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Brickell/Downtown Miami Coral Gables Florida Life Neighborhood News South Miami Things To Do

Donuts Are The New Cupcakes

From bottom left: Salty Donuts Key Lime, White Chocolate Tres Leches, Guava + Cheese, and Traditional Glazed

Quick Disclaimer:  I rarely eat doughnuts and when I do, it is usually only a jelly doughnut.  A long time ago, a very non-nutritious friend of mine told me that the jelly doughnut was the most perfectly balanced food because it contained all of the 5 basic food groups.  When I asked her how she figured that, she told me with a straight face, “The dough is the bread/grain group, the jelly is the fruit group, and they are made with milk and eggs.”  I pointed out that she was missing the vegetable group and she responded that they are fried in vegetable oil!  Anyway, I digress and have made this disclaimer longer than I thought.

Remember several of years ago when cupcakes, large and mini, were everywhere?   Cupcake wedding cakes, cupcake birthday cakes, bridal showers, you name it, there were cupcakes and little cupcake shops were popping up in neighborhoods everywhere.  I rarely eat cupcakes either, but I did enjoy all of the new, creative flavors that popped up when the cupcake craze hit.  The craze hasn’t necessarily died down, I am happy to say that both Misha’s Cupcakes and Buttercream Cupcakes in Coral Gables near South Miami are both still around and are very popular.  Misha’s are still so popular that you can find them at Miami International Airport.

But we’ve moved on in the carb alphabet from the “c’s” to the “d’s” for the latest food fad.  Although they actually started popping up in 2015-2016, stores are opening up second locations and Instagram activists are snapping away.  In South Miami, Honeybee Doughnuts has been open since 2016, they are frequently closed when I drive by because they sell out so often, and they are opening a second store in The Falls Shopping Center.  Their doughnuts are works of art and extremely Instagrammable.

The Salty Donut has been around since 2015, since it started as pop-up in Wynwood.  They recently opened their second store, this one in South Miami. They too have a cult following and I am sure the reason they opened up in South Miami was to satisfy their customers in the southern end of the county who spent countless hours driving to their Wynwood location.

Mojo Donuts, with locations in Hollywood and Miami, are opening up a third location in Coral Gables/South Miami.  Mojo Donuts also has fried chicken, so I guess they are the new “chicken and waffles”.

Categories
Brickell/Downtown Miami Coconut Grove Coral Gables Florida Life South Miami

3 Projects That Will Improve Miami

 

Proposed Hammock Trail
Proposed Hammock Trail

A couple of days ago a wrote about what South Florida will look like in 2070 if we continue developing the way we are.  The state of Florida is growing by 1,000 people per day, making traffic unbearable and threatening our quality of life.  Luckily, there are many projects going on in South Florida that will improve our community and increase property values around them.  Three of them include:

  1. The Miami Underline
  2. The Ludlam Trail
  3. Brightline

Categories
Florida Life Things To Do

Fairchild Spring Garden Festival & Plant Sale This Weekend, April 11 & 12

Plant Sale at Fairchild Tropical Garden
Plant Sale at Fairchild Tropical Garden

 

Spring is here and brings with it Spring cleaning and gardening.  If you are looking for a fun way to incorporate plant buying into a whole day and family event, head over to Fairchild Tropical Gardens this weekend for their Spring Garden Festival.

In addition to their 36th Annual Plant Sale, you can shop for  locally-grown fresh fruits, vegetables, and herbs at the garden marketplace, sample crisp and refreshing brews at the Beer Tasting Garden presented by New Belgium Brewing, enjoy live music, and  view Dale Chihuly‘s most comprehensive garden exhibition.

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Restaurants Things To Do

Calling All Orchid Lovers: International Orchid Festival At Fairchild Garden Is This Weekend

SONY DSC

The 12th annual international orchid festival takes place at Fairchild Garden from March 7-9. Stroll through the gardens and browse the 10,000 plants that will be on sale from international vendors, stop by and have lunch at the Orchid Tea Room, Glasshouse Cafe, or Lakesaide Cafe, then continue enjoying all the garden has to offer including: interactive gardening workshops, Wings of the Tropics butterfly conservatory, Tropical Fruit Pavilion, and Rainforest. During your strolling, you are sure to see 16 intricate design pieces by Brazilian designer Hugo França, who uses reclaimed wood to make functional, natural pieces like chaise lounges and tall benches.

Categories
Buying Coral Gables Luxury Real Estate Neighborhood News

Want To Buy A Home In North Coral Gables? These New Listings Are Sure To Please

Modern Kitchen - 1230 Capri
Modern Kitchen – 1230 Capri

Today during our open house tour, I was pleasantly surprised with a series of new single family homes for sale in North Coral Gables. With the exception of 1220 Capri, which is beautifully updated, these are all Old Spanish homes that have been modernized without losing the character that buyers of Old Spanish homes look for.

