For months, one of my real estate listings has been under contract to Miami-Dade Fire Rescue, pending Village and County approvals. The home is located at 18198 Old Cutler Road, which is basically on the Palmetto Bay and Cutler Bay border.
The location of a station house there will lower response times to the surrounding areas, making everyone safer and more likely to survive an emergency.
Following several public information meetings for residents around the location and shortly after the Village of Palmetto Bay approved the zoning, Miami-Dade Fire Rescue came for a site visit to carefully analyze how to transition the single-family home over the next few years into what is likely going to be a new fire rescue station there.
Miami-Dade Fire Rescue Assistant Director Scott Mendelsberg explains, “We’ve had a response issue here for quite some time and this will provide supplemental coverage in the future. There has been explosive growth in the area and more development is projected in the near future that we must account for.”
Whenever entering a new neighborhood, Miami-Dade Fire Rescue tries to be the best neighbor possible, knowing that residents sometimes have mixed feelings. “Ideally, we might end up in the Palmetto Bay Village Center across the street from a residential area, but if we end up building here we will put up a bunch of visual buffers, in the way of walls and landscaping, that will make sure we are not impacting the surrounding neighbors,” added Mendelsberg.
It will be 2019 before anything is actively operating on or near this site and Miami-Dade Fire Rescue assures me they’re open to any and all comments about how to best fit in.
The 2017 Palmetto Bay Comedy Festival with Dana Eagle
Days after turning in your taxes, come on out April 21st for an evening of laughter. Like last year, Comic Cure <comiccure.com> is bringing some big name local and national talent to Palmetto Bay’s Thalatta Estate for two great shows.
The headliner is Dana Eagle who was a stand-out on NBC’s Last Comic Standing where she was a semi-finalist and featured in episodes highlighting the Top 100, Top 50 and Top 25 Jokes of the Season. Her other appearances include, The Late, Late Show, Comedy Central, and Comics Unleashed, where she became a contributing writer. Dana has worked with some of her comedy heroes such as Bill Maher, Robin Williams, and Maria Bamford, and has traveled overseas to perform for the American troops. Dana Eagle will be preceded by some great (yet to be announced) local talent as well.
Even though last year’s show featured one of our great South Florida monsoons, it was a rousing success. This year’s will be even better (and drier!). “I was thrilled to be able to laugh this much without having to leave my hometown,” remarked Joyce Langley after last year’s show. And Palmetto Bay Parks Director Fanny Carmona added, “Last year’s festival was a night of non-stop laughter with more than 200 residents leaving the event asking when the next one would be. This is exactly the entertainment that we are looking to provide our community.”
One of the beneficiaries of this year’s festival will be Neat Stuff neatstuffhelpskids.org, a charity that provides clothing along with feelings of self-pride and dignity to young victims of crime, poverty and homelessness. Since 1995, they have helped tens of thousands of kids by allowing them to come to the Neat Stuff storefront and shop like an ordinary store, except for the fact that there are no prices to be paid for the items selected. Comic Cure will also be donating a portion of the proceeds to the Village of Palmetto Bay’s Parks and Recreation Department.
This is an age 18+ evening of shows on Friday, April 21, 2017 with shows at 7 & 9:30 p.m. Come out to Thalatta Estate – 17301 Old Cutler Road, Palmetto Bay, FL 33157. While there is parking, it is available to those that have purchased a parking pass ($10) in advance. Attendees are encouraged to carpool or use a rideshare service such as Uber or Lyft. Tickets are $25 in advance and $35 at the door. Besides a great evening of fun and laughter, you’re supporting a great charity as well.
You can bring food and drink to the show, but Palmetto Bay-based Heifers and Hogs BBQ will also be selling items.
I’ve arranged for SPECIALLY DISCOUNTED tickets using promo code MIAMIHAL at PalmettoBayComedyFest.com.
Real Estate Update
The average number of days to sell a house in Pinecrest has increased to 132 in March. As of this writing, there were 249 homes for sale and 19 homes closed in the prior 30 days. This indicates more than 13 months of supply, not encouraging if you are a Seller. It’s tougher to get sold and we are in a buyer’s market. Let me assist you with local expertise, realistic expectations and guidance to get to wherever is ‘next’ for you. It’s easy to get started at miamihal.com/myvalue.
Hal Feldman (MiamiHal) is a Realtor with RE/MAX Advance Realty. You can contact him with your story ideas or real estate questions at www.MiamiHal.com, Hal@MiamiHal.com or www.facebook.com/MiamiHal.
