they can catch up good evening everyone and welcome I'd like to call the City of Homestead community community redevelopment agency meeting to order today is Wednesday May 1st 2024 and it is now 5:56 p.m. roll call Mam clerk board member Bailey here board member aula board member Davis here member raw here Vice chairman Fletcher here chairman lawon here all right we have uh are there any additions deletions or deferrals uh Madam director no Mr chair thank you all right we have before us the minutes of our April 9th 2024 meeting we have a motion to approve moved by board member Roth seconded by Vice chair Fletcher there no other questions or comments all in favor any opposed all right the next item is is tab two car number 4238 um Southwest 7th Street shotgun property Mr manager yes Mr Mayor uh staff is seeking direction from the board regarding future development or disposal of this property located at 866 Southwest 7th Street I would like the CRA director to give us additional background information as to status I know back in October of 202 20 the CRA board which is consed by this Council approved a development agreement with uh Sentinal management cup for a senior housing project development on this set property commonly known as the shortgun property the original agreement was amended to stipulate among other things that the purchaser does not if the purchaser does not receive an award for the 9% tax increment credits then the visibility period shall be extended to no later than May 31st 2022 or the soonest of the successful resolution of the protest period as of date none of that had happened thank you anything further dver as the manager stated um as of date they had not received any of the funding Awards so um by way of the agreement in the terms of the agreement the um agreement has expired it was terminated and we have recently received uh some inquiries about the market rate of the property and so we seek direction from the board as to how you all would like to proceed with this property good thank you appreciate that so I think the question before us again tonight is whether or not we wish to advertise it under the statutory Provisions for CRA property and if so uh what other terms and conditions would we like to see that may be uh different or in addition to the the terms under which it was advertised uh nearly four years ago board members any questions comments yes board member Bailey thank you chairman did Centennial express any interest in continuing to try yes thank are interested I don't know at this time but at the time the agreement terminated they they did want to come back before this board to ask for additional time to try once again so that would have meant um another at least year and a half before we would have been able to move forward even knowing if they were going to get the funding or not right yeah it's so frustrating I know that that this goes way way further back than me but I I seriously thought that this uh could be the one um I I leave it up to to the rest of the board here I'm not sure what our best interest would be do we give them one more chance to try are the odds a little better should we reach out and see if they think because I know as of 2020 they thought that their odds were better than they had been in the past so I'm not sure if they would be able to speak a little bit on what it looks like now there's challenges um the 9% which is the one that we all would like for them to receive is highly competitive and that was the challenge that um they faced with the last application period the scores were high but it's done in a lottery basis so um you're kind of at the mercy of whether or not you get you know get get your your name drawn so it would be a great risk and then there's also some concerns of about how much of the funding is going to be available again this upcoming fiscal cycle that's all I have for now well and and again I think the two big takeaways from the last publication was that it be mixed use and dedicated to senior housing is is that a a fair assessment and I think that for those of us who were here we were drawn to the look of the product and and certainly you know through the prism of four years ago that was the best Financial offer of all of those who who came forward um couple of things that that I've determined lately is that um maybe it doesn't need to be mixed use I understand that there Florida city did quite an assemblage to the immediate south of of this parcel and they have a a mixed use project going forward to the South so it may be that that we don't want to duplicate efforts and not mandate certainly if someone wants to bring a mixed use project but I don't know that that needs to be a requirement um nor you know as as we go forward I don't know that it really needs to be senior housing we we have the triangle parcel that may be better suited giving its given its location for the provision of of senior housing um in addition to the uh the additional units that will be programmed in at Homestead Gardens as well as the touching Miami with with love projects so really the the look and feel and what's what's in the pipeline and what's coming out of the ground for that neighborhood is is something entirely different so my thoughts would be is that we could be more expansive and uh I I I think this was your phrase uh board member aalo when we when we put the city hall S Hall site out for notice the first time let the market tell us and I think there's a lot of creativity out there and uh maybe maybe the only parameters would be not to exceed 110 units which are approved for that site now and not more than three sto I think Centennial project was three stories into total or four it was it was three stories you had retail downstairs and three floors so so maybe not to exceed four stories or and up to 110 units and and not put the handcuffs on as to to what product it is whether it be ownership or or rental or or some yes Vice chair yes thank you so if we had a recent land evaluation performed to see what the value of the property is and my second question that would be what are our annual costs for maintaining that property at this time so the last um the first appraisal that we did was in 2018 and the land was valued at 455,000 we did another an updated appraisal in April of 2023 and it came back at 1. 1815 and um I've already requested for an update to that appraisal so once we have that number I'd be more than happy to share that with you as for the cost um for maintaining that that lot I don't have that readily available I can get that to you guys but it's pretty nominal it's just cutting the grass thank you Mr Mar that's you know the the appraisal from I think a year ago is is a good Baseline I mean things we all know change every day but it's not like we're using something from 2020 and really you know if you're asking for an update that can dovetail with with the proposals that that come to us so then would it be the direction of the board is it 163 or 162 notice uh it's under chapter 163 I just want to make sure that we're clear on what is being asked for I heard um we're we're interested in the development in disposing of the property for development do we care about the ownership structure as we put this out we can leave it open to either a purchase or for a lease situation we don't have to specify I we're well versed in those conversations okay I'm just I'm just trying to pin this down where where you would like to go so we can leave that piece open we're just