Want to meet with Miami-Dade Mayor Carlos Gimenez? Got $15,000?
Apparently that’s the price for a half-hour meeting with the county’s strong mayor, the one in charge of all the purse strings and who would be instrumental
in getting your retail/residential development all the green lights.
According to his calendar, Gimenez met from noon to 12:30 p.m. Thursday with Andy Hellinger, principal of Urban-X, the Coral Gables-based development firm building the $425-million River Landing Shops and Residences on 8.14 acres at 1500 NW North River Drive.
Read related: Carlos Gimenez nets $70K vs city strong mayor — for what in return?
Currently under construction, the latest version of River Landing Shops — and there have been a few — has 529 residential units and approximately 345,000 
square feet of retail space along the Miami River. There will also be 2,200 parking spaces and a riverfront park and promenade.
“The ground floor of the project will have a variety of restaurants—from casual and fine dining to chef-driven concepts—with indoor and outdoor seating, opening to a landscaped linear park inspired by Manhattan’s High Line,” Hellinger told Multi-Housing News last month.
“We seek to offer retail options that our shoppers care about, including retailers that cater to Millennials that are health-conscious, tech-savvy, foodies and more.”
Read related: Carlos Gimenez has new role as rainmaker — soliciting for 10 PACs
But if they already started construction, then what would Hellinger need from the mayor? Funding? Now that Gimenez is raising funds for so many political action committees, maybe he has a future as a rainmaker. And as of last month, 
Hellinger said, roughly $117.4 million had been invested in the project, out of the total estimated cost of $424.8 million.
Or maybe Hellinger wants to make sure that other riverfront developments are not too competitive or are delayed? Who knows?
What can’t be denied is that Urban-X made a $15,000 contribution to Miami Dade Residents First on Oct. 8 — the single largest donation made to finance the opposition to the Miami strong mayor initiative — and the company’s principal got an audience with Gimenez exactly one month later.
Now that’s a quick return on an investment.
Carlos Gimenez meets with $15K donor to strong mayor opposition added by Ladra on
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Funny Let’s Not forget That Bruno A Barreiro and The BCC gave River Landings a $ 5 ,000,000 Dollar Grant just before he Retired Could This had Been PAY BACK “or” Interest for the Grant Who Knows ? Stinks But only the press Will Maybe Investigate ? Ladra should look at The Barreiro’s Donations for the Two campaign ? NO BODY GIVES NOTHING FREE !
Hey Drew ,Fake news about what ?Ladra did not write anything Fake,and I was writing my stuff on my own personal experiences.
In our age of political hysteria, this is just an over reaction. Can we say fake news!
First off everyone is supposed to Register as a lobbyists when you meet with any Miami Dade County County employee who is involved in anyway with legislative work be it with Miami Dade County Mayor Carlos Gimenez or Commissioner’s/Staff or someone trying to influence a decision. So even though you’re a Principle of your own company and your with your Attorney/Lobbyists you still need to register and pay the fee required. They, including Miami Dade County Mayor Carlos Gimenez try to be slick not to follow the rules so they won’t get caught by good reporting by people like Ladra and the Media.It’s Miami Mayor Carlos Gimenez’s[Executive Order] “Do as I say and not as I do”One of the loop holes they including Goverment people try to use the Meet & Greet excuse if they get caught by not registering as a lobbyists someone like Ladra busts them out. A whole bunch of Corruption is going on and a tremendous amount of under reporting is for sure happening .Why would you report anything when you have no law enforcement Agencies keeping these people honest ?Are tax dollars are being stolen not only by our Political people but also by a disfuntional Law enforcement Group from all Government agencies .They should be embarrassed by not doing anything about all this Corruption. So if we have Law enforcement not doing their jobs than we have a corrupt Law enforcement as well.Crazy stuff people !
…when we arrived in Miami, the Airport Expressway, and Julia Tuttle Causeway, were being completed. The Miami Dade county Civic Center jail, was sparkling new. We hoped to avoid ever being confined in it. It’s edifying to see some vigorous construction going on in its neighborhood. The clock never stops!