Prices for Miami Beach luxury condos soar to records




















Ultra-luxury condominiums on South Beach are fetching nosebleed prices.

On Tuesday, a penthouse at the Setai Resort at 2001 Collins Avenue closed for $27 million — the highest price ever for a South Florida condominium, according to real estate agents.

“We’re definitely seeing the market turning upward,” said Jeff Miller, of Zilbert International Realty in Miami, who represented the buyer in the sale of the palatial 7,100-square-foot condominium. “We’re seeing buyers come in from all over the globe.”





Just a few weeks ago, Ohio coal mining businessman Wayne Boich Jr. completed the sale of his Icon South Beach penthouse at 450 Alton Road in the uber-trendy South of Fifth neighborhood for just under $21 million.

The 6-bedroom, 7 1/2-bath Icon condo sparked a bidding war that drove the sale $2 million above the listing price — a level that is three times the $7 million Boich paid in July 2007 in the depths of the bust. It was a record price for a Miami Beach bayside condo.

“The luxury market is on fire in South Beach — especially the South of Fifth neighborhood,” said Dora Puig, principal of PuigWerner Real Estate Services, who was the listing broker for the Icon unit. “It’s moving Miami to totally different pricing points.”

The Setai’s record may not reign for long.

Penthouse 2 in the decade-old Continuum South tower at 100 South Pointe Drive in the South of Fifth neighborhood is on the market for $39 million.

That is a record listing price for a Miami-Dade condominium, according to Puig, who also snagged that listing.

Amid the market sizzle, Puig bumped up the asking price late last summer from $35 million.

The penthouse, which has 11,000 square feet of interior space, belongs to Manhattan real estate developer Ian Bruce Eichner, who built the Continuum project at the tip of South Beach and kept the trophy for himself.

The Continuum penthouse, which has 6,000 square feet of deck and a rooftop heated pool, boasts sweeping 13 1/2-foot ceilings that give the feel of a single-family home. The floor-to-ceiling glass walls offer a 360-degree view of the Atlantic Ocean, Biscayne Bay, downtown Miami and Miami Beach from 40 stories up.

“It looks down on Fisher Island, way down,” Puig said with a smile.

The unit has a private interior elevator, of course, and stretches over two indoor levels and two largely exterior levels.

One big plus: It has a gated entrance and sits on an expansive enclave of rolling lawns and gardens adjacent to a city park at the tip of the island.

The unit comes with an additional 874-square-foot guest quarters that would delight most mortals. “The guest unit is intended for professional quarters: the maid, the nanny, the chef, the pilot,” Puig explained.

Also included is a snazzy cabana on the beach.

Eichner has used it as a vacation home and once rented it to Tom Cruise for a couple of months while he was in Miami to film Rock of Ages.

On Thursday, Puig hosted Miami’s power brokers for a look at the Continuum penthouse over champagne and hors d’oeuvres. Next week, she plans to spend three days in New York touting the property to high-end brokers.

Such palatial properties typically are paid for in cash. But what would a monthly payment be?

With a 20 percent down payment of $7.8 million, the buyer would have to finance $31.2 million.

“I don’t know that I’d be able to find anybody willing to go that high on one unit,” warned Steve Schneider, a mortgage broker who is owner and president of Abacus Lending Group in South Miami.

If a buyer could line up a 15-year fixed rate mortgage at 3.5 percent, the monthly payment for principal and interest would be $223,043.35.

“I’d hate to see the tax bill,” said Schneider.

According to Miami-Dade County Property Appraiser records, the 2012 property tax bill on the Continuum penthouse was $264,896.17. That was based on an assessed value of just $9.5 million, less than half what the Property Appraiser listed as the market value of $19.3 million. The tax break came as a result of the state law that caps increases in assessed values on non-homesteaded property at 10 percent a year.

The condo maintenance fee for Eichner’s unit runs $7,624 a month. “I think that’s low for what you get,” said Puig.





