It’s Not About the Money…It’s About the Sun, the Fun and the Rings!!!
July 9, 2010 by Lucas Lechuga
They say Rome was not built in a day. I tell you tonight that the Three Wise Men of Miami have built Downtown Miami within a night. The Three Wise Men offer not gold, frankincense and myrrh but instead development, commerce and beer. The drinks will flow in Downtown Miami. The crowds will cheer, the people will spend and those who might be fortunate enough to witness NBA's greatest team will be merry. This is an era of Miami basketball that will be long remembered, but never forgotten.
As I sit in Downtown Miami listening to the sounds of car horns filling the sky, I can only think of one thing. This is the single greatest moment for the City of Miami. Bigger than the movie Scarface, which put Miami on the map. Bigger than Miami Vice. Bigger than all of the rock stars, models and paparazzi who followed the celebrities in the 1980s to their paradise enclave. That was their Miami. Today, I present to you the new Miami. This is the beginning of something bigger and better than any developer or city official had ever envisioned for the city. This is Miami Bitch! And Miami's Three Wise Men will proliferate an era within Downtown Miami within two years that could never be achieved within two decades.
Miami was the hotbed of the recent national real estate crisis. The epicenter of investor speculation. The Godfather of mortgage fraud. Prices tumbled here 50-70 percent from the peak. It was ripe for the picking. Miami was where real estate investment dreams were made. This was it. This was the moment where five years from now everyone who was fortunate enough to be connected to the City of Miami could say, "Damn...I coulda, shoulda, woulda". Tonight was the moment where In one fell swoop, that was all washed away. Long forgotten.
LeBron and his crew, made up of Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh, made the statement that it's not about the money...it's about the sun, the fun, the glitz, the glamour, the neon lights and the championships. The three perennial athletes proved tonight that it's more about their legacy than it is about the benjamins. It has been written that Benjamin Franklin once started off his day by asking the question, "What good shall I do this day?" and ending it with "What good have I done this day?". There's no question that the newly crowned Kings of Miami have done very much good for the City of Miami and ohhhh so much good for Downtown Miami. It's not about the money. It's about the good of the city and, as I've said for weeks, LeBron James joining the Miami Heat, will do more good for the city than ten condo developers building ten glitzy high-rises could ever do for the city.
Best day in the history of Miami? That’s a bit of a stretch.
[…] It's Not About the Money…It's About the Sun, the Fun and the Rings … […]
Did everybody get employed with a raise along with the Heat announcement?
Sounds like a puff piece from the National Association of Realtors…
I thought that was the day Art Teele shot himself!
Yea I think you’re pushing it bit. Maybe had one too many cocktails while listening to the car horns. Have you been around the area near the arena? People are going to flock there and then flock right out. (And I have lived 10 blocks from the arena for over 6 years.) You sound like a real estate broker from 2004.
I also vote “The King” as the worst nick name ever.
Joe – So if that wasn’t the best day or night for Miami, what was? Marlins championships? Yawn. That didn’t do much for the city. What event in the past has changed the city dramatically? You don’t think a superstar like this will have numerous affects on the city?
So surprised how people can not see the type of impact this will have in the city. In Chicago alone, they estimated in the papers that if Lebron signed there, he would bring in 3 BILLION dollars more revenue for the entire city per year. Sooo, even if “only” brought in an extra 1.5 BILLION for Miami, that is not a good impact? No one thinks more restaurants, bars, buildings will be built and SOLD if there is a big attraction in a city like Miami?
[…] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Marc Kevin Hall, Lucas Lechuga. Lucas Lechuga said: Impact LeBron James will have on Miami: @KingJames #lebronjames #chrisbosh #dwyanewade #espn #MiamiHEAT #freeagency[…]
I have to edit my comment. It is $3 Billion over, 6 years. That is still a lot of money for a city. I can’t think of anyone else or event that can have that big of an impact.
http://www.chicagobusiness.com/cgi-bin/article.pl?articleId=33441
This is huge for Miami.
