UM–City of Coral Gables Development Agreement
September 28, 2010 1 Comment
I have followed the discussion with great interest as a neighbor of UM.
Due to the size and complexity of the plan it is really hard to know what the process will look like over 20 years. But, clearly, we are getting the equivalent of an quasi-active commercial district along Ponce de Leon in front of the UM. Also, UM will be constructing a health facility–a “health facility” about the size of Doctors Hospital.
This plan gives UM a lot of latitude to organize its future without negotiating every detail with the City of Coral Gables. The agreement allows for the city manager to approve a lot of changes in the future, and it is hoped that we will always have a good city manager and strong boards. The city will get $1 million per year, which recognizes that the city does have costs by having UM here.
All in all, this is a good agreement.
About Stephen E. McGaughey
Coral Gables Watch 
It’s about time we came to an agreement with our local university. After a decade of pathetic posturing and threatening by our previous administration, the new city manager has approached the issues with professionalism and reasonable negotiation. Kudos to our new administration and to our university on the success of moving forward with these grand plans for the future.