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Judge throws out Taliban terror case against Margate imam




















A federal judge threw out the terrorism charges against a young Muslim cleric from Broward County in a trial where he and his father, an imam in Miami, are accused of providing financial support to the Pakistani Taliban terrorist organization.

Izhar Khan, the imam of a mosque in Margate, will be a free man later Thursday after U.S. District Judge Robert Scola issued a verdict of acquittal for the 26-year-old Muslim scholar.

The prosecution, which rested its case Wednesday in the material support trial, failed to mount sufficient evidence of wrongdoing against the younger imam, imam of Masjid Jamaat Al-Mumineen mosque off Sample Road.





“I do not believe in good conscience that I can allow the case to go forward against Izhar Khan,” Scola ruled Thursday.

The judge also noted that the government nonetheless “proceeded in this case against Izhar Khan in good faith.”

After the judge’s verdict, the defendant hugged defense lawyer Joseph Rosenbaum and members of his Margate mosque shook each other’s hands, quietly celebrating.

Both father and son have been held in the Miami federal detention center since their arrest in 2011 on charges of funneling about $50,000 to the Taliban to target U.S. interests in Pakistan. The Taliban allegedly used the funds for buying arms and other ammunition to carry our terrorist attacks against the Pakistan government, which is a U.S. ally.

Scola already denied Hafiz Khan’s bid for an acquittal verdict halfway through the trial. Scola said Thursday that the government’s case against the 77-year-old imam of the Flagler Mosque is overwhelming.

The government’s case has been built largely on FBI-recorded phone conversations between Hafiz Khan and other members of his family and suspected Taliban sympathizers. His bank records have also been central to the government’s case against him.

This article will be updated as more information is available.





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Danielle Fishel Talks Girl Meets World

Boy Meets World star Danielle Fishel is currently hard at work on the highly anticipated Girl Meets World spin-off series, and recently revealed in a new interview with OK! Magazine her worries at stepping back into the role that made her famous.

"I was nervous about it, actually," she admits about playing Topanga again. "On the first day when we did the rehearsal, I was like, 'Am I going to remember what this is?' And then the minute Ben started talking, and he was Cory, I was instantly Topanga. We were instantly Cory and Topanga together."

Related: 'Boy Meets World' Star Rider Strong Engaged!

She also reveals that they plan to start filming in February!

"We are still in the casting process of trying to figure out and round out our entire cast but the hope and the plan is that we start filming at the beginning of next month," she says. "I don't know what the plan is for when it might air, but fingers crossed! We're still in the early stages of the pilot, but it's going to be here before we know it."

One crucial casting decision that hasn't been finalized is who will get to play her and Cory's daughter.

Related: Rider Strong on 'Girl Meets World'?

"It's been overwhelming a little bit, actually," she says about casting potential daughters. "What's really cool about it is that I was their age when I started Boy Meets World. So I feel like I'm about to embark on a journey with them that's exactly like my own, but now I get to do it from the perspective of being the wise adult, if you will. I'm excited to walk through that process."

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PlayStation 4 and Xbox 720 could cost just $350, expected to launch this fall






Sony (SNE) and Microsoft (MSFT) are both expected to announce their next-generation gaming consoles at the Electronics Entertainment Expo in June, or even a little before then. While we have seen rumored specs for both the PlayStation 4 and the Xbox 720, one thing that has escaped us is a possible price tag. In a research note to investors on Monday, Colin Sebastian of Baird Equity Research suggested that both consoles could retail for between $ 350 and $ 400 in the U.S., Games Industry International reported. The analyst revealed that during the Consumer Electronics Show last week he spent time “with a number of companies involved in video game development and distribution,” who informed him that the next-generation consoles will be “largely built from ‘off the shelf’ high-end PC components, along with hybrid physical/digital distribution models, enhanced voice controls and motion sensing, and broad multi-media capabilities.”


