Group will consider fate of Jungle land
Pinecrest has formed a committee that will focus on what to do with the Parrot Jungle property after the village buys it. The group will also have a limited role in searching for money to purchase the site.
Pinecrest Councilman and committee chairman Leslie Bowe said he is confident the village will eventually reach an agreement with Bern Levine on a selling price for the 21.86 acres of prime real estate in the heart of the village, on the corner of Southwest 111th Street and 57th Avenue.
Levine has struck a long-term deal with the City of Miami and is set to move Parrot Jungle to Watson Island next fall. Bowe said Levine is asking for between $9 million and $11 million for the Pinecrest property, but he believes that price is a little steep.
“I believe after appraisals the number will be lower,” he said. “We need to look at some Realtors to get prices because [more than] $400,000 an acre is a high number.”
Bowe said the group is well on its way to finding about $8 million, what he thinks is necessary to purchase the land. Last year’s passing of the countywide parks bond issue specifically allocated $4 million toward the Pinecrest site.
The creation of the new group does not mean the demise of Preserve the Jungle Inc., a private organization that will continue working to purchase the site. Preserve the Jungle will act as the fund-raising arm of the new committee, Bowe said.
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Preserve the Jungle has sent out several feelers over the past year, and Bowe believes through grants and private donations the village will soon find matching funds.
Bowe is chairman of the new 10-member group. Each council member, with the exception of Bowe, selected two residents. Bowe selected one.
They are Steve Colsky, Kathy Hersch, John Dellagloria, Gary Matzner, Rob Glowacki, Sheryl Gregory, Alice Hector, Rodger Traynor and Bruce Wilner.
The first meeting was last week. Another is scheduled for sometime in January.
One of the main reasons the village set up the group, Pinecrest Councilman Barry Blaxberg said, was so all discussions on the property would be out in the open and applicable to the Sunshine law. Blaxberg has been outspoken in his belief that the chase for Parrot Jungle should be out in the open for all to see.
“The future of Parrot Jungle is too important to leave in the hands of a few,” Blaxberg said. “We need to get in the open what was handled privately all this time.”