Archive for category: News

Property owners, brokers and businesses react to new guidelines

U.S. President Joe Biden removes his mask before speaking about updated CDC mask guidance. (Getty)

Aliza Bixon had insisted clients wear masks while exercising at her Miami Beach Pilates studio. Before vaccination, they had preferred to stay masked but it became a bit of an annoyance during strenuous workouts.

So within hours of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention saying fully vaccinated people can go without face coverings, she scrapped her mask rule for customers.

“They are coming back to the studio jumping for joy like, ‘I am so excited. I can breathe without a mask,’” Bixon said.

Businesses across the country, not to mention their landlords, are also breathing easier after the CDC’s announcement Thursday, which might also inspire more Americans to get vaccinated.

But Bixon, who co-owns the boutique studio at 712 West 51st Street, echoed other business owners in saying she will not check vaccination cards.

“I don’t know anyone who doesn’t have the vaccine,” she explained. “People have been announcing it proudly as they come in through the doors.”

When the CDC issued its guidance, about 35 percent of Floridians were fully vaccinated. The figure was 42 percent for New Yorkers, 37 percent for Californians and 36 percent of all Americans.

The CDC guidance is advisory; states can follow it or not when setting Covid regulations. But it gave commercial landlords hope that life — and rent collection — would soon return to normal. Some of their tenants have been operating at partial capacity for over a year and have not been paying full rent.

“What’s good for the retailer and the restaurateur is good for the landlord,” said Peter Ripka, the co-founder of brokerage RIPCO Real Estate.

In downtown Fort Lauderdale, tenants at the 11-story Museum Plaza office condo building received an email Thursday evening from the association that they can ditch their masks, said Keith Poliakoff, whose law firm, Government Law Group, has an office there.

“They are probably the first massive office building that came out with such a decision,” Poliakoff said.

Museum Plaza posted signs throughout the property clarifying the easing of the mask mandate applies only to fully vaccinated tenants and visitors. But, like Bixon, it is relying on the honor system and will not check vaccination cards.

Poliakoff said he sees no potential liability for businesses and landlords if people get sick..

“As long as they post their protocol and make it clear all unvaccinated individuals are still required to wear a mask, then that person assumes their risk,” he said.

Those individuals can infect vaccinated people, but the vaccines are highly protective. Only about 1 in 10,000 vaccinated Americans have since tested positive for Covid, and in those who did, their symptoms have almost always been minor or nonexistent. In clinical trials, not a single recipient of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine was hospitalized or died of Covid.

California plans to lift its mask mandate June 15, at which point businesses can do the same. The California Retailers Association told The Real Deal that its members will be “looking at it from their own perspective, and they’ll make their own decision.”

“It’s difficult — you have the issue of proving everyone is vaccinated,” said Rachel Michelin, the trade group’s president. “We’ll wait for official guidance from the Department of Public Health.”

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis had already ended all Florida localities’ emergency Covid restrictions May 3, but businesses can still impose their own mask mandates.

New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo said he will review the CDC guidelines before making changes to state policy, which requires masks in public if social distancing is not possible. Cuomo previously announced that most capacity restrictions will end May 19.

Andrew Rigie, executive director of the NYC Hospitality Alliance, called the CDC guidance “excellent” news for bars and restaurants though he noted it will not matter until the state acts.

“It’s more justification to continue eliminating restaurant and nightlife restrictions so that these businesses, which are vital to the city’s social and economic fabric, can reopen further, welcome back customers and help the Big Apple recover,” Rigie said in a statement.

Where the restrictions are lifted, some retailers have already embraced the opportunity.

Publix, one of the biggest grocery store chains in Florida, on Friday evening lifted its mask requirements for fully vaccinated staff and shoppers, except in other states where mandates are in place. The Lakeland-based supermarket said in a statement it still requires masks for those who have not received both doses of the Moderna or Pfizer vaccines (Johnson & Johnson’s is a one-shot), but did not clarify whether it will check vaccination cards.

California-based Trader Joe’s is also not waiting. It was one of the first major grocers to lift mask mandates after the CDC issued its recommendation.

Retail landlord Miami Manager, which owns five shopping plazas in South Florida, stopped requiring masks in common areas such as parking lots and hallways but lets its retail tenants decide the rule in their stores.