[More from BGR: HTC One SV review]






Sebastian believes that “a PC-based architecture (Intel chips in the case of Xbox) should have a number of advantages over custom-developed silicon.” In his opinion, there will be less of a “learning curve” for software developers compared to completely new technology, and the cost of production and retail price points should be lower than prior console launches.


[More from BGR: Dell’s bold plan to reinvent itself: A USB-sized PC that gives access to Windows, Mac OS, Chrome OS]


Microsoft launched the Xbox 360 in 2005 with a top end price of $ 399, while Sony released the PlayStation 3 a year later for $ 499 and $ 599 respectively.


“It will be easier to build online services around PC chip architecture, including flexible business models (free-to-play, subscriptions) and multi-media (over the top) content offerings,” the analyst added. “For Microsoft, this design will also allow for more integration with Windows 8 and Windows Mobile devices.”


Sebastian expects Sony to launch the PlayStation 4 in October and Microsoft to launch the Xbox 720 in November.


This article was originally published on BGR.com


Gaming News Headlines – Yahoo! News




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Lhota officially enters race for mayor








Joe Lhota tweeted today: "All my followers should follow @joelhota4mayor The campaign has begun!"

@JoeLhota via Twitter

Joe Lhota tweeted today: "All my followers should follow @joelhota4mayor The campaign has begun!"



He’s in.

Former MTA chairman Joe Lhota officially entered the race for mayor this morning after filing documents with the city Board of Elections and Campaign Finance Board.

“It’s official. Joe Lhota is a candidate to be the 109th mayor of New York City,” Lhota tweeted about 10 a.m.

Lhota, a Republican who served as top deputy to former Mayor Rudy Giuliani, also launched his campaign website, Joelhotaformayor.com.

“Since I left my position as chairman and CEO of the MTA just two weeks ago, I’ve been asked over and over, 'Joe, why do you want to be the mayor of New York City?,’” Lhota said.





James Messerschmidt



Joe Lhota





“I understand that a lot of politicians will come up with a slick, scripted answer, but my answer is a lot like me: direct and straightforward. I love this city – I love its diversity and optimism, and the opportunity it represents. But the very things I love about New York City are fragile and must be protected,” Lhota said in a “From Joe” message on his Web site.

“In the upcoming weeks and months I look forward to discussing the issues that matter most to you and our fellow New Yorkers and how together we can continue to see New York City thrive.”










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Jackson Health System asks Kendall trauma center be shut down




















Ratcheting up the stakes in Miami-Dade’s hospital wars, Jackson Health System has filed two petitions with the state demanding a hearing to consider its belief that the license for trauma operations at Kendall Regional Medical Center was granted illegally and should be revoked.

Jackson, which for years has had the county’s only trauma center, has been complaining loudly since the Scott administration decided the state needed more centers. Kendall Regional’s opened in November 2011.

Jackson executives estimate it has been losing about $28 million a year since then because, as one of its trauma doctors quipped, Jackson Memorial’s Ryder Trauma Center tends to get the inner-city gunshot victims who have no insurance while Kendall gets the suburban car accident victims with insurance.





State officials and the HCA hospital chain, which owns Kendall Regional, maintain that Miami-Dade’s size requires more than one trauma center.

Mark McKenney, medical director of the Kendall center, said Wednesday the center has treated 2,500 patients in its first year -- “with mortality rates significantly below the state and national averages.” He said Kendall treats anyone who comes through the door, including plenty of gunshot and stabbing victims who may or may not have insurance.

McKenney said the state decided Miami-Dade needed more trauma centers after a 2005 study showed that only 39 percent of the county’s trauma victims were treated in trauma centers. Those treated in ordinary emergency rooms showed a considerably higher mortality rate, McKenney said.

In Miami-Dade, HCA’s Mercy and Tenet’s Palmetto General have also applied for trauma licenses. Jackson countered by seeking trauma units at its two community hospitals, Jackson North and Jackson South.