I agree 100% with Lucas, Fred and all the others who can see that this news is nothing but positive! For all you depressed, negative folks go ahead and find something more to complain about. Miami is now on the map. This will have awesome consequences for Miami and the real estate market. This is the best stimulus package any city could get.
DML
“This is the single greatest moment for the City of Miami. Bigger than the movie Scarface, which put Miami on the map. Bigger than Miami Vice. Bigger than all of the rock stars, models and paparazzi who followed the celebrities in the 1980s to their paradise enclave. That was their Miami. Today, I present to you the new Miami. ”
Take it easy on the melodramatics, Lucas….
I must say, as a resident of Miami, I am highly embarassed if (a) LeBron, (b) Scarface, (c) Miami Vice and (d) Parties w/ Versace/Stallone/Madonna are considered Miami’s “greatest moments.” That’s just cringe-worthy.
If you had to call out one specific instance I think this should definitely be near the top if not the top. This is not like simply winning a championship. This guarantees increased economic activity downtown for years to come. This process has clearly overshadowed the NBA finals. The Miami Heat is now the “team” of the NBA. Years from now there will be people in all cities walking around with Heat jerseys. And this from a team that didn’t even exist 22 years ago. All Heat games will pretty much be televised in all markets. This will literally change the landscape of downtown. Heck that’s one of the first things that the ESPN analysts said after Lebron’s decision and I doubt he’s also a Miami Realtor.
On national television, in one of the most famous (or infamous) moves in sports history, the most famous basketball player announced that he’d rather play (and live) in Miami over world class cities like NY and Chicago. And Chicago would have arguably had the best roster to win a championship next year with him. You can’t buy that kind of publicity. I don’t know how many times I’ve heard in the last week that Florida has no income tax. If anyone didn’t know they definitely know now.
Immediately you can expect a couple more thousand fans at each and every game. That’s over 75,000 people heading downtown each season. Then add the almost 20,000 people at the extra playoff games they’ll be winning. Downtown bars, parking, hotels, etc. are all going to benefit from this.
Think of things like the plans for a new downtown convention center and Miami WorldCenter. Projects like these look 100 times better overnight.
Miami isn’t really a basketball town and one wouldn’t expect it to be considering they’ve only had a team for about 2 decades and considering the other other pro-sport options. But having Lebron, Wade and Bosh on the same court pretty much changes that overnight. And none of the other sports are really located in as good of a location as AAA.
The rise in attendance at Heat games is a huge negative for downtown. Four hours of closed streets is not a positive for any homeowner in this area. Many of the buildings featured in this site will suffer tremendously.
WildBill
“The rise in attendance at Heat games is a huge negative for downtown. Four hours of closed streets is not a positive for any homeowner in this area. Many of the buildings featured in this site will suffer tremendously.”
This clearly points out that you simply want to present everything in a negative fashion. Having a successful downtown sports franchise helps out every other single downtown that has one but is will somehow HURT Miami’s downtown???
If Miami struck out and Wade went to Chicago and was stuck with just Chalmers and Beasley you would be arguing the exact opposite that now Downtown is doomed because attendance at AA will drop even lower.
The prospect of a championship team is great for Miami, but I fail to see how this is going to pull Miami out of its real estate slump.
Here in Boston we have pretty good basketball, baseball and football teams, and two of the teams play their games downtown. The owners of the Celtics still have an empty condominium tower downtown with over 100 unsold and vacant units, now going on two years, and the developer of the W hotel and condominiums recently filed for bankruptcy (with another 100 unsold condominiums).
The problem is that the “core” of Miami is NOT a sports city. Check out downtown/SoBe during the Superbowl… it’s just another day. The suburban areas care about and support the sports teams, but the rest of Miami could care less. That’s pretty much due to the transient/international nature of downtown/SoBe. Most people are here part time or full time for only a couple years and never develop into fans. It’s different in places like Philadelphia/Boston/Chicago where you get generations of sports fans in the household.
Shaq was the biggest thing in basketball coming into town with the promise of multiple championships… It made kids in Pinecrest excited.