interested in the development of the property um would you like to include a limit of four stories and the currently permissible buildable units within the notice to let the market know what's available to it because it might impact the pricing if someone were to come in with to broader development plan perhaps it would lead to higher purchase price but so are we comfortable with the advertisement stating the current limitations on development on the property we can leave it open we don't have to I'm just I'm asking for direction I think that if folks are going to spend the time to do a legitimate proposal they need to know those parameters okay whatever they are whether it be 70 units or 100 up to 110 units or three stories or up to to four um they could certainly still discuss Alternatives sure with bonus factors right and and certainly the appraisal I would assume was based upon that mix and that number of units so we may have a per unit breakdown evaluation and we can back you know if someone comes in with a with a smaller project we can we can do that reverse math so you know I'm personally I'm comfortable with up to four stories and the existing up to 110 units if someone I'll confirm the yeah you know what's permissible whatever it was under the current regulations and we can include the those parameters and in terms of information that we'd be seeking in the proposals uh I would suggest a minimum of the just a development plan the funding sources and uses and the qualifications of the proposer so you can Ty make those we would need to yeah is there anything beyond that that you feel would be you would like to see from respondents that we should ask for in the solicitation or in the notice from from my perspective it's if it's going to be a and I know these are terms of Art and I I don't want to step on anybody's toes here whether it be affordable or Workforce but if someone is going to come with a in with a proposal where units are reserved for a percentage range of Ami and again given the Homestead Gardens and the touching Miami with love I would prefer to see at 80% Ami or above that that we are you know the private private world is providing for a couple hundred additional units that that are beneath that threshold okay I I will be careful on how we request information on the the income levels that they're going to be serving I think what you'll find is sources and uses uh financing will sort of inform the development plan and you can make a decision based on the totality so um I'll we'll see what diverse proposals we'll come up with the solic the notice and I'll work with staff to have that is that a 30 or 60-day notice 30day minimum 30-day notice and 30 30 days of statutory minimum um I don't know if you to work up a full proposal if you want to give people an extra a little bit more time you make you may get a more complete package I leave that 30 30 is the minimum I'm okay with 60 after you know 16 years what's another 30 days okay um lost my train of thought we'd want to see some you know preliminary elevations the the vision you know not just um oh I know what it was that we we've had some concerns about is our net cast wide enough and that I would encourage you management and the director to ensure that this is advertised in such a way that it hits a wider Market of potential proposers I that's been a problem with a lot of things we have done that we've just not not hit that wide range of of potential investors okay yes Mr Mayor may I suggest we do a workshop before this is finalized to ensure that a widespread of interested uh developers get to know about the details before he finally advertised perhaps you might get some great ideas from some of these developers as to how this can be so advertise a workshop into that development Community certainly so that that would probably be very positive uh yes for remember biley thank you chair if it's if it's the case then that we have a workshop I was just wondering how we could potentially include that it would be a mixed income project or at least encourage a mixed income and the development Community can okay perfect thank you all right so we'll we'll do that and uh look forward to a uh a workshop advertisement very good is there anything further for the board members right I have a couple of things uh Madam director Mr manager um we have a few things pending for the CRA and I'd really like to to bring them to a close or close them out and start over again the minority Builders Coalition the triangle property and the uh was a society a at at Food Hall i' really you know between now and and and the next council meeting have some update as to where we are if these are not going forward let's have a quick CRA meeting prior to the next council meeting and if we need to terminate break off discussions with uh any of those three projects Let's uh let's have that discussion and uh and go forward from there if necessary on the 2 second okay got it very good that's all I have so if there's nothing else do we have a motion to adjourn the CRA meeting moveed by board member aala second by board member cannibal all in favor all right we'll pick up on the council Workshop in just a moment oh good evening everyone and welcome I'd like to call the homestead city council uh Workshop to order today is Wednesday May 1st 2024 and is now 6:14 p.m. roll call Madam Clark councilwoman ABA here councilwoman Bailey here councilman cannibal councilman Roth councilman Davis here vice mayor Fletcher here mayor lawon I'm here as well all right we have on our agenda tonight a discussion of the Old City Hall site um Mr manager any input before we yes mayor and cancel on June 18th 2021 the city solicited proposals for the Redevelopment of the former city hall site through a 163 process notice process on December 15th 202 21 uh the city selected uh the city council selected related Orban as the proposal and sought to negotiate a deal for this the Redevelopment of the site since then the city and the related Orban have hosted several workshops and meetings and both the day structure and development program have evolved with several iterations and November 28th uh 2023 related Urban sent a purchase offer to the city which is before Council and the mayor for consideration today staff seeks consensus for the mayor and Council on related urbans development group's proposal for the Redevelopment of the former city hall side with regards to the proposal that was submitted hey thank you and you know I called this Workshop I I wanted to do so and and the the proposer had had made inquiry and quite frankly it's it's languished until New Management was in place and and got his feet on the ground and and and up and running um there have been changes in the market um I think we've had a very productive charet and some very interesting ideas came from um from that that that we may want to make some inquiry as to incorporating some of those ideas and I know that the Mr Milo from the related uh Urban Development Group is here and uh this is the first time our our newly elected colleagues have had the opportunity to sit with us and and talk together and have public discussion about where this uh where this can go where we might might end up so here we are Mr Milo the floor is yours to kick it off perfect thank you so good evening Mr Mayor and members of the city council Albert Milo president of related Urban uh welcome to the also to the new manager um first first meeting that I attend here with you as as the manager and and