In its filings to the Department of Health on Jan. 2, Jackson’s lawyers asked for formal administrative hearings, maintaining North and South were unfairly denied approval in a Dec. 13 Department of Health letter that stated the regulators were rethinking trauma rules on trauma centers after court rulings.

The Jackson petitions, first reported on Tuesday by Jim Saunders of News Service of Florida, noted that an administrative law judge in November 2011 decided that the Department of Health’s trauma certification rule was invalid. After that, the department granted provisional licenses to Kendall Regional and three other hospitals.

On Nov. 30, 2012, the First District Court of Appeal upheld that decision. Seven days later, the department approved the application of Ocala Regional, another HCA facility, and allowed it to open the following day. Gov. Rick Scott is the former chief executive of HCA.

Jackson’s attorneys accused the department of giving these other hospitals a “selective benefit.” They said that a hearing would establish that “the ultimate facts” show that “all provisional licenses issued under the invalid trauma rule need rule should be revoked,” as well as all pending applications, until the department established a legally acceptable rule on trauma centers.

Steve Ecenia, an attorney for HCA, called Jackson’s petition “bizarre” because, instead of seeking approval for its own applications, it was trying to hit back at other hospitals, including Ocala, “hundreds of miles away.” He said the appeals court decision wasn’t final, because there are demands for a rehearing, and the Department of Health’s licensing has been fair.

A Department of Health spokeswoman said Wednesday that the department “had no additional information to provide.” A Jackson spokesman said executives couldn’t comment “because of pending litigation.”

Wayne Brackin, chief operating officer of Baptist Health South Florida, said Baptist is “very worried about this trauma issue,” because in the 1980s, the trauma system fell apart in Miami-Dade with many hospitals losing money on the service, and Baptist doesn’t want the Ryder Trauma Center weakened by competition that could again endanger trauma care in the county.





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Driver in Rickenbacker Causeway cyclist death to be sentenced




















A motorist who killed cyclist Aaron Cohen in a hit-and-run crash on the Rickenbacker Causeway will learn his fate Wednesday.

A Miami-Dade judge on Wednesday afternoon will sentence Michele Traverso, 26, who earlier pleaded guilty for the crash that killed Cohen last February.

The fatality, and a similar hit-and-run wreck in 2010, has renewed calls for increased safety for cyclists and joggers on the popular causeway. Fellow cyclists staged a memorial ride and erected a billboard overlooking Interstate 95 in Cohen’s honor.





Members of Miami’s avid cycling community are expected to be on hand for the 1 p.m. sentencing.

Traverso, driving on a suspended license, struck Cohen and cycling partner Enda Walsh as the two rode in the northbound lanes near the crest of the bridge. Traverso surrendered to police 18 hours after the crash.

Though there were reports of Traverso drinking in Coconut Grove that night, investigators could not prove that his blood alcohol content level was above the legal limit because of the delay in turning himself in.

Traverso pleaded guilty to leaving the scene of an accident involving a death, leaving the scene of an accident with great bodily harm, and driving with a suspended license. He also pleaded guilty to earlier cocaine possession charge.

Miami-Dade Circuit Judge William Thomas could sentence him to as little as 22.8 months in prison, and as much as 35 years behind bars.

In May, Thomas told Cohen’s widow, Patricia Cohen, that he would be unlikely to deliver the maximum sentence, although he could consider “20 or 25 years” after hearing from her and Traverso’s own family at a possible sentencing.

The Cohen family is suing Traverso and his father, who owned the car.





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SAG Awards Flashback: Marion Cotillard 2008

Prior to 2007, Marion Cotillard had a prevalent film career in France for over a decade. Then, she portrayed French music icon Edith Piaf in La Vie en rose. The film got her recognition from critics around the world, and led to incredible avail the ensuing awards season. It was a dream come true for her.

