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1663-39 Art Deco/Preservation -er PAGE 20-NEW TIMES-JUNE 17-23,1992 • jr -r r d' f 1, i °-' .. ., r _ f{{f T t �., Ilk f , 1',.:1, \ C:, i' aj $ 1 ■ ,, P. ,,,,,,, ,,S,, -...: - 1 . . ,q ■ 1 . '_, ,1 .f S",r.` .m,,,., °"� ,ua ' 4°.4„x,. _ -e +' ��_...._..._' _ _ t• a NC i giant penguin on speed. "We had no gas in THE CANCER OF the facility until that night.We ran out of food.The service was crazy.Tropics, thank God,was an overnight success." It had to be. Otherwise,Barron says, jTROPICS he'd have been out of business in two months, sunk by an$80,000 debt run up before the joint's polished oak doors even opened. The messy bankruptcy of a nightlife landmark AlthoughBarronrorethanfive ars,1989, the club lasted more than five years, joining News athat rarest can't overshadow the European millions keeping of Ocean Drive breeds:alandmark. But Tropics'overnight closure this past April Ocean Drive on the money side of the street 26br light to light th its sheenfiscal disastprosperity. With debts approaching five million By STEVEN ALMOND dollars,the club's current owners find themselves encircled by a conga line of his being Ocean Drive, the urban Tpioneers were lolling poolside. Mark tan rays fluttering through palm outsidethe frees onto Charlotte had only to tilt a gaze at the creditors. Rumors of illegal financial the chlorinated puddle Edison Hotel across the street and chirp, maneuvering,rampant in the club's last Soyka and the Baryons,Arthur and Clevelander Hotel.Soyka, an Israeli "That looks like a nice building. Let's go days,were recently lent credence by a Charlotte,had breezed into town to help émigré plainly infatuated with the terminal for that one."A week later work crews court-appointed examiner. fellow New Yorker Tony Goldman Indian summer,was hatching plans for an invaded the lobby. Mismanagement,and maybe worse, renovate the Park Central Hotel,and, like open-air bistro down the street. On December 26, 1986,Tropics seconds the trustee assigned the him,had fallen under the street's spell Something literary,but with plenty of International blared into existence, unenviable task of auctioning off the almost instantly,staring in goosebumped skin.A sort of news cafe. hosting a blowout widely regarded as the debt-ridden Edison. silence at the pastel opulence hidden The Barrons wanted to launch a opening bell of the strip's raucous Ocean's latest bellyflop has done little, beneath the sediment of grime and doubt, nightclub where sax man Arthur could renaissance. A guest list of 50 of course, to dampen South Beach happy like barnacled treasure sunken in the massage the glitterati with wine,women, mushroomed into 500 party-starved talk. Boosters still gurgle eloquently over warm sea a hundred yards away. and jazz,and,on occasion,toot his own nightcrawlers.The liquor flowed in rivers, "growth potential,"dependably The calendar was insinuating that the horn.What they lacked was a location. chatter rising to a tonsil-raw roar. "The sidestepping the cautionary tale lurking in summer of 1986 had turned to fall. But But this being Ocean Drive, such a detail place was a zoo,"recalls Barron, who Tropics'wake: that of bruising financial the Florida sun couldn't have cared less, hardly seemed worth trifling over. spent the evening flapping around like a demands hidden behind the drive's JUNE 17-23,1992-NEW TIMES-PAGE 21 Beach became America's escapist playground, a wonderland of vice -- inhabited by starlets,gangsters,and � ' high-living - � . g g gawkers.The flagship hotels4. lining Ocean Drive, painted in soft hues VO t and appointed with ultramodern frills, were studies in whimsy. Porthole ' ' windows. Fluted columns. Nautical `` 4. railings. Buck Rodgers spires. "Bogus y` ., Bauhaus,"the critics sniffed. ? ) , • f ., .�F A "Mediterranean rip-off,""Artless .i '" f Moderne."The tourists slurped them up '" • like ice cream cones. But when World War II ended,South r . ' •° `li, >oh. Beach did a nosedive.The tourist flow _w '1 , o•- shifted northward, to cloud-hugging p �g lam Z5,;`::"� � �y � �" �:,1 � 'lir-�--• :.r� ., high-rises further up the narrow island. '' 4 - _ ,.a?r; "We ran out of food. The � 4! st ''� , �. service was crazy. Tropics, '; • thank God, was an p ,' r - ¢ `i overnight success." 