the councilman so I I'm going to take you know this opportunity to kind of walk through the the proposed development plan as as original you know as the last iteration of the proposed development plan I know that several of the members of the council have had the opportunity to see this and but as the the the the two new members haven't uh participated in a public workshop with us so just want to kind of walk through the the development plan um a little bit and hear any additional input that Council may have uh and and see um how we move forward as the manager mentioned you know we we submitted a a revised a purchase uh agreement and master development agreement to the uh City attorney um we've had opportunities to to discuss that uh I think they've done a great job in articulating you know a few points that they needed clarification on so if we can um kind of incorporate and find that final uh consensus from the council I think it's something that we can move forward expeditiously as the manager mentioned uh originally we put a proposal on this in June of 21 so we are coming up on three years uh on this discussion um and just point a clarification that I think is important to to mention is that city has outstanding debt on that property to the tune of $667,000 a year so as when we started this process to where we are today it's already the city has the city has expended over $2 million in debt payments on that property so just point that I think is important to mention so here you see a aerial shot of the project um this is looking from harrisfield West towards the uh it captures the whole uh essence of the project and I'll be able to hopefully be able to zoom in a little bit on one of these slides maybe you can help me after just so they can see a little bit better even the pictures I I'll kind of guide you through on that but on this one you see as the uh that Main Road there off of us one this is a picture of us one on your bottom of of the screen you'll see that the uh what is now what we refer to as the old library site is where the flanigans uh parcel is going to be and we'll be able to zoom in on it short shortly but it's to the that road and just to the bottom uh left there um Mr flanigans unfortunately Jimmy couldn't be here today um but he is fully committed to this project you know we're working in unison as we have been for the last year um and he is uh still uh ready to to proceed and and and open his uh flagship store down here um in Homestead to the to the right of that you're going to see that other commercial area space Also facing US1 is part of our other you know food some of our food and beverage and and entertainment uh retail space um we also have here today Mr Ephraim Valdez who's the owner of uh Pine Crest Bakery who's also another interested business that is working with us in several of our projects um and he is uh very very interested in in in having his signature uh another signature Pine Cross Bakery as part of City Place Homestead and in the rear you'll see and we'll we'll zoom in a little bit on those our first phase of housing uh which is right now planed as 376 units you see what was you know uh discussed as a a grocery store on the corner of Campbell and us one um and then the the last phase in the um rear left which would be the second phase of residential be uh 220 units in the in the future let's see if we can oh wait let me take it back can can we zoom in on this a little bit on the computer wise like make it yeah blow it up a little bit yes yeah they're they're that's good so it gives you a little bit better perspective there so as I mentioned there there you see you get a a a a better perspective of of the flanigans and the um the store would be not just their their their Sports Bar and Lounge but it'll also have their their um their liquor uh store component um and that's as designed there they the one thing that's not depicted on here that that is uh an an essential part of their um request is that we have a left turn uh turning lane on going uh Northbound on US1 so that is something that we have to work in that is part of one of the requirements that we're going to have as part of our entitlements and site plan approval and there you get a a little bit better picture of the main prominade too as we drive in that's one of the things that we we have showcased like kind of like we did it in City Place theal um where there's community events and stuff that happen in that main area there um along with you know the other retail space here to uh to the right okay yeah now yeah we can zoom in a little little more this this is again our you know the the the ideal signature entrance this is a view of the first phase of resident to but this would be coming off of Campell Drive uh just a little bit West of US1 so that would be like the main prominade entrance and then you still see you know the circle with the fountain uh uh in in the rear and then you see some of the lifestyle retail and entertainment here on the on the left hand side of of the um of the property um here also councilwoman Bailey I know this was one year previous uh request of where where would the El ESP pasio Homestead be this will be on the ground floor of this this facility as as as you recall we offered to bring a a a a second Museum you know my my partner M George Perez is is is opened up alasio in alapata which is an offshoot of of the Perez Art Museum downtown to continue to have space to expand and show showcase his his um collection but also to make it a place where you can bring the have public events and also have a place to incorporate Homestead to the art baso uh Annual Festival which brings a worldwide audience it's got tremendous econom it's a tremendous economic engine and having a signature Museum quality location like that in Homestead allow us to now tie that in and bring that event uh you know toward it's right it usually happens early December and it's you know it's it's a week wide event and it's again worldwide worldwide business so that's where the esaso would would would would be there uh right by the the main uh Great Lawn and in the Great Park along with additional retail fa facing ground floor retail facing uh uh cam Drive and I guess this one you can see pretty good in this in this Zoom but again this is a a more intimate shot of the main plaza area uh again where the other public events can happen if you know if it's if it's something where like you know tree lighting and and all those type of community events can happen this is where uh the main Public Square and space is it also gives you a little bit of a feel and we'll have a better shot not to look at too is a little bit up top of that Rooftop Bar which was another you know request that the council has always made how can you have something that's unique that doesn't exist in Homestead today and that's that rooftop area uh lounge and bar up there you see uh you see a you know a little bit of of a feel for that again and I think it's important to remember and that since we first proposed this project here to the city and we were the first to bring the concept of having a mix a true mix use type of project now you've seen some of that additional momentum right which is something I've spoken about before that the benefit of you know of having our brand you know come to the city of homestad and invest this this type of of capital and this type of development is also that there's going to be other companies that are going to feel comfortable and coming and doing