Region desk
South Florida
Miami-Dade, Broward, and Palm Beach: Jeff Greene’s $30M offer for county land beside North County Airport, tied to a private-jet terminal lease, which Palm Beach County voted 7-0 to open to competing bids, Boca Raton’s ADT agreeing to go private with Apollo’s funds backing the buyer, the Coconut Grove bayfront estate The Wall Street Journal reported Larry Page bought for $71.9M, as California votes Nov. 3 on a one-time tax on its billionaires, Endeavor’s suit against Sunny Isles Beach-based Carl Icahn over the shares behind his buyout fight, Palm Beach investor Nelson Peltz’s $7.35-a-share bid to take Wendy’s private, Miami-Dade’s sheriff ending the $4.1M-a-year bodyguard detail for the mayor and commissioners, a mayor’s memo saying Stephen Ross’s Miami International Airport hotel lease is still in effect after the county said the deal was ending, Fisher Island Club members suing the island’s own association over a yearly fee the suit says rose to about $64,500 for 2026, Palm Beach’s striped ‘Ham and Cheese House’ under contract at a $105M ask, Miami’s Nov. 3 vote on a Virginia Key marina lease that lets the promised plans change, a $100,000 check to Rep. María Elvira Salazar’s fundraising committee from Lenir Pérez, a Wellington businessman charged in Honduras who maintains his innocence, Miami Beach nearly halving Art Basel’s convention center rent over Norman Braman’s objection, a $418M foreclosure suit against Boca Raton’s unfinished Mandarin Oriental condo tower, Jay Newman and Five Park’s owners suing Miami Beach over an unfinished footbridge, a $507M construction loan for a Vacchi-backed tower on the site of a 1964 South Beach condo, a foreclosure suit against Brookfield’s Pembroke Lakes Mall after its value fell to $112M from $427M, a Miami Gardens auto-insurance agency’s $500,000 check to Byron Donalds’ PAC, Boca’s GEO Group selling Homeland Security its Adelanto detention complex for $950M, Ken Griffin’s reported $1.1B Wynwood land purchase for a Carnegie Mellon campus, the Manalapan lot Larry Ellison and David MacNeil split for a reported $34.4M and $32M, Ellison’s record $165M North Palm Beach asking price, the neighbors’ suit to void Palm Beach County’s $26M hotel vote for Stephen Ross’s Related Ross, a reported Venetian Islands record $48.5M sale on San Marco Island, the Nov. 3 Miami vote on up to 75 years of Virginia Key’s marinas, the Palm Beach houses and lots a former federal official admits he bought with government money, the Seminole Tribe’s Broward suit against DraftKings, and Griffin’s own $10M check to the Donalds PAC.
South Florida stories
- People · Palm Beach CountyJeff Greene sought county airport land and a jet terminal. Now he must competeThe billionaire investor and 2018 candidate for governor offered $30 million for land beside Palm Beach County's North County airport, tied to a 50-year jet terminal lease. Commissioners voted 7-0 on Oct. 20 to open both to rival bids, and as of Nov. 1 nothing had been sold or leased.
- Politics · MiamiMiami's Virginia Key marina lease on the ballot lets the promised plans changeMiami votes Tuesday on leasing two city marinas on Virginia Key for up to 75 years to a company half owned by Texas-based Suntex Marinas. Suntex's company has put about $3.8 million into the Yes side, and Rickenbacker Marina Corp, which runs one of them now, about $1.8 million into the No.
- People · Boca RatonBoca Raton's ADT agrees to go private, with Apollo's funds backing the buyerThe Boca Raton home-alarm company agreed to sell itself for $10 a share in cash to Thrive Holdings, a holding company with more than 75 businesses. Funds run by Apollo affiliates have committed to lend the buyer money and invest in its parent; Apollo's funds sold their last ADT shares in May.
