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Daisy Olivera and husband Bernard
Garsen celebrate Lucite. Photo by David
Heischrek |
Always nice to report on another
affordable housing success in the city of Miami, but it
begs the question, why are the successes so painfully
slow with so few homes at a time? Market rate (and
super-luxury) condos and homes completed or being built
are measured in the dozens to hundreds of units;
affordable housing is celebrated in the ones and twos!
Last week, with suitable fanfare and thanks to The
Liberty City Trust for its efforts in facilitating
home ownership for residents, Jacqueline Willis turned
the key in her own front door at 1632 NW 59th St. The
Liberty City/Model City single-family house was
converted from a duplex by Adanac Development Corp.,
and is one of several homes being renovated in the area.
She qualified for city, county and Monthly Mortgage
Assistance Program grant assistance because she earns
less than 120 percent of the area median income. Total
grants given were $99,000 in the form of second, third
and fourth mortgages, to aid Ms. Willis with buying her
new home.
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Housing is on the radar in the business world too.
Research shows that obtaining funds for down payment and
closing costs, and understanding the home-buying
process, remain the primary hurdles for many families
seeking to purchase a home. The Greater Miami Chamber
of Commerce, in partnership with United Way of
Miami-Dade and the collaboration of the Realtor
Association of Greater Miami and the Beaches (RAMB)
and participating lenders, recently launched the
Achieving Homeownership Initiative, a worksite-based
campaign that will aid firms in developing programs to
help employees realize their dreams of homeownership.
Employers can provide a variety of benefit options, from
access to home-buying workshops to loans or grants that
help fund down payments, closing costs or interest rate
buy-downs. These benefits can serve as tools to attract
and retain qualified employees, revitalize neighborhoods
and reduce employee commuting time.
The first phase of the initiative concentrates on
home-buying education, with companies hosting a
condensed one-hour or an in-depth two-hour workshop at
their worksite. Training sessions will be offered by
members of RAMB and the following participating lenders:
BankUnited, FSB; Citibank; Great Florida Bank; Home
Financing Center; SunTrust Mortgage; and WAMU
(Washington Mutual).
Landmark Building
Sold
One of North Miami’s most architecturally interesting
buildings recently changed hands for $4.25 million; a
big gain on the $2.2 million paid by former owner GKL
Associates in March 2004. The 30,000-square-foot
building on a 1.75-acre site at 1125 NE 125th St. was
designed by architect Carson Bennett Wright in
1971 as headquarters for Tom Ireland’s Mortgage Corp.
of America. The building’s stone and wood theme is
apparent in a cantilevered façade that used 167 tons of
Tennessee River boulders and 15,000 board feet of
imported teak walls. The interior was later divided into
several office suites but many of the original wood
finishes and impressive bronze doors remain.
The new buyer, Salerno Holdings LLC, is headed by
Italian investors who lived in France before retiring to
Miami. “The purchase represents confidence in the Miami
office market, which shows continuing growth and low
vacancy rates,” said Luigi Mercurio, an agent in
Esslinger-Wooten-Maxwell’s Miami Beach office,
who together with Jeff Cohen represented the
buyers. “The large piece of vacant land adjoining the
office building is the icing on the cake,” he added.
Although the land is large enough to build another
structure twice the size of the existing building,
preserving the property’s character will be a challenge.
See the See-Through
Furniture
Daisy Olivera has a new gig as furniture designer! The
journalist and erstwhile Miami society reporter recently
unveiled her Lucite Collection at Robb & Stucky
Interiors in Coral Gables during a cocktail event hosted
by Robb & Stucky and Cotton Bay, a Bahamian-owned
residential resort community in Eleuthera. Her pieces
include cocktail tables, consoles, dining tables,
nesting side tables, floor screens, small “martini”
tables and serving trays. Infusions of bold colors such
as cobalt blue and ruby red create varying illusions of
depth that change with the angles of light.
Olivera says the idea for the collection came after she
couldn’t find any small Lucite tables to group together
in her living room. She designed some pieces herself and
launched a new career. She likes Lucite because it is
clearly unobtrusive with an ice-like quality. “When
light hits, it reflects and refracts in a much more
dazzling and liquid way than glass. You get various
optical illusions within the piece depending on the
angle from which it is viewed,” she says, adding that
Lucite also fits in with different styles of décor.
Art in Public Places
Several art and design students took the Cardinal
Development Corp. challenge to create a public work of
art that joins art and commerce, inspires the community
it serves and highlights the significance of the history
of the Biscayne corridor. Last week Irene Arditi,
principal of Cardinal, and representatives of the city
of Miami awarded Anastasia Cohen, a graphic design
student at Miami International University of Art &
Design, $10,000 as first place winner of the 3333
Biscayne Art in Public Places Competition. Janae
Anon won second place and $5,000, while Renata Pfuner
earned third place and $2,500.
Cohen’s design, “The Favorite Path of the Rising Moons,”
was inspired by the Miami Circle (the 1998
archaeological discovery at the mouth of the Miami
River). The winning installation will be permanently
affixed to the façade of 3333 Biscayne Blvd. in a space
designated by Perkins+Will, the LEED-accredited
architecture firm. Cardinal’s new landmark building will
be an environmentally sensitive, 15-story condo office
building located between 33rd and 34th streets on
Biscayne Boulevard. Office suites range from 1,000 to
15,000 square feet, and the building is slated for
completion in summer 2008.
Coming Up
June 22, 23 and 24:
Home & Family Expo.
Miami Beach Convention Center, varying hours. The show
features guest celebrities, exhibitor discounts,
specials and giveaways with activities for the whole
family. The Bank of America No Fee Mortgage PLUS Block
Party will feature a life-size home with interior design
elements by HGTV home design expert Susie Coelho. She
has designed a Miami family room using a range of cool
blues for a “modern-casual-elegant” style inspired by
Miami’s architecture and design. The room features
eclectic furniture in natural materials with capiz shell
lighting and a water feature. The ultimate family room
sweepstakes offers the chance to win a 60-inch Pioneer
plasma TV and Bose surround sound system. Financial
experts will also be on hand to talk about No Fee
Mortgage PLUS, a groundbreaking mortgage product that
eliminates closing fees and guarantees an on-time
closing. Admission is $9 for adults; children under 12
get in free. On Friday, seniors and all government and
municipal employees will receive free admission, and
only $5 admission for the rest of the weekend. Info:
www.homeandfamilyexpo.com.
Helen Hill is a
freelance writer specializing in real estate and
lifestyle topics. Please send news items on Miami-Dade
real estate to
hhill@miamisunpost.com.
Comments?
E-mail
letters@miamisunpost.com.
