Unit has one brand new bath, fresh paint and tiled throughout.

Very secure with patrol and manned gate. Two large pools. Three laundry rooms. Tennis courts. Garden apartments. No elevator hassle. Partially covered patio. Quiet living. Close to everything.  Great schools.

13864 SW 90 Avenue
Residences at the Falls
Miami, FL 33176
Listed at $200/mo. (A1783214)

Even has a "side yard". Each bedroom has its own bath. 1/2 bath downstairs. Original owner is selling well maintained unit. 

Complex has two pools, N/S tennis court, handball/raquetball courts for resident use.

Roaming security. Unit has accordion shutters. Basic cable included in maintenance ($283). Alarm system. Close to it all. Great for UM student rentals.

4560 SW 68th Terrace
Gables Point Condominium
Miami, FL 33155
Listed at $179,922 (A1781557)

Camera-shy Sky and brother Colt Yeary brought their parents Amy and Doak to find the perfect tree. It was the first time the family participated and they were thrilled at the notion of adding another tree to their property.

Craig Grossenbacher lives in Palmetto Bay and is on the Tree Advisory Board. Also his first year at the event, he was filled with incredible knowledge about the trees, helping me to get the best tree for the location that I planned to plant.

Special Events Coordinator Mary Fernandez, several of the Village Council and lots of the Village staff were on-site to run the event. This is yet another fun and thoughtful event for Palmetto Bay that make it a great place to live.

Before the movie, the Mayor, Councilman Patrick Fiore and Councilwoman Joan Lindsay asked the kids to join them in the Meditation Garden to spread the final batch of ladybugs in the park. Lindsay was most convincing in her full ladybug outfit.

Around 100 kids surrounded Mayor Shelley Stanczyk as she handed out hundreds of the helpful critters. Then the little ones set them free amongst the surrounding bushes and flowers.

As dusk set in, everyone settled back into their lawn chairs and blankets to see The Lorax play on the inflatable big screen, another free event organized by the Village.

Once the movie started, people enjoyed picnic dinners, popcorn and their favorite drinks. It was a real family affair. This year, two food trucks were on hand to serve those who didn't bring food along.

Another wonderful night, excellent movie selection and proof again that Palmetto Bay is a great place to enjoy suburban living.

VIDEO STORY

On a near perfect evening, the Deering Estate Foundation saw about 100 people turn out on a glorious evening to meet “Charles Deering and Ramon Casas: A Friendship in Art” author Isabel Coll Mirabent.

The author is a charming woman who herself has some interesting genealogy, including a relationship with the Bacardi family. A tenured professor at the University of Barcelona, she knew just how to introduce her book and make the evening light and fun.

Also on hand were Todd and Blair Maus of Deering Wines. Blair is the great great granddaughter of Charles Deering and together they poured their Sonoma vintages for tasting. The wines were wonderful, especially since they were enjoyed on the historic Deering Estate. “We named the vineyard Deering to honor the agricultural heritage of the family,” explained Maus.

 In the book, you learn about the development and dramatic dissolution of a three-way friendship that connected the Spanish painter Ramón Casas (1866–1932); the Chicago industrialist Charles Deering (1852–1927), who was a collector and admirer of Casas’s work as well as a patron of Northwestern University; and the Spanish artist Miguel Utrillo (1862–1934), Casas’s lifelong friend and the father of the French painter Maurice Utrillo.

Located in the Kings Bay Shopping Center, this franchise Pinch-A-Penny is anything but ordinary. Even before you walk in, you can feel the extraordinary personal service and attention to detail.

The family-owned store is run by the Kavanaugh family. Father Larry encouraged his two sons, Chris and Kevin, to acquire the store in 1994 because he felt his sons could really thrive with the business. He was right. Within two years, store sales doubled.

The reason is simple: customer service. After many years in the supermarket business, Larry knows how to treat customers. Chris and Kevin do as well. And, they impart that stellar knowledge onto their employees.  “We never sell customers things they don’t need and we make sure we greet them first… sometimes even before they walk in the door,” explains Larry. Kevin adds, “we take the service outside the store. If we have a body available, we meet the customer at the car.

Jason Armengol has been with Pinch-A-Penny for about 6 months. He enjoys testing customer pool water because it allow him to interact and educate consumers about how to care for their own pools.

Kevin Kavanaugh does most of the hiring and training, “We hire from the neighborhood. We take our customers’ kids and recruite from the various sports teams in the area,” says Kevin. “We believe in the community and I think the community believes in us.”

“Each employee gets two full weeks of training and they learn about everything. We don’t want our customers knowing more than our staff,” Larry adds, “This way our customers get superior service every time.”

The business is a family affair.  Mother Debbie is involved too. This year her outdoor furniture store (Backyard Designs) was combined into the pool store space. Larry explains, “Now our customers have one-stop shopping for all their backyard needs.”

Kevin adds, “At this store, everyone gets treated fairly and we don’t judge anyone. Of the 200+ Pinch-A-Penny franchises in Florida, Georgia and Alabama, we feel we are one of the best and try to excel each and every day to win our customer’s respect and business.”

As Cantor for nearly 25 years, Kula was admittedly nervous about the vote. “About five years ago, I decided I wanted to become a Rabbi, but knew I had to increase my Judaic knowledge and study to play a bigger role in the Jewish community,” reflects Kula. Clearly, the congregants felt it was his time.

As of a follow-up Board meeting in late April, his appointment was made official. In the upcoming days, Cantor Mark Kula will officially become Rabbi Kula. Inarguably modern, Kula is noodling what people should call him, as he will initially continue to serve as Cantor as well. “RC Kula seems to stick so far.” The R is for Rabbi, the C for Cantor.

Whatever people call him, Kula recognizes relationships are the core of his success in the community. “I have always fostered and cultivated them and know honest relationships are imperative to being a good Jewish person.”

