The South Beach Jazz Festival is Back for Another Year
The South Beach Jazz Festival is back for another year and we can’t be more excited! Scheduled for this weekend you can find some of the top jazz performers at venues throughout Miami Beach.
The show is set for January 7-9, 2022, and was designed to showcase the musical abilities of people with disabilities. According to the new President of Power Access, the non-profit organization that hosts the festival, “It is in our mission to provide opportunities for musicians with disabilities and so at least one musician in each group does have a disability,” states R. David New.
New himself became blind, deaf, and partially paralyzed due to a rare disease but later regained his ability to hear and walk. With his personal experiences, this festival is very close to him and he is happy to be able to continue the tradition for 2022.
The pre-festival show will take place at the Faena Theater on Thursday, Jan. 6th. The performers will include pianist Gonzalo Rubalcaba and singer Aymee Nuviola. Their recent 2020 album was nominated for a Grammy Award in the “Best Latin Jazz” category. The album is a tribute to their mothers as well as their home, Havana.
The opening act on Friday, January 7th is Grammy Award-winning Blind Boys of Alabama. Also performing is New Orleans saxophonist Donald Harrison and drummer Art Blakey’s famed Jazz Messengers. Also in attendance will be the University of Miami Jazz Quintet with Kaleen Barton.
The opening pre-festival and the Friday shows will be a ticketed event while the other shows are free.
As for COVID protocols, all performances are expected to be outside except the pre-festival show. According to R. David New, “We are taking every precaution possible to make our event safe and enjoyable for the entire community.” Social distancing and masks will be encouraged. To see a full list of performers as well as their locations, click here.
Wynwood’s First Mixed-Use Project with Over 1M Square Feet
L&L Holding Co. and Carpe Real Estate Partners are partnering for one of the largest mixed-use projects to rise in Wynwood. Working with the City of Miami Planning Department, the approval process is officially in the final stages.
Dubbed the name, The Wynwood Plaza, formerly 29N, will be sited on 95 NW 29th Street in the heart of Wynwood. The plan was originally brought in from Miami’s Urban Development Review Board in October where it was recommended for denial. The development team didn’t take no for an answer and continued to work on the board’s concerns over the project.
The concerns of the project included massing along 30th Street and the cross-block passage car access along NW 29th Street. The one-way vehicle passage was refined with a small footprint. One of the mitigations included the midblock access point would be limited to visitor cars managed by the valet.
The project, designed by Gensler, would feature two towers, one 12 and one 8 stories with 509 apartments. There would also be 266,000 square feet of offices, 32,000 square feet of commercial/retail spaces, 688 parking spaces, and 954 bike spaces.
The design itself will incorporate indoor and outdoor spaces that will benefit not only the residents but also the surrounding neighborhood. This design will include 25,000 square feet of a public plaza on the ground floor.
The groundbreaking for the project is scheduled for early this year with an anticipated completion date in 2024.
Another Former Miami Heat Player Sells Miami Mansion
We have been seeing a lot of Miami Heat basketball players, as well as former players, sell their Miami homes. Now we can add former center, Meyers Leonard to the list with his recent sale of a Bay Point waterfront home for $10.89 million.
Leonard and his wife, Elle purchase the home in February of this year for $7.78 million. The property is located at 741 Buttonwood Lane features 6,819 square feet of living space sited on 0.43 acres on an interior lot in a canal with direct access to Biscayne Bay.
The modern waterfront with vine-covered loggias surrounding the exterior showcases 7 bedrooms with 8.5 bathrooms. The estate was built in 1996 and was renovated in 2018 to feature high ceilings, Italian cabinetry by Italkraft, oak hardwood floor throughout, and stainless steel appliances. Outdoors, you will find a 2 car garage, entertainment area with custom seating, and a heated pool/spa. The new owners will also enjoy the aluminum deck with a boat lift.
Eduardo Marquez and his wife Gabriela are listed as the buyers for this property. Marquez is the President of Lucky Player Vodka (located in Miami). The mortgage for the buyers was provided by Citibank for $6 million.
Meyers Leonard, originally from Virginia, played high school basketball for 2 years then was drafted into the NBA in 2012. He was a first-round draft pick but 11th overall. He was traded from the Portland Trail Blazers to the Miami Heat in 2020 where he assisted the Heat to reach the NBA Finals for that year. In 2021, he re-signed another contract with Miami but ended up injuring his shoulder in January 2021.
In a recent Instagram post, Leonard stated on his future of the NBA, “I’m simply not healthy enough to play.” He also stated that he is looking forward to 2022 and what is in store for his career and family.
