The Miami Herald from Miami, Florida · 43

x w rr r r r 9 w r r r 9-999 '9 9 9 r r 9 r ' 9 w w r 9 9 9 f r SECTION x down 881301 -1645 DOW 3t IISKSfllAlS c FRIDAY JUNE 19 1998 A She Herald In Florida Trade through Florida increases 10 percent Total trade through Florida grew at a brisk 102 percent in the first quarter of the year reaching a total of $ 1 6 billion in imports and exports according to statistics released this week Brazil remained the state’s leading trade partner The largest import was vehicles primarily from Asia and the largest export was computers and computer parts that are shipped through Florida The 102 percent increase for the first quarter of 1 998 over the same quarter in 1 997 was slightly lower than growth during the same quarter in 1997 when trade increased 1 15 percent The US Commerce Department trade statistics were reported by Enterprise Florida the state’s public-private economic development agency CHS shares drop 17 percent Shares in CHS Electronics dropped $306'4 or 1 74 percent to a 52-week low of$1456‘4 on Thursday The Miami-Dade distributor of personal computers and peripherals is locked in a battle with short sellers who borrow shares and sell them in the expectation a stock will fall before the investor must repay the loan The short sellers say CHS has bolstered recent earnings with aggressive accounting moves CHS says its business is sound As of May more than 1 0 3 million of CHS’ 502 million shares of stock outstanding had been sold short Earnings more than double for Rexall Rexall Sundown of Boca Raton said Wednesday its net earnings for its third quarter jftiore than doubled The maker of vitamins and nutritional supplements said sales also doubled The company said sales to retailers rose 1 56 percent compared with the same quarter last year while sales through its Rexall Showcase International division rose 45 percent MasTec acquires Puerto Rican firm MasTec a Miami company that designs and installs telephone and cable -py systems continued its acquisition spree with the purchase Thursday of Artcom Services of San Juan Puerto Rico Artcom provides telecommunications design construction maintenance and installation throughout the island principally to the Puerto Rico Telephone Co The company did not disclose terms of the deal but MasTec Chairman and Chief Executive Jorge Mas said the acquisition fit with the company’s strategy “to be strategically located throughout the world” Boca Research finalizes acquisition Boca Research said it completed its acquisition of the assets of Global Village Communications’ computer modem business Boca Research a Boca Raton-based modem company paid $ 1 0 million in cash and notes and assumed certain liabilities of Global Village Global Village had revenues of $68 million in 1 997 most of which came from the modem business - From Herald Staff and Wire Reports Trade deficit jumps to Wider gap reflects financial New York Times Service WASHINGTON — The Commerce Department released trade statistics Thursday showing that the US economy was taking a bigger knock from Asia’s financial crisis than had been expected The department reported that the trade deficit for April expanded to a new monthly high of $145 billion well above the $133 billion projected by many economists and up sharply from $132 billion in March The rise was partly accounted for by technical changes in the way the government measures aircraft exports and reflected the swollen value of the dollar in relation to Asian currencies But the Tower going up on parcel near Omni By GEOFFREY TOMB Herald Staff Writer After nearly 15 years of weedy emptiness construction is about to begin on the first of three 38-story towers to be built on the vacant site of the Miramar Hotel a dowager of the Roaring ’20s that once stood at Northeast 17th Street and Bayshore Drive on Bis-cayne Bay And as the $120 million complex of buildings goes up so does the future of an entire neighborhood the Omni The northern gateway to downtown Miami the area has spent most of the 20th Century always on the verge a slipperless Cinderella watching from afar as modern Miami grew south along Brickell Avenue Now the prospect of a sprawling Performing Arts Center nearby has prompted interest from several developers who are exploring several projects in the area But the one being called Miramar Center is perhaps the most definitive sign that the area is on the verge of turning around “After 1 3 years it’s coming very close to the point where I can say I told you so” said Philip Yaffa spokesman for the project and senior vice president of developer Tibor Hollo’s FEC Realty It was Hollo who razed the old hotel in the early 1980s in anticipation of construction It has been on hold until now waiting as Hollo overbuilt and downward cycles hit the neighborhood