1220 Capri- Living Room
1220 Capri- Living Room

 

Modern Master Bath-1503 Genoa
Modern Master Bath-1503 Genoa

All listings are courtesy of EWM International Realty.

Categories
Buying Luxury Real Estate Selling

Miami Real Estate: Another New Construction Project Coming

Miami Skyline Is Going To Get More Crowded

I just received yet another e-mail on a new construction project; this one is coming to Coral Gables.  It seems hard to believe that we went through a MAJOR real estate crash, with many of our prominent developers themselves involved in foreclosures of their projects, just a few years ago.  It also seems hard to believe that there are so many new developments selling their projects, when foreclosure activity in Florida is leading the nation.  Is this a contradiction in the real estate market, setting us up for another dip?  Not necessarily.

New projects extend from the Gables all the way north to the Broward county line.  They cover Coconut Grove, Brickell/Downtown, Midtown, South Beach, Mid Beach, North Miami Beach, and Aventura.  Pricing starts  from the low $200,000’s in the Gables to the several million for those projects in the Grove, Miami Beach and Aventura.  Based on what I am seeing, buyers are definitely leaning toward newer, more modern buildings and inventory in newer buildings is extremely tight.  Builders are using a formula more commonly used in South America, where there is no financing, and the buyer pays a significant amount of money down at various stages of the construction process.  The range in starting prices, demand for new buildings and the new purchasing requirements make for a bit more stability than the previous building boom.

What does all of this new construction mean if you are a buyer?  It means that you will have more options in a given price range.  You will be able to choose between existing units where you know exactly what you are getting and one that is under construction that you can finish to your specifications.  Check to see how many new projects are going up in the area you are looking in and what the price ranges in the different development are.  Too much supply of the same type of property could point to price decreases or stagnation.

If you are a seller of an older property in an area where new projects are going up, it means you will be competing with projects that are newer and offer more amenities than yours.  Make sure you know your competition and highlight your property’s positive attributes.  Many older units tend to be larger or offer more closet space than many of the newer construction projects.

 

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Coral Gables Neighborhood News

Is Another Historic District Going To Be Added To Coral Gables?

The City Beautiful may want to consider changing its name the The History Preservation City.  In addition to Coral Gables’ list of locally designated historic properties, they have a number of historic landmarks.  One of them, the Alhambra Water Tower, is prominently featured on the upper right hand corner of ILoveSoFla’s blog.  The De Soto Plaza and Fountain is another one.  Now the City of Coral Gables is considering adding Coral Way between Anderson Road and Alhambra Circle  to its current 21 historic districts.

De Soto Plaza and Fountain

Categories
Brickell/Downtown Miami Coconut Grove Florida Life Miami Beach Neighborhood News Pinecrest Restaurants Things To Do

Miami Spice Is Back – Two Months of Great Restaurants

Miami Spice is worth staying in, or visiting, Miami during the hot months of August and September.  In addition to the daily lunch and dinner specials offered at many of  our best restaurants, some of the participants are offering happy hour specials.

There are so many participating restaurants this year, it is going to be hard to choose.  If you live here, be adventurous and try a new restaurant, maybe even outside of your immediate neighborhood.  If you are visiting, try Pubbelly and Barceloneta Bistro on Miami Beach; Atrio Zuma and db Bistro Moderne in Downtown/Brickell; Ortanique and Graziano’s in the Gables; and one of my absolute favorites, Two Chefs in Pinecrest.  Their desert souffles alone are worth the visit.

Categories
Buying Coral Gables Home Improvement Selling

Riviera Drive Gets A Facelift

I drive Riviera every day on my way to and from work and love all of the renovations that have been going on on that street between Hardee and U.S.1.  Whether on a waterfront lot, like the house below, or a dry lot, over 6 homes have recently had major remodeling done.

I love the new look!

Categories
Coral Gables Environmental Marinas, Yacht Clubs and other Boating Information Neighborhood News Pinecrest

Village of Pinecrest Passes Resolution To Protect Matheson Hammock

Matheson Hammock Marina

At a special Village council meeting this evening, a resolution was passed stating opposition to the proposed boat storage facility at Matheson Hammock Park. Council members felt that the county’s Parks Department did not provide the public and surrounding municipalities with opportunity to provide input to their Request For Proposals for dry boat storage at the park.

Although the developer said that opposition was premature since impact studies had not been conducted, it was specifically because of the lack of information available about the impacts of the proposed structure, which is completely out of scale for the park in its sheer size (500 feet long and 50 feet high!), that the Village passed the resolution. 

Matheson Hammock Park is a park used by many residents and visitors in Miami-Dade county and the addition of any structures should proceed slowly and with public input.  It is, after all, supported by our tax dollars and admission fees.