additional business in the city which it it creates and multiplier effect I know that you know last year I think the council approved the soleste the Midtown soleste project that was a mix a mixed uh use project you know a little further um um East by the hospital but kind of you start to see a little bit of that momentum where people say well maybe I can do something that's also mixed use rather than what historically has been built in Homestead which is either traditional town homes or single family home communities or Standalone commercial right you've never seen that mix and having a true mix use type of project so it just goes to show you even with a little bit of the buzz of of you know related is is willing to invest in Homestead others start to uh follow uh on that Trend there and here I think is a better depiction of the uh again that rooftop amenity area that that that we I just uh mention you see it's you know it's a good a good space that that that could you know Overlook not just that the the the Public Square area but this is that main Central Park that we we we've designed in on the entrance off of Campbell Drive you see you got wide a whole big wide sidewalk area that allows you to have you know food and beverage and have outside tables for people to uh enjoy and and have a different type of business then you're just a traditional Suburban type of commercial right which is more bring the car park the car walk walk to the facility and get back in your car and go home right so if you're going to try to build a little bit more of that uh destination retail some of that entertainment retail you need to design it as such to be able to have a place where people can gather and feel comfortable not just you know feel you know um uncomfortable because of the cars and stuff you it has to be properly designed from from the Inception so there you get an idea that is the first phase that's right now proposed as 376 units um so that that that including that that rooftop uh entertainment area and here's just a you know a breakout and a and a layout of that of the different phases as you see phase one is that the the building I just uh showed you with the rooftop bar area phase two there is the flanigans area with their Associated part uh um parking phase three is the the other Corner retail area and then subsequently after at a future date would be the the second residential phase towards the rear which will have then a parking garage that'll access you know different parking for the different phases in the development and you see some of the different us and the breakouts there so uh you know glad to take any additional comments and input I'd like to hear you know from from the council especially from from from the from the new council members if there's any other you know things that that are important to to to them and and see how we can work through that and and and see if there's a possibility to include some of that in uh in our final plan thank you for your time very good thank you so I'll open it up to council councilman Davis thank you when we spoke a long time time ago it's like a long time ago um you would mentioned that there would be certain committed housing for U military correct can you can you elaborate on that please yeah so one of the things that we uh one of the things that we put in our MDA is that we uh we would be willing to provide a preference for military families um and and that preference could uh be you know in in the form of reduced fees you know application fees reduced rent you know those type of preferential programs for military families we want we certainly want to do that and there are some additional opportunities too at the state level that now have been prioritized to try to create a housing within a certain proximity of military bases and they you know there's it's it's going to be forthcoming in the next couple of months so I think we'll be able to uh Avail ourselves of that uh also from a state perspective and be able to you know provide additional assist for military families and in in that in your plan I see that there's a grocery store there as well is that just a a placeholder or is that something agreed upon or yeah I mean that's that's an excellent question so we it you saw it there in the plan there's been several iterations of that corner um it's been a grocery store at that request now it it might not end up having to be that there are three grocery stores within the immediate proximity of of the site um so but it could be um or there was a time where we had there actually a medical kind of office building on that corner and one of the iterations had that so we'll have some flexibility there since it's still going to be zoned that partial commercial so it doesn't have to be just a grocery store so are you aware of the of the uh potential veteran population with within about 10 miles or 15 miles of this location yeah and and you know as as you know discussed that that based on our analysis and and and and and so forth that there is a a need for for services right for the veteran population there's there's about 20,000 veterans whether it be active duty Guard Reserve or retiree that live in about a 15 mile radius of Homestead and that includes those that are um that live in the Upper Keys Marathon right kind of area kargo um so one thing that I would like to put before the board today is that we we consider that we we we have plenty of grocery store there lots of grocery stores um and I I would suspect that it would be very difficult for a grocery store to do a uh business e examination of that area and say yeah there's going to be loads of people coming into this when you got sedanos across the street and Publix and Presidente and all that um that that we should consider that uh that area currently uh tagged as a as a grocery store into a regional uh VA facility and what that would do is the following things that do a lot we have a VA Clinic here in Homestead but if any of you have used it you know that it's very limited I have no beef with the um with the uh workers there they do great work but really they don't do a whole lot where does uh where does the work get done it gets done downtown and so if you're a veteran here and you need something done chances are you're going all the way downtown to have it done right now we have veterans from the keys that end up taking a bus from uh kilargo area they load up there they drive all the way to downtown Miami and they don't come back until the last person is done so they don't they leave around 5:00 a.m. they get back around 700 p.m. um and so you know that's uh a a regional VA Clinic does a couple things and that's why I'm proposing it to our board today um that one it it um it gives the veteran population the medical service that they need and that includes our active duty our reservists our retirees it gives them the the medical attention that they need what would be in a regional VA Clinic an MRI a CT scan a dental chair uh an eye chair uh it would have the facility for veterans to come in and do um uh basic examinations with the with the uh specialy doctors that would come in circuit it would do lots of things like that it would also take some of the heat off of the off of the downtown facility which is completely overwhelmed right now with the veteran population and as we as we conduct business here in Homestead I think it clearly sets the stage that in Homestead uh we take our military seriously we take them seriously it's more than