Investors including billionaire Jorge Perez have plans to build luxury condo towers on a lot they bought for $180 million on Fisher Island in South Florida. Miami-Dade County officials, suddenly panicked about the effect on the local economy, are trying to stop them.

The parcel is the last sliver of land available for high-end residential development on the posh island, which was recently named the most expensive ZIP code in the US. But it also houses a 700,000-barrel fuel depot that’s crucial for Miami’s port, the world’s largest hub for passenger cruises and a bustling cargo facility. The developers plan to replace the fuel terminal with condos.

“This is an existential crisis,” Miami-Dade County Commissioner Raquel Regalado said at a meeting last month, citing the port’s importance

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