This people on this site have selective amnesia. The old Heat/Hockey arena brought in very little real estate improvements to the area. The area around the Orange Bowl is a trash bin. A sports arena will only bring in a mass amount of traffic. The current AA arena had hundreds of parking spots removed due to these buildings that you are now pitching. This area cannot handle a packed arena. The residents of Park West better hope that attendance doesn’t reach 20,000.
From CoreLogic numbers this week:
In West Palm Beach-Boca Raton-Boynton Beach, 20.3 percent of loans were 90 days or more past due in May. That’s up from 15 percent in May 2009.
In Fort Lauderdale-Pompano Beach-Deerfield Beach, 22.8 percent of loans were 90 or more days past due vs. 17.5 percent in May 2009.
In Miami-Miami Beach-Kendall, 28.2 percent were 90 or more days past due, up from 20.7 percent in May 2009.
In Orlando-Kissimmee-Sanford, 20.6 percent past due vs.16 percent the year before.
—From Sun Sentinel article.
I agree that you don’t have generations of basketball fans in Miami. But how would you considering a basketball team didn’t even exist 23 years ago. Even if all the new fans that attend the games are from the suburbs all that does is bring money from the suburbs into downtown which is clearly a benefit for downtown.
Besides this is how Dynasty’s are built. If they make serious runs for the championship over the next 5 years and win it a few times you will have created a climate to bring basketball fans in and create some history for them to be a part of. If MJ never played for the Chicago Bulls that team would pretty much be irrelevant. Kids attending these games with their dads watching the Heat win championships will be fans for years to come.
Wild Bill, you don’t think that stadium will be sold out every home game? If so, you are underestimating this whole thing. If you do some research you will see what the avg attendance was in Cleveland before LeBron got drafted and what it was after. You can find online how much revenue the team and city was bringing in every game when he played.
Sorry to burst your bubble but I’ve lived in many cities on three different continents and I have never seen a sports arena bring positive development to a neighborhood. Yankee Stadium, Wrigley Field, The Orange, they add nothing to the neighborhoods where they are located. The fans come in, park their cars and afterwards they leave. There’s very little in downtown Miami to attract city dwellers.
This is all hype! Lebron said “I’m gonna take my talents to South Beach and join the Miami Heat! Was that a Freudian slip?
I have never been a basketball fan but this news got me glued to the TV. Drew is partly right. Scarface and Miami Vice are not a measure of milestone moments of this city. But then again Miami is a young (100 year) old city with not much of a history.
Gixxer in post 11 summed it up the best. This is a big deal for downtown.
Wild Bill is irrelevant. He will whine and bitch about everything.
These are the events that will top the Lebron news as ground shaking development for Miami.
1. Miami will host 2018 or 2022 Football World cup.
2. Miami will be chosen to host the Summer Olympics ( wont happen in our lifetime).
3. Miami will host the World Expo.
4. 10 fortune 500 companies announced that they are moving their headquarters to Miami.
5. Property taxes are abolished and replaced with sales tax.
Anyone else is free to add to this list.
“A sports arena will only bring in a mass amount of traffic.”
Then how do you account for the countless sports arenas that bring more than traffic??? I worked on the the new Washington National stadium project here in DC and I can assure that it has helped to revitalize that area. It really depends on the location of the Arena and the planning involved. You can’t drop a stadium in the middle of nowhere and expect things to happen naturally. It takes a combination of a good location, a good plan and a good team.
They pretty much had no success in the old arena. They were even getting ready to move the franchise to another city at late as 1997. They didn’t even become decent until after that and then move to AAA in 1999.
Average per game attendance is already over 17,000. Every single game from here on out will now be sold out. Go to the website and try to get season tickets and this is what you get:
“Thank you for your interest in the Miami HEAT! We’re so glad you’re interested in becoming a season ticket holder. We’d like to put you on our waiting list because over the past few days, we’ve sold the bulk of the seats from our available inventory. But in the next day or so, we’re going to release additional ticket inventory.”
Downtown has been adding restaurants, bars, etc. to the tune of 40 per year. This is only going to help to sustain them and bring more.