One of Kula’s goals is to enrich and grow Bet Shira. “I want excitement and positive energy. I have a vision as to what our community can be and it includes our role in the Pinecrest community as well. As Rabbi, I feel I’ll be able to move us in a dynamic direction, help us outreach and integrate with the community at large.”

The new Rabbi’s day is filled with favorite moments, but if pressed Kula will tell you his time with the children is special. “As Rabbi, I don’t see a lot of change, but I know I’ll be able to interact with people even more in this sacred space. That excites me.”

Mark Kula looks forward to more dedicated time to study Jewish knowledge and wisdom, and act as an even stronger voice in his community. “We have the strength to endure, the integrity to flourish and the principled ideology to improve the world.”

"It's not easy to understanding what is going on here. There is an 80-page report that explains it," MacDougall says, "but people are busy with their lives so I want to raise awareness before we have a 30 year deal we can't get out of."

Mayor MacDougall did just that. On April 24th, he held a town hall-style meeting in Council chambers hoping to enlighten the County residents and its officials. Unfortunately, the attendance was under 20 people and not a single media outlet from newspaper, radio or television bothered to come. In what is a sad sign of the times, people aren't aware of the impact that will likely result if this project moves forward.

From Mayor Ed MacDougall's standpoint, the request from Dolphins' owner Stephen Ross is an over-simplified version of a very troubling story. Ross contends he wants $350 million to renovate the stadium and in return he won't move the Dolphins for 30 years. "But that's not an accurate picture," says MacDougall, "There are unfair items that would hurt taxpayers and business in unseen ways."

MacDougall has been to Tallahassee to drum up opposition to the project, once traveling with Norman Braman, who years ago owned an NFL team. "Norm opposes this and sees this from a unique perspective. He sees this as a way for Ross to 'own a fine piece of art without paying for it.'"

"The deal would mean throughout most of Miami-Dade County there would be a 1% increase on hotel bed tax  and the Dolphins would be refunded the taxes collected on goods sold at the stadium for 30 years," explained MacDougall. "This is silly and Broward County was smart enough to turn this deal down a few years ago. Now, we should do the same."

"Why should we have higher hotel room tax? Tourists and visitors would opt to stay outside of Dade County which would be bad for business. Also, the very patrons who attend events at the stadium would have their sales tax rebated right into the Dolphins' owner pocket. It makes no sense."

A more complete breakdown can be seen in this Miami Herald article.

The countywide referendum is still iffy and it will be canceled if Florida lawmakers don’t approve Dolphins-backed legislation before the session ends May 3. If it moves forward, voters can cast ballots in the May 14 referendum. MacDoughall hopes residents will make calls to their representatives to ask that it never see the light of day.

This video interview should enlighten those who weren't able to attend the 30-minute meeting held by the Mayor.  His plea is to have "regular folk call their representatives because that is the only way to have a voice. Otherwise, the Dolphins-paid lobbyists will be the only information out there... and that's bad for Miami-Dade County."

2013’s Taste of Pinecrest was hosted at the brand new South Dade Family YMCA campus (across from The Falls mall) which also used the day as their grand opening.

Taste of Pinecrest Chairman Mark Soldevilla called it “…a perfect combination of community. We wanted to celebrate this great new building with great food, music, people and fun.”

There is little doubt to the success of the combination. The attendance numbers were roughly double last year’s event at Pinecrest Gardens and the new YMCA signed up more than 240 new families during the week, more than half on the day of the event alone.

With food being sold using pre-purchased tickets, vendors serving everything from lobster sliders to salads to BBQ ribs had brisk business all day long. Many ran out of food 90-minutes before close.

Charlotte Donn, Assistant VP of Marketing and Communications for the YMCA explained, “We sold more tickets in the first two hours than we expected all day. We had to rush out and buy more to keep things moving!”

Local and regional bands performed throughout the day, providing a variety of high quality music for attendees. Everything from kids bands 'Avengers' & 'The Rock Band' to 'Kaylee Rose', 'Blackstar' and 'The Vibe'.

Soldevilla praised Raf Fiol, The Vibe's bassist and owner of kompoz.com, “He really took the musical entertainment we presented to a whole new level.” Fiol was helped by Tom Hall (of Mr. Nice Guy) who ran sound engineering all day.

The kiddie area has several rides, a rock climbing wall and the obligatory bounce houses.

For the adults, there were cooking demonstrations and the ability to learn about and connect with Pinecrest business.

Inside was an exhibit put on by ARTcycle co-founder Giselle Delgado, an group dedicated to raise awareness for bikers and drivers promoting wellness and safety while supporting the arts. Kids like 5-year old Krishelle Brown certainly enjoyed painting the bike.

Alfred Sanchez, CEO of the YMCA of Greater Miami, added “We’re proud to be associated with this premiere event and proud that our grand opening went so well.”

Taste of Pinecrest 2013 VIDEO STORY

The corner unit condo is actually two levels and is located where no walls are common to another unit making this the best location in the building (of 37 total apartments). Use elevator or stairs to easily access unit.

The entry floor has a generous sized living and dining area and can even accommodate a piano!

The dining area has easy access to the kitchen and also has a balcony to let the sun shine in.

Oversized bedroom is on separate floor with four total closets for ALL your belongings.

Kitchen has lots of cabinet space and has dishwasher (not pictured).

Washer/dryer in unit makes laundry a no-hassle proposition!

Carpet upstairs, tile downstairs. WALK to all that South Miami has to offer, including world-class restaurants. 2nd parking space easily arranged (low fee).

1 Bedroom / 1.5 Bath Condo Lease
Alca Condo Unit #317
5838 SW 74 Terrace, South Miami, FL 33143
Offered at $1400/mo.