A MIAMI SHOUTOUT FROM ELON: When Mayor Suarez tweeted Elon Musk about how awesome it would be for the Boring Company to build high-tech tunnels in Miami, Musk said if Suarez and the Governor wanted it done, “we will do it.” Whether the Mayor was just being a bit of a fanboy for the tech genius, who responded like any good entrepreneur, or perhaps this is the beginning of a serious transportation proposal for Miami, is yet to be seen.
MIAMI OFFICE LEASING, A BLOOD SPORT: While the pandemic has killed demand for office space pretty much everywhere else as millions of white collar workers decide they’d rather be at home in their underwear, Miami is yet again bucking the trend. As people flock here because all our fresh air looks so much safer from the virus, companies are looking for lots of fancy office space. (Microsoft is in “advanced negotiations” to lease 30,000 square feet at the under-construction 830 Brickell, for example.) Meanwhile, our fair city’s commercial brokers, probably shocked at their sheer dumb luck, are giddily calling the competition for office space “fierce.”
MAY DAY AT THE MAI KAI: Mid-Pandemic, or about three months ago, when restaurants with dinner shows already had long odds of survival, the funky, Polynesian-themed Mai Kai up in Fort Lauderdale, an iconic bit of midcentury whimsy, had a big accident. In heavy rain, the roof of its kitchen fell in and a busted sprinkler pipe made it worse. The restaurant closed for repairs, and now the owners feel they have to sell, but want to remain involved somehow. “Everything’s on the table,” the broker says. Price = undetermined.
FROM TIRES TO TIESTO: The old Firestone tire shop and service station, which had been an actual tire shop and service station from the 1930s up until 2015 and maintains much of its art deco character, is finally reopening in March as a spin on a classic dinner but with Miami Beach-level-chic, a sushi joint, and a pastry shop, all under the aegis of hospitality and nightlife impressario David Grutman. Naturally for Grutman, instead of a jukebox or “some streaming service,” the diner will have a DJ booth. “What other diner has a DJ booth?” asks Grutman.