- Houses · Miami-DadeLarry Page, Coconut Grove and the billionaire tax California votes on TuesdayCalifornia votes Tuesday on a one-time 5% tax on its billionaires' wealth, a tax Florida does not have. A UC Berkeley poll released Thursday has 42% of likely voters for it and 50% against.
- People · Sunny Isles BeachEndeavor sues Carl Icahn, saying he illegally acquired the shares behind his buyout fightEndeavor, the company behind UFC and WWE, wants billionaire Carl Icahn's Sunny Isles Beach company to give up any profit from its bets against Endeavor's buyout. Endeavor says the company broke rules for big shareholders; no court has ruled.
- People · Palm BeachNelson Peltz offers to take Wendy's private, valuing the chain at about $1.4 billionThe Palm Beach investor, who chaired Wendy's for 17 years, and his partners would pay cash for shares they do not own, taking the chain off the stock market. Blackwells Capital, a Wendy's shareholder, says the price dramatically undervalues the company.
- Houses · MiamiMiami-Dade said Stephen Ross's airport hotel deal was ending. A memo says it is still in effectA venture of Related Companies, founded by billionaire Stephen Ross, and Fontainebleau Development, led by chief executive Jeffrey Soffer, won a 2023 lease for a Westin at Miami International Airport. The mayor now says the lease remains in effect, as the airport reviews what the developers say they spent.
- Politics · MiamiMiami-Dade's sheriff is ending the $4.1 million-a-year bodyguard detail for the mayor and commissionersSheriff Rosie Cordero-Stutz says the money will help cover a budget gap she has taken to the state. Mayor Daniella Levine Cava, who still runs the county jails, plans to fill the job with jail officers, the Miami Herald reports.
- Houses · Fisher IslandFisher Island Club members sue the island's own association in federal courtClub members who own no home on Fisher Island say the Fisher Island Community Association has no right to bill them a yearly fee for transportation and security. Jim Ferraro, an association board member, calls their move to federal court "a joke."
- Houses · Palm BeachPalm Beach's 'Ham and Cheese House' finds an unnamed buyer at a $105 million askThe striped 1927 oceanfront landmark went under contract Oct. 20, less than two months after it was listed. Penny Antonini and her late husband, the industrialist Marion Antonini, paid about $16 million for it in 2013.
- Politics · MiamiRep. Salazar's donor is charged in Honduras, and she has not answeredWellington businessman Lenir Pérez wrote a $100,000 check to her joint fundraising committee, federal filings show. Most of it went on to House Republicans' campaign arm.
- Politics · Miami BeachMiami Beach nearly halves Art Basel's rent over Norman Braman's objectionNorman Braman, the billionaire auto dealer widely credited with bringing the fair to Miami Beach, told commissioners to send the city manager back for a better deal. The city will also pay the first $300,000 a year of the fair's police and fire costs through 2031.
- Houses · Boca RatonBoca Raton's unfinished Mandarin Oriental faces a $418 million foreclosure as buyers want their deposits backThe stalled condo tower carries the name of Mandarin Oriental, the luxury hotel brand, but may lose it. Its lender says it is owed nearly $418 million. If it wins, it gets paid before buyers who put down deposits.
- Houses · Miami BeachHedge fund veteran Jay Newman sues Miami Beach and Five Park's developers over a bridge never finishedNewman, who spent 15 years fighting Argentina over its defaulted debt for Paul Singer's Elliott hedge fund, joined the tower's owners' association in suing. The tower's developers say buried power lines make the bridge unsafe to build as designed.
- PoliticsLarry Page’s reported Coconut Grove estates changed hands by deeds dated days before California’s billionaire tax lineMiami-Dade records show Coconut Grove deeds dated Dec. 26 to 29, 2025, to two revocable trusts. California’s Prop 40, on its Nov. 3 ballot, would tax billionaires living there Jan. 1, 2026, but not houses they hold directly or in a revocable trust.
