Rising Tides Are Taking A Toll On Miami Development
Miami is in the midst of an unprecedented flurry of development, and while all eyes are on market forces it seems there is one thing everyone is ignoring—rising tides.
A University of Miami study reveals Miami Beach has experienced a 200% increase in flooding over the last decade, and sea levels continue to rise beneath the city, seeping upwards through limestone and into buildings’ underground garages, Bloomberg reports. That makes normal defenses against rising water levels, such as sea walls and dikes, completely useless.
Part of the disconnect between the environmental reality and current development has to do with varying time frames—when private equity invests in a property, it's usually thinking five years ahead. But this is a problem that will worsen over the next 100 years. [Bloomberg]
