ASSOCIATION AND INDUSTRY NEWS
GRAEF acquires Miami
based Consulting
Engineering & Science, Inc.
GRAEF-USA Inc., a full service en-
gineering, planning and design firm
headquartered in Milwaukee, says it
has acquired Miami based Consult-
ing Engineering & Science, Inc. (CES).
In partnership with GRAEF’s Or-
lando office, the CES purchase will
expand its services throughout the
State of Florida and the broader
southeast region of the country,
GRAEF says in a statement.
For more than 30 years, CES. has
been a leading consulting engineer-
ing firm in South Florida, with a focus
on civil engineering, coastal engi-
neering, and environmental sciences,
the announcement said. These focus
areas will build upon and strengthen
GRAEF’s existing services.
CES leaders John Guttman,
Richard Bochnovich and Nelson Ortiz
have been named associates of
GRAEF. The firm’s additional staff will
also continue through the transition
as employees of GRAEF. In the
south-Florida area, GRAEF will oper-
ate under the name Consulting Engi-
neering & Science.
“This is a win-win situation,” said
Guttman, CES’s former president.
“Our firm and GRAEF are a natural fit.
We look forward to continued
growth and enhanced opportunities
as we integrate into the GRAEF com-
munity.” CES will join GRAEF’s existing of-
fices in Milwaukee, Green Bay, and
Madison, WI; Chicago, IL; Orlando;
and Minneapolis, MN.
PROJECTS AND OPPORTUNITIES
Miami Worldcenter’s
CAOBA apartment tower
tops-off 444-unit tower at
43 stories
Downtown Miami co-developers
CIM Group and Falcone Group have
topped-off construction at CAOBA, a
444-unit apartment tower within
Miami Worldcenter, the 27-acre
mixed-use development.
Formerly known as the first phase
of the Seventh Street Apartments,
the 43-story market-rate rental
building at 698 Northeast 1st Ave.
becomes the first tower to top-off
construction at the $2 billion
Worldcenter, marking a major
milestone for one of the largest
urban development projects
18 – MARCH 2018 — Florida Construction News
underway in the country, the
developers say in a news release.
Construction of CAOBA is
anticipated to be completed in the
fall of 2018.
CAOBA will include more than
20,000 sq. ft. of ground-floor retail
space for shops and restaurants,
connecting Worldcenter’s ‘High
Street’ retail promenade and plaza to
the east between Northeast 1st and
2nd Avenues. Plans for an adjacent
40-story, 429-unit tower have been
approved by the City of Miami.
“Caoba is the Spanish word for
mahogany, which is a variety of
wood prized for its beauty, durability
and color – attributes that will reflect
the luxurious, organic sensibility of
the building’s amenity and public
spaces,” Miami Worldcenter’s
managing principal Nitin Motwani
says in a statement.
“Residents of this complex will
value being able to walk outside their
door and be in the heart of a 10-
block ‘city within a city’ complete
with offices, shopping, dining and
entertainment. And our proximity to
Miami-Dade’s primary transit
systems, including the new
Brightline high-speed rail, means
residents will be able to jump on a
train and beat the traffic to anywhere
in South Florida.”
$158 million Tallahassee
downtown redevelopment
project moves forward with
document signing
Developer North American
Properties has signed the last five
documents with the Tallahassee
Community Redevelopment Agency
(CRA) to build its Cascades Project
on the hem of the city’s 24-acre
public park, The Tallahassee
Democrat (T-D) reports.
“This is a major step in the
creation of a transformational,
$150,000,000 project,” CRA director
Roxanne Manning wrote in a memo
to the agency’s board members.
“Thanks to the CRA board’s
leadership and vision, we are looking
forward to the creation of a project
which will enhance Tallahassee’s
downtown with a new activity center
adjacent to Cascades Park.” (The
Cascades Project website says the
project value is $158 million.)
