Where's my wine!
Where's my cheese!
Where's my supermodels by the pool!
Where's my neighbors?
Waaaaa!!!!
Vagrants are tough reality for Edgewater condo owners
Denizens of the new condo tower Blue were shocked to find out what neighbors have known for years: the highly touted Edgewater area has a lot of panhandlers.
When Lily Azel and her husband forked over nearly $750,000 for a condo at Blue, a swanky new tower on 36th Street just east of Biscayne Boulevard, they weren't just sold a luxury home with turquoise-tinted windows and a gleaming stainless steel kitchen.
They were sold a vision of a fabulous new midtown Miami. But that doesn't quite gel with what they see when they leave their home.
Welcome to Edgewater, where die-hard old grit collides with new flash every day.
''We knew there was some of that element,'' Azel said, referring to the squads of vagrants and panhandlers who populate the area near the condo. She moved to Blue last year from Weston.
``But we were led to believe the whole area would be revamped into this great midtown.''
To make matters worse, Azel and her neighbors were shocked to recently learn that the state was stashing a quintet of convicted sex offenders a few hundred yards to the east, under the Julia Tuttle Causeway.
Victor McGlone, an educator who has lived at the Charter Club for nine years, said folks in his building have often found homeless people bathing in the fountain in front of their building's lobby.
Peter Megler, a Realtor and vice president of the Blue's board of directors, said the condo's developers extolled the transformation expected for Edgewater when pitching to buyers.
''I moved here from New York because I could feel the energy in this town,'' said Megler, whose condo cost $396,489. ``But many of us don't feel like we're getting our money's worth.''
''I moved here from New York because I could feel the energy in this town,'' said Megler, whose condo cost $396,489. ``But many of us don't feel like we're getting our money's worth.''
