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Plate I · Eighteen Floors on Blue Linen
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The Lead · Houses · West Palm Beach
If the neighbors win the relief they ask for, the county could not carry out or fund the deal until commissioners vote on it again at a properly noticed meeting (complaint). The complaint says the plaintiffs will seek an emergency injunction; as of Oct. 18 none of our sources had reported that motion, a hearing or a ruling, and the county’s Oct. 20 agenda carries no item on the deal (complaint; WPTV; The Real Deal; Palm Beach County).
Two West Palm Beach neighborhood groups sued on Wednesday, Oct. 14, to void Palm Beach County’s 6-1 approval of a $26 million sale-leaseback, paid from county reserves, for a 400-room hotel that billionaire Stephen Ross’s Related Ross would lease for up to 97 years without paying property tax (complaint; WPTV; The Real Deal; Forbes). The suit says the deal went on the agenda as a six-day add-on with its 715-page file posted the day of the vote; the county attorney said at the meeting that the law requires only 24 hours’ notice, and Related says
the hotel brings jobs (complaint; WPTV; The Real Deal). We found nothing new in the case through Oct. 18: no hearing, ruling or county answer…
Old Florida Money desk · Mon Oct 19 · Sources: Oct. 14 complaint, Case No. 502026CA011605XXXAMB (clerk-stamped copy); Palm Beach County (Sept. 29 agenda and item 3C1 backup; Oct. 6 and Oct. 20 agendas); WPTV; The Real Deal; Law360; Palm Beach Post; CBS12; Stet News; Forbes
Read the full story
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Plate II · Engraved at the Waterline
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Money Pulse
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Virginia Key’s marinas for up to 75 years: Miami votes from today, and Suntex has put $2.35M into the Yes
Referendum 3 would lease 27.62 acres of city waterfront to a Suntex and RCI Group partnership for 45 years plus two 15-year renewals at a $2.2 million minimum annual rent from a 2017 bid; Rickenbacker Marina Corp, the incumbent operator, has put $1.1 million into the No (City of Miami; WLRN; Florida YIMBY). The lease exists only if voters approve it; early voting runs through Nov. 1 (City of Miami; Miami-Dade Supervisor of Elections).
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Byron Donalds’ PAC took GEO Group’s newest $1M check six days after GEO’s $950M sale to Homeland Security
The Division of Elections dates the Boca Raton detention company’s check Oct. 8; GEO closed the sale of its Adelanto, Calif., ICE complex Oct. 2, and it has now given the PAC $3.5 million in four checks, by our sum (Division of Elections; Florida Politics; GEO Group 8-K). No record ties any check to the sale, a state contract or a vote; WLRN reports the state owes GEO’s joint venture with CDR nearly $40 million for immigration enforcement work (WLRN).
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Ashley Moody’s Senate race: a new group the Times ties to lawyer Steve Pajcic spends against her, and a super PAC backed by Ken Griffin keeps hitting Angie Nixon
Federal filings show New Deal for All spent about $3.1 million against Moody on Oct. 14 and 16, and Stronger Safer Nation, which Ken Griffin backed with $2.5 million, reported $1.31 million more against Nixon on Oct. 13 (FEC; Reuters; Tampa Bay Times). The New York Times reports Pajcic and his children plan at least $7 million across four Senate races, most of it in Florida (The New York Times).
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Isaias: Florida asks Trump for a major disaster declaration, and Escambia brings back its biggest debris hauler
The state’s Oct. 16 request seeks Public Assistance for 15 Panhandle counties and Individual Assistance for eight; FEMA’s data showed no approval on Oct. 18 (Executive Office of the Governor; Florida Division of Emergency Management; OpenFEMA). Escambia commissioners voted Oct. 15 to put AshBritt back on debris pickup, its repair bill is about $64M, $54.87M of it debris, and Moody’s RMS puts private insured losses at $2.5B to $4.5B (WEAR-TV; Rick’s Blog; Moody’s; Artemis).
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Hope Florida: the order erasing the grand jury report is open to rehearing until Thursday, and the charging deadlines the Trident reads are falling due
We found no report of a rehearing motion, and the court’s public case search shows no docket entries for the case; the two-year campaign-finance deadlines the Florida Trident reads for the October 2024 checks began Oct. 17 and run to Oct. 29, and no one has been charged (1st DCA opinion; Florida courts; WLRN/Florida Trident; Division of Elections). The Florida Trib counts more than $444,000 in public money paid to the law firms hired to represent state officials in the fight (Florida Trib).
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Rays ballpark: Tampa owes its $80M either way, and a binding vote on the community benefits deal is set for Oct. 29
Tampa’s council voted 4-3 on Oct. 15, after a 3-3 tie, to seek court validation of up to $80 million in ballpark bonds; issuing them takes another vote, and FOX 13 says the community benefits agreement faces a binding vote Oct. 29 (Tampa Bay Times; Florida Politics; Bay News 9; FOX 13). The Rays lead the ALCS 3-2, with Game 6 at the Trop tonight (MLB Stats API).
