SPOTLIGHT
A lot of musicians take up “residency” at a venue — think Billy Joel at Madison Square Garden or U2 at the Sphere in Las Vegas. Miami’s international recording sensation Pitbull has gone a step further, putting his name on a stadium.
For at least the next five years, the Florida International University Golden Panthers will play at South Dade Kia Field at Pitbull Stadium. Pitbull, the musician and entrepreneur Armando Christian Pérez, will pay $1.2 million per year for the naming rights. As the “Official Entrepreneur of FIU Athletics,” he’ll create an anthem for FIU sporting events and promote the university through social media posts to his 24 million X followers and 11 million Instagram followers.
In exchange, Pitbull can use the 20,000-seat stadium 10 times a year for concerts and other events, with discounted tickets available to FIU students. His vodka brand, Voli 305, will be served in the stadium.
He retains the option of extending the deal an additional five years. FIU says it’s the “world’s first-ever athletics stadium with an artist possessing the naming rights.”
Pitbull, 43, is the son of Cuban immigrants born in Miami. He uses his platform to advance education, founding a tuition-free charter school in Miami that has expanded to 14 states. His foundation, SELF 1st, aims to improve educational access for minority and underserved communities.
He calls the FIU deal “a testament to what we can achieve when we work hard.”
EDUCATION
- Miami Dade College received $2.8 million from the National Science Foundation’s Advanced Technological Education program to create a National Applied Artificial Intelligence Consortium to train workers in AI. The consortium also includes Houston Community College in Texas and the Maricopa County Community College District in Arizona.
ENVIRONMENT
- Monroe County officials are planting 45 concrete power poles inside 10 Mile Reef in Gulf waters northeast of Key West in hopes they can create patch reefs, fostering a marine life habitat in an otherwise barren zone. It’s the first new artificial reef effort for the Florida Keys in 15 years. The state provided $15 million in the past two years to start the program.
- Miami-Dade County’s plans to build the country’s biggest waste-to-energy plant are facing opposition from communities worried about the smell and health hazards. The $1.5-billion project would burn up to 4,000 tons of trash per day. One site, the closed Opa-locka West Airport, is opposed by leaders in nearby Miramar and by the NAACP Florida State Conference, which says it will hurt Black and other minority communities.
- Congress will be asked to fund nearly two-thirds of a $2.68-billion program aimed at easing storm-related flooding in Miami-Dade County now that the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has signed a feasibility study. The Miami-Dade Back Bay Coastal Storm Risk Management Feasibility Study includes “nature-based solutions” along with voluntary elevations for vulnerable homes and floodproofing for non-residential buildings and critical infrastructure.
COURTS
- Two former Monroe County officials face criminal charges in unrelated cases. Former County Administrator Roman Gastesi faces a third-degree felony of “knowingly and intentionally … preventing the communication” about a felony affecting the county in April 2022. Andy Newman, whose company provides public relations for the county’s Tourist Development Council, faces a combined 28 misdemeanor counts of perjury and false official statements stemming from an audit that uncovered reimbursements Newman’s company sought for work done by a company that does not exist.
DEVELOPMENT
- Doral will be the site of a 552-unit mixed-use community from MG Developer. Doral Parc: Midtown phases IV, V and VI will have three 10-story buildings and 22,740 square feet of retail. Groundbreaking is set for mid-2025.
- A 15-story, 561-unit apartment complex could be coming to four vacant acres off Biscayne Boulevard just south of North Miami. The Biscayne Shores Development Group says it would set aside 84 units for workforce housing. The group is affiliated with the Ben-Josef Holdings.
BANKING
- Miami-based Banesco USA recently surpassed $4 billion in assets, 18 months after hitting $3 billion. The independent, state-chartered bank, with seven locations in South Florida and Puerto Rico, announced $19.0 million in net income for the first half of 2024.
- City National Bank has started BciCapital to provide loans, capital and advisory services to clients nationally. The Miami-based bank has $26 billion in assets, making it one the country’s 75 largest banks. BciCapital is led by Managing Director Raul Llanes.
PHILANTHROPY
- Two elementary schools received $10,000 from the Miami Beach Chamber of Commerce Education Foundation to support community projects. North Beach Elementary will use the money to help plant Dade County pines on its campus and in its neighborhood and give each student a pine tree to plant on their own. Fienberg Fisher K-8 is sprucing up an area park with plants that attract butterflies and hummingbirds.
- The Grant Cardone Foundation completed its seventh 10X Pitch Off competition, aiming to improve financial literacy among poor and at-risk teens, including those who lack a father figure in their lives. Participants spent at least six weeks preparing and learning about business before the pitch competition. Since its 2022 inception, 66 kids have made pitches in the 10X Pitch Off, with 24 awards issued totaling $128,000.