just saying thank you for your service you know get out of my way please you know and moving on uh it's saying no no no we really care about our veteran population with uh uh the veteran suicide issue that we have nationwide today we don't have VA Center Counseling in Homestead outside of a base we don't have it and so that would be one of the things that they can that they can um that they can bring here the to my knowledge the closest vet center counseling is actually in Dural opposite of um uh Us South count and so and I was and of course I'm a little bit dated now I apologize but I was in meetings where the where the vet center guy would say I got people in this base I need the counsel but they can't get all the way to deral all the time because they got Duty and family what whatever they can't get off we need to fix that and I think that's that's a um this is a real opportunity for us as a as a committee or Council rather as a council that we come together and say you know what we're putting our money where our mouth is we're going to we're going to have this Clinic here we're going to we're going to take care of the of the veteran population but then on a practical side what does that do those of you that were here at Hurricane Andrew which even preceded me um people were here because the hospital was here veterans were here because and retirees were here because the hospital was here the hospital goes away everybody everybody bailed well you know what we're also uh laying a foundation for our future um uh uh solid economic um Foundation is the word I seek I'm sorry for our for our uh economic Foundation here in the city we're going to build something that's going to be attract in military people to live and to purchase here in South Florida I also uh in South day County the rest of the rest of day County can worry about themselves I just worry about South day County um I also commend the issue of uh housing we need to work it out I'm certainly not satisfied with with you know the squishy kind of numbers right now but I absolutely commend having housing for our military here uh uh that is a consistent problem the basic allowance for quarters doesn't really catch up to to Miami uh on the federal side there's a um there's also a um an amount that you get for being in a high cost dollar high dollar area like Miami It's never enough It's never enough and to have at least some pressure off on that I think is a beautiful thing for our for our military service so here I am being quite verbose this afternoon but I believe that that is an opportunity for us to really say we are that military Town we're more than just thank you for your service and I'll see you later we're here to say this is what we can do for our military population and this is how much we care for them and this is how much we support that base that we're willing to take that mantle I promise I won't say anything until I say F thank you and and one thing you didn't touch on and I know that you're privy too as well as I that the Veterans Administration hierarchy is truly interested in establishing that kind of beach head in Homestead this isn't just a wish and a and a Longshot that that inquiries have been made and we hope that meetings will be able to be scheduled this month to determine a footprint a size and and and and scope so you know I would join with councilman Davis that if there is a way to program in a a VA a more of a full service VA clinic in this location we would encourage you to to do that if you can you can do that I I I would appreciate it we love our military I know it's very difficult because this is a federal and military issue and we need a certificate of need for that a CO so if we can do it that will amazing yeah I mean from from our perspective I mean there there it'd be it'd be no I have no quorums about you know swapping out that portion of the of the development and working uh to bring a a state-of-the-art you know VA facility that would be amazing working with the federal government I mean I do that day in day out I mean working with HUD is not you know different just housing on the housing side of it but you know the military side we have we have a law firm that does all of our work in Washington so we have no issues with that I think I think it'd be great to do that I think it' be for us as a company it's you know we we'd love to to to to to to lead on that stuff so show them that we can do it and and again it aligns perfect with the legislator's new plan for that housing piece for for veterans and because we this The Old City Hall site meets the distance criteria area from the base that's required on the state level so it'll show that the City of Homestead with their most prized asset you know is serious about providing housing and services for for military personnel like schools and everything like that yeah I mean that's part of our our general business plan all the time you know always um so that I mean that's that's that's what we do on an everyday basis anyhow U miror one thing I I failed to mention that with the with the regional concept there are no beds there so no one's going to be we're not taking beds away from homestead hospital or or anything else it's it's a a treatment Clinic outpatient things would be done there uh and if you if you do need a proper surgery or what have you under the VA umbrella you got to go downtown for that but um but this is just a this is just a robust clinic for our for our folks oh absolutely and not to say we wouldn't like to have a Whole Foods in our community but it's the locational appropriateness of of that and and you know I'm I'm starting to get the feeling that you know perhaps that this is a site that we would more dedicate toward that use yeah vice mayor just a couple of quick questions so I know you you've expended a lot of money money on developing this site plan and uh not knowing what that VA Clinic footprint might be is there ways to possibly move that around that's one question again not not to be answered tonight second is I'm not a big fan of the surface parking and I notice you do have the garage it's part of phase three that has the majority of the parking spaces but that's separate and behind another building is there going to be a way to access this building from a covered area from the parking structure to get your main structure because I think we could do more parking garage rather than have the surface parking which would allow for more open space just something to think about uh my next question is not specifically to you Mr Milo but uh to our city manager again uh I know we do we did talk about the $667,000 a year we've been paying for the last three years do we know what the current loan balance is on the city hall property uh yes sir let me just pull that up car round numbers round numbers yeah 7, 6,718 thank you that's it for now Mr Mayor thank thank you council members councilwoman aala thank you mayor thank you Mr Milo for being here and your team for sticking through the gauntlet I I am going to have to Echo um my colleagues in having to support the VA Clinic component that came out of um at least I heard of it through the charet process and I thought it was an interesting idea I wasn't really uh sure where on the site plan it would go but that spot is probably the ideal location and I wasn't happy with the idea of a grocery store anyway because it's just duplicative um in addition to that we're going to have to tweak the site plan I know that we've spent a lot of time with