Airport revitalization means moving out for some
An article by Julia Neyman of the South Florida Business Journal covers the impact of Miami-Dade and Adler’s moves to wrongfully evict the small business tenants of Opa Locka Airport.
Opa-locka Executive Airport’s National Aviation building stands deserted.
The former private jet and fuel-based operator service hasn’t turned on the lights since June, and the broad tiled hallways are starting to fill with dust.
Nearby, ALCA Avionics‘ repair shop is also dark, and owner Sergio Alen has started a life vest business across the way because he doesn’t think ALCA’s lights will ever come back on.
The classrooms at Wayman Aviation Services are empty. Nobody wants to plunk down a $10,000 deposit at a school that might not be there tomorrow.
The owners said they moved out after developer Michael Adler took over the Opa-locka land a year ago and started raising rents. They had been paying 15 cents a square foot, similar to the 18 cents charged at North Perry Airport in Pembroke Pines, but Adler is asking for higher rents because it is redoing the worn-out building.
“My business is paralyzed,” said National Aviation owner Alex Rodriguez, who on Feb. 6 filed suit against Miami-Dade County for allegedly altering his lease and awarding a few tenants long-term leases before Adler took over – while leaving the rest of the tenants to deal with the new owner. “I put 32 years of my life into the airport, and they’re kicking me out.”
Continue reading the article at the South Florida Business Journal’s website.