“We do expect people who haven’t been vaccinated to wear a mask for their own safety,” said Milton Mekler, the chief operating officer.

Office sector optimism

Landlords also expect the CDC’s announcement will encourage employees to return to the office, potentially ending the trend of subleasing and consolidation that threatens their bottom line.

“The CDC’s new guidance will send a strong message to all businesses and their employees that a full return to the office and other indoor settings will be achieved safely and effectively,” said James Whelan, president of the Real Estate Board of New York, in a statement.

Eric Meyer, principal of New York City landlord Meyer Equities, echoed Whelan’s words.

“Anything that makes people feel comfortable to come into work is positive for the landlord business,” he said. “If the CDC is saying it’s safe, and people are on the same page with that, it certainly helps.”

Some companies have already announced returns to the office, in some cases as soon as next month. Among them are Blackstone, JPMorgan Chase, Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley.

Still, even with capacity restrictions being lifted and the new mask guidance, not everything is returning to normal for landlords. State and local moratoriums on evictions remain in effect. In New York, for example, residential tenants and businesses with 50 or fewer employees who claim Covid hardship cannot be forced out for nonpayment until at least September.

“Anything that is going to get us closer to normal is great,” said Alex Mehran, the vice president of Mehran Property Management, which operates approximately 200,000 square feet of retail and office space in New York.

“But for landlords it’s still not great,” he said. “Until you allow landlords to enforce the contracts that they’re in, the real estate business is not going to get back to normal.”

Link: In CDC we trust: Mask guidance prompts changes
Auther: Sasha Jones, Lidia Dinkova, Isabella Farr and Akiko Matsuda

Two seasoned litigators—and deft dealmakers—launch the Government Law Group

By the time attorneys Keith Poliakoff and Neil Schiller departed Saul Ewing Arnstein & Lehr, they’d shared a 15-year friendship—and a goal to found a new firm, the Government Law Group. With Poliakoff based in Broward County, and Schiller in Palm Beach County, the partnership reflects their commitment to offer comprehensive service in land use, lobbying, government contracts, litigation and municipal representation.

They also share a love of deal making. The two left on amicable terms with Saul Ewing and will maintain a referral relationship with the firm to assist clients in areas outside of the GLG’s core practice, but their hours are consumed charting their own course—by forging the kinds of complex deals at the intersection of government and commerce that have long been their passion.

Poliakoff’s road to law was not linear. He graduated from Syracuse, made his bones as a journalist, with stints at CNN and NBC News Miami. But he couldn’t shake the dream of law school, eventually earning his J.D. at Yeshiva University’s Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law in New York.

His war stories comprise a long list. His current client, BGI Capital, a national developer, was looking for residential projects; another developer client, MG3 Properties, wanted to sell a property it had acquired in Hollywood. “One of the first things I did was make a match and tell them to speak to each other,” Poliakoff recalls. As a result, BGI has under contract a property for MG3—a luxury apartment building in downtown Hollywood.

“But it didn’t stop there,” Poliakoff says. “Once I realized that BGI was interested in developing in Hollywood, I was meeting with the mayor of Hollywood and out of the blue he mentioned that the old Publix that runs into Hollywood Boulevard may be on the market. I immediately called BGI and said, ‘Hey, why only take block 58 in Hollywood from MG3, why not take the whole area and look at block 57 too?’ And sure enough, within a matter of days we got that block under contract as well, and now we’re building one of the largest apartment and mixed-use developments in the city, valued well over a billion dollars at build-out.”

The deal also includes the potential for Hollywood Boulevard to extend east and west directly through the old Publix site. “And what did we do?” Poliakoff asks. “It was finding the property and taking it from A to Z, serving as the complete quarterback for the developer. As someone who always wanted to play football and never had the physical prowess to do so, this is my opportunity to be a quarterback.”

He also calls the deal a “home run” for a city that was looking for redevelopment as well as for his client. “I always knew I wanted to change the skyline of Florida help those municipalities,” he says, “some of

which are in dire need of smart redevelopment. Having a political background—my father was in politics—I always felt that deal making was something I enjoyed doing.”