this version of it but as time has gone by and visiting the West Palm Beach City Place I I kind of want and I know that you can do it I want something that's a lot more visually um similar to that and the surface parking I never liked to begin with so I we can continue to work together you know that I have supported the Related Group as being the the uh pick for this project I have great faith in you when it comes down to the numbers you guys have to figure it out please legal city manager and Related Group you have to get the black and white numbers clear so that we can move forward we're stuck in this limbo is is driving me nuts and I know it they're they've only just got here and you're you're going to want numbers clear as day as well yeah and so also like our Courtyard Green Space area let's work on that together but um all in all I'm happy that we're getting the um the conversation going again and and uh we'll also discuss the community benefits package that we you know we've talked about many times and make sure that um we get the blessings of our new city manager on that as well thank you thank you Council woman thank you mayor um I definitely also I love the idea of the um of the veteran um Clinic I think it is such a unique corner to be able you know we we're we were looking at rebranding kind of our signage with welcome to Homestead I think it's the perfect corner to be able to put something um whether it be some type of U of Memorial or art piece that uh you know that really that really emphasizes us being a a military City and to be able to show our pride and thanks to all of our veterans um also since my first visit to city place derell I had never really considered that attached garage parking garage um not being an I store um there's so many different different ways that you can um you know dress things up with plants and um I would I would also love to see a lot more green space and less surface parking um I think the only other thing is um especially after the shetes you know then your mind kind of opens up a little bit we spoke a little bit about the rooftop and making sure that that was place placed in the correct spot um the Sun is setting a little more behind the building um obviously small changes to made make but just something that I I don't want to be lost um I think it it's we would lose a lot having that wall behind it if if we wouldn't be able to see the sun setting behind it um but yeah just like the last thing with the shotgun property speaking of things that I really wish uh had been had been working and going uh for the last three four years um I'm still really excited about this I think that that we can definitely figure out what we need to figure out and uh and make this happen for the community thank you mayor thank you councilman thank you mayor I'm going to bring a little bit of a different perspective uh because this is a discussion and um when I first met with our new city manager Dr zui uh I asked him specifically about city-owned assets and he did tell me that the city of Miami made some big mistakes in selling off their City assets and this proposal is to sell off probably one of the nicest most valuable City assets we have um and Mr Milo knows as as uh we've gone through this practice for many years now that the original proposal in the the original request for making the city hall property available was in the structure of a 99-year lease which benefits the city for generations to come the proposed sale price of $12.4 million um we scratch or get rid of the 700 or the $7 million we have or 7.7 whatever it was the number was that they said we'll get rid of that and save us $600,000 a year but in Mr Milo's original presentation to us so you all have some history his original offer to us in a public Workshop meeting with another candidate vying for the ability to be chosen to do this project was to pay the city $1.6 million a year in rent it goes a long ways when you consider um the services that we could provide to our citizens through the asset that the citizens own which is the Old City Hall property so I just wanted to we haven't discussed that at this point yet if we're even going to entertain the purchase or the sale of the property uh the city manager when I spoke to him did not rec recommend that we sell off City assets um he expressed to me I don't want people coming into the city and uh giving me millions of dollars and then leaving um so he's got some experience coming from the city of Miami with developers that took advantage of I believe some of those city- owned assets so I think we need to speak about or talk about the the the format in which this is being presented tonight if there's a consensus that you you guys want to sell off the most valuable piece of property that the city owns or do you want to um preserve it for at least 99 years and allow them to lease the property to build everything they want to build um I'm excited about that part of it U the VA Hospital absolutely providing for veterans and current military housing good um obviously the flanigans is good but it has to be good for the city too and I think the longterm lease which originally Mr Milo agreed to do um would would benefit the city for many many years to come so I think we kind of have to have that conversation there first do we actually want to sell this piece of property um or do we want to preserve it uh for generations to come and and to give you you know they they will say that you know well well originally they were going to pay off our $8 million in debt too by the way so it was $8 million and 1.6 million to start 10 years later would be 30 m or 3 million a year and the power of compounding to take words that Mr Milo said the power of compounding we get paid more and more and more every year um so I think we kind of need to talk about that part because that's part of this this discussion so um I I I'll leave it for that now and then we can continue on with what's best for the city to retain the asset or to sell the asset thank you I'll get to the vice mayor and then back to you yes thank you and uh one of the things I wanted to bring up uh you know as a part of my office the mayor was allowed me to become a member of the Greater Miami convention visitors bureau and last earlier this week I was attending a meeting there uh for the first time and met a lot of the folks that uh are focusing their attention on South day and Homestead right now as the the new place to be in Miami day County and you know we have Mr Milo here who came down here three years ago with that Vision well ahead of those folks and now everybody wants to jump on the train so just one thing to keep in mind that that people are actually looking at Homestead now uh we are the place to be uh we're still 45 minutes from everywhere uh depending on traffic but uh most of the time you're going against traffic leaving here um recently and several times I've had residents come up to me and say that they've wanted this project to happen on this property I've been stopped in the grocery store at gas stations they say when are we going to get city place when are we going to get something you know that we can take our families to some entertainment so uh I think it's something that we definitely need to give the manager Direction on to to move forward and have these discussions um personally I think the speedway is the city's most valuable asset not a 18 acre piece of property on the corner of US1 in Campbell uh and I don't believe an asset is