This is a photo of the former Miami headquarters of President George W. Bush re-election campaign. The building had been the showroom of local sprawl builder, Century Homebuilders on Lejeune Road. In case it is not clear enough: the building is empty. The signage is falling off the roadside display. The property is for sale.
After the election, the building returned to a sales showroom for platted subdivisions in the western sections of Miami's most populous county. But times are tough. If Century is selling homes, it is not from this location adjacent to Ocean Bank and the headquarters of the Latin Builders Association.
Sergio Pino is the founder of Century Homebuilders and a raft of businesses bearing the brand, Century. In 2004, at the height of the housing boom --an asset bubble spurred by the close ties and mutual interests of Governor Jeb Bush and Florida builders-- the magazine Hispanic Trends wrote effusively:
"By the 1980s, Pino was making enough money to start investing in real estate. By the 1990s, he was so profitable in the real estate market that he and some friends raised $50 million to start a private investment real estate group in 1996 called Century Partners Group. It was during his 1989–1992 tenure as president of the Latin Builders Association that he met Florida Gov. Jeb Bush and other prominent local politicians and became active in politics.
“There isn’t a politician in the area that doesn’t know Sergio. He’s a major player in Miami,” says Rodney Barreto, owner of Barreto, Cunningham, May, Dudley and Moloy, a government consulting firm in Florida.
In reality, Pino’s influence extends far beyond the boundaries of Miami-Dade County. A personal friend of the Bush family, an incoming call on Pino’s cell phone could just as easily be from the Florida governor as from his brother, President George W. Bush."
2 comments:
What about the US Century Bank (another Sergio Pino business), talk about over-entended and over-expanding while heading into a recession. Even if grandma is stuffing money in that anemic interest rate return bank make sure she keeps the amounts under the FDIC insured limits.
At least Ocean Bank has money from the booming Chavez oil economy to bolster its huge and growing Miami real estate losses.
U.S. Century Bank is selling a lot on SW 112 Ave. and SW 248 St. (next to CVS), a site where the bank advertised opening a new branch. I'll be terrified to open an account at that bank knowing the names of their partners and members of their board of directors -Jose Cancela among others.
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