- Houses · Miami BeachA Vacchi-backed tower set to replace a 1964 South Beach condo of 238 homes borrowed $507M before selling a unitTerra and partners including Gianluca Vacchi’s GV Development bought nearly all of Bay Garden Manor deed by deed. An Elliott-backed lender has now made the construction loan; sales of 106 new condos start in 2027.
- Houses · Pembroke PinesBrookfield’s Pembroke Lakes Mall lost nearly three quarters of its value, and its lender sued to forecloseThe mall was appraised at $427 million when its $260 million loan closed in 2013, and at $112 million in April. Deutsche Bank, as trustee for bondholders, sued to foreclose and wants a receiver.
- Houses · MiamiVenetian Islands record: New York builders sell a $48.5M house on a lot they bought for $5.95MA couple who own a New York construction firm bought the San Marco Island lot in 2021, built a seven-bedroom spec house and sold it, furnished, to a trust. The Real Deal, citing unnamed sources, says the buyer is General Catalyst CEO Hemant Taneja (The Real Deal; Mansion Global via Haute Residence; Miami-Dade Property Appraiser).
- Houses · West Palm BeachStephen Ross’s tax-break hotel: neighbors sue to void the voteTwo West Palm Beach neighborhood groups sued Oct. 14 to void Palm Beach County’s 6-1 approval of a $26 million sale-leaseback, paid from county General Fund reserves, for a 400-room hotel Stephen Ross’s Related Ross would lease for up to 97 years without paying property tax (complaint; WPTV; The Real Deal). The suit says the item was added six days before the vote and its 715-page file was posted 90 minutes before the meeting; at the meeting the county attorney said the law requires only 24 hours’ notice, and Related says the hotel brings local jobs (complaint; WPTV; The Real Deal). As of Oct. 18 no hearing has been reported, and the county’s Oct. 20 agenda carries no item on the deal (Palm Beach County).
- Politics · MiamiVirginia Key’s marinas, for up to 75 years: Miami voters decide, and Suntex is paying for the YesEarly voting opens today on Referendum 3, which would lease 27.62 acres of public waterfront off the Rickenbacker Causeway to a Suntex partnership at a $2.2 million minimum rent from a 2017 bid. City filings show Suntex has put $2.35 million into the Yes side and the incumbent marina has put $1.1 million into the No (City of Miami; Miami-Dade Supervisor of Elections; WLRN; Political Cortadito).
- Houses · Palm BeachEx-CIA official admits faking a secret program to buy $102.6M of Palm Beach and Jupiter Island real estateDavid J. Rush, a former senior federal official whose case the CIA referred to the FBI, Director John Ratcliffe says, pleaded guilty Oct. 6 to defrauding the government of about $194 million. He admits that a “highly classified” program he invented to buy South Florida real estate was a fake, and that about $102.55 million of it bought two Palm Beach houses, a Palm Beach lot and a Jupiter Island lot (Justice Department; plea papers; our sum). His plea deal hands the government each property or cash in its place. All four are listed for sale, two under contract, and The Real Deal reports broker Christian Angle is listing them on behalf of the federal government (The Real Deal; USA TODAY / Palm Beach Daily News).
- People · MiamiKen Griffin’s Miami fortnight: the Wynwood land under his Carnegie Mellon campus, $25 million more for Baptist Health and a helipad fightKen Griffin paid Moishe Mana a reported $1.1 billion for about 30 Wynwood acres with no outside debt or partners, closed Sept. 29 (Fox Business; Commercial Observer), and that land counts toward the $2 billion of his $3 billion Carnegie Mellon gift that will build a Wynwood campus (AP; Refresh Miami). On Oct. 7 he gave Baptist Health $25 million more, $75 million in all (Baptist Health South Florida). His Miami Beach helipad goes to the Planning Board Nov. 3 (Miami Herald).