Two city blocks will be levelled to
make room for the development –
described as the largest of any
PROJECTS AND OPPORTUNITIES
downtown CRA project in
Tallahassee’s history. There will be
apartments, brownstones, retail,
restaurants, a hotel, a gym and a
$353.6 million total economic
impact. The T-D news site reports that the
project occurs at a crucial time for
the downtown CRA, “which has
been the focus of an ongoing FBI
public corruption investigation
regarding dealings with a number of
high-profile local business people
and lobbyists who have ties to city
elected officials.”
Construction starts on
11-story Ft. Lauderdale
condo following $10 million
land purchase in 2015
Developer SobelCo has
announced the groundbreaking of an
11-story condo project at 321 N.
Birch in Ft. Lauderdale, with an
overall retail value of at least $46
million. Guests at the ceremony for the
project marketed as 321 at Water’s
Edge included City of Fort
Lauderdale Mayor Jack Seiler,
SobelCo chairman Samuel Sobel,
president Jeffrey Sobel, and vice-
president of residential development
Tirso San Jose; Gus Rubio, COO,
Douglas Elliman Florida, and Caprice
Weber, executive vice-president and
managing director of Douglas
Elliman Development Marketing; and
Michael Kaufman, CEO of contractor
Kaufman Lynn. Fort Lauderdale city
commissioners and local real estate
brokers attended the event on Jan.
24. The project with 23 residences is
on a site with signage that indicated
the least expensive units would sell
for at least $2 million (while
marketing materials assert that the
starting price is $1.95 million.)
Property records indicate that 321
Birch LLC purchased the site in 2015
for $10 million and the land has an
assessed value of $4,290,130.
Miami Jewish Health adds
to affordable senior housing
in Broward
Miami Jewish Health has
announced it will add 110
independent living apartments for
low-income seniors at its 25-acre
Douglas Gardens North community
in Pembroke Pines.
“It always has been our goal to
assist the elderly by providing
affordable housing,” said president
and CEO Jeffrey P. Freimark. “The
next phase of the Douglas Gardens
community in Broward County will
help those in need to enjoy a quality
standard of living.”
Miami Jewish Health obtained
financing for the $36 million project
at 709 SW 88th Ave. in a joint
venture with Housing Trust Group in
Coconut Grove. Amenities at the
building, which is expected to open
in 2019, will include a community
room, private courtyard and gardens,
and a computer lab.
This news follows a report from a
year ago that the organization is
working on a master plan for the
next 30 years and beyond.
The City of Miami’s Urban
Development Review Board in
February, 2017 recommended
approval of a sweeping master plan
for the health service, along with
Phase I, which will include
construction of a cutting-edge
memory care facility, Miami Today
reported. Empathicare Village would include
a new 142,708-sq. ft., three-story
facility and a 135,576-sq, ft. three-
story parking garage accented by
murals from local artists.
The review board’s unanimous
recommendation for approval
included two conditions: that the
developer considers adding liner
uses to the garage to help activate
Northeast 53rd Street, and a final
landscape plan must be brought
back to the board for review.
Boca Raton to see at least
two major condo projects
At least two major condominium
projects, with hundreds of units in
several buildings, will reshape
downtown Boca Raton.
Mizner 200 will be one of the
largest construction projects in Boca
Raton’s downtown, offering three
nine-story apartment buildings
across nine acres, the SunSentinel
reports. The project will include 384 new
condominiums and garages with 672
parking spaces. Southeast Mizner
Blvd. will be overhauled, with new
canopy trees, park space and
benches along an 8-foot-wide, paver-
laden sidewalk.
The published report says it is too
early to say when construction will
begin. Meanwhile, New York-based
developer Elad Group said it will
begin demolition on the future site of
its latest project, The Monarch Boca
Raton. With the commencement of
demolition, the developer makes way
for construction on the new project
which is set to break ground in the
summer of 2018.
“The demolition process marks an
important milestone in our journey to
bring this landmark project to the
Boca Raton market,” said Yoel
Shargian, CEO of Elad Group. “After
working collaboratively with the City
of Boca Raton and its community
members to create a plan for this
unique development, we are eager
and enthusiastic to bring this project
to market over the next few months.”
Florida Construction News — MARCH 2018 – 19