1 �_� �` Jewish pensioners from the Northeast ; • _ -: seeped in and kvetched, successfully,forit rent control.The geezers and the buildings aged together.Miamians jokingly dubbed the area"God's Waiting Room," r a and later, after the 1980 Martel boatlift k loosed thousands of destitute Cubans ' -r k 41 upon the neighborhood, "Castro's Trash •„, .,"/]1 Can.”Frantic city planners pegged :„s ._- « °` redevelopment around a maze of Venetian canals to be furrowed south of Fifth ' ► , as, "'4 Street.This thoroughly loopy plan failed, \\., .„ -... ;� grandly. • But politicians did enact other prescient , 441l-. si , I ,p , measures,widening the beach with ,: Si 4. imported sand,extending the boardwalk, `'w., restoring public buildings,and changing y _ # ,) the zoning laws to allow outdoor cafes on • ¢ c Ocean Drive. Most important, ` ;,^ ',ty" 2 0 continued on page 22 i� t 4110a r .;.. Q_ 4.,..... y\ 77 f t ` o hypnotic neon, of a past ruled by / • ** i , fast-talking—and failed—speculators, s � and a future engineered by investors who 3; T_ �� _ _ � : _ - -w - - PAGE 22-NEW TIMES-JUNE 17-23,1992 IROP'CS laments Barron,who estimates he grossed$2.5 million per annum during the continued from page 21 heyday. Why the fall-off?The manager preservationists stepped in to save South blames a lease that forced the club to Beach's flamboyant hotels from demolition ..° serve breakfast,lunch, and dinner,his by convincing federal officials in 1979 to inexperience running a kitchen,and a list the area on the National Registry of huge,often unreliable staff. Barron says Historic Places.The prospect of a historic that one industrious busboy,for instance, district with dirt-cheap oceanfront digs for , netted$45,000 by lowering a safe out of a sale at long last drew speculators. 4. 0 - second-story office window. Maintaining a precedent they have yet i ' To make matters worse, Sanchez to shake, the natives greeted buyers with7. ' ' i '"". complained that his hotel patrons couldn't slavish devotion.The Royale Group, a - ` cabal of Atlantic City investors, snapped "" ' R i. up five Ocean Drive gems in the early .. 7 P With debts approaching 1980s before the roof fell in. Flashy frontjtir five million dollars the man Leonard Pelullo,whose habit it was =41 to tour his properties in a Rolls Royce, �.;,y _ club's current owners find was indicted on racketeering charges in 1989 and the buildings,after years of themselves encircled by a litigation,limped into foreclosure. conga line of creditors. The 1986 arrival of Gerardo"Gerry" t° Sanchez was also.widely hailed.The brash New Yorker, whose specialty(after self- . 4 •t e sleep with Barron's poolside music promotion)was facade renovation,put up ' ��" • s� thumping,and the two engaged in a series millions—mostly borrowed—for a , 1 s; - ', " of now-legendary rows,many smack-dab dozen Deco properties,including the �u� Y din the middle of Tropics.After two and a neighboring Breakwater and Edisonr: £° ° ',-'1- H = 9. half years of manic work, Barron found hotels. He soliloquized about the A.A o himself$30,000 in the hole and burnt to a American Riviera to come and city officials , : ' 2 crisp.Twice he ended up in the hospital cooed approval. Ripe for hype:America's most glamorous street, in a rare moment of repose a for exhaustion.In April 1989 he bailed out It was Sanchez who leased Arthur for good, heading to Hong Kong,his Barron the bottom floor of the Edison to wife's native home,to run a less frenzied open Tropics.Though Sanchez dreamed it got dangerous two, three blocks away." thirteen cases of beer.We were really the jazz club there. of restoring the 58-year-old hotel to A broad man whose oversize sunglasses only show in town.The only guys doing luxury status,his willingness to rent out guard watery green eyes, Barron live music. I tried to keep things classy. [�anchez, meanwhile,was doing some the space was understandable. For one recounts his club days in a mongrel patois To set a tone.We had our share of 1 bailing of his own.Though he had thing,he needed to fund his cash-starved acquired somewhere between Boston and trouble, sure. Fights in the club, brawls lorded over the strip as if it were his ventures.For another, the club promised the town he calls New Yawk. outside. But really the place was like an own pet project, a constant cash shortfall an instant people magnet on a street still "Everyone hung out there.Everyone," oasis,a beautiful scene before South left him struggling,at times less than battling a heavy-duty image problem. he says,his stylishly stubby ponytail Beach was a scene." ethically, to maintain his sagging real "Ocean was a jungle back then,full of bobbing emphasis. "All the guys from By all measures, the club was a smash estate empire. In 1988 bankruptcy judge crack houses and thugs,"recalls the Miami Vice,all the politicians. I used to —except when you looked at the books. Sidney Weaver—the same man now 50-year-old Barron."We used to have the give the cops half off, so they'd come in "We'd make a ton of money during the overseeing the Edison debacle—branded doorman walk ladies to their cars because over the weekends and drink, like, season and lose it all in the off-season," Sanchez's efforts to stall foreclosure of THE AUTHORITY 1992 SWIMWEAR FLAWLESS LEGS OF SERVICE 8lt X1 9,99 8,UP TECHNOLOGY NAME BRANDS We Service Hondas & Acuras Only FOR LESS Genuine Honda&Acura Parts • Honda Certified •A.S.E. Certified • Free Estimates •Rik Rik-mix& , , We Honor Most Extended Warantees match 2 pc. �. Oil & •Ocean Pacific Filter •Kocacho I Recommended Every 3,500 Miles 'Citrus i - I $ 19.99 I •Panama Jack . 3 , •Daffy 1 3 . ' Acura Legend 524.99 I 'Hanna Active , - Must present coupon of time of visit __a �• r I —— Expires 7-15.92 1 •Tropical Punch ----.. 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JUNE 17-23,1992-NEW TIMES-PAGE 23 the Betsy Ross Hotel"illegal"and"a got desperate and turned the club into a sham."By April of that year Sanchez had college-type place,thinking that volume fought off three foreclosure actions— could pay the bills,"Barron says."And against the Breakwater Hotel alone. when that didn't work,they just stopped That's when Thomas Salom and Oliver putting money back into the operation." Mayoral made their dramatic entrance, ' ' Ill Former manager John Leone says last dashing up the courthouse steps,cashier's "�., year's slumping,postwar economy fueled check in hand,to save the Breakwater 1..I.1' • 1rr the panic:"We probably spent too much from a foreclosure auction.The principals '. - Ttir of a new company called Unified Investors _ Group Corp.,Salom and Mayoral came on I0 ` By all measures, the club like money-bagged white knights, fi promising to buy half the mortgages on „-t, . ry i • f s.r }'" was aSmash — except seven Sanchez properties,ata cost of$15 • ; million. (Unified wound up purchasing only ,... -.ge 71f ,L.... _ 1 when you looked at the the Breakwater and Edison,and did not +: _ —.— ^ — - __ - as PAGE 24-NEW TIMES-JUNE 17-23,1992 r 1 -- ART DECO ` PEtiC�' } FREE HOTEL RESIDENCES BIKE RENTAL* r11 _ �'t^ '' • • I ,,., The Best Selection tr ': on South Beach ► ; ,,",t+rlia4attituai;y Nr' Studios ,i, , it+ / r; a 1 Bedroom h :. , w CO 0 4 2 Bedrooms i iir Town Homes Newly Remodeled ,4. CYCLES From Economy to Luxury �', F� .• }BBQ p CHRISKEN MANAGEMENT ,t �''^ 1 on the beach �'� , r 713 5th St., MB 673-2055 r 1 532-1600 ' L *Rent First Bike,Get Second Free, I 4 • ... Except Weekends&Holidays. ` in a► ii v.. b a Beep Your Dad This Father's Day! Mark Soyka(center), owner of News Cafe, is considered one of Ocean's big winners TROPICS story.I've never seen such inconsistency."As she pieces together Brand New BRAVO's For$49" No lease! You own it! continued from page 23 Unified's legacy, the Trustee says she's •900 MHZ high bandbeen left to wonder not why Tropics .. and movie studios,a club witkra 1600 •6 second average response time - --- person capacity and a translucent dance •brand new unit-not reconditioned floor lit from below,a la Saturday Night appeared unable to reliably pay •optional calls answered in your own voice Fever. Humbly titled"Legends at South taxman—ever lasted so long. •RANGE:Key West to Vero Beach Available Beach,"the facility would spotlight live Unified creditors are asking where all same da delivery 1 year warrant music from Fabian, Paul Revere and the the dough from Tropics went. In April y r - y y Raiders, and a host of other Pleistocene- g p p era rockers.The multimillion-dollar court-appointed examiner Arthur KEYS CO1VINIUNICATIONS Mo.ogo� Weitzner stoked suspicions with a pair of 1-800-564-0719 BRAVO revamp tab was to be footed by yet scathing reports. His initial evaluation MIAMI FLA KEYS