Dolphins Owner STEPHEN ROSS "may join with" Flagstone Property Group CEO MEHMET BAYRAKTAR in the "development of the long-stalled Island Gardens on Miami's Watson Island" (BIZJOURNALS.com, 2/13). Bayraktar "won the right to develop on the waterfront crown jewel back in 2001." He said that Ross has "signed a Letter of Intent to 'co-develop' the entire project." With 50% of the deal, it "could put Ross' investment close to" $400M (MIAMI HERALD, 2/11).
REAL ESTATE REPORT: Tigers RF TORII HUNTER "listed his luxury home" in Newport Beach, Calif., for $3.975M. Hunter paid $3.8M for the property in '07 (REALTOR.com, 2/13)....Clippers coach VINNY DEL NEGRO last month sold his home in Highland Park, Ill., for $1.2M, the "same price he had paid for it about 4 1/2 years earlier." Meanwhile, free agent MLBer JIM THOME has "reduced the asking price on his six-bedroom, stone-and-brick mansion" in Hinsdale, Ill., to $3.5M from $3.8M (CHICAGOTRIBUNE.com, 2/14).
CHARITY STRIPE: The Green Bay Packers Foundation has "awarded a record" $450,000 to 145 civic and charity organizations in the state of Wisconsin. The number of groups that benefited "almost doubled the 79 groups that received a total of $255,145 last year." Foundation Committee Chair CHARLIE LIEB said that the "dramatic donation increase was due to the Packers adding $3 million to its endowment fund last year" (PACKERSNEWS.com, 2/13).
CHANNEL SURF: Hallmark Channel will debut its original movie “Mr. Hockey: The GORDIE HOWE Story” on May 4, with MICHAEL SHANKS portraying Howe and KATHLEEN ROBERTSON as “Mrs. Hockey,” the late COLLEEN HOWE (Hallmark)….Texans RB ARIAN FOSTER will appear on Monday’s episode of CBS’ “Hawaii Five-O” (ESPN.com, 2/13).
NAMES: Former Rockets GM CARROLL DAWSON will be honored during NBA All-Star Weekend as the recipient of the Jerry Colangelo Award, which recognizes members of the NBA community for their character and leadership on the court an in their communities (Rockets)....Former MLBer CHIPPER JONES will appear tomorrow at the 37th annual Nat’l Wild Turkey Convention & Sport Show (Nashville TENNESSEAN, 2/14)....Boston-based nonprofit MassChallenge, which "runs an annual contest for business start-ups," is taking its competition to Israel with the help of Patriots Owner ROBERT KRAFT (BOSTON GLOBE, 2/14)....Univ. of Memphis football coach JUSTIN FUENTE had his contract extended "by one year -- through the 2017 season." The terms on the contract, which "paid him $900,000 in 2012, remain the same" (Memphis COMMERCIAL APPEAL, 2/14)....The U.S. Department of State's Bureau of Educational & Cultural Affairs announced Baseball HOFer BARRY LARKIN and former U.S. Olympic softball SS NATASHA WATLEY will travel as sports envoys to India from Feb. 12-18 in conjunction with MLB and USA Softball (MLB)....An 800-pound bronze statue of late Ohio State football coach WOODY HAYES is "set in place" at the school's Woody Hayes Athletic Center. Artist ALAN COTTRILL of Zanesville started the piece "five years ago" (DISPATCH.com, 2/14)....Model ELAINE ALDEN wrote on Twitter yesterday she is engaged to Raptors G LANDRY FIELDS (NYPOST.com, 2/13).
IN MEMORY: Former Annapolis Capital sports editor and columnist JOE GROSS died Tuesday at the age of 72. Gross spent 34 years with paper (Annapolis CAPITAL, 2/14).
