We wanted to do a 1031 exchange if we sold the land to delay the taxes. In the process, I saw firsthand how good Lourdes was at handling our case. She was no fun to work with because she was tough, but I was impressed. Our attor- neys weren’t nearly as responsive or expert in Real Estate. After the closing, I asked Lourdes to have lunch and offered her to be our attorney moving forward. For the property to close we had to over- come a developers agreement on the property requiring approval from the City, County, and Neighborhood. To get the neighbors on board a few of us had to go knocking on every door that was near the property. One guy with a machete chased us away. He said he want to see low-in- come housing on the property. When all of this was completed there was still one sticking point. Broward County was not onboard with the naming rights. The item was scheduled for the commissioners to vote on the issue. We were asked to attend. The family was in the high seats far from the action. We were asked if anyone wants to represent the family. Frank, immediately went down the steps to the speaking area. I followed him. The commissioners explained they don’t normally allow naming rights for living people. They went on to explain other people would want the same. They also explained how do we know if your parents don’t have any skele- tons in their past. That is when Frank stood up and said, Honor thy Father and Mother. That seemed to satisfy the question. I asked Frank to return to his seat and remained. I answered a few more questions and the gavel struck. We had a deal! I walked back to our seats with the greatest sense of pride. Later, Kristen came out and gave me a big hug. Jim Cummings, a builder, was in the audi- ence. He wanted to make sure we could raise the money to build a warehouse in the 1031 exchange. We still needed a place for fulfill- ment. Using the 1031 exchange we ended up buying our whole campus and a warehouse, five buildings in all. Herman - It was a stupendous win for us. Many of my kids wanted the cash. I would not allow it. We turned around and bought the rest of the campus where we were located, the
Michael and Alizabeth Shooster
building behind us, the 767 Building, two more down the street, 541 and 441 State Road 441, and we also bought the warehouse we were using. Considered as a whole we created a full- fledged real estate company. Everyone pros- pered on the sale, and Mike took a little extra pride. Two years later we got slammed by Hurri- cane Wilma. It caused over two mils. in damag- es. Each building had its own insurance policy. All the claims were settled except for the 777 building. Twelve years later we won that case. The bottom line; we leveraged the sale of the wetlands leaving us with bank loans on each new property that one day will be paid off. Emboldened by the sale, we also bought two more acres of land at the corner of 441 and Sample road. That property sat for many years until 2012 when a deal was made to sell it to a development company specializing in senior housing. The caveat for that sale depended on a federal grant. They got the grant and the sale was completed.
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