As for Poliakoff’s new partner, Neil Schiller—armed with a bachelor’s and a law degree from the University of Miami—has grown into his practice area, which is notched with a range of high-profile projects. “I do land use and zoning and development law, like Keith, and I’ve done so many different projects over the years—and none of the easy ones,” he says. “These are the hard ones. Even though not many of them get developed because they’re so complex, it is a joy to see those projects get approved, from Transit Village of West Palm Beach with [Transit Village president] Mike Masanoff years and years ago, to the midtown Delray Beach project, which is now called Sundy Village that was approved two years ago.”

A particularly salient example of his wheeling and dealing is South Florida’s Brightline train system. “I was responsible for negotiating all the crossing agreements for Brightline,” Schiller says. “It was a great learning experience not only as a young lawyer, but as a lawyer going before city councils where they really hated me.”

He repeats: “They really hated me; they really hated my client. My territory was Palm Beach County all the way to Orange County. In some of those more northern cities and counties, the level of sophistication was there but the zealousness and hatred got worse and worse as we went north.”

If this sounds like a story of failure that Schiller had to bounce back from, think again: “Many city councils voted against the crossing agreements at first,” he recalls, “and then after some massaging, after some meetings, after some advocacy, they changed their minds, realizing that this was a very good deal. Now we’re working on Phase 2 all the way to Orlando now.”

Deal accomplished.

Link: Two Legal Eagles Partner Up
Auther: Drew Limsky

(Photo courtesy Delray Beach Fire Rescue)

Highland Beach wants out of the town’s fire-rescue contract with Delray Beach–perhaps as soon as next year.

At last week’s meeting, the town commission voted unanimously to send Delray Beach a notice of withdrawal from the 10-year contract that runs until 2026. Each side must provide three years’ notice. Town Attorney Glen Torcivia, however, claimed that Highland Beach may have reason to terminate for breach of contract. In that case, the town could ask to leave after just one year.

For now, the letter will date Highland Beach’s notice as May 1 for departure in three years. Mayor Douglas Hillman, however, wants to reserve the “option” of getting out even earlier. Commissioners will decide after a “forensic” examination of Delray Beach’s performance.

Hillman said additional costs from Delray Beach’s increased staffing would bring the contract to 40 percent of Highland Beach’s budget next year. He claimed that the town could save $2 million a year in operating expenses with its own department, thus offsetting in five years what a consultant said would be startup costs of between $8 million and $10 million.

Delray Beach Fire Chief Keith Tomey consistently has challenged the consultant’s numbers on which the town commissioners are relying. Tomey believes that the consultant especially has lowballed the startup costs.

On Monday, Tomey also challenged Hillman’s assertion that Highland Beach has a “good possibility” of a mutual aid agreement that would replace the one with Delray Beach. No nearby full-service city, Tomey told me, would sign an agreement with a town that has only about 4,000 residents. Delray Beach has such agreements with Boca Raton and Boynton Beach because all parties have the resources to help each other. A deal with Highland Beach, Tomey said, would be too lopsided.

Whatever the real numbers, the issue has become personal in Highland Beach. Hillman claimed that the town is subsidizing calls from Highland Beach’s station to Delray Beach. He predicted further cost increases because of the city’s “low-funded pension” and the new contract with the International Association of Fire Fighters.

One commissioner praised Hillman’s “courage” and criticized “misinformation” from Delray Beach. Another said Delray Beach simply wanted Highland Beach to be “subservient” and just accept higher and higher costs because the contract has no annual cap.

An example of those contested costs is Delray Beach’s plan to add a third person on rescue calls from the station in Highland Beach. Tomey defends the added expense by citing, among other things, American Heart Association protocols. They note that some lifesaving procedures require two persons with the patient while the third drives.

Hillman acknowledged the potential benefits by saying that Highland Beach “might” add a third person. If that happened, though, he claimed that the town still could do it for less money. “Health and safety of our residents,” Hillman said, is the priority, “not the savings.”

Still, money seems to be the flashpoint. Town commissioners complained about all the captains in Delray Beach’s fire department compared to the city’s police department. Tomey calls that a false comparison, since captain is the first level of promotion after driver-engineer, which is not a supervisory position.

Field training officer is the police equivalent of fire-driver. After that, however, the promotion track goes to sergeant and lieutenant before captain.

