Lenders provide nearly $900 million in financing for new South Florida condo projects

Some seven years after the dramatic South Florida real estate crash of 2007, lenders have begun to open the financing spigot for proposed condo towers east of Interstate 95 in the tricounty region of Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach.In the past 20 months, lenders have provided nearly $900 million in financing to condo developers — …

Sarasota Quay property to hit market

One of the most prominent urban properties in Florida will hit the market for sale following a four-year foreclosure saga. The Irish government, acting as receiver for the defunct Anglo-Irish Bank, repossessed the former Sarasota Quay property Monday after no other bidders made a viable offer at its long-awaited foreclosure auction, court records show. The …

South Miami commission gets mixed up over small development

To the would-be developer of seven new houses, it was a routine “ministerial” decision. To neighbors, it was a seal of approval on new “McMansions.” But to South Miami city commissioners, a Tuesday night decision on whether to waive land-use regulations was a case study in confusion. The City Commission cast six votes on the …

Why Baby Boomers Are Moving to Hipster Neighborhoods

Jennifer Williams says she often feels like the oldest person on her block. When the 52-year-old corporate communications executive sets off for work in a suit, carrying a briefcase, with her hair in a bun, she is usually surrounded by young people with tattoos and rainbow crocheted skull caps. “It’s like mom is coming in …

Spitzer’s Expanding Real-Estate Empire

This week, Eliot L. Spitzer, the former New York governor, invited journalists to view his recent tax returns in his office in the French chateau-influenced Crown Building, on Fifth Avenue, which is doubling as his campaign headquarters. On the twenty-second floor, a gold-plated placard on the office door still bears the name of Spitzer’s father, …