Here is an article about the Lebron leaving Cleveland and the possible economic impact there:
http://www.nba.com/2010/news/07/04/james.economy.ap/index.html
“Assuming the average person spends $20 to $30 downtown eating,” Sydnor said. “You might lose about $20 million a year from people coming into the city from the suburbs who wouldn’t come otherwise.”
Skeeta – Wrigley Field brings nothing to the neighborhood!?!?! Please tell me that was a sarcastic comment.
Reality Check,
Last season, the Miami Heat average home attendance was about 17,770 which is 90% of seating capactiy. Assuming every game is a sellout, you are going to bring an additional 1,500 people or so to Downtown during home games.
Also, worth noting is that the arena was sold out for Shaq’s first 3 years.
Maybe Shaq single handedly started the downtown development boom? Do we all have Shaq Diesel to thank for Icon Brickell, Epic, Novecento Brickell, Mary Brickell Village?
JL,
No shit Sherlock that’s what we’ve been saying all along. Reread post #12 and #23. 19,600 – 17,730 = 1,870 more people for each home game. There are 41 home games so that’s an additional 76,670 fans each year coming into downtown. Then add in probably 8 extra playoff home games at 19,600 each game and that brings the total of additional fans each season to 233,470. In 2006 there were a lot less options for entertainment downtown. Heck, half the condos weren’t eve built by then. Downtown is clearly a happening area where people are choosing to live. This only add to that.
People here seem to be making opinions on Miami based off of the OLD downtown. There are probably 160 new businesses, 10,000 new condos and 12,000 new residents in downtown just from 2006.
lol @ skeeta, it’s named Wrigleyville for pete’s sake. I was just there on Friday night, most fans take the train in, the area bars and restaurants were still crowded with people spending money 10 hours after the game.
Cocaine is the biggest thing to happen to Miami.
You people are out of your freaking minds. Best day in Miami’s history? A boom for downtown? Are you guys on crack?
And you, Gixxer 1000, should be ashamed of yourself. Study after study after study has shown that sports arenas are, at best, revenue neutral for cities. If sports arenas and sell-outs are so great, why did it take over 10 years of haggling to get the Marlins stadium approved and under construction? (And the Marlins play TWICE as many games per year as the Heat and have a higher seating capacity.)
Beyond all that, as JL just mentioned in #25, the Heat had this guy named Shaq a few years ago. He was kind of a big deal for a while, but I don’t think he was the reason 50 new condo towers were built.
If you guys want to applaud Lebron’s arrival, that’s fine, but I suspect a lot of you will be embarrassed if you come back and read these idiotic comments a year or two from now. Frankly, I’m a little embarrassed for you now.
Joe -Wild Bill- JL, Dont hate on miami so much. why cant you guys be happy for miami just for once? It is not important if this is going to make the downtown into another manahttan. It is just a great news that someone preferred miami over New York Or Chicago and said no to billions of possible extra dollars by being in those big cities. It is very positive for the image of miami which has been battered of late.
I would not be surprised if the 3 of you hold hands to do a rain dance and pray that a big hurricane hits miami. you all should be ashamed of yourselves.
Gixxer,
I understand you aren’t smart enough to make it in the NE. But seriously, a mediocre intellect down in FL won’t make you a genius. It will make you another NE failure that thinks they’re a genius because they moved down to FL.
You get lost -EXTREMELY lost- trying to extrapolate every piece of data you can find. Yes you will get 10%/1,500 more people per home game (and home games will be sellouts like they were in the Shaq era). However, only a mental midget would extrapolate that to “the total of additional fans each season to 233,470.”
Hello!!! the smarter analysis is to say the same subset of 1,500 additional people will be showing up for each of the home games. This doesn’t open up Downtown Miami living to 100’s of thousands of new eyeballs.
In reality, it only motivates a couple thousand more white and Cuban fans from Pinecrest and Coral Gables -who already happen to know plenty about Brickell- to make the trip while the native downtown inhabitants complain about the inbound traffic that makes it harder for them to get to South Beach during game nights.