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Plate III · An Unsettled Impression
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This edition, by desk
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The Bucs have floated a two-thirds public tab for a $1B Raymond James renovation, and the Sports Authority’s action on its first seat bid is still unpublished. Tampa owes the Rays its $80M either way, and a binding vote on the community benefits deal is set for Oct. 29, per FOX 13. On the field, the Rays won Games 4 and 5 in Cleveland to lead the ALCS 3-2 and can clinch at the Trop Monday night (MLB Stats API).
Bucs float a two-thirds public tab for Ray Jay as the first seat bid comes in under budget
Rays bond vote ties 3-3, then a sick councilman dials in to pass it
Open the Teams desk
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A New York builder couple sold the spec house they built on San Marco Island for a Venetian Islands record $48.5M, The Real Deal and Mansion Global report, on a lot they bought for $5.95M in 2021; The Real Deal’s sources name the buyer as General Catalyst CEO Hemant Taneja. Neighbors are suing to void Palm Beach County’s vote on Stephen Ross’s tax-break hotel. The four properties a former federal official bought with government money are for sale, and The Real Deal says Christian Angle lists them for the federal government. Hunterbrook says nearly all the Lennar homes
Millrose bought are listed for ordinary rent, against Millrose’s rent-to-own account. Amendment 3 leaves your school tax untouched while Florida Realtors fund the yes side, and Larry Ellison is asking a North Palm Beach record $165M.
Venetian Islands record: New York builders sell a $48.5M house on a lot they bought for $5.95M
The Lead, above
Ex-CIA official admits faking a secret program to buy $102.6M of Palm Beach and Jupiter Island real estate
Lennar’s Miami spinoff said it would have no tenants. A shareholder suit says it bought hundreds of Lennar homes to rent
Amendment 3 skips your school tax, and school boards are on the same ballot
Florida Realtors are still Amendment 3’s only donor, and Miami-Dade Mayor Daniella Levine Cava runs a third committee against it
Larry Ellison and WeatherTech’s David MacNeil split the Manalapan lot next door, then kept buying
Open the Houses desk
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Who pays, and who answers for it. GEO Group’s newest $1M check to Byron Donalds’ PAC is dated six days after its $950M sale to Homeland Security, and the PAC has now sent Florida’s GOP $35M. Outside money is pouring into Ashley Moody’s Senate race from both sides. Miami votes from today on up to 75 years of Virginia Key’s marinas, with Suntex paying for the Yes. Florida has asked Trump for a major disaster declaration for Isaias, the Hope Florida ruling is open to rehearing until Thursday, Charlie Crist’s St. Pete committee keeps paying two firms listed
at the Florida Politics address, and FPL’s parent keeps its Florida politics memo eyes-only in Virginia as testimony comes due.
Byron Donalds’ PAC took GEO Group’s newest $1M six days after GEO’s $950M sale to Homeland Security
Ashley Moody’s Senate race draws outside money: a super PAC backed by Ken Griffin for her, and a new group the Times ties to Florida lawyer Steve Pajcic against her
Virginia Key’s marinas, for up to 75 years: Miami voters decide, and Suntex is paying for the Yes
Byron Donalds’ PAC has now sent Florida’s GOP $35 million, $4 million of it this month
Pensacola’s Isaias cleanup: DeSantis asks Trump for a major disaster declaration, and Escambia reverses its administrator to bring back its biggest debris hauler
Hope Florida: the Trib counts more than $444,000 in public money for private law firms in the grand jury fight, and the order erasing the report is open to rehearing until Thursday
Charlie Crist’s St. Pete committee pays two firms listed at the Florida Politics address
FPL’s parent keeps its Florida politics memo eyes-only at its lawyers’ offices as Virginia testimony comes due
Boca’s GEO Group sells ICE its own Adelanto detention complex for $950 million, and keeps running it
Big Sugar, GOPAC, an auto-insurance agency and you: who’s paying for the governor’s race
Open the Politics desk
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Forbes still ranks Jeff Bezos Florida’s richest, about $370B on its Oct. 18 real-time mark, and Blue Origin says it will add Space Coast launch pads while it asks the FAA for 50 New Glenn launches a year from Cape Canaveral. Ken Griffin paid Moishe Mana a reported $1.1B for Wynwood land that counts toward his $2B Carnegie Mellon campus gift, gave Baptist Health $25M more and has a Nov. 3 Planning Board date for his Miami Beach helipad.
Bezos is still Florida’s richest, and Blue Origin wants 50 Cape launches a year and new Space Coast pads
Ken Griffin’s Miami fortnight: the Wynwood land under his Carnegie Mellon campus, $25 million more for Baptist Health and a helipad fight
Open the People desk
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Advertisement · Oaktree Reserve
The Weight of a Legacy
A Florida story. A present-day invitation to plan what follows.
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Watch the film · 0:30
John Ringling had approximately $300 cash on hand at his death in 1936; this was not his estate’s total value. His home and museum transferred to Florida in 1946 after years of estate administration.
The aerial sequence is an AI-created interpretation, not recorded drone footage or a verified aerial survey. No family or museum endorsement is implied.
Historical source, imagery and transcript
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About
Old Florida Money is Oaktree Reserve’s public Florida capital brief: the named checks behind houses, teams, races, and public votes across the state.
Plates are painted illustrations, not depictions of the people named in the stories.
St. Petersburg · Est. MMXXV
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