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| Jeff Soffer |
Here is their letter to the editor:
On Oct. 20, Turnberry Associates and its partners decided to withdraw its application to move Miami-Dade County’s western Urban Development Boundary (UDB). In consultation with the commissioner who represents the subject-area district, Turnberry took action to address Miami-Dade residents’ concerns about the Northwest Wellfield Protection Area and the preservation of the county’s primary reservoir of drinking water.
Founded in Miami-Dade County more than 50 years ago by our father, Don Soffer, Turnberry is deeply committed to the sustainable development of our community. Over the years, Turnberry projects have improved our community’s standard of living by revolutionizing the living, working and leisure habits of its residents and visitors. In addition to these important social benefits, Turnberry projects have made a significant impact on the county and its residents through job creation and recurring economic contributions, including taxes, fees, permits and licenses. At the same time, Miami-Dade County has become a vibrant, prestigious, world-renowned destination with unlimited potential.
Turnberry’s success is directly intertwined with the well-being of this community. Miami-Dade County has long been home to our company’s headquarters, to three generations of the Soffer family and to thousands of our employees. The success of our projects also depends on being able to provide the most basic and valuable services, such as drinkable water. Therefore, the preservation of our most vital natural resources is one of Turnberry’s top priorities for every project.
Our initial plan contemplated the development of a family entertainment, recreation and retail center to satisfy the needs of Northwest Miami-Dade County’s rapidly growing population and tourists. Before submitting a plan to the county commissioners, we hired environmental engineers and planners (OKAY THIS IS ME: WHO WOULD THAT BE EXACTLY? Your lobbyists were Alexander Heckler, Jeffrey Bercow, Michael Marrero, Michael Radell, Edward Swakon, Cathy Sweetapple, Oscar Braynon II. Swakon is a paid for hire environmentalists the rest are not even close to being environmentalists, they are the usual suspects when you want to move the UDB line. How about you hire real environmentalists.) to ensure that the project would not endanger the aquifer in the Northwest Wellfield Protection Area.
While Turnberry placed a considerable focus on environmentally sensitive development, we understand that, in this case, the community clearly desired a new design for the project that addresses the concerns of county residents and their leaders. Therefore, we will go back to the drawing board to work on a plan that caters to the growing surrounding population of Northwest Miami-Dade County while also addressing our community’s concerns. (ME AGAIN: LOOKS LIKE TROUBLE BREWING IN THIS PARAGRAPH - big trouble.)
Jeffrey and Jackie Soffer,
I don't think the Soffers really get it. If I were an environmentalist I would go there and educate brother and sister. They seem like nice people who do not want ruin Black Friday for their Aventura Mall, so they are not stupid. And Jeffrey has VERY good Karma...so far...blessed with movie star good looks, surviving a deadly helicopter crash last year, weaseling out of a bankruptcy without a lot of damage in Vegas and marrying super model Elle McPherson. Let's help Jeffrey keep his karma that way!
And no we don't want a Soccer Field out there.
12 comments:
Real estate is in a bubble right now. No way they were going to build that at the peak. He will come back when the city and county have more budget problems. They will sell the new project as needed growth due to declining property values and strained budgets.
I think that this is pretty biased for you to write. Maybe they realized that the project was not good for the environment. The Soffers may not be the evil villains that you think that they are. Just because someone is rich does not mean that they are bad.
When I read that this AM it still seems like they're looking outside the UDB no matter what. It doesn't sound like they're looking for another site because that's not what that carefully crafted letter said. They appear to still want to move the UDB for whatever reason, in which they're getting really bad advise because they certainly don't need to do that.
Person who wrote the same comment three times... Read the post again. You are a putz with your interpretation of what I wrote. They didn't hire any environmentalist as they said and no development is good in the well field protection zone.
Genius said they seem like nice people. The only good thing they could do is not build on that property. So why are they talking about a new plan if the care so much.
The way I read the reader was that the Soffer's are determined to build on that site outside the UDB and that they just trying to figure out what concept will get them the votes (7 of 13) they need. At no point did the Soffer's state they would look for another site inside the UDB. Their father made a fortune building on swamp land and now his two heirs want to build in the Everglades.
I just hope their new "environmentalist" isn't Audobon who continually sells us out to Big Sugar or other groups like the Everglades Foundations who thinks Lynda Bell really supports their efforts. That's another double edged sword in that letter. Remember when their was a legal battle with the port deepening and one of our local groups dropped their actions with a financial settlement? It happens too often. Their chump change to an under funded environmental group should be cause for alarm. Needless to say, we must continue to hold the line. There is plenty of available land in that area to expand inside the UDB. They don't have to go outside just because it's cheap. No matter what they do in that area, they need a super majority and I guess they're hoping by 2016 things will change for the better in their favor. I personally hope not. I would have preferred a letter that said we are looking at another site, not working with environmentalists because all one has to do is read recent posts by Alan/Gimlete regarding the divide among groups, which is working in developers favor right now. They think they reached their end goal but I have faith in the community at large on their own to protest any movement of the UDB for no reason other then they can pay Bercow and team to fudge figures supporting it.
thanks
At no point did the Soffer heirs pledge to sell the site. At no point did they imply they would look for another site inside the UDB. If the Soffer's really wanted to be good citizens they would donate the site to a Nature Preserve so it could be returned to the Everglades. The Soffer's would gain a nice tax deduction they could use to offset their massive income from Aventura Mall.
thanks for information
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