You need to live here to have a chance at understanding the culture.
phelps — No one is “hating on Miami.” We’re just pointing out this little thing called “reality.”
Lebron saved $6 million in taxes by signing with Miami instead of Cleveland, and $12 million in taxes by signing with Miami instead of New York. It’s not like he took a 50 percent pay cut to come to Miami.
As for downtown, I’m sure LeBron will help with attendance, and maybe some restaurants, etc., will do a little extra business. But that’s it. He’s not going to sell condos or spur development. A lot of the comments above are just looney tunes.
phelps,
I’m not hating on Miami. I’m laughing at people who don’t live in Miami and try to extrapolate events using a mindset cultivated from a different city. Let me state it again. People who live in Downtown/SoBe tend to be transient and or part-time internationals. Sports are not a high priority (except in teh Burbs) and nothing will change that. Instead of getting enthused on a game night, people downtown will probably get more annoyed by the traffic. It’s just how it is down here… don’t fight it.
Joe,
The main argument against sports arenas is that they simply divert money from other leisurely activities and I don’t completely disagree. But in this case it’s pretty much irrelevant because I’m not arguing that this will do good for Miami as a whole in the short term. I’m simply saying that this will divert more money into downtown and therefore DOWNTOWN will benefit. Will most of that money come from the suburbs and other close areas like Ft. Lauderdale…yes. I just saw on ESPN that is projected that downtown will lose $48m in business each year. I guess you could argue that they’re not really losing that money because the people will simply spend it in another area of Cleveland.
As a side note people are gathering right now for the welcoming party for the Wade, Lebron and Bosh at AA Arena. Do you really think all of these people are simply going to go home and none of them are going to walk next door to Bayside to spend money?
Now over the long term I think this will provide additional exposure for Miami and help to solidify Miami as a world class city.
JL,
My argument has nothing to do with buying condos. I’m talking about additional people downtown who would otherwise not be there spending money to park, eat, etc.
Again they are reporting that the decrease in business in downtown Cleveland due to Lebron leaving will result in $48m leaving their downtown. So it doesn’t seem unreasonable that the increase in business in downtown Miami would be somewhere near that amount.
Joe,
“As for downtown, I’m sure LeBron will help with attendance, and maybe some restaurants, etc., will do a little extra business. But that’s it. He’s not going to sell condos or spur development. A lot of the comments above are just looney tunes.”
That’s my exact point. Bar, restaurants, etc. will do extra business and help the growth of new businesses making downtown an even more desirable place to live.
Lebron choosing Miami just goes to show what I and some others have been saying all along, that Miami/south Florida is a special city and the same rules that applies to most places in the country can not be blindly applied to Miami when it comes to real estate market. That being said I fail to see how having Lebron playing for the Heat will change things drastically. It will have somewhat of an incremental positive effect but i don’t see how it will magically raise the standard of living of the people of Miami, it will create more lower paying jobs maybe a few more people will get hired at the bars and a few of them will get together to rent out a few more downtown condos. For the most part we are talking about low paying part time jobs being created. Attendance will be high for the first few seasons but the teams will definitely raise ticket prices until attendance starts to decline. Remember Miami has so much going on during basketball season, it is not like being in Cleveland in the middle of January.
Definitely a positive for Miami though.
Gixxer: only tourists go to Bayside. Maybe you’ll figure that out when you move here.
Gixxer: twice above you’ve mentioned the economic benefits of people spending money to park their cars. How the hell does anyone other than the monopolized parking garage/surface lot ownership benefit from charging $25 a car. “Pumping dollars in the local economy,” right? I’ve heard that line before…
Again, if you lived here, maybe you’d know that a certain parking lot tycoon controls almost all of downtown parking and spends his profits on Ferraris and Fisher Island condos. And Manhattan co-ops.
I think it is a great thing that the Heat has some more star players….Lebron definitely is the headliner. It will definitely create a continued national buzz and some marginal positive economic effect. What would make a much bigger difference is for the three stars to make coordinated service announcements encouraging education and getting a high school degree (and to go back for a GED as the case may be). Now THAT would have a real positive effect for South Florida across the board. Just think if star students got to go to a game for free and meet the players with a photo-op too. The Heat games are quite the production and a lot of fun.
