Miami Herald

A 140-apartment affordable housing complex is planned for the site of a former mall on the Gulf Coast of Florida. According to paperwork filed with Manatee County Development Services, Desoto Apartments will be built on a 4.8-acre site on the north end of the DeSoto Square Mall property in Bradenton. The complex will feature 33 one-bedroom, 65 two-bedroom and 42 three-bedroom apartments across two, four-story buildings, according to development records. The mall opened in 1973 and closed in 2021 after the previous owners filed for bankruptcy. Read more: https://lnkd.in/e5Zrmr3v

A nearly 70-year-old Fort Lauderdale landmark — once drawing the likes of Frank Sinatra and Walter Cronkite — has reopened. But you’ll need to wait a couple of months to reach the top. Pier Sixty-Six, a luxury hotel on the eastern edge of the 17th Street Causeway, took a hit from Hurricane Irma in 2017. After a major renovation delayed by the pandemic, the resort reopened on Jan. 10. The new and improved Pier Sixty-Six has 325 rooms and suites — most with Intracoastal, marina or ocean views, said Colm O’Callaghan, vice president and managing director. The resort will have 12 restaurants, a 13,000-square-foot spa that opens in March and a 164-slip marina for vessels up to 400 feet. But what about the landmark rotating rooftop that has defined the resort for decades? Read the full story: https://lnkd.in/efAVx_yV

On a recent Saturday at a sneaker convention in Fort Lauderdale, Jay Samuels stood behind a table full of Nike and Adidas sneakers he was hoping to sell. “Hey, $50!” he yelled as he held up a slightly worn pair of Kanye West Yeezys, now relics of a bygone era following the musician’s acrimonious split from Adidas. After failing to attract a buyer, he picked up another shoe and yelled “$100!” People still didn’t bite. Neither pair quickly sold. Even though it wasn’t long ago that rare sneakers were sold for three times their retail price, the energy at the Samuels’ table at Sneaker Con, a traveling event now in its 15th year, felt more like that of a neighborhood garage sale. “It’s changed a lot,” Samuels, owner of the Wynwood retailer Sneaker Buyers, said of the sneaker business overall. “But everything changes with fashion. You always just got to keep up on what is the next trend.” Read more about the changing landscape of the sneaker resale marketplace: https://lnkd.in/eM6757x7

Two hospitals and several ambulatory surgery centers in South Florida were recognized by a national watchdog group for providing some of the best patient safety and care in the state. Larkin Community Hospital in South Miami and Nicklaus Children’s Hospital near South Miami were two of the 134 hospitals in the country to receive a “Top Hospital” award. The honor was given to less than 6% of all eligible hospitals in the U.S. by Leapfrog, a national watchdog nonprofit that for decades has scored hospitals on patient safety. Several ambulatory surgery centers run by Baptist Health South Florida, including in Coral Gables, Kendall, Miami Beach, Plantation and South Miami, were also recognized for being some of the top 31 ambulatory surgery centers in the country. Read more: https://lnkd.in/eEessiBW

Austin Burke, the Miami menswear staple that opened in Wynwood in 1955, is closing for good. The store was built on personality, TV and radio ads, and some good old-fashioned discounts. Austin Burke died in 1987, but his namesake store kept going under the ownership of his son and a longtime business partner. “They had a great run of 70 years,” said retail expert Steven Henenfeld, executive vice president of retail services with Colliers International Miami. “The apparel industry is a tough business and to make it 70 years is a testament to the tenants’ hard work and desire to succeed,” he said. “After 70 years, they deserve to sell their real estate, make a lot of money and ride off into the sunset.” Read more: https://lnkd.in/eAapXdXd

Apple announced an opening date and location for its first store in the downtown Miami core and unveiled its sign on a barricade covering the storefront. The new Art Deco-influenced Apple store will be at Miami Worldcenter, a $6 billion, 27-acre mixed-use development of retail and residential units. The new location joins the tech chain’s nine other South Florida retail stores that include Lincoln Road Mall in Miami Beach, Dadeland, Aventura, The Falls, and Brickell City Centre. Read more about when the new Apple store will open: https://lnkd.in/eGFXuUur

A new face is joining the leadership of the Miami-based John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, which since 1950 has worked to build informed communities by investing in journalism, the arts and civic innovation. On Tuesday, the foundation announced Kristina Newman-Scott as its new vice president of arts, succeeding Victoria Rogers, 73, who retired on Dec. 31 after nearly a decade. Newman-Scott will lead Knight’s arts funding strategy and oversee its expansive arts portfolio, which Knight has invested more than $466 million since 2005. Read more: https://lnkd.in/eK3S6G_k

The Miami Marlins are banking on boosting the team’s popularity and making loanDepot Park a year-round destination for indoor-outdoor dining and entertainment in a newly designed West Plaza called Miami Live!, the franchise announced Tuesday. The Miami Marlins and loanDepot park have partnered with The Cordish Companies, a Baltimore-based family-owned real-estate development company that has led similar projects under their Live! brand, including the popular Texas Live! at the Texas Rangers ballpark and KC Live! in Kansas City. The development is projected to create more than 200 jobs in the construction and hospitality sectors, said Miami Marlins President of Business Caroline O’Connor. Opening day will be early 2026. Read more about Miami Live!: https://lnkd.in/ef4RuvXS

Macy's announced the closing of 66 of its stores nationwide, including five in South Florida, as part of its “Bold New Chapter” strategy. That strategy is hardly a secret as the New York retail giant said last year Macy’s would close up to 150 under-performing stores through 2026 in an effort to shore up flagging profits. Stores that will be closed began clearance sales in January that will run for about 8 to 12 weeks. Macy’s Furniture Galleries, which account for more than half of Florida’s targeted stores, and Macy’s Backstage stores will start clearance sales in February for about six weeks. Here are the South Florida stores Macy’s announced it is closing after clearance sales in early 2025: https://lnkd.in/eFH82i7e

Miami Shores resident Roni Bennett launched South Florida People of Color in 2015 to educate businesses and universities about marginalized communities and help them learn why diversity, equity and inclusion — DEI, for short — is important to the foundation of any company or organization. A decade later, Bennett has seen her work limited by Florida legislation affecting DEI, including the 2022 Stop Woke Act. Before Stop Woke, Bennett said South Florida People of Color had sufficient revenue to organize community events. That quickly stopped, she said, after the act was signed into law in 2022. Many of the businesses that she served stopped requesting the organization’s services. “We owe it to the next generation to make progress for them,” she said. “I want to be able to dismantle systematic racism in America.” Read the full story: https://lnkd.in/eSPBWnui