On April 22, 2021, Miami-Dade County released a draft Climate Action Strategy for public comment. The full draft of the report can be found here. Miami-Dade County often finds itself at the center of the conversation of climate change and resiliency efforts. With so much at stake, the County’s Office of Resilience prepared and released a draft Climate Action Strategy in April with the overarching goals of cutting greenhouse gas emissions, creating jobs, and improving health and quality of life in Miami-Dade County. After considering public comment during the month of June on issues spanning ap ..read more

With Florida’s pro-business climate and warm weather, the state has always been a target for corporate headquarter relocation and business expansion.  Couple that with the elimination of the SALT deduction and a focus on quality of life issues in the age of COVID, Florida has gone from the shortlist to the default choice for expansion and relocation.  Among the highlights of the State’s pro-business climate, Florida is a right-to-work state and has no state personal income tax, but there are also significant opportunities for Florida business relocation incentive packages that can be ..read more

On March 3, 2021, Bilzin Sumberg hosted its annual South Florida Redevelopment Conference.  During one of the sessions, the leaders of our firm’s Construction Law Group, Joy Spillis Lundeen and Felix X. Rodriguez, were joined by Brad Meltzer, Chairman and CEO of Plaza Construction, and William O’Donnell, Managing Principal of Desimone Consulting Engineers, to discuss the various construction delivery methods for construction projects.  The panelists discussed the different delivery methods and pros/cons of each, focusing on the following: (1) Design-Bid-Build with a Guaranteed Maximu ..read more

Section 718.202 of the Florida Condominium Act sought to address the extent that condominium developers could apply contract deposits to pay costs involved in construction of a project. This Section of the Condominium Act allowed deposits in excess of 10% of the purchase price to be used, with appropriate language in the sales contracts for expenditures used in the “actual construction and development” of the project. The meaning of “actual construction and development” was far from clear other than the specific prohibition on using such deposits for “salaries, commissions, expenses of salespe ..read more

Earlier this month, Bilzin Sumberg’s South Florida Redevelopment Conference engaged hundreds of real estate developers, government staff and officials, architects, engineers, and construction professionals from 12 different states and three different countries in thoughtful discussions about the current real estate market and the future of land development in South Florida. This year’s innovative virtual platform allowed a broader audience to participate in an exploration of market trends, obstacles, and unique opportunities for real estate development and public-private partnerships in the re ..read more

At the keynote session of Bilzin Sumberg’s South Florida Redevelopment Conference, newly elected Miami-Dade Mayor, Daniella Levine Cava, shared her vision for the County in the coming years. With a long history of public service to County residents, and as the first female mayor of Miami-Dade County, Mayor Levine Cava’s participation in the Conference garnered keen interest from attendees. As Commissioner for District 8, she invested her time in championing a better life for residents by advocating for innovative infrastructure and transportation projects, protecting the environment, creating ..read more

Bilzin Sumberg’s annual South Florida Redevelopment Conference brings together in- and out-of-state developers looking to explore new concepts and innovative approaches for achieving business success in South Florida’s real estate sector, as well as engineers, architects, planners, and government officials and staff engaged in real estate development and procurement in South Florida. At this year’s virtual conference, Land Development & Government Relations partners Anthony De Yurre and Stanley B. Price hosted a fireside chat and discussed the history of Rapid Transit Zones in Miami-Dade C ..read more

In a case that should serve as a warning to all Florida counties, the Florida Supreme Court recently struck down a voter-approved Hillsborough County charter amendment that created a 30-year, one-percent sales tax that could only be used to fund public transportation. The amendment also established an oversight committee responsible for ensuring that the tax proceeds were used for public transit. Challenging the amendment, a Hillsborough County Commissioner and resident argued that the oversight committee impermissibly usurped the powers granted to the County Commission pursuant to Florida law ..read more

Observers of the South Florida real estate industry don’t go very long without seeing headlines about Miami’s hot commercial real estate market. COVID-19 perhaps has only added to the growth of the market. But even in South Florida where the pandemic hasn’t blunted the market, it has indeed shifted trends and dynamics. On February 2nd, Nitin Motwani, Managing Principal of Miami Worldcenter, and Anthony De Yurre, Partner in Bilzin Sumberg’s Land Development and Government Relations Group, discussed the movement of money and migration as it relates to real estate investment and development in th ..read more

The National Defense Authorization Act for 2021 enacted on January 1, 2021 contains Title LXI, the Corporate Transparency Act (“Act”). It institutes new reporting requirements for legal entities with few employees and limited purposes. The Act requires reporting to the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network of the Department of the Treasury (“FinCEN”)   by so-called “reporting companies.” Reporting is required for the names of individuals having an ownership interest of 25% or more of the equity or “substantial control” of  the legal entity. The report must furnish for such indivi ..read more