Spotlight 240821 Election Results; Grand Housing

In the Spotlight,

Election Results Force D7 Runoff
More Housing Planned for Grand Avenue
Opinion of South Bayshore Drive Project

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District 7 Race Headed to a Runoff. Again.

Miami-Dade Commissioner Raquel Regalado and challenger Cindy Lerner both fell short of the 50% they needed to seal a victory on Tuesday.

by Don Finefrock

Miami-Dade County Commissioner Raquel Regalado and
challenger Cindy Lerner are headed into a November runoff election again this year after neither candidate topped 50% on Tuesday for the District 7 commission seat.

Lerner, the former mayor of Pinecrest, ran against Regalado in 2020, only to lose narrowly in a runoff election. The spoiler this time: Richard Praschnik, a public schools police officer who captured 9% of the vote total on Tuesday.

More Housing Coming to Grand Avenue

The developers of the Bimini Block project in West Grove plan to build 27 market-rate rental apartments on the former site of Bain-Range Funeral Services.

by Don Finefrock

The five-story Elemi Phase 2 project on Grand Avenue will include 27 market-rate rental apartments and 3,500 square feet of street-level retail space. (Photo courtesy of Silver Bluff Development).

The developers behind the massive Bimini Block project on Grand Avenue are preparing to build another mixed-use development on the long-neglected corridor in the West Grove, on the site where Bain-Range Funeral Services once stood.

Opinion: Miami at an Inflection Point

What do we want South Bayshore Drive to be: a safer street for bicyclists, pedestrians and runners, or a faster street for cars?

by Mary Munroe Seabrook

The Friends of the Commodore Trail advocate prioritizing safety through separated pedestrians and cyclists pathways wherever possible. (Image provided by FCT.)

Mary Munroe Seabrook is the co-founder of Friends of the Commodore Trail.

It’s been obvious for at least two decades that South Bayshore Drive needs to be fixed. Flooding is a major problem. So are traffic bottlenecks. Worse, the South Bayshore corridor is a magnet for bicyclists, runners, and walkers; and for all of them, it’s one of Miami’s most dangerous roadways.