another mystery investor—who promptly noted that Unified appeared to be e^ backed out. 1883 N.W.7th ST 88539 Overseas Hwy *Airtime: On April 16 Weaver appointed Jeanette fraudulently concealing approximately two Suite#2 Suite#3 $11million dollars of debt and,almost .50 per month+tax Tavormma to liquidate the Edison and le Miami,FL 33125 Tavernier,FL 33070 q paranthetically,assailed Fozzard's skills as As $20.00 connection fee Tropics and sell the property.A week .,,, 642-2702 852-2828 company bookkeeper. "Despite alleged 99.80 total charges later she shut down the club in disgust. "I all major credit cards accepted $ g basically should have closed that place the qualifications as an accountant,"Weitzner day I took over this case. I've never seen wrote, Mr. Fozzard was unable to inform SS 4 �£<a r such loose cash control in all my life,"the. " �' t�y ANNIVERSARY SPECIAL' R l :ii I veteran trustee comments. "The place Salom and Mayoral came Froomp I;. { It r' ,t f l � i £` I .t t € was a mess. I could just visibly see there Q� on like money-bagged £ ,„,t£ , y were code violations. A lot of violations.” Illi., O,.:: AS - xx#..;,,..0..,0„..,,..,,,...,,,:,.. ...0..,,-ttt ";,,,£Ila„ , at So sudden was the closure that a few white knights, promising to P� ££ £} . v.. Y workers showed upon Sunday to find the W`R � doors padlocked. Members of at least one buy half the mortgages on � band that played at the club, determined seven Sanchez properties, �a '#0u■ to extract an overdue payment from the owners,reportedly broke into Tropicsair for $15 million. ' during its last days and hauled off TVs and 75 stereo equipment. - I Paparazzi, though never forced into the Examiner concerning certain 2,011 ''''' bankruptcy,didn't fare much better.Two important economic considerations of the Here's our once a year weeks after Tropics closed, the Internal hotel, such as a'break even'point." special, offering the lowest price Revenue Service closed the restaurant, A supplemental report submitted two this year for unlimited use 'u citing$347,000 in unpaid payroll and weeks later revealed that Unified—the We've reduced our S375 rate to income taxes. subject of an IRS audit—had not filed $299 while we celebrate our .o Thomas Salom,who spoke briefly to corporate tax returns from 1989 to 1991. New Times, blames Tropics'tailspin on Without written records,Weitzner anniversary. There are no strings4 Randy Fozzard. "The sales were here, asserted,Unified officials were free to attached and no restrictions. but the management was wrong. I came divert money from their own failing Come in today and save. 1 back in October because Oliver[Mayoral] businesses into financially healthy told me we were going to lose it all. I and companies: "The examiner believes We Offer: other new venturers tried to restructure insiders of Unified have transferred many Stair Master the debt and bail it out,but it didn't add assets to non-debtor entities and have left Keiser Complete circuit up."Mayoral, the recipient of a$52,000 [Unified]deeply insolvent." Precor Stair Climbers & Treadmills salary from Unified according to court One such entity,observers suggest,is concept II Rowers • records,could not be reached for Bacchus, Inc.,an Illinois corporation. Lifecycle-, comment through his attorney,Alan That theory might solve one mystery: Free Weights& Nautilus Perlman. Perlman has since filed a motion why Unified turned the Breakwater over Free Aerobics& Step Aerobics to withdraw from the bankruptcy case. to Bacchus, Inc.on a 1990 deed that State-of-the-art Weight Room "Yeah,Tom[Salom]came in at the trustee Tavormina says indicates no Showers&Lockers end,"ex-bouncer Eisenman recalls. "He payment. "Why would Unified spin off a Steam, Sauna&Whirlpools was blowing sunshine up everyone's ass, four million dollar property for no Health Food/Juice Bar promising people free vacations and money?"asks Brad Lotspeich, the raises. We were gonna get this and get attorney representing Tobacco Road's that and in the end we didn't get shit. I owners."It would seem they saw things wouldn't believe anything that anybody going bad and wanted to throw all their there says." assets into a strong corporation,one not millions in debt already."Lotspeich says World Trade YMCA Fitness Center hich pretty much sums up he suspects Fozzard,who helped broker 90 SW 8th Street 3 blocks from Brickell 7 7 3091 Jeanette Tavormina's posture. the Bacchus deal,now may be planning to Ave.)) We've spoken to all the principals sell the Breakwater and skip town. over the past few weeks,"she says rwrnrnt:.;.an%,Iv abic'.ANIL> Maqc,rCacc,Er..Vlyt. , .y,•r,7 f wearily, "and they all give a different continued on page 26 • --. O PAGE 26-NEW TIMES-JUNE 17-23,1992 Sax man and flutist at Arthur Barron �� reigned over Tropics ��" II , during its finest gif .