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By Bari Auerbach
Sunny Isles Beach has recently been making headlines for being home to “big events” including the opening of the city’s first new public school and Pelican Community Park plus exciting extravaganzas like the upcoming Jazz Fest sure to garner international acclaim. The following excerpts from a myriad of media outlets highlight all the great exposure Sunny Isles Beach has been receiving – shining the spotlight on “Florida’s Riviera.”
Aventura News: Sunny Isles Beach hosts David Lawrence, Jr. of the Children’s Trust
The City of Sunny Isles Beach recently hosted an Aventura Marketing Council breakfast meeting with keynote speaker David Lawrence Jr., chair of the Children’s Trust and president of the Early Childhood Initiative Foundation.
During the meeting attended by hundreds of business and community leaders at the Newport Beachside Resort & Hotel, Mayor Norman S. Edelcup spoke about the city’s “big events.”
“We recently celebrated the city’s 11th anniversary since incorporating with thrilling off-shore power boat races,” Edelcup said. “The next big event will be the opening of our K-8 public school – a joint venture with Miami-Dade County. We’re so pleased the school [has opened] with over 1,000 students in grades K to 6 - 7th and 8th grades will be added in the subsequent two years.
“The third major event coming up will be the Sunny Isles Beach Jazz Festival Oct. 17-19 benefitting Best Buddies, presented with assistance from Ibis Romero of the Sunny Isles Beach Resort Association. There are great opportunities to sponsor this event that we hope will be held annually”
The website for the Sunny Isles Beach Resort Association further notes, “We are proud to present the inaugural Sunny Isles Beach Jazz Fest celebrating the extraordinary sounds of jazz music and featuring world-renowned jazz entertainers, notable local artists and several illustrious music groups…the Jazz Fest promises to become a legendary event.”
South Florida Business Journal: Development swapping deli for delicacies
Following announcements regarding the closing of he Rascal House in Sunny Isles Beach, many articles were written about what was going to be built in the landmark restaurant’s place.
"Sunny Isles Beach is going through a major transition, and we feel an Epicure market fits with the town center feel the community is going for," said developer Jason Starkman.
A two-time winner of the “Outstanding Retailer” award given by the National
Association of Specialty Food Trade, Epicure enjoys a reputation for outstanding
selections of prime meats, imported cheeses, gourmet groceries and an amazing wine cellar.
TripAdvisor: Sunny Isles Beach named #1 destination in the Untied States
It certainly was a “big event” for Sunny Isles Beach when Trip Advisor, the world’s largest travel community, recently announced the results of its annual travel trends survey of more than 2,500 travelers from around the world.
Sunny Isles Beach topped the list of Trip Advisor’s emerging hotspots for 2008 - being named the “#1 destination in the United States.”
CNET Nrews.com: Bringing public WI-FI to small-town America
Advancements in technology are also helping to put Sunny Isles Beach on the map as IT publications and websites report on the city’s commitment to enhancing municipal communications.
Sunny Isles Beach now offers residents and visitors free WiFi throughout the city’s parks as part of a Wireless Island Project. Monday, July 14, 2008 marked the launch date of the free WiFi. All of the city parks are now WiFi Hotspots where internet connectivity is free, wireless, and commercial-free. The city parks that are WiFi Hotspots include Bella Vista Bay Park, Pier Park, Samson Oceanfront Park, Town Center Park, Senator Gwen Margolis Park, Golden Shores Community Park, Pelican Community Park, and Heritage Park.
“The free WiFi is just another step in the transformation that Sunny Isles Beach is
undergoing,” said Mayor Norman Edelcup. “The free WiFi will give both locals and visitors a chance to still catch up on work, while getting out and enjoying the fresh air.”
NY Times Travel: Rat Pack Playground Revived
The rapid revitalization taking place in Sunny Isles Beach since the city incorporated in 1997 has inspired numerous articles like this one in NY Times Travel focusing on big events like the arrival of “rich and famous” residents.
In recent years, South Beach has become overcrowded, and a hotel boom has crept up Sunny Isles, putting the barrier island with expansive beaches on track to become Florida’s next hot spot. Luxury condo-hotels have sprung up, chic restaurants have opened along the beach, and shiny condos are being snapped up by wealthy Europeans and football players.
Despite the new gloss, Sunny Isles Beach hasn’t lost its eclectic character. Stroll the beach in the morning, and you’ll see local hippies looking for shells beside young hedge-fund couples and Russian tycoons.
Wall Street Journal: From Russia with cash
The global appeal of Sunny Isles Beach was featured in the Wall Street Journal – honing in on the angle “The Russians are coming!” – yet another big demographic event coinciding with the city’s renaissance.
As many of America's wealthy are roiled by the credit crisis and general financial gloom, a growing number of rich Russians are house-shopping—and buying—in costly U.S. enclaves.