Until now, Delray Beach commissioners have shown little interest in negotiating. The general attitude has been that ending the contract might benefit the city.

Tomey, however, disagrees. “We need them as much as they need us,” he said. Without the contract, “We still need a way to respond” to calls from that Highland Beach station. “And those calls only will increase.”

For now, Tomey said, the department is talking with city administrators about the 22 employees who could lose their jobs if the contract ends. The department has averaged between four and five departures each year recently, so turnover could solve part of that problem.

If Highland Beach alleged breach of contract, Delray Beach could challenge that. In an email, Delray Beach City Attorney Lynn Gelin said that “the City would absolutely contest a termination for breach.” The city commission’s next regular meeting is May 4.

Tomey’s perspective

Part of this issue also is personal for Tomey. In December, he suffered a serious heart attack. Coral Springs/Parkland firefighters responded with four people in the vehicle.

Tomey credited the responders with saving his life. Three paramedics were in the back of the truck with Tomey when he had his heart attack, “because they thought I was going to code,” he noted. A fourth was driving.

Wildflower update

Wildflower park rendering (Courtesy of City of Boca Raton)

Wildflower/Silver Palm won’t be just the most expensive park–based on size–that Boca Raton has built. It will also be the most micromanaged park.

During Monday’s workshop meeting, city council members spent more than an hour making some small cuts to the projected budget while debating the location of a bathroom and “stone seats” that look like mushrooms with the stems cut off. All this over 6.2 acres north and south of the Palmetto Park Road bridge on the west side of the Intracoastal Waterway.

Though the council tentatively trimmed it–a final vote will take place in two weeks–the construction price likely will be $1 million-plus over budget. That could be roughly $9 million. Add the $7.5 million purchase price for the roughly two acres of the Wildflower portion.

Councilman Andy Thomson asked how much it cost to build Hillsboro El Rio South Park, which opened in February 2020. Answer: about $5.7 million on 14.7 acres the city already owned. The project came in on budget.

Councilwomen Andrea O’Rourke and Monica Mayotte rejected that comparison. O’Rourke, who opposed any cuts to what the contractor had proposed as a $10.3 million project, said Wildflower/Silver Palm would be an “experiential destination” with “hidden economic benefits” for downtown merchants. Those benefits must be very hidden, since no city study has outlined them.

O’Rourke repeatedly cited the supposed community “vision” that only busting the budget could fulfill. There were public forums and people did provide comment. But this project long has been dominated by a slice of the city that lives nearby and hated the idea of a revenue-producing restaurant on that property. “If we didn’t have so much vision,” Mayor Scott Singer said, “we wouldn’t be spending so much money.”

If only that vision had more grounding in reality. At one point, supporters proposed that there be no parking places. The Silver Palm portion includes the existing motorized boat launch, but the uses on the Wildflower property presume that a tiny parcel can become what O’Rourke calls “an amenity of excellence.”

Breaking the budget for Wildflower/Silver Palm won’t shake Boca Raton’s financial foundation. The question is whether the money to build it will have been wasted.

Rental bills fail again

Old and new capitol buildings in Tallahassee, Florida. (State Archives of Florida)

For another year, legislation to preempt local regulation of vacation rentals has failed in the Florida Legislature. Boca Raton, Delray Beach and many other cities had opposed the bills.

Preemption has become more of an issue in recent years. Another bill that didn’t pass would have prevented local governments from banning new gas stations. Interestingly, Delray Beach just rejected a proposal for a RaceTrac station and restaurant. Under such a law, Delray Beach might not have had a choice.

Schiller moves on

Neil Schiller, the lawyer-lobbyist who has appeared often recently before the Delray Beach City Commission and also has had clients in Boca Raton, is leaving his firm to start a new venture.

Schiller and one other lawyer from Saul Ewing Arnstein & Lehr will form Government Law Group, practicing in Palm Beach and Broward counties.

Boca Bash ripples

Here’s the scorecard from Boca Bash 2021, courtesy of the Boca Raton Police Department:

The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, which has jurisdiction over Lake Boca, made 10 arrests for boating under the influence, one arrest for disorderly intoxication and one arrest for resisting arrest without violence.

In terms of public health, we may never know the total of COVID-19 cases spread by the maskless crowd in boats packed tightly together.