�ti.1 I:Mali.. hour p • �� r ` -.� V ir;;;;....• / /-�' *c res g 7ifi . , i CODE-ALARM REMOTE SYSTEMS w ,. from al 99 installed Starter Interrupt•2 Remote Transmitters•Scan Deterrent �. Impact Sensor• Remote Panic•2 Car Operation , car nos t.F Celebrating Our 16th Year! '1 `;: `,/,, ny ,-: , THE CAR SECURITY EXPERTS 467 S. Dixie Hwy • Coral Gables • 661-8022 �, �' " ♦ 4� ''n ve ,euromobilu _ � 1 ,� air -' - / ', • i • EUROPEAN FURNITURE, ART & ACCESSORIES FOR FATHERS' DAY-SPECIAL SALE TROPICS Edison's prime location. But so far cash TILL JUNE 20 offers have been in the neighborhood of •,. —_ •• continued from page 24 three million dollars,not even enough to Fozzard says he is hoping to sell the cover the hotel's liens and encumbrances. Breakwater, but he denies any illi . , 4 wrongdoing. "There were no fraudulent f all this seems to cast Ocean Drive as __�, transactions, he insists. Considerable Iirwestmetobiouslyyourenot A V payment was made for the Breakwater in cash, in stock,and assumption of reading the fine print.Just ask Craig • liabilities.They can look at that Robins,co-owner of Dacra Cos. and at transaction as long as they want. It was an age 28,South Beach's reigning BLACK OR GREY- arm's length deal."Though he is not an development prodigy: "I think it's a TABLE-$199-NO GLASS owner of Unified, Fozzard did show up at testament to Ocean Drive's strength that CHAIR-$109-FABRIC-NO ARMS LIMITED QUANTITIES a court-mandated creditors meeting on these guys lasted as long as they did,"he OTHERS FROM$65 DELIVERY AVAILABLE June 4,where half a dozen attorneys says, of Tropics'ill-fated owners."That pelted him with questions.Salom and street carried them." Mayoral did not attend the powwow. From Unified's wreckage, Robins The s t ore where art meets furniture . . . They also stood up creditors at the gingerly extracts half a dozen maxims for originally scheduled meeting on May 20. success on America's most glamorous Near the Falls Mon-Fri 11-4:30pm,Sat 11-4pm Weitzner refuses to elaborate on his street.Never, for instance,assume you 8879 S.W.131 St.254-8559 Credit Cards Accepted reports,noting only, "It's a very can run a club just because you own an flamboyant situation over there."But Ocean Drive property. Never count on a others embroiled in the saga are not so reticent. "I heard rumors while I was in "They got desperate and r, Hong Kong that the owners started to get A FATHER'S DAY too caught up in the nightlife scene and turned the club into a started to blow it,"Barron says. "B last y y college-type lace thinking SALE! season they knew it was over.They just place, h1 ._ a� ¢-< wanted to stuff their pockets with as much that volume could pay the k Sale Ends money as they could and get out."Salom „ • \- ••_ JUNE 20 and Fozzard both characterize Barron's blll$, Barron says. a accusation as"ridiculous." Trustee Tavormina concedes that three-hour dinner rush to pay around- - Unified's financial dealings"look awful the clock expenses.Never buy property '. Boots • Shirts •JeansHats•Belts •Buckles funny."But she says all the conflicting without the capital to wait out market stories and the dearth of solid fluctuations.And never,ever,aim lower Much more! documentation make it impossible to than that mystical threshold known as ' ' I '"" r.. �: figure out exactly what happened. "Right "qualitative product." ,', now our priority is getting the Edison Robins, who teamed with Chris A _ ' \ !:'� sold,"she notes. Blackwell's Island Trading Co. last month P No small feat,given the hotel's legacy to snatch up the five Ocean Drive r ; I a of debt-The property carries five properties once owned by Royale,knows v y mortgages, totaling more than$3.4 "qualitative product."His hyped-to-the- 1, ` million,and interest on its first loan,from rafters Marlin Hotel on Collins Avenue, 40 ' — Sunset English Yapital Bank,is accruing at the whopping verily drips with the stuff, and his current �, &Western Wear, Inc.In rr-e '" - 16300 SW 296 St.