|
<br />Summary Minutes: Regular City Commission Meeting October 20, 2011
<br />
<br />City of Sunny Isles Beach, Florida.
<br />
<br />extension. We didn't ask for a three-month extension. The Dezer proposal says in 24
<br />months they will start construction that can be delayed indefinitely if it is through no fault of
<br />theirs, and so they don't have to go forward with that construction, and they don't have to
<br />pay the City $72,000 a year ifit is delayed for anything other than their fault. We didn't ask
<br />for that, we will be paying the City $1 Million a year, not withstanding whoever, whatever
<br />delays this project. Their building will be 140,000 square feet, they are different architectural
<br />designs, and one of the things which is kind of uniform that is different from our proposal
<br />and site plan is that we have a 75-foot setback where only 25-feet is required with a
<br />community congregation area where as each one ofthese plans shows a 27-foot setback, the
<br />barest minimum that they can do. Lastly, fairness, you had a lot oftalk of who you invited to
<br />the dance and who you took home. Legally we say it a different way, we say that you don't
<br />change the rules of the ballgame in the ninth inning, you don't say four strikes instead of
<br />three because we want to make sure it goes a different way. You don't invite someone into
<br />your community to become a business incorporate citizen and then pull the rug out from
<br />under them at the 11 th hour. We want to be in this City, it is important to us. We will build
<br />you a quality product and we will build it quicker and faster with the utmost respect to the
<br />Dezers, they manage many office buildings throughout the United States, but he is not sure
<br />that they have ever built one. We do this for a living, this is what our client has done before
<br />in A ventura, this is what it will do on the Florida Riviera.
<br />
<br />Warren Stamm responded that they are ready to negotiate, and that Mr. Schulman pointed out
<br />a number of inconsistencies between our plan and the plan that they are now coming up with
<br />and he agrees, there are differences but there are a couple that he forgot to mention, like his
<br />client is proposing to purchase $7 Million worth of real estate but yet is not committed to pay
<br />permit fees that was inadvertently left out. If you look at their LOr they want the City to
<br />waive any permit fees and costs involved in the development of the project. And so the
<br />timeframe they are talking about is critical because they want to commit to the timeframe but
<br />they want the City to drive the timeframe for them. The reality is that Dezer's are very
<br />opened book, we are telling you that every other proposal, every deed that a developer comes
<br />up here to do, inadvertently there are problems, there are delays, there are things that arise,
<br />we have experience, we know that happens and that is why we put these provisions in here,
<br />they are not automatic, they are subject to the City, they are subject to something that is
<br />called partnership, that means, we the developer works with you, and you work with us not
<br />with rigid timelines, which he can tell you with some degree of certainty having built six
<br />buildings in this City alone and owning a significant amount of property which is prepared
<br />for development he can tell you that the timeframes that Mr. Schulman and his client are
<br />proposing are not going to be met. He also wanted to point out that they are here in Sunny
<br />Isles Beach, they are committed to the City, they want to continue developing in the City and
<br />the bottom line is performance. One thing that slipped through Mr. Weintraub's LOI, is
<br />again we still have this underlying condominium concept here, and while it may be a very
<br />viable concept, he is not sure that is the concept that will work best for the City. He and his
<br />client have been upfront with the City from the beginning, when they came here originally in
<br />2008 we were committed then, as Mr. Dezer pointed out, things happen. Weare proposing
<br />outside dates, these are commitments that we are prepared to make, it doesn't mean that it
<br />will take that long, it just means we want to be upfront with the City to recognize that there
<br />may be additional timeframes that are involved, not that we necessarily need them. The
<br />Dezer Organization stands behind its Letter oflntent, we are prepared to work with the City.
<br />
<br />15
<br />
|