declared the winner prior to the election, and therefore none of his supporters came to vote for the commission candidates that he endorsed. The results speak for themselves. Next year’s election looks to be a different story. Last month businessman Michael Anthony Abbott filed paperwork that he would be running against Lago. Co-founder and CFO for logistics transport company SynXGlobal, Inc. Abbott has no official political background but is becoming more politically active as part of the group behind the non-profit Coral Gables Action Committee, which has already called for Lago to resign. Abbott was also involved in the effort to save the original Burger Bob’s. – JP Faber
Bank Benchmarks
Two of the Gables notable local financial institutions are celebrating important milestones. First, Coral Gables Trust is celebrating the 20th anniversary of its founding in the City Beautiful, and its 100 percent organic growth from startup to $2.5 billion in managed assets, making it the leading independent, privately-owned trust company in South Florida. In a celebratory party at La Jolla Ballroom on Alcazar last month, Mayor Vince Lago said, “If you tell me someone has managed to assemble $2.5 billion in wealth in this community in 20 years, that is something to be proud of.” Gable Trust Managing Director John Harris, who is also the Chief Wealth Advisor, attributed the firms’ success to its exceptional, locally focused client service – not to mention its success in growing client portfolios. Since its inception in the Gables, the firm has expanded to offices in Fort Lauderdale, Boca Raton and Palm Beach.
Second, as of the end of third quarter 2024, Coral Gables-based Amerant bank has now reached $10.4 billion in assets. According to the Federal Reserve, that means Amerant is no longer a community bank but a regional bank, defined as an institution with between $10 billion and $100 billion in assets. While that means more oversight in terms of capital, liquidity and risk management requirements, those are growing pains worth enduring. Amerant is currently on an expansion binge in Florida, selling its Texas operations while adding branches in Broward and Palm Beach counties. Most recently it opened a new branch in downtown Miami. “Crossing the $10 billion threshold is a testament to the efforts of our team here at Amerant Bank,” said Jerry Plush, president and CEO of Amerant. “We will continue to expand in Florida during 2025, with plans to open two banking centers in Miami Beach as well as a second location in Tampa.” – JP Faber
And Then There Were Four
Speaking of commercial activity in the Gables, last month saw the official ribbon cutting for Ryder Systems, the global transportation and logistics company, which recently relocated from their offices in Medley to the Colonnades building on Miracle Mile. The move means that Coral Gables is now home to the headquarters of four Fortune 500 companies, as Ryder joins Bacardi, MasTec, and Delmonte Fresh. At the ribbon cutting event, Ryder Chairman & CEO Robert Sanchez extolled the virtues of relocating to the Gables to an audience that included Vice Mayor Rhonda Anderson and Coral Gables Chamber of Commerce CEO and president Mark Trowbridge.
Sanchez described how Ryder first started in 1933 in a garage in Midtown, then moved to Coconut Grove, then to Doral (in what had been originally designed as a hockey rink), then to Medley, where they had been for the last 20 years. With encouragement from Mayor Vince Lago, Ryder made the move to “a good place to bring customers,” including the ability to stay in the same building at the Colonnades Hotel.
What they did not bring from Medley was the old 1931 Model “A” Ford truck similar the one used to start the company. “There was no parking for it here in Coral Gables,” said Sanchez to laughter. “So, we shipped it back to its home, which was in Detroit. But we wanted to give you a little Ryder model truck that you can take back to your office,” he said to Vice Mayor Anderson. “We are proud to display it at city hall,” she responded. Ryder has nearly 51,000 employees worldwide; the Coral Gables office is now home to approximately 800 employees, South Florida-based employees, many of whom work remotely or in a hybrid-work capacity. – JP Faber
A Grammy Nomination
Shelly Berg, dean of the UM’s Frost School of Music and Steinway piano virtuoso, has earned a sixth GRAMMY nomination. Berg was nominated for Best Instrumental Composition for ‘At Last,’ as part of the 67th GRAMMY Awards scheduled for February 2025. This nominated project also included two additional Frost School of Music faculty members, Dafnis Prieto and Melvin Butler.
Known for his technical brilliance and creative versatility, Berg’s compositions have captivated audiences. “At Last’ is part of his new album, Alegría, recorded with Grammy-winning bassist Carlitos Del Puerto, acclaimed drummer Dafnis Prieto, and tenor saxophonist Melvin Butler, was released in July 2024. Berg is also a celebrated author of instructional texts, including Chop-Monster and Jazz Improvisation: The Goal-Note Method, used by jazz students and educators worldwide.
When he is not developing GRAMMY nominated compositions, the arranger, orchestrator, and producer can be found shaping the next generation of musicians as dean of the Frost School of Music. Under his leadership, the Frost School has become one of the top music schools in the nation, most recently being named to Billboard’s Top Music Business School list for the tenth year in a row! – Emily Bruno
Another Commercial Upgrade
The area south of Bird Road between Lejuene Road and Ponce de Leon Boulevard was once a warehouse district and home to the city’s storage yards for its heavy equipment. That all changed when the Shops at Merrick Park moved in, and since then a slew of mid-rise buildings have filled out the area – except for the vestiges of smaller shops and garages on the east side of Ponce.
Some of the last of those buildings are now giving way to a new project by the Constellation Group at 4225 Ponce, an eight-story office building designed by Arquitectonica slated for completion in the third quarter of 2025. Bringing prestige to the project, Swiss-based investment bank UBS Group is moving from 550 Biltmore Way and taking the entire fifth and sixth floors, according to the developers. The move reflects new demand for Class A office space in the Gables, which has recently seen the arrival of FIFA, Apple, Ryder, and ACI Worldwide. The new building will also have retail on the ground floor and rooftop, and electric car charging stations. – JP Faber
The U Finally Loses
When the 9-0 Hurricanes showed up to Georgia Tech on November 9, they expected an easy win over the 5-4 Yellow Jackets, who hadn’t put up a multiple-touchdown performance in two back-to-back games. The fourth-ranked Hurricanes, meanwhile, were coasting on a loss-less season, featuring several nailbiter comeback wins and resounding defeats of their main in-state rivals, Florida State and University of Florida.
But even as Miami outpaced the Yellow Jackets with 348 passing yards from quarterback Cam Ward compared to Tech’s measly 99, the Hurricanes struggled. The ‘Canes converted only three of 10 third downs and mounted a feeble run defense against Tech. With only a minute and change to go, Ward was sacked and fumbled the ball, upsetting any hopes of a comeback.
After the loss, Miami took a bye week and slipped to No. 14 in the college football rankings. With only two games left in the season against division rivals Wake Forest (4-6) and Syracuse (7-3) at the time of writing, Miami fans can still hope to see the ‘Canes in the ACC Championship, however. – Kylie Wang
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