•Homestead rate of$670 per day. Overdue rent, fetish, the Netherland Hotel,promises to 1 (305)245-2935 taxes,and bills could add tens of send Ocean Drive's snoot quotient thousands more to the debt. Prospective through the w ' r i `T investors also face the cost of buyingg penthouse roof. F. . Sunset Feed out For Robins the death of Tropics is an & Supply, Inc. Barron's original ten-year lease for undisguised blessing,one that clears the Tropics. path for more stable(read:wealthy) 7650 SW 117 Ave.•M ami Tavonnina says queries have been investors, while at the same time (305)271-0341 purging ' pouring in,no surprise considering the one of the rowdiest operations from a _ _ __ _ >er —. JUNE 17-23,1992-NEW TIMES-PAGE 27 = should come as no surprise.Way back in 'm�"�IMAMS"" r 1984,city officials drew up'A Planning ''",' HE LEGEND RETURNS and Urban Design Strategy"for the drive ... ; that enumerated several looming J =1" ,� WINGS �.r►E ;, ' ,�, -1 problems. Foremost among them, not a ie'cl a / 1 surprisingly,was parking;the study noted $'NI �'`^ i I • ;d r , ..•` ` ,ti OF t - _.�_ that the street offered less than half the _. r '• " ' parking spaces required by city law and �--' �. STEEL pointed out that the number of spaces was unlikely to increase. Sure enough, the I 44:•1‘ ,1 '.: , , ,- tourist boom has rendered parking a full-blown crisis for residents,as well as , _ `i N NOWCanying out-of-towners,and no solution seems • Indian Motorcycle , ,. imminent. I Accessories*1,� The 1984 report also questioned C . = whether the cramped,outdated . accommodations produced by 1930s 1 .. ', 1 ..` 1-Shirts,Gifts, �k (0 architects could compete with lavish 9 Sales,Service, 4 ' o pavilions in north Miami Beach and across i' Parts& •=1- a the causeway. "I have clients who come ' a into town from Boston and visit Ocean ri ' k p .` . Accessories for Duke of Deco Gerry Sanchez Drive and say,'Wow, this place is great!' +` `&� Harley Davidson - But none of them ever stay there," � ' >; � . Motorcycles. reports MaryJane Stone, senior vice r y section of the strip upStrerset haughtily president of Appraisal and Real Estate `" t refer to as the"Tenth Street garbage. ' Economics Associates, Inc. "People are He is far from alone in his mirth. oft am not going to pay$200 a night for a tiny �. 'My feeling is if they could have made /� item money by converting Tropics to a disco/ room with a kitchenette and a frame bed 280 Espanola �'���1�' • South Beach • 672-4294 l/ N.vith ad hardware store, they would have,"says and plaster peeling off the wall."To fully Mark Soyka,whose News Café set the refurbish the buildings—wiring, MN MN■,,, standard for chic, camera-ready noshing. lumbaltoge d all she says require mar mot "There was no love behind the operation. investment. "These hotels weren't D Nsoul."Camped in a back booth of his exactly built to last until Armageddon." CROCODILE restaurant,the gnomish guru spots another target."Look at Wet Willie's over Nor, says broker Susan Rothchild, were real estate companies: "Anything there," says, sizing up the bar across OSTRICH S II O E S the street. "He's selling blue drinks in involving real estate,you have to take plastic cups.I mean,why would I want to take a big plastic cup and fill it with a blue "I should have closed that $3,000,000 BIGGEST SELECTION Latest drink and sit there?What's the purpose?" While this query appears to leave place the day I took over," Inventory IN FLORIDA! Styles unresolved the larger existential meaning says bankruptcy trustee associated with sipping brown liquids from y p , y Father's Day Specials! small ceramic cups,Soyka's point is plain. Tavormina. I ve never / 1 "This,"he says, fixing Wet Willie's with a $;SLY DRESS Top Of The Line BALLY glare deserving of month-old Brie, "this is seen such loose cash BRUNO MAGLI ITALIAN SILK TIES CASUALS Daytona Beach.Spring Break.We don't " Colehaan •Mario Valentino$1o0 need Spring Break here. Penrod's tried control in all my life. 90 •IIalston 0&uP that and he didn't make it.This is wrong." Reg. Reg, $3990 An affront,in other words, to the monied with about a pound of salt. Look at[real X249 U� $149 J sophistication preferred by the new wave estate giant]Olympia and York. For years