Yearly Archives: 2015

Congressman Mario Diaz-Balart (R-FL) released the following statement after the United States House of Representatives issued two strong rebukes of President Obama’s policy towards Cuba in both the Commerce, Justice, and Science and the Transportation, Housing and Urban Development Appropriations bills for FY 2016.

U.S. Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-FL), Chairman of the Subcommittee on the Middle East and North Africa, made the following statement regarding the defeat of the Lee Amendment to the Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, which would have repealed language that prohibits any new regularly scheduled flights or cruises to Cuba if they use illegally confiscated American property. The Lee Amendment was defeated by a margin of 247 – 176

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development announced today an agreement with a North Miami Beach condominium association settling allegations its board president harassed and made discriminatory remarks about Black and Hispanic residents and attempted to evict them.

Association Law Group (ALG), one of Florida’s leading HOA and condominium law firms with offices in Miami and Ft. Lauderdale, has recovered close to $125,000,000 for its clients in past due maintenance fees and other liabilities since the recession first began. During the peak of the financial crisis, many HOAs and condominiums found themselves in desperate times as delinquencies skyrocketed and owners stopped paying their maintenance fees, in many cases abandoning bad investments they made, while leaving the rest of the homeowners in such properties holding the bag

The University of Florida’s Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences (UF/IFAS) Extension in Lake County is offering its popular two-hour long course “Chicken University” on Thursday, June 11 from 6 – 8 p.m. at the Lake County Agricultural Center, located at 1951 Woodlea Road in Tavares. Topics to be covered include poultry anatomy and biology, housing, egg production, predator protection and egg handling.

CBRE arranged the sale of Town Center I in Opa-locka, Florida. The 80,000-square-foot mixed use asset was acquired from JWV Florida Properties LLC by the City of Opa-Locka for $7.9 million. CBRE represented the seller in the sale

South America’s largest nation continues to be the top foreign country searching for South Florida real estate on the MIAMI Association of REALTORS® (MIAMI) website, according to new statistics from the nation’s largest local Realtor group. For the 11th consecutive month, Brazil led all global consumers using MIAMI’s search portal, Miamire.com, in April 2015.

The Florida Department of Financial Services’ Division of Insurance Fraud (DIF) today announced the arrest of Juan C. Garcia, owner of Construction Forever LLC, for his involvement in a workers’ compensation insurance fraud scheme. The investigation conducted by DIF revealed that Garcia provided false and misleading information on his application for workers’ compensation insurance with the intent to lower premium costs

Hunt Mortgage Group, a commercial real estate lender, announced today that that it has opened an office in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, located at 110 SE 6th Street on the 17th Floor.

A mixed-use team of capital markets professionals from CBRE’s Tampa and Atlanta offices has been retained as the exclusive advisors for Redstone Investments, the new owners of Tampa, Florida’s Austin Center. The CBRE team includes Jay O’Meara, Dale Peterson, Dave Conn and Sean Williams – a combination of capital markets experts focused on office, retail and multifamily

CBRE launched its global Urban Photographer of the Year competition with the theme, “Cities at Work.” Now in its ninth year, the competition continues to attract photographers from around the world. This year the contest challenges photographers to capture what urban means to them in an ever-changing global landscape. The competition is free to enter and open to both professional and amateur photographers.

The MIAMI Association of REALTORS® (MIAMI), the nation’s largest local Realtor association with 35,000 members, promoted South Florida real estate to Asian luxury buyers at China’s leading property showcase last month. MIAMI participated in the ninth annual Luxury Property Show Beijing show from April 24-26 at the prestigious Legendale Hotel Beijing

Congresswoman Frederica S. Wilson (FL-24) announced today that the City of Opa-Locka will receive revitalization grants totaling $400,000 from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Opa-Locka is one of nine communities in Florida to receive a portion of more than $3.9 million in Brownfield grants. This investment will provide communities with funding necessary to assess, clean, and redevelop contaminated sites, which will boost local economies and leverage jobs while protecting public health and the environment

Attorney General Pam Bondi and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau were granted a final judgment against the Hoffman Law Group and corporate affiliates accused of using deceptive marketing practices and scamming distressed homeowners into paying illegal advance fees. Working together, five companies conned consumers into paying millions of dollars in illegal upfront fees to join frivolous lawsuits that the companies falsely claimed would pressure banks to modify their loans or provide foreclosure relief.

The westbound curb-side lane of West Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard is closed between North Rome and North Albany Avenues while the Tampa Water Department repairs a distribution pipe. One westbound lane and all eastbound lanes remain open for traffic. Barricades and signs will be located in the area to assist with traffic flow

Wyndham Vacation Ownership (WVO), the world’s largest vacation ownership company and a member of the Wyndham Worldwide family of companies (NYSE: WYN), is inviting travelers to vote for their favorite “dream destination” of 2015 during the Dream Destinations Sweepstakes now through June 24, 2015 for the chance to win a five-night vacation package with a retail value of up to $3,000.

CBRE arranged the sale of Lantana West Plaza, a 26,340-square-foot, multi-tenant retail center located at 5891 S. Military Trail in Lake Worth, Florida. Woodmont Properties II, LLC purchased the property for $4,080,000. The seller was IR-Lantana West Plaza, LLC, which hired CBRE to market the asset for sale and negotiate the transaction

The Florida Department of Financial Services’ Division of Insurance Fraud today arrested Giselle Avila, vice president of The Valenti Group Insurance, Inc. in Miami, for insurance fraud after she knowingly misled a consumer in order to obtain a higher commission payout. Investigators also determined that Avila prepared and issued a fictitious notice of reinstatement for the consumer’s homeowner insurance policy in an attempt to conceal that it had been canceled.

This year's Broward County Point-in-Time (PIT) Count, conducted over a three-day period on January 26-28, 2015 shows that the total number of sheltered and unsheltered persons experiencing homelessness in Broward County has decreased by 5.1%, from 2,766 to 2,624. The number of unsheltered persons also decreased by 5.7% from 879 to 829. Both figures are comparisons to the same count done in January 2014

Central Florida real estate occupied by e-commerce retailers, parcel delivery firms, and transportation/logistics companies hit an all-time high in 2014, according to a new report by CBRE Group, Inc., and demand from those users is projected to surge over the next three years