- Houses · Palm Beach CountyLarry Ellison and WeatherTech’s David MacNeil split the Manalapan lot next door, then kept buyingOracle’s Larry Ellison paid an MLS-reported $34.4M for the southern 2.15 acres at 1960 S. Ocean Blvd. It sits beside the estate and island parcel he bought together in 2022 on a recorded $173M entry, then a Florida record. As of Oct. 18 no deed has posted for either half of the split. WeatherTech’s David MacNeil took the northern slice for $32M and has spent $136.32M assembling three properties. Up the coast, Ellison has listed his Seminole Landing estate at a North Palm Beach record $165M.
Statewide read-across
- Politics · TallahasseeRealtors gave $21.5 million to pass Amendment 3. One Gainesville firm got 98 cents of each dollar spentNearly all of the Realtors' campaign spending has gone to SGS Inc., a Gainesville firm that Orlando Weekly reports is owned by longtime GOP operative Patrick Bainter. Three committees fight the measure, and one was formed by Miami-Dade Mayor Daniella Levine Cava, CubaHeadlines reported.
- Teams · TallahasseeFlorida State fires Mike Norvell and takes on a buyout that runs to 2031The team had three wins and five losses this season, after two seasons without a bowl game, the postseason reward for enough wins. Reports put the public university's bill at about $47 million to $50 million, and no record yet says whose money pays it.
- Politics · TallahasseeJolly asks Byron Donalds to pledge to divest his family's school firms. Erika Donalds calls it sexistFlorida picks a governor Tuesday, Nov. 3, and Democrat David Jolly wants Republican Byron Donalds to give up his family's interests in charter school companies if he wins. Erika Donalds, Byron's wife, runs those companies and says they are hers, not his.
- Houses · StatewideUthmeier sues the firm behind home-listing flood scores, calling them deceptiveFlorida's attorney general says First Street's scores call some homes major flood risks where federal flood maps show minimal hazard, and cost sellers sales. First Street has not answered, and no court has ruled.
- Politics · TallahasseeKalshi and the Seminole Tribe paid Byron Donalds's PAC on the same dayDonalds's PAC, a political committee that takes donations, got $500,000 from the tribe and $250,000 from Kalshi on Oct. 13. Five days earlier, the tribe backed New Jersey against Kalshi at the Supreme Court.
- Politics · StatewideBrightline's parent companies are in bankruptcy, but its trains run. A judge weighs the rescue Oct. 29Brightline is Florida's private Miami-to-Orlando railroad. The company that runs its trains is not in bankruptcy and borrows the rescue loan, and about $4.4 billion of muni bonds sit behind it.
- Politics · NaplesByron Donalds's wife's firm gets most of a charter school's tax moneyA Collier County online charter school plans to pay about $15.7 million this school year, nearly all its money, to OptimaEd, the Naples company of Erika Donalds. Her husband, Byron Donalds, is the Republican running for governor, the office that signs the state budget behind part of that money.
- Politics · Boca RatonGEO Group gave Byron Donalds money in early OctoberThe Oct. 8 check to Donalds’ PAC came six days after GEO’s $950 million sale of a California ICE complex to Homeland Security. No record ties it to the sale, a state contract or vote.
- Politics · StatewideAshley 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 herFederal filings show New Deal for All, which The New York Times reports is backed by 1986 Democratic governor nominee Steve Pajcic, spent about $3.1 million against Sen. Ashley Moody this month, while Stronger Safer Nation, a super PAC Ken Griffin gave $2.5 million, keeps spending against Angie Nixon (FEC; The New York Times; Reuters; Tampa Bay Times).
- Houses · Statewide ballotAmendment 3 skips your school tax, and school boards are on the same ballotThe state’s own estimate shows Amendment 3 takes nothing off the school line of any county’s property tax bill, while counties, cities and special districts lose $4.9 billion in its first year (Florida EDR). On the same Nov. 3 ballot, at least 13 school boards, Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach among them, ask voters to keep or add a 1 mill school tax, and Florida Realtors have written $19.5 million for the yes side (school board records; Division of Elections).