BRUNO MAGLI of Beach developers. everyone thought they were invincible &Other Brands Sizes 5-15 In Stock! "The area is really in its infancy in and suddenly they're in bankruptcy.Who's CROCODILE UPPER �' terms of growth,"explains Doug DeWitt, to say little Dacra won't go under next OSTRICH president of New Wave Realty. "I have week?" R people from Italy telling me that they can One looming concern is whether Ocean SSo�- 15990 �, hardly look at a nice apartment in a resort Drive will ultimately fall victim to its own Ssoo area for less than one million dollars,let trend-mongering metabolism,whether its l I alone a whole hotel,"he says. "I think MOSCOLONI O ' ' �', y pointed appeal to the world's flakiest set MOSCOL ,,,,,s_ id ':---4 Ocean Drive could become the trophy &Other Brands -- � � showcase for people from around the continued on page 28 ; world who want a hot building on a hot Re street.And if that happens, the market is $240 5990_ going to go crazy." With celebrity buyers such as fashion r Up To Date•Top Brand furor Gianni Versace,warbler Gloria Johnston & Murphy ITALIAN MICHELE LOIS! ITALIAN LADIES' SHOES Estefan,and, most recently, Italian jeans ""'• 90 ITALIAN LAMBSKIN DRESS SHOES manufacturer.DieselpeCo., snapping up g 29 Reg90Ocean Drive ro rt at more than$100Reper square foot,many say the mania has • `159 �x� 990 39 already set in. 4 PAIR/ $100 S 149 But some fear the buying spree is r turning a once-funky thoroughfare into an Top Qua 1 qty Mens Clothing alcove of elitism."There's all this talk ,. „�„, LINEN 2() ITALIAN iO I about removing the'bad element,'" - PANTS DRESS SHIRTS (�"� -- observes Susan Rothchild,a long-time - Rag. 10ES COTTON Reg.Sao I�`1 �i�j`�'" `�u��i Iii Miamian and real estate broker. "But you GABARDINE STONE- it ��� see, that's part of the allure. It's like going ��� t , .\ , /,I, into the souk in Morocco—it has that PANTS --ZD WASHED,P29 90�% ,I ;1 Forbidden City quality." ITALIAN•100%WOOL R i2o SILK SHIRTS .�;�'i I �""I� Others see another Coconut Grove in `� `;x �_ S \�' vi, ' �' • 1 ,1 the offing,a retail mutation clogged withMajor New motifs of consumption.The harbingers— / • >> ,r.= Import-Exporter Merchandise "rti T-shirt shops,rap-fueled traffic jams, S, *iv Now Open To meat-market milling—are hard toThe Public! Arriving Daily! ram it dispute. (To stave off such tackiness, — — - U Ocean Drive properties owners already tit r:n.. L.B. 0 O are pushing city officials to restrict further %%T; %% retail development.) l r ••••• �•• �...�a\\ TransGLOBAL • 757-9696 \\\\\.` „i iiiir~i More cautious real estate players r ;, apo p Coco' 5084 Biscayne Boulevard•Miami - Secure Parking contend that Ocean Drive's obstacles are 1 ,&:`.� n Export OPEN FRIDAY, SATURDAY, SUNDAY• 10ani - 6pin as much structural as imagistic.That Upscale developer Craig Robins 1, JUNE 17-23,1992-NEW TIMES-PAGE 29 . TROPICS continued from page 27 ■ will leave it vulnerable to becoming— gasp—passé.Will the Latin and I° . ' IMAIllill European aristocracy, for example,head elsewhere if the U.S. dollar rebounds? Will the modeling industry grow tired of beach backdrops?To put it more bluntly: will the same mentality that transformed Tropics from a jazz showplace into a failing (7'_t, The World's Largest Art, Craft & Graphic Discount Center profit pit beset the whole damned avenue? Ae4.-- < otifGerry Sanchez can help it.Yes, � Artistic Gifts • Useful Gifts • Elegant Gifts NGerry Sanchez.Just when you thoGenre the led,th saga couldn't ''• .-�� • On Sale Now For Father's Day at Pearl get any more muddled, the so-called Duke A �,;t°`. ��of Deco has risen from the ashes. "Oh , °; P yes,he came to my house the other day ((� l to andto terll me how f documents hes in Payson' BADGER AIR BRUSH SET GRUMBACHER SOFT PASTEL SETS and to tell me how fantastic he is,"says trustee Jeanette Tavormina."Apparently 4-Pack comes complete in a wooden Choose from three sets of Grumbacher Pastels: he would like to assume part ownership of case.Set includes: attachable jars; 30 each set the Edison." HD head assembly and needle;Color • Portrait Assortment • Landscape Assortment So much so that he whizzed down from cup; braided air hose and much, much • Introductory Set New York to offer an impassioned pitch atit, more. the May 20 meeting,promising creditors / , Mfg List Price$120.00 Mfg List Price'32.75 ' le he had an investor willing to pay off the .