something that you owe more money on than it's really worth uh at the time so that's my personal thoughts on it uh you know my house is not an asset andless to paid for or when I sell it at that point in time so uh I disagree with you on that but I have I do like your idea of the when we initially did have this discussion we talked about that long-term lease but there were also some caveats to that long-term lease at that time based on residential components and how many people were living there and certain percentages and of course Mr Milo is not going to sit there and tell you absolutely we're going to have this many people living in this apartment full-time so there's always that catch where that 8% number could catch you and you're not getting that annual rental fee so uh personally I don't believe we need to be in the uh land owning business or the rental business uh I think it's time to move forward with the sale of this property if this number is right it's the right number to go with but we have to look at that and I would like to give the manager that direction tonight thank you sir councilwoman AA thank you mayor uh good points to bring up uh I came into the workshop thinking about you know more of like a visioning session and trying to get the opinions of our new council members but um it's it's definitely um a good opportunity to talk about the financing aspect I've always from the from the beginning have been um in favor of the longterm lease so that we can have that generational benefit uh over the course of of time uh so if that's and I think the issues with that was just the way that the agreement was written up and how it was being interpreted with the uh help of our um consultants and staff at the time so I would like for you to try to bring back that option for the manager to consider and and showcase for us uh so we can see the pros and cons of both um but in general you know we have to we have to move forward with with a concept and I think that if we are making these big changes with the VA clinic and with the overall site plan you're going to be changing things in general so the conversation is going to be dependent on a lot of that um so do we have to make a decision tonight on if we're selling or not selling no right okay good thank you mayor um with regards to two other items that I I forgot to mention and councilwoman Bailey reminded me with the rooftop where we see this rooftop um amenity here is that not just for the residents or is that a a restaurant rooftop for the public that's access accessible rooftop right but that's intended for it to be a public restaurant for the for the space okay um and then originally when we first went out for um for solicitation we had discussions about having a Convention Center um we've we've run into the the the need aspect for that on Ona on several occasions we don't have anywhere in the city um with the likes of like the Miami date College um environment that we can have um conferences or a concert venue things of that nature so I'm I'm thinking now that maybe we could try to find a new fit for that concept maybe with the triangled property or or somewhere else but um that's something that I don't want to completely write off but for us to continue to explore as we work through this project too but just making that comment for now thank you hey thank you and I think you know tonight we we sort of oh I'm sorry go ahead Council thanks I uh Mr mer and thank you again for your briefing I just wanted to say some words that I thought were important to say that that are not necessarily to do with this I was in uniform a long time and when I would talk to the people at Homestead and around I would tell them that you will never find a more supportive Community for the military than in Homestead and it's true we have our parade we have our military appreciation our city council adopted the Aus document all these things together to promote and to support the base and to support our veteran community and I just wanted to say thank you for this next thing this next level that we're approaching now it's very important one and and you know what it it fits well with all the years of sustained support for the base and for our military population here in South dat I wanted to thank you very much on their behalf okay app so I think we we've kind of got a dual track here to address tonight one is is kind of the visioning and the luxury of an adjustment by having have this languish for the last three years and you mentioned the shet Council woman and you know one of the one of the concepts that came out of the shet specifically for this site was the while maintaining the number of residential units expanding the use of parking garages and lowering the height and I'm going to be real honest I have always struggled with the proposed height here I I just Homestead is not ready for eight stories anymore than it's ready for paid parking anywhere um and I know Mr Milo you you have those concept pages from from the charet that tweak the site plan a little bit and also continue to utilize at least a portion of the water feature and I'm not asking you to commit to anything tonight but as you hear our concerns when we come back you know to the extent you can kind incorporate some of those Concepts that I think we we all were really drawn to from the sheret to the extent you can do that that's great if you don't feel you can tell us why you can't convince us that that it's still a good good product without that but I have to say and I know the the original charet drawing flopped the VA facility down on the Flanigan site and I'll say it now that until Jimmy Flanigan tells me he's okay being relocated within the site I'm married to the flanigans being on essentially the the the current library site and and we can move the puzzle pieces around anywhere else again until Jimmy Flanigan says you know what I can be here rather than uh rather than there so you know we've got the the track of visioning and to to touch on some of councilman Ross's concerns I'm going to be honest I have never had I do not have a level of confidence in the appraisal that was updated as of March 7th I know enough just to get myself in trouble when it comes to looking at these things but there were comparables that came from Pine Crest and as much as we like to Aspire to that value and that aesthetic we're not so also built into the appraisal that we have before us Common Sense tells me that the demolition costs are extremely low they only built in $193,000 in demolition cost and arriving at the the $17.7 million for three very large buildings that that's a and potentially filling part of the water body that's there that seems very low there was also no accounting for envir potential environment mental issues know we've always talked around the fact that on the out parcel uh many many years ago there was a an oldtime gas service station located there again in hindsight I think it's incumbent on us to go forward and determine for ourselves what the environmental issues are there rather than doing the work and entering into an agreement that provides for a due diligence period and then 120 days after we we we do a contract Mr Milo comes back and says you have some significant environmental issues here I hope that's not the case but we don't know so to get to my point I would like us to consider authorizing the manager to have a second appraisal done by a different appraiser and limiting the area from which they draw comparables to south of