- Politics · StatewideBig Sugar, GOPAC, an auto-insurance agency and you: who’s paying for the governor’s raceFrom Sept. 29 to Oct. 2, 16 donors gave Byron Donalds’ PAC $100,000 or more each, $3,575,000 in all (Division of Elections; our sum). Then the state’s Oct. 9 matching-funds distribution sent Democrat David Jolly six times what it sent Donalds (Florida Department of State; our arithmetic).
- Politics · Boca RatonBoca’s GEO Group sells ICE its own Adelanto detention complex for $950 million, and keeps running itGeorge Zoley’s company closed the $950 million sale to Homeland Security on Oct. 2 and expects about $705 million net. Its filings say about $678 million goes to redeem its 8.625% notes, and its new credit terms allow unlimited buybacks while leverage stays at or under 2.25 times. It still runs the complex for ICE; on Friday, Oct. 16, five California House Democrats who visited unannounced reported dirty showers and kitchens, and ICE calls condition claims false (GEO 8-K; LAist; KESQ; Hoodline).
- Storm money · PanhandlePensacola’s Isaias cleanup: DeSantis asks Trump for a major disaster declaration, and Escambia reverses its administrator to bring back its biggest debris haulerFlorida has asked President Trump for a major disaster declaration covering Public Assistance in 15 Panhandle counties and Individual Assistance in eight, Escambia among them; FEMA’s data still 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, with Commissioner Steven Barry voting no, after Administrator Wes Moreno had cut the county to two haulers; the county’s repair bill is about $64 million, $54.87 million of it debris removal (WEAR-TV). Moody’s RMS now puts U.S. private insured losses at $2.5 billion to $4.5 billion, best estimate $3.5 billion (Moody’s; Artemis). Citizens had 9,052 policies and $3.56 billion of exposure in eight Panhandle coastal counties as of Aug. 31 (Citizens).
- Teams · Sports bettingThe Seminole Tribe sues DraftKings and accuses CEO Jason Robins of racketeering, calling its Florida app an illegal sportsbookThe Tribe paid Florida $1.04 billion last fiscal year under the compact that gives it the sole right to take sports bets. Its 72-page Broward complaint says DraftKings takes bets with no license, accuses CEO Jason Robins alone of racketeering, and alleges DraftKings secretly funded the failed court challenges to the compact, most recently joining one openly on Sept. 17. DraftKings says its prediction markets follow federal law and Pick6 is not sports betting.
- People · StatewideBezos is still Florida’s richest, and Blue Origin wants 50 Cape launches a year and new Space Coast padsForbes still ranks Jeff Bezos Florida’s No. 1, at about $370B on its Oct. 18 real-time mark. Blue Origin has asked the FAA to raise New Glenn launches at Cape Canaveral from 12 to 50 a year (public meeting Oct. 22, comments by Oct. 30), and on Oct. 16 it said it will add Space Coast launch pads and spend $330M on a production expansion (FAA; Reuters; Spaceflight Now). Behind him: Ellison, Peterffy, Griffin, Ross and Jaguars owner Shad Khan; Griffin has given Byron Donalds’ PAC $10M and Peterffy $1.2M (Division of Elections).
- Politics · StatewideByron Donalds’ PAC has now sent Florida’s GOP $35 million, $4 million of it this monthThrough Oct. 9, Donalds’ PAC had spent $99.6M by our sum of state records, including $35M to the Republican Party of Florida in 11 payments ($4M on Oct. 5). With his campaign account he has spent $110.7M, which Florida Politics puts at “more than $110 million.” GEO Group and Fighting for Florida’s Families each gave the PAC $1M in the week ended Oct. 9. Polls reported Oct. 13 run from Donalds up 11 to a tie (Division of Elections; Florida Politics; Newsweek). The Seminole Tribe, which has given Donalds’ PAC $5.5M, is suing DraftKings, whose subsidiary gave the PAC $500,000.