With that said, I don’t think this is the hallmark of a new Miami….good golly, we need more models (which has really been curtailed in the last few years), rock stars, and high profile entertainers……not just (usually not the brightest) athletes (and I know quite a few pro athletes). Miami needs more of the mystic of being like a Hollywood of the east coast. Promote what you got….tropical paradise. Burn Notice probably has a bigger positive effect than LeBron.
Drew, I am a local and I go to Bayside. I find many restaurants that are value for money.
“Derek Fisher, at an impasse with Lakers, to take a meeting with Pat Riley in Miami”
http://www.latimes.com/sports/la-sp-lakers-derek-fisher-20100710,0,4281740.story
I live at MARQUIS and the traffic issue on game nights is way overstated…..locals know to just stay off Biscayne…(granted not easy to do if you live at ONE MIAMI)…. from our building or 10 MUSEUM or MARINA BLUE or 900 it’s just a right turn out of the garage and then 2 blocks to the 95 and it is easy to get anywhere…..
LEBRON is obviously a HUGE positive for downtown Miami…..you can debate the exact $$$ but the national publicity alone can create faster progress in this area….
Miami is a loser’s city.
R u guys really that naive to think he chose Miami cuz he loves it?
Talk about perks under the table
And by the way, did u see his announcement: “I am going to South Beach”? Lolol
U probably only worry about this if u live in Miramar or Homestead..
Sobe people couldn’t care less..
You guys should check out the history of Roddy Burdine Stadium. Go visit the area. Show me what sixty years of having a stadium has done to revitalize that area. Why so little mention of Little Havana real estate investments on this site?
The attendance numbers for Miami Heat and Marlins games in the last few years don’t add up. Many people have stated this. I think they count Mediterranean Fruit Flies not actual people.
A.A. Arena was never built with proper parking. Parking figures were estimated by using a parking lot figures within a billion mile radius to the arena The arena, nightclubs and performing arts center all use each other parking lots. Someone is going to suffer. Who will suffer the most? I doubt it will be real estate owners in the area. After all they live in Miami and Miami is the best city in the world.
http://www.usatoday.com/money/industries/travel/2010-07-10-miami-image-lebron-james_N.htm
Renter Tom said at Jul 10, 2010 at 12:33 am: “Miami needs more of the mystic of being like a Hollywood of the east coast. Promote what you got….tropical paradise. Burn Notice probably has a bigger positive effect than LeBron.”
USA Today article at Jul 10, 2010 at 8:30 am: “• Hollywood East. With LeBron’s entrance — and local film incentives recently put in place — Miami Dade County expects filmmakers to spend a record $125 million in the county next year, estimates Jeff Peel, the county’s film commissioner.
The hit TV shows CSI Miami and Burn Notice both are filmed there.”
Why the hell would filmmakers spend more money in Miami just because Lebron came to town? Is Lebron also a star of major motion pictures, too?
I know some of the people on this board were in fantasyland, but some of these Lebron comments have proved it once and for all.
Swiss luxury is right. The traffic issues around AAA is overblown. But the traffic at the Miami river bridge at ICON is another story.
RT is right on, ….good golly, we need more models (which has really been curtailed in the last few years), rock stars, and high profile entertainers……not just (usually not the brightest) athletes (and I know quite a few pro athletes). Miami needs more of the mystic of being like a Hollywood of the east coast. Promote what you got….tropical paradise.
But CSI Miami is actually shot in LA with just a few shots of Miami thrown in between. That is not right. They should film in Miami.
Joe, these comments only show that they are forever hopeful and you are eternally depressed. You need some happy pills bro.
why bother — I’m not depressed in the least. I just don’t go through life completely ignoring reality. The idea that Lebron James is going to change the face of Miami is utterly ridiculous. What can Lebron do for Miami that Shaq couldn’t do? Shaq was way more mainstream by the time he came to Miami, from the NBA to movies to TV commercials.