Cutler Bay I think that's more fairly reflective of the Homestead market we can all have our fantasy of value and and also go ahead and authorize a phase one the city to incur the cost for a phase one environmental and go then go forward with a with a phase two if necessary so that that part of the due diligence is done and that if we do strike a deal for whether it be a sale or a long-term lease we know what's there and we're not come having to come back and renegotiate the numbers as you you put it councilman Roth the the numbers are are important as important to our constituents as are the product and I think we've got to get to the numbers first so I think we've given Mr Milo our suggestion on what homework he needs to go back and do in terms of conceptual layout and look and amenities and while he's doing that I really think it's incumbent on us to to be confident in the value and that value is important whether whether or not we're doing a long-term lease or whether or not we're doing an outright sale and certainly the Environmental Studies are as well so I'm asking for Council to authorize the manager to commission a second appraisal with those area limitations and to go ahead and start the environmental review process as well and again and I apologize to everyone in hindsight that's probably with respect to the environmental it's probably something something we should have done some time ago and I think one one of you made the point about you know we there was a lot of back and forth and the interpretation of of what it meant in the payments and and how we get there over a long-term lease our manager and those he will surround himself with are light years beyond what we worked with in the past and I I think that that that our that our new Administration can help us Forge that that credible legitimate and fair path forward whether it be a sale or or a lease so with that councilman just want to add that the appraisal approach should uh include the entitlements the zoning the number of units um it it may not be just a one one look approach also for the purchase price or the long-term lease price so because the raw land is going to be totally different valued absolutely than with the entitlements so that you assume entitled for this project MH yeah you can use these numbers 600 units how many square per unit basis and we can extrapolate from that whether it's 500 units or 300 units you can extrapolate those numbers sorry to interrupt you no it's fine thank you that's all all right so do we have that direction to the to the manager for the a second appraisal from a you know a new appraisal and and conduct the Environmental Studies as well absolutely I think it's fair you're going to do your homework and so will we and then we'll be able to continue the conversation anything further two points of clarification um councilman Roth is correct in stating that our original proposal was for a lease but the part that I want to clarify for the record is that it was not ever a guaranteed payment lease it was always a share of Revenue lease which was a 15% Revenue share you can extrapolate that into a value obviously that that would be an annual projection for the 99 years with the power of compounding like he mentioned um and the issue was never about why we couldn't do a deal structure like that the issue was about not understanding The Net versus gross and it's very simple mathematics net is a industry standard it's you know it's it's it's a known practice and it's we we get audited every year and it was the city had X percentage of of net so that's where the all the back and forth came because anything that becomes a guaranteed payment is going to affect our ability to finance and and in that regard I think as decision makers here we're going to have to balance that risk you know the bird in the hand versus two in the bush and perhaps we should have both of those options in front of us um with the new professionalism we have in this room mayor so understanding where we're heading tonight trying to figure out okay next year is going to be our next month will be three years we've been dealing with this what's the timeline for getting the appraisal done when are we going to have our next Workshop to have the discussion to give the manager Direction on which way we want to go well time is yet because none of us are promised tomorrow so no now is the time I think the next wayp point the manager I'm certain will begin making those phone calls tomorrow for both the appraisal and the environmental re mediation he's going to demand performance and will update us on a proposed delivery date for those items does that I don't want to leave Mr Milo out here sitting in limbo for another two or three months let's let's put a date certain out there we're going to meet again and have these discussion commercial once we have the delivery date for the appraisal and the environmental we can set those dates so may I have the opportunity to reach out to the folks that did appraisal for Miami Freedom Park which is the old uh land the old um um golf course that is going to be the new site of Miami soccer stadium he had similar character istics as the site and I can tell you for a certain that the appraisal in the process of appraisal the environmental came back and the cost of remediation was $32 million that was when all hell broke loose so we had to find a way to accommodate the cost of remediation into their appr praise value so I strongly recommend the path that council is choosing tonight is the best way to do it find out if the plume if there is any contamination from the gas old gas station site to what extent has the plume extended perhaps into this proposed site which is going to cost him money to clean up if you were to start doing any kind of work and that's the point we all need to know that in advance that probably going to affect significantly the actual cost of this real estate and and and potentially the site plan too of how we if we're going to cap and you know back to surface parking or garage parking or open space you can't you know they're not going to approve open space if there's a contamination of a plume so those things are are important and and you know the last pieces we got to figure out how to now on this updated appraisal if it's going to be based on entitlements how what the configuration or what the specifications are going to be for the new VA clinic and that's going to you know obviously be a different component in there so how we incorporate that so with just in general Mr manager do you do you have a uh an opinion as to how long it may take to get the second appraisal um I don't have I can't give you a definitive answer tonight without speaking to folks who do the appr right uh typically shouldn't last more than a month or a month and a half but I don't have I don't know that for a certain until I speak to them I mean to the vice mayor's point just as the point I made at the CRA earlier we are not going to let these projects languish we're going to move forward on everything and and I think Mr mil makes a good point that you know a grocery store is a different evaluation than a VA clinic but in the interim we can determine what their minimum parameters would be well it's it's the use that that goes into the the evaluation any further Council very good I think staff has their marching orders is there anything further from the public Mr attorney nothing further have a motion to adjourn all in favor thank you all thank you sir thank you