FYI Miami: February 13, 2025

Below are some of the FYIs in this week’s edition. The entire content of this week’s FYIs and Insider sections is available by subscription only. To subscribe click here.

SUBSIDY DREAM: The county is soon to be asked again to loosen a 2018 ban on subsidies to develop multi-billion-dollar American Dream Mall in Northwest Miami-Dade to allow two forms of aid. The mayor’s office last year opposed loosening restrictions until developers met requirements as the county asked exactly what was planned for 82 acres that developers got from the state at a discounted $19 million. Commissioner Juan Carlos Bermudez, who led the drive last year, said last week he soon would be bringing the effort back. “Everybody should be treated equally when they come up in front of us,” he said in seeking to end the subsidies ban. Said Commissioner Oliver Gilbert III, “I was uncomfortable with that because they made a deal” to get zoning approval. When the site won that approval, the only no vote was by now-Mayor Daniella Levine Cava, who said the county should have gotten more concessions from Triple Five Group, which developed two of the nation’s largest malls. American Dream was to Miami-Dade’s largest mall. 

NO CONDO BAILOUTS: Condo owners shouldn’t expect financial “bailouts” to cover increased costs as condo associations try to comply with state laws passed after the 2021 collapse of the Champlain Towers South building in Surfside that killed 98 people, key lawmakers said Tuesday. With the Legislature discussing potential changes in condo laws, House Speaker Daniel Perez of Miami and Rep. Vicki Lopez, a Miamian working on the issue, said new proposals won’t involve direct financial assistance. “I do have to balance that with my responsibility as the speaker and make sure that we don’t bail out and use taxpayer dollars for people that are in private homes,” Mr. Perez said. “I look at a condominium the same way I look at a residential home. It’s private property. Bailing them out with taxpayer dollars is not something that I’m open to.”

CITIZENS RATE CUTS: Many South Florida customers of the state’s Citizens Property Insurance Corp. will receive rate decreases this year, Gov. Ron DeSantis said during an appearance in Miami. He said 73% of Citizens customers with homeowners policies in Miami-Dade County will receive premium reductions with an average 6.3% decrease, and 52% of Citizens customers with homeowners policies in Broward County will get decreases averaging 4.5%. The Citizens Board of Governors in June approved a proposal that sought an average 13.5% rate increase statewide for homeowners’ multi-peril coverage, but the state Office of Insurance Regulation has not ruled on the proposal.