Suarez Sound Off Ep. 001 — Miami Beach's Most Controversial Development Empire | Russell Galbut

Miami Beach Commissioner David Suarez sits down with Russell Galbut, co-founder of Crescent Heights and one of the most influential (and polarizing) developers in Miami Beach history, for an unfiltered conversation about the future of our city. Galbut, a 7th-generation Miami Beach native, has been behind some of the city's most transformative and controversial projects: Five Park (Miami Beach's tallest building), 72 Park, the North Beach Town Center, and dozens of Live Local applications currently in the pipeline. In this conversation, Commissioner Suarez asks the questions residents actually want answered. They cover: Why Five Park needed to be that tall, and what the park underneath it actually does The real story behind the stalled pedestrian bridge and FPL's role in it Whether North Beach development happened too fast Live Local: what it actually does, who benefits, and why Galbut calls it one of the smartest laws Florida has ever passed The Airbnb/short-term rental debate at 72 Park Miami Beach's affordability crisis and who's really getting pushed out Washington Avenue's potential and why it's been neglected for decades Traffic, mass transit, Metromover, and Waymo The worst planning decisions Miami Beach ever made What Galbut says is the fairest and most unfair criticism of himself