The mega mall proposed for the Northwest corner of Miami-Dade, known as the American Dream Miami complex, is gaining speed 
now that the School Board has released its lease hold on part of the property and the county commission approved to be a purchase pass-through for 82 acres of state land.
But is it really a casino disguised as a mall?
The possibility that this complex would become a casino resort rather than a retail mall, which are failing all over the country, was brought to Ladra’s attention by a few political observers who are also distrustful of the secretive way this project was negotiated behind closed doors for about 15 months. And at least two of the 10 lobbyists on the American Dream team have also worked for Genting, the Malaysian company’s U.S. counterpart that wants to build a casino somewhere in Greater Miami.
Read related story: Mega mall gets its public land on rushed timeline
The last couple of days have been key in making the 200-acre mega mall and tourist attraction — complete with ski slope and underwater submarine rides (read: insurance nightmare) — a possibility. Sure, there is still lots of zoning issues and infrastructure and traffic impact studies to be had. But the land assembly is now basically done, thanks much to the facilitation by Miami-Dade Mayor Carlos “Mr. Giveaway” Gimenez and the quick and cheap access to state-owned land.
Now comes the hard part. The renditions. The mitigation. The zoning request from agricultural to high-density commercial. The requested variances from county code and master plan requirements.
Look for the developer to offer widening the lanes on 186th Street and plant a bunch of palm trees along the sides.
Also look out for the lobbyists who will be representing the best interests of the developers, Triple Five and International Atlantic LLC, both owned by the Ghermezian family that built the Mall of America in Minnesota.
And it’s a big team. You’re certain to see at least one of them at County Hall on any given day.
There are ten lobbyists in total registered for International Atlantic, the company formed in June of last year, according to the Florida Division of Corporations. Seven so far are registered at the county. They include the company’s founder, Eskandar Ghermezian, and Joseph Calascibetta, the New York-based VP of strategy for Triple Five, both of whom registered last week.
Read related story: Miami-Dade mega mall: A new, and shinier, insider deal?
But even before that, International Atlantic had a slew of well-known (read: expensive) 
government whisperers on its payroll. Sylvester Lukis was the first to sign up in August, followed by Lori Hartglass in September, Elinette Ruiz and Sen. Miguel Diaz de la Portilla in October and Robert Gorlow in November.
Gorlow and Ghermezian were the only ones to speak Tuesday and Wednesday before the county commission and the school board, respectively.
Three more are registered at the state: William Gregory Turbeville, William D. Rubin and Brian Ballard, who is partners with Lukis.
Genting has given to Diaz de la Portilla’s senatorial campaign and Ballard and Lukis were registered at one point as lobbyists for Genting. It is uncertain if they still work for them.
But that doesn’t mean anything, does it? Because, if so, then the complex might make room for a soccer stadium — since the duo has also represented Beckham United’s dream for a Miami professional soccer franchise.
We just don’t know for sure yet what these people have planned.
What we do know is that the list of lobbyists will probably grow from 10 to about 20 before this is done.
American Dream mall lobby team = casino connections added by Ladra on
View all posts by Ladra →
Where is Jorge Luis??? Oh, I forgot chairing a gala.
THE FIRST THING IS TO GET RID OF THE STRONG MAYOR TAKE AWAY THESE RIGHTS THAT THEY SEEM TO OWN WHEN ELECTED. “STOP THE ABUSE OF POWER”
what are we to do? What can we do? ousting gimenez will do nothing, will it? many of the dade municipalities ‘ mayors, like hialeah’s, are also strong men who are more padrinos than elected officials (and yes, when carlos hernandez supported this, one had only think the worst). what can we do to end this “caudillo ” culture?
And this is what our democracy has come to! You have a “strong” (another word for bully) mayor conducting public government business behind the scenes with unscrupulous businessmen and lobbyists. Whatever happened to Florida’s Sunshine Law? Any business conducted by our mayor on behalf of this county should be open to the public and media to see. What makes this mayor so special that he is permitted to work out secret deals with Donald Trump, etc. and no one bothers to remind him he is an elected official not an emperor or king? Where are Joseph Centorino of the Miami Dade Ethics Commission or State Attorney Katherine Fernandez Rundle? Aren’t their offices supposed to watch out for these sort of hijackings of public lands and assets? What sort of county are we living in where a group of nasty lobbyists controls the microphones at the Board of County Commissioners and prevents citizens from speaking up on such items? If Samuel Addams, Jefferson and Franklin were alive today this mayor would have been tarred and feathered long ago.