Seriously, Miami, show some self-respect. It’s nice Lebron is coming to town, but that’s it.
This should put to rest all negative arguments: Especially read this in the page 2 or the original article ”
The LeBron Effect showed up Friday in ways big and small — even pumping a little energy into the real-estate market. Edgardo Defortuna of Fortune International Realty said he had phone calls from fans in Brazil, Venezuela and Argentina — including one Argentinian who told him he’d buy an apartment at the Icon in downtown Miami if de Fortuna could score him Heat tickets.
Agent Penni Chasens of Cervera Realty said LeBron’s move convinced a buyer to cough up an extra $100,000 to sign a near-$1 million deal at a condo at the Marquis near the American Airlines Arena”
LeBron means big bucks flow to Miami
.A day after his big announcement, the `LeBron Effect’ was already being felt in South Florida hotels and restaurants.
Miami Heat Welcome PartyMiami welcomes the three kings of the Miami Heat as Lebron James, Dwyane Wade, and Chris Bosh join the NBA team in a spectacular show at AmericanAirlines Arena on Friday night.CHUCK FADELY
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Like a shot of espresso to a recessionary hangover, news that the NBA’s most sought-after free agent is “bringing my talents to South Beach” created instant excitement Friday for tourism promoters, hotels and others who stand to win when stars swarm into Miami.
Call it the aura of LeBron James, one that brings with it the cachet of celebrities in and out of the game, and the prospect of fresh dollars flowing in. “LeBron isn’t just a basketball player, he’s a brand, and that brand is sold worldwide,” said accountant Tony Argiz, a partner with Morrison, Brown, Argiz and Farra.
MULTIMILLION IMPACT
Argiz threw out an economic impact estimate of $500 to $600 million, factoring in the increased value of the Miami Heat franchise, the multimillion-dollar homes Bosh and James are expected to buy, and the potential bonus of multiple Miami playoff series over the next five years.
Neisen Kasdin, lawyer and former Miami Beach mayor, said he thinks the Heat triple play could be more significant to the city than the Marlins stadium now being built in Little Havana.
“This will have some of the Art Basel effect on Miami,” said Kasdin, referring to the cultural and business development spurred by the highly successful fair. “You have a happening event that draws the world’s attention to the community in a way that makes people want to invest.”
That kind of real economic impact takes years. But already Friday, the LeBron Effect was showing up downtown as well as in Miami Beach, where ailing boutique hotels like the Gansevoort South, Shore Club and Sagamore could use a boost.
James was ensconced overnight in one of the 25 rooms he’d rented at the W Hotel in South Beach. The reservations team at the Fontainebleau Resort was busily fielding inquiries for package prices with Heat tickets and had received “numerous requests” from sports agents about throwing events at the resort’s cabanas and restaurants and nightclubs, said president and general manager John Rolfs.
“You couldn’t have scripted it better,” said William Talbert III, CEO of the Greater Miami Convention & Visitors Bureau.
The signings brought an immediate shift in press coverage. “Look at what has happened in the last 24 hours,” PR specialist Tadd Schwartz, who promotes downtown, said. “We’ve spent the last year talking about the condo crash, foreclosures and the oil spill. For the past 48 hours, all of that has changed. Now we’re talking about LeBron and what that brings.”
South Beach restaurant magnate Myles Chefetz of Prime 112 reported a jam-up of text messages from pro athletes, sportscasters and regular diners wanting to make sure they’ll still be able to get a table at Prime 112, the sports celebrity haunt where D-Wade watched James’ nationally televised lovefest on ESPN Thursday night.
It’s at places like Prime 112 where the NBA-celebrity connection thrives, and hospitality types are salivating that heat over the Heat could help pull the Beach and a developing downtown scene out of the stubborn economic slowdown.
Former Miami Dolphins safety Louis Oliver, who now promotes social events that attract professional athletes, likened the buzz to the Beach of the 1990s, when it shot into the stratosphere as an international party center.
“You may have to make reservations months in advance to go to . . . top places,” Oliver said. “It’ll pick up everything from hotels to taxis.”