City growth tramples family barbershop

ABOUT THE ARTICLE: It started with a call from a public relations agency for the newspaper's community news section to cover the groundbreaking of a soon-to-be-redeveloped strip mall. But by doing a little digging, I got the story behind it: small businesses being displaced while big corporate names move in.

THE MIAMI HERALD
October 16, 2005
City, developer celebrate new project
By Ana Ribeiro

Barry Solomon sat alone in his barber shop in a Miami Gardens shopping plaza Tuesday and took a dim view of the future.

Solomon was unaware that city officials and representatives of the KMACK Corporation were in the plaza. But he knew why they would be there.

"They're tearing down the whole plaza,'' Solomon said.

Mayor Shirley Gibson, Vice-Mayor Oscar Braynon II and council members Aaron Campbell Jr. and Barbara Watson joined entrepreneurs and others for the groundbreaking ceremony of what's to become a new complex at a bustling intersection.

The plaza, at Northwest 199th Street and State Road 441, has been home to Solomon's Sierra Barbershop for 20 years, he said. Now, the mom-and-pop business is set to be replaced by franchises such as Starbucks, Chili's, Subway, Footlocker and Radio Shack.

Solomon said he's been paying rent to different owners of the plaza over the years; the space never belonged to him and there's nothing he can do about the building's demolition.

"It's terrible,'' he said. "We have nowhere else to go.''

William Green, president of real estate developer KMACK, hopes to start the demolition by Nov. 1, as the new owner of the property. He bought the plaza from a company named Jimbo, negotiating with one of its principals, Norman Hickmore.

He said he paid $3.2 million for the plaza; he'll pay more than double that amount for the construction of the new project.

Green and his business partner, Christopher Benjamin, said they took out a $6.8 million loan with City National Bank to build two strip malls that will replace the plaza, filling the space with big corporate names. The strips will measure 18,000 square feet and 4,000 square feet, respectively, said Green, a former assistant to Miami Gardens City Manager Danny Crew.

"It's a new city,'' Green said. "It's an area that had been forgotten about. Now we have the opportunity to give them the services they need.''

Bill Perry III - a partner in World Wide Concessions, the company bringing a Chili's franchise - said after the groundbreaking that he plans to hire local residents to work at his restaurant.

"We want to be good neighbors,'' Perry said.

Mayor Gibson welcomed the move, saying it would bring major businesses and investments.

"I'm just elated, as well as my council, to be part of this,'' she said to the gathering of about 20 people.

In a phone interview, Crew said extra tax revenues from businesses should help the property tax rate remain stable. The construction of the new plaza will be a major step for the city's development, he said; the city, as the third biggest in Miami-Dade County, needs commercial chains to cater to the needs of its residents.

The city's only corporate restaurant is the fast-food chain Denny's, Crew said.

"I don't think you could expect this area to remain like this,'' Crew said. "Certainly, there are going to be some people hurt, but [the new complex] is going to do the city much good overall.''

The city has no control over what private property owners decide to do with their businesses, the manager said, as long as their activities are legal and meet zoning requirements.

The displacement of small businesses is a growing trend in Miami-Dade County as vacant space runs out and old businesses are torn down to give way to redevelopment, Crew said.

"We want these mom-and-pop stores to stay in the city,'' he said. "I hope they can find another location to settle in.''

In an interview during the groundbreaking ceremony, Braynon said other shopping plazas are bound to spring up and displaced businesses could move into them, if they are willing to pay the rent.

Solomon and his father, Ed Solomon, 81, said they were not informed the plaza was scheduled for demolition. They found it out when they saw an outside marquee. They were put on a month-to-month lease almost two years ago and it expired once the property was sold.

The Solomons said they called the company listed on the marquee, commercial real-estate firm NAI Miami, to indicate their interest in continuing their business in the new strips.

Ed Solomon said a man named Josh Rodstein went to the barber shop and told him the rent would go up from the current $750 a month to $7,000 if they wanted to keep the same space.
For half the space, the rent would be $3,500 a month.

KMACK's Green said NAI Miami, where Rodstein is director, is the new property manager. He said Rodstein informs him of companies interested in the plaza space but it's Green who negotiates rents, based on square footage and services provided by prospective tenants. Green said he was not aware of any negotiations with the Solomons and had never spoken to them or to any of the other tenants of the plaza.

Rodstein did not return several phone calls to his office and cellphone seeking comment.

For the Solomons, it will be the end of an era. Ed Solomon said his barber shop, a beauty shop and Tootsie's Cabaret are the only places still open in the plaza.

Tootsie's received permission from the City Council in January to relocate down the street to 18201 NW Second Ave.

Barry Solomon said Sierra Barbershop will be forced out of business because he couldn't find any other location with an affordable rent. The cheapest one he found, he said, was about $2,000 a month.

"I feel very bad,'' Ed Solomon said. "I feel sad. We have fixed customers. There are people who come to the store in wheelchairs. I won't be able to take care of them.''