Miami first became popular with Russians in the mid-1990s, when a coterie of Soviet-era pop stars purchased condos there and Russian media covered their new homes. Newer residents of nearby Sunny Isles Beach include Irina Allegrova, a pop singer who bought a two-bedroom condo for $1.4 million, records show.
MSNBC The world's hottest, uncrowded beaches
When old motels transitioned to ultra-luxurious developments rising along the east side of Collins Avenue, Sunny Isles Beach garnered international notoriety. Architectural achievements like Acqualina by the Trumps of Williams Island helped put the city on the “trendsetting travel map” as major media outlets like US News and World Report deemed Sunny Isles Beach “Best Place to Retire” and MSNBC declared the elite distinction: “World’s Hottest Uncrowded Beach”...
When it comes to naming 10 so-called "hot alternative beaches," Sunny Isles Beach immediately comes to mind…Sometimes, the emergence of just one fantastic resort is enough to lure the trendsetters away from the more tried-and-true hotspot. When the Acqualina Resort opened in 2006, it helped put the relatively quiet coastal town just north of Miami Beach on upscale travelers’ radars. Serene Sunny Isles Beach provides the perfect upscale antidote to South Beach’s legendary see-and-be-seen atmosphere. And of course, there's a superb beach.
MTV.COM Spring Break 2008
Last spring, the city was the center of attention for “the younger generation” when MTV broadcast special spring break events from Sunny Isles Beach.
The website MTV.com announced: Raise your cup high above your head and scream 'cause MTV's Spring Break 2008 is here! We're heading to Sunny Isles Beach, Fla., for the hottest, most decadent party this side of the equator. Soak up the scorching lineup of hot performances and special guest stars. There's going to be big names and the best competitions. This year MTV's Spring Break 2008 celebrates beauty and brains!
Miami Herald: Sunny Isles Beach first K-8 school built for 1,600 students
One of the biggest events taking place in Sunny Isles Beach was recently covered by local papers reporting on the opening of the city’s much anticipated public school – helping to alleviate the area’s overcrowded classrooms.
In an historic moment for Sunny Isles Beach, the city's first school opens to more than 1,000 elementary students [the week of August 18]…Sunny Isles Beach Community School will ultimately have about 1,600 K-8 students in its $33 million facility at Northeast 183rd Street and Atlantic Boulevard.
The school is across the street from the city's community center, which it will use for physical education classes, gifted programs and events. Local residents also will be able to use computer facilities at the school, said Principal Annette Weissman.
The four-story school sits between the Atlantic Ocean and the Intracoastal, both visible from the upper floors, music suite and cafeteria patio.
The school is high-tech, offering two computer labs and interactive, digital whiteboard technology in all classrooms. It has a career lab and a cyber cafe right off the lunchroom, where students can go to work or surf after lunch. Teachers will wear microphones that will pipe their voices through ceiling-embedded speakers.
Miami Herald: It’s almost play-time at new park
Another big Sunny Isles Beach event, the opening of Pelican Community Park, also recently made local headlines.
After more than six years of planning and construction, Pelican Community Park will open Saturday in Sunny Isles Beach. The two-acre, $9.7 million facility is home to the city's first community center, said Rick Connor, director of public works.
The park, 18115 N. Bay Rd., will have an outdoor tot-lot playground, indoor basketball gymnasium and a Little League baseball field, among other amenities.
The two-story community center also will include multipurpose classrooms, an arts and crafts room, computer training room, exercise room, and a ballroom. Like all of the city's parks and facilities, the location is a free WiFi hot spot.
The 10,000-square-foot basketball gym will be named for developer Raanan Katz. He and his wife have pledged $525,000 toward the complex.
The Real Deal: Sunny Isles Beach bucks trend
Despite downward trends, real estate publications such as The Real Deal have been touting positive predictions for Sunny Isles Beach, where perhaps the greatest “big event” is the proliferation of luxurious new developments still on the rise.
Notwithstanding the gloomy news, Sunny Isles Beach officials and developers alike insist the barrier island in the corner of Miami-Dade County is bucking negative trends and experiencing a redevelopment renaissance.
Sparked by real estate mogul Donald Trump's interest in the area, most of the redevelopment to date is residential.
[Trump recently said, ''This is a great time to buy. The people who let apartments go, they'll regret it.'']
"Certainly, this community will be one of the first to benefit when the general housing market begins to recover, as anticipated in late 2008 to mid-2009," says Ibis Romero, executive director of the Sunny Isles Beach Resort Association. She also notes that the city is relatively unaffected by the overdevelopment seen in other parts of South Florida.
[According to the Dezer Development family, partnering with Donald Trump to bring luxurious properties to Sunny Isles Beach], "We don't see the market crashing here or anywhere else along the oceanfront of South Florida…Our buyers are folks from New York, Chicago and Boston who are looking for a second home. They aren't speculative investors looking to resell. That makes a difference."
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