In 2008, the French actress was nominated at every major awards show on the circuit from the Critics' Choice Awards to the Oscars. In that pile of nominations was a SAG Awards nomination for Best Actress.


VIDEO: Marion Cotillard Lifetime Achievement Honor at 37

"When I was a little girl, I used to watch a lot of American movies, so they really inspired me; they really gave me the desire to be an actress," she says to ET's former co-host Mark Steines on the red carpet. "To be here, to have a nomination amongst those amazing actresses, it is something huge for me."

While Cotillard was basking in a moment in her life that she had probably awaited since she was a young girl, there was a dark cloud hanging over that year's ceremony due to the ongoing Writers Guild strike and pending SAG negotiations that were trending towards a strike.


RELATED: Five Things You Don't Know About Marion Cotillard

That cloud wouldn't rain on Cotillard's parade, though.

"It's the first time for me that I live all this, so I'm enjoying every single minute of it," she says. "I'm not disappointed by how it would have been [without it]."

After winning a Golden Globe a few weeks prior, that twinkle in her eye also suggests that she may have had a premonition that she would be leaving the show with some hardware that night; however, she surprisingly did not.


VIDEO: SAGs Flashback '03: Day-Lewis Meets His Celeb Fan

Nevertheless, she would go on to win an Academy Award shortly after. More importantly, she went on every filmmaker's radar, and soon landed a role in a major American film, Public Enemies.

Five years later, Cotillard is up for her fourth SAG nomination, this time for the French film Rust and Bone. Now that she's come full-circle, perhaps she'll leave this year's show with that heavy trophy in her hand.

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Leaked BlackBerry 10 sales manual reveals new images and details







The buzz continues to mount leading up to the January 30th unveiling of Research In Motions’s (RIMM) next-generation BlackBerry 10 platform, but we’re not sure how much is left to learn. Many BlackBerry 10 features have already been announced, we’ve seen RIM’s first two next-generation handsets — the BlackBerry Z10 and the BlackBerry X10 — a number times, and now Rogers’ internal sales manual for BlackBerry 10 devices has leaked thanks to CrackBerry. The manual is packed full of images and it also confirms some specs reported a few months ago, and the full document is embedded at the source link below. RIM’s next-generation operating system and handsets will be unveiled during a press conference on January 30th, and BGR will be on hand reporting live.


[More from BGR: Dell’s bold plan to reinvent itself: A USB-sized PC that gives access to Windows, Mac OS, Chrome OS]






This article was originally published on BGR.com


Gadgets News Headlines – Yahoo! News





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Lhota, Quinn front-runners to win party nods for mayor: poll








Republican Joe Lhota and Democratic Council Speaker Christine Quinn are the front-runners to win their party’s respective nominations for mayor, according to a new poll released today.

Lhota, the former MTA chairman and top deputy to former Mayor Rudy Giuliani, grabs 23 percent of the GOP primary vote, the Quinnipiac University survey found. Supermarket mogul John Catsimatidis receives 9 percent, followed by Tom Allon with 5 percent, ex-Bronx Borough President Adolfo Carrion with 3 percent and Doe Fund founder George McDonald with 2 percent.

But the race is still wide open because of a majority of GOP voters are still undecided or don’t know the candidates.







RUNNING FOR MAYOR: Republican Joe Lhota, right, and Democratic Council Speaker Christine Quinn, left.





On the Democratic side, Quinn holds a comfortable with 35 percent of the vote. Public Advocate Bill deBlasio garners 11 percent, former city Comptroller Bill Thompson gets 10 percent and current city Comptroller John Liu, 9 percent.

But the poll shows that Lhota – or any other Republican – faces an uphill climb in heavily Democratic New York City, despite nearly 20 years of non-Democrats Giuliani and Mike Bloomberg running City Hall.

All the Democratic candidates trounce Lhota in head-to-head matchups by better than three-to-one.










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