North Beach CRA says two facade grants have been paid and its 'can't fund' chart isn't new policy

The North Beach Community Redevelopment Agency has paid out two facade grants and no home-improvement grants, according to written answers its staff sent Red Sidewalks on Friday. The answers also say the agency’s chart of what its money “can’t” fund was not meant to end its arts and marketing spending.

The city’s Office of Marketing and Communications sent the answers Friday afternoon, in response to seven questions Red Sidewalks sent the agency on Monday, Nov. 2. They come four days before the agency’s advisory committee meets on its five-year plan on Tuesday, Nov. 10.

What the answers say:

• Grants: The facade and home programs pay only after a project is finished and its paperwork is in, so spending can lag the budget. Two commercial facade projects have been reimbursed. No residential project has been.
• Schoolyard and shade sails: The $1.5 million schoolyard and $100,000 Normandy Fountain shade sails are authorized, not spent. The schoolyard is in design and the shade sails are being re-scoped, with no construction dates. The answer gives spending through Sept. 30, 2025, which the audit already showed as zero, not spending since then, which is what we asked.
• The school: It’s Biscayne Beach Elementary. The presentation’s “North Beach Elementary” was a clerical error.
• Arts and marketing: The chart was meant to summarize recent changes in state law and legal guidance, “not intended to establish new policy or discontinue previously authorized programs.” The answer doesn’t name the law.
• The plan contract: Daedalus Advisory Services holds a $68,028 service order, awarded through the city’s pool of competitively chosen economic development consultants. Redevelopment Management Associates and Able City are its subconsultants. The plan grew from a short-term plan into a full five-year plan, which took longer.
• Adoption: No date is set.

The agency’s answers follow in full, under our questions. The original is a two-page PDF.

Our questions and the agency’s answers

1. The FY 2025 year-end budget memo shows $22,000 spent of $342,000 budgeted for facade and residential grants, and $2,000 of $97,000 for small business development. Why did those programs spend so little, and how many grants have been paid out since the programs began?

The NBCRA’s Commercial Façade Improvement and Residential Property Improvement Programs operate on a reimbursement basis. Funds are disbursed only after an eligible project is completed and required documentation is submitted. As a result, expenditures may not occur within the same fiscal year as the budget appropriation. To date, two Commercial Façade Improvement Program projects have been completed and reimbursed. No Residential Property Improvement Program projects have completed the reimbursement process.

The FY 2025 funds for small business development led to the establishment of the Commercial Lease Subsidy Pilot Program.

2. The October presentation lists the $1.5 million schoolyard and the $100,000 Normandy Fountain shade sails under “investments so far,” but the audited FY 2025 report shows no spending from the capital fund. What has been spent on each since Oct. 1, 2025, and when will each be built?

The presentation reflects projects authorized for funding by the NBCRA Board, while the audited financial statements reflect expenditures recorded through September 30, 2025.

The NBCRA has authorized funding of up to $1.5 million for the Biscayne Beach Elementary Schoolyard Project and up to $100,000 for the Normandy Fountain Shade Sail Project. As of September 30, 2025, no expenditures had been recorded for either project.

The schoolyard project is in design development. The shade sail project is undergoing scope and budget refinement. Construction schedules have not yet been finalized.

3. The presentation calls the schoolyard “North Beach Elementary,” while the budget and audit say Biscayne (Beach) Elementary. Which school is it?

The project is located at Biscayne Beach Elementary School. The reference to “North Beach Elementary” in the presentation was a clerical error.

4. The presentation says the residential program has “no clients yet,” but the FY 2026 work plan listed 11 applicants in progress. What happened to those applications?

The 11 applications cited in the FY 2026 work plan comprise inquiries and applications associated with the Commercial Façade and Residential Improvement Programs. Not all inquiries result in completed applications, and not all approved project advance to completion and reimbursement. To date, no Residential Property Improvement Program projects have completed the reimbursement process.

5. The presentation lists events and promotion, marketing and public art as uses tax increment financing can’t fund. The 2021 plan’s Goal 3 calls for them, and the agency has funded the LOVEisLOVE installation, the artistic recycling program and an arts and culture tourism and marketing budget ($242,000 this year). What is the legal basis for the chart, and will the agency stop funding those items?

The chart was intended to summarize recent statutory changes and evolving legal guidance regarding CRA expenditures. The NBCRA Redevelopment Plan continues to include initiatives related to arts, cultural tourism, branding, communications, and public-space improvements. Proposed expenditures are evaluated on a case-by-case basis to ensure consistency with applicable law, the Redevelopment Plan, and the public purpose requirement governing CRA activities. The chart was not intended to establish new policy or discontinue previously authorized programs.

6. Which firms hold the contract for the five-year strategic plan (the presentation shows Daedalus Advisory Services, able.city and RMA)? What is the contract amount, and how was it awarded? The FY 2024 work plan budgeted $65,000 for a short-term strategic plan; why did the plan take until late 2026?

The NBCRA engaged Daedalus Capital LLC (d/b/a Daedalus Advisory Services) through the City’s competitively procured economic development consultant pool. The approved service order totals $68,028. Daedalus is supported by Redevelopment Management Associates and Able City as subconsultants. The effort evolved from a shorter-term planning initiative into a comprehensive Five-Year Strategic, Finance, and Implementation Plan. The expanded scope required additional analysis, stakeholder engagement, and implementation planning, resulting in an extended project schedule.

7. When will the five-year plan go to the CRA board for adoption?

A final adoption date has not yet been scheduled. The consultant team is completing stakeholder engagement, technical analysis, and draft recommendations. Upon completion, the plan will be presented to the NBCRA Board at a publicly noticed meeting.

Why it matters

The agency gets about $3.4 million a year in North Beach property tax growth, and the five-year plan will set how it spends that money. Daedalus and Redevelopment Management Associates also co-wrote the agency’s 2021 plan, whose Goal 3 calls for branding, marketing, events and public art.

The advisory committee meets Tuesday, Nov. 10, from 4:30 to 8:30 p.m. at Normandy Shores Golf Club, 2401 Biarritz Drive, with a consultant presentation and open house.

Going to the meeting? Here are 12 questions the agency’s own records raise, with links to each record, and a printable one-page version.