�. building's mortgages. Sanchez, who holds \ SALE $7 200 _. $SALE T 19 7 7 \ei1!, Tpf RJI E - one of the five liens on the Edison, says all he wants is to save the hotel. #150 . :i • . "It's a disgrace that the place that kept the show going is falling into ruin,"he barks. "Tropics was the catalyst of Ocean NEW! LEFAX tilt,, — WATERMAN PENS "The examiner believes Choose from our extensive collection insiders of Unified have of leather personal organizers and binders.Available in a range of Entire line now on sale including,gold-plated • silver-plated transferred many assets to colors, sizes and leather Types. a(.■���■`•`■e. • laquered look. The Oxford No.16071,Gentleman's sterling silver fountain pen with 18K gold nib non-debtor entities and Mfg List Price'79 00 Mfg List Price'290.00 have left [Unified] deeply $5056 r` SALE �;.:„ \ insolvent." SALE • .IL $17,400 List prices from'79.00 to'325.00 �+� Similar savings on other styles ' Drive, if not the whole Art Deco district." - The fiery, Cuban-born investor has taken ; ELMER'S E R'S G LU E byBORDEN . to sendingoff memos to creditors askingD R E M E L MOTO TOOL them to endorse his buyout plan or to one of their own.He sounds �.' Illi_ Entire line of Elmer's Glue All for all propose No.395 Variable speed mato tool purpose material. Dries clear,dries fast, genuinely bemused that he has not •Adjustable high speed ball bearing motor. telui dries strong. received any responses. ' =i'--'. • Speed can be adjusted for any applicaiton, For Sanchez,the return to real estate ilttt; any material. I Mfg List Price SALE ti L-r., marks a departure from his most recent ql Mtas 44 project,a book-length interview with the 'ill Mfg List Price 113.00 As,... 11/4 oz 78a 52c spirit of ChristopherphColumbus—"the •v.a $6 724 awns © f greatest developer the world ever had" "ito SALE Whitt 1 ���� 974 and an obvious role model. "Risk is what e –e a oz 1.a3 it's all about. Risk and financing,"Sanchez _ Similar savings on other sizes — says. "These guys on Ocean Drive now, they can criticize the pioneers, the ones with arrows in their backs. But we are the SCULPEY III POLYFORM ART BIN real heroes. Salom and Mayoral, they, by Polyform �, by Flambeau too, are heroes who carried the torch of Ocean Drive when no one else believed." __m �/' To Beach denizens,Sanchez's latest ]peyr, Colored modeling compound. 40►� \ Beginning artists love this box for ,,, Ideal for craft&hobby, sculpting, \* �" its simplicity.A single white tray rash of grandstanding is too deliciously 1---,._,--- '. .. including jewelry, magnets, and a palette offer just what the ironic to pass up. "The guy has no record `- 4-;-'-30.1 V+' keychains and more. beginner needs. of success on Ocean,"says Tobacco Road �'"•�„Vic,-- \ Mfg List Price 11.35 . Mfg List Price 11.4.95 attorney Lotspeich,who moved to South ;,.,�, >,::, A.. ���9 Beach in 1985. "He took a terrible beating �. ':z';,. $957 and it's like he's just returning to the ►,.-. SALE SALE trough of punishment.He sees all these new people on the drive and assumes there's money to be made,when he should know that you can do plenty of orated next door, the bookstore is open during the same hours as business and still lose money. It's just PEARL BARGAINL, the main store and loaded with lovely, hardcover books covering a unbelievable." �[ TORE varied range of topics form Art to Zoology. Clearance items are also On any other street,perhaps. But this BOO n5 located in a reserved section of our new Pearl Bargain Bookstore • being Ocean Drive, such turnabout is not only fair play,but fairly predictable. STORE HOURS—MON - FRI 9AM -8PM Sale items only while supply lasts•No rain checks "There is some pride involved,ISAT 9AM -6PM • SUN LOAM - 5PM I)U!AII., We reserve the right to limit quantities suppose,"Sanchez says,laughing TM All items may not be available at all locations riotously. "I guess I feel like I've got to SALE ENDS JUNE 23, 1992 We are not responsible for printing errors perfect what's left." ❑ ARTIST&CRAFTS SUPPLY CORP. 13451 South Dixie Highway, Miami • (305) 251-5700 1033 East Oakland Park Blvd., Fort Lauderdale • (305) 564-5700 Asa Ft Lauderdale•Tampa•Orlando•Houston,Tx•Atlanta,GA•Rockville,MD•Alexandna,VA•Cambridge,MA Paramus,NJ•Woodbndge,NJ•Cherry Hill,NJ•New York City•East Meadow,N I