while stores such as Sears and Jefferson’s closed and the troubled Omni shopping mall lost tenant after tenant Hollo built the area’s 35-story Plaza Venetia the 31-story Marriott and the Grand a massive 42-story condo and hotel that was at one time the biggest residential building in the Southeast Plans for the Miramar are less grand PLEASE SEE OMNI 6C Design District developer gets long-awaited reward Three years after purchasing its first building in the Miami Design District South Beach-based Dacra Development is starting to see the payoff The Waterworks tile and plumbing showroom — run by longtime Design District maven Sunny McLean — is doing well after only a month of operation Knoll Studio heralds its move from the Gables to the Design District with its annual 55 percent-off sale June 26-27 Design Diva Leah Kleman has closed her Lincoln Road furniture and decorative wares shop and plans to open in about 30 days in a four-story atriurh measuring 30000 square figures showed that the deepening economic slump through much of Asia was drying up demand for many types of goods costing US exporters orders in what had been one of their fastest-growing markets Total exports in April fell by 25 percent to $771 billion the lowest level in 14 months Imports decreased eight-tenths of 1 percent to $916 billion The drop in exports suggested that economic growth was slowing from a robust pace earlier in the year A slowdown would reduce VACANT LOT NO MORE: Construction on the first tower begins next week It will be 38 stories high cost about $50 million and have 471 units of rental apartments SITES OFiPROiECTS Construction begins next week on the first of three towers that will form the Miramar Center complex At the same time the New World School of the Arts is planning to relocate next door to the proposed Performing Arts Center on a lot at Northeast 13th Street and Second Avenue BZ061998 The Herald feet (Kleman is being photographed later this month by super-shooter Bruce Weber for the cover of Ocean Drive magazine) Ground-floor space leases for $ 1 5 per square foot Best-kept secret in the District: Neo Design featured in Metropolitan Home and local distributor for Hugues Chevalier whose $ 10000 leather sofas are favored by French celebs such as Gerard Depardieu and Catherine Deneuve Urban planners Elizabeth Plat-er-Zyberk and Andreas Duany have master-planned the area with shopping dining and apartments centered around design showrooms open to the public Dacra has spent about $20 million acquiring and rehabbing the 400000 square feet it owns in the district — about one-third of the space there And the company plan j to buy more says prez Craig Robins the risks of an increase in inflation which many analysts think is the main threat to sustained economic health But it would also cut into job creation and further bite into corporate profits a prospect that is already souring the partylike atmosphere on Wall Street The United States’ largest exporter Boeing Co of Seattle said Thursday that it expected a deepening recession in Asia to cost it orders for 90 aircraft over the next five years Although the company said no Asian airlines New World School plans to move near arts center By BARBARA De LOLLIS Herald Business Writer In a move expected to broaden the Performing Arts Center’s community appeal spur more interest in the Omni district and expand Dade’s top arts-oriented high school Dade Public Schools are planning to move the New World School of the Arts to next door to the proposed arts complex School officials say the move would accomplish the New World School’s goal of moving out its cramped quarters in downtown Miami into a bigger home allow the new school to be built around an expanded academic program and make use — night and day — of land the school system owns near its headquarters Old digs new life The Dupont Plaza is getting a new owner Sources say a deal has been signed for the purchase of the 705000-square-foot hotel office and apartment complex at the mouth of the Miami River New owners have 60 days to inspect the hotel if all proceeds according to plan the deal should close in mid-September Expect $25 million in renovations and upgrading The mid-priccd hotel to carry a national name will be run by current management Making a difference Film and TV producers who want to shoot in Miami-Dade County have long complained about the cumbersome permitting process that requires them to pull separate permissions for a half-dozen municipalities One-stop permitting is now a step closer thanks to the efforts of banker Damian Pado record $145B crisis in Asia had yet canceled any orders Boeing has already announced plans to slow production of its flagship 747 jumbo jet Farmers manufacturers of industrial materials and automakers are also affected particularly hard by the export crunch the Commerce Department said Texas Instruments the technology company said Thursday that it would cut 3500 jobs worldwide — 8 percent of its work force — because of weak demand for semiconductors from Asia and deep price cuts by Asian competitors WEST TOWER Dade Schools had originally planned to build an 800-car parking garage on the land — a 250000-square-foot lot at Northeast 13th Street and Second Avenue — with the intent of providing parking for employees by day and for arts patrons by night But the New World School had been shopping for a new site in downtown Miami including considering the Omni mall for more than a year and this seemed to make a perfect fit said Paul J Phillips the system’s chief facilities manager The new plan calls for enlarging the garage and topping it off with the New World School in a $35 mii- PLEASE SEE SCHOOL 6C Working with the City of Miami Beach Miami-Dade County and One Community One Goal Pardo sent out 22 letters to area banks asking them to contribute $ 1 000 each The goal: $ 10000 to buy software that links permitting systems in various municipalities The letters went out two weeks ago Five banks already have committed: Gibraltar (where Pardo is a vice president) Colonial Bank Citibank First Union and Mellon United National At the same time county film office director Jeff Peel is working with a task of representatives from different cities to figure out how the process might work Sticker shock The 50-plus Knight Ridder execs moving to northern California are facing housing sticker shock In the upscale community of Saratoga — just south of San Jose near tjie Santa Cruz moun struggling to survive the downturns m their home markets “The trade situation has to have a real impact and it points to a substantial slowdown in the US” said Jim Glassman an economist at Chase Securities in New York “This is a serious shock we’re having to absorb” Glassman said he expects growth to slow to 15 percent in the second quarter from 48 percent in the first quarter and to be roughly flat in the second half of the year before rebounding in 1999 ' Other analysts are less pessimistic saying the economy is likely td continue growing albeit at a more moderate pace Disney to buy stake in Infoseek New York T imes Service Embracing a trend that is rapidly reshaping the Internet Walt Disney Co let it be known Thursday that the Tomorrowland of cyberspace will be entered through a giant consumer gateway cobbled with the gadgets of interactive technologies and the proven lure of traditional media — news sports entertainment and information Following a trail blazed by America Online and Yahoo! media and technology giants alike are rushing to construct these gateways or “portals” through which people venture into cyberspace The reason is simple economics: if they can control traffic they can move more people past the billboards that line the information superhighway On Thursday Disney announced a complex deal valued at about $900 million in which it will buy 43 percent of Infoseek' a service that helps guide users to what they want on the World Wide Web The announcement capped two weeks of fevered developments across media and technology industries that were too small to shake the financial markets Last week General Electric’s NBC unit struck a deal to take control of Snap an upstart online directory service On Monday it was reported that AT&T had been negotiating to acquire America Online And on Tuesday Microsoft Corp opened a public test of its new portal known as Start which is expected to be in full operation by the end of the vear While there are tens of thousands of commercial Web sites most of the attention is now focused on the handful that help users find the information services or entertainment what they are looking for Since many people use these sites to start their treks through cyberspace they are far and away the most popular places on the Internet tains — $ 1 million will buy 2500 -to 3000 square feet on a quarter- ' acre with mountain or valley -views says local real estate agent A1 Ornellas of Rooney & Associ- ates That’s two to three times the price of an equivalent South Flor- ida home In Pinecrest for ’ instance $ I million buys a house measuring 5500 to 6500 square ' feet says Ron Shuffield of Esslin- -ger Wooten Maxwell — on an acre lot Prices are higher in the ’ ' Gables Grove and Beach but still about half the cost of Silicon Valley The KR exit won’t make much of an impact on the South Florida market When KR announced its “ move about 1 400 homes priced j -above $500000 already were on the market in Dade where most of the execs now live Single family home sales are up about 1 6 per- cent th is year over last in both Dade and Broward counties report loqtl Realtor associations - — -- i