Best Buy boner

Best Buy won’t be coming home to daddy, after all.

Dick Schulze, the Minnesota entrepreneur who created the nation’s biggest electronics chain 30 years ago, has all but given up his bid to take the company private, sources told The Post.

The 71-year-old former chairman of the chain has been scrambling since last summer to corral a team of buyout firms to acquire Best Buy in a deal valued at upwards of $8 billion.

Private-equity firms, however, have been on the fence about a full-fledged takeover, concerned about the risks of piling as much as $6 billion of debt atop an already struggling retailer.

PE players are instead considering the purchase of a minority stake, a sign, people close to the situation said, of optimism about the company’s turnaround prospects.

“People think [Chief Executive Hubert] Joly is basically doing a good job,” according to one insider, referring to the French-born hotel exec who was hired as CEO last August after Schulze had made his initial buyout approach.

Schulze, who owns 20 percent of the chain, is in talks to participate in a downsized deal for a larger minority stake, sources said.

Nevertheless, he won’t be in the driver’s seat in the deal under discussion, according to insiders.

“At this point, this is something [Schulze] is sort of going along with,” according to one source briefed on the situation.

While the deal could create a sizable minority stakeholder, sources said it’s unlikely it would create an entity that controls more than the 35 percent of the shares needed to effectively control the company.

“That would create a shareholder revolt,” one Best Buy investor said of such a deal.

In another possible scenario, sources said Best Buy would grant one or two board seats to the prospective investor team, and the founder isn’t likely to be one of the nominees.

“[Schulze] already quit the board, and people don’t see a lot of sense in putting him back on,” one insider said.

While the identity of the investment firms couldn’t be learned, Best Buy’s tires lately have been kicked by KKR, TPG and Leonard Green — buyout firms with deep benches when it comes to retail management.

Billionaire John Malone’s Liberty Media, whose investments include Sirius XM Radio, Live Nation and Barnes & Noble, is also said to have mulled a stake.

A Best Buy spokesman declined to comment and reps for Schulze didn’t respond to requests for comment.

james.covert@nypost.com

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Bobby Flay’s Burger Palace coming to Dadeland as part of expansion wing

When Dadeland Mall opens its new expansion wing later this year, diners will be able to enjoy the first Bobby Flay Burger Palace in Florida and nearly a half dozen new dining options.

The highlight of the new two-story expansion is the outdoor terrace offering diners a view of the bustling Kendall Drive. This area aims to turn the mall into more of an entertainment destination, following a trend set years ago by others areas malls including Aventura Mall, Sawgrass Mills and Dolphin Mall.

The first phase of the 102,000 square foot expansion wing will open starting in May with the arrival of 18 new retailers, including Tommy Bahama, Hugo Boss, Microsoft, Stuart Weitzman, PUMA, Donald J Pliner, Porsche Design, Urban Outfitters, Express and Original Penguin.

The restaurants are expected to open in the fall.

The new wing, which was built on the site of the former Limited store location, is designed to open the mall up to Kendall Drive.

“It feels like a whole new Dadeland,” said Maria Prado, the mall’s general manager. “We’re going to have that entertainment component that we’ve been missing. This is going to take us to the next level and give people more reason to come and stay longer.”

Joining Chef Bobby Flay’s restaurant will be Aoki Teppanyaki, Balans, Earls Kitchen + Bar and Aroma Espresso Bar located on the ground floor. Aoki Teppanyaki is the first of a new concept by Kevin Aoki, the son of Benihana’s late founder Rocky Aoki. Earls is an upscale casual dining chain based out of Canada and this will be its first location on the east coast.

Aoki’s restaurant, which is designed to feel like a Kyoto-style Japanese Village, will include teppanyaki tables, a sushi bar and sake bar.

“It’s a tribute to my father and all his hard work in creating Benihana,” Kevin Aoki said. “I’m not trying to compete with Benihana. I’m trying to open a restaurant and create excitement using the things I’ve learned from my father and my experience.”

A spokesman for Bobby Flay said he chose Dadeland for his first Florida location because of the traffic and demographics in the area. This is the beginning of plans by Flay to expand Bobby’s Burger Palace to other locations in South Florida.

The other new retailers coming to Dadeland: Vince Camuto, Tesla Motors, Everything But Water, Fit2Run, babycottons, Luggage & More and ALO Diamonds.

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Thirst for power? Or just thirst? Sen. Marco Rubio’s weird, viral dry-mouth moment

Sen. Marco Rubio was cruising along in his rebuttal to the president’s State of the Union speech Tuesday night when he couldn’t take it any longer.

The small bottle of Poland Spring water was irresistible. Eyes fixed on the camera, the Florida Republican interrupted his own speech to take a live swig.

It quenched his thirst, but sent Twitter ablaze. The small, live on-camera miscue helped throw cold water on his GOP response to the president’s speech. As if on demand, a tidal wave of mock handles flooded Twitter.

"I voted in favor of the Violence Against Water Bottles Act," @ThirstySenator, tweeted. BuzzFeed noted hundreds, if not thousands, of such accounts and jokes instantly sprang up on Twitter.

Rubio poked fun at himself, later tweeting a picture of the water bottle "#GOPResponse #SOTU #gop #tcot."

Former George W. Bush spokesman Ari Fleischer captured the GOP sentiment about the antediluvian and postdiluvian aspects of the speech.

"Go Marco!" he tweeted early on. Then came the sip heard round the world.

"Hint to Sen. Rubio: crank down the AC before a big speech under the lights. But this is still a very well delivered speech," Fleischer wrote.

CBS Chief Washington correspondent Bob Schieffer commented on national television that people were going to remember the sip more than the speech.

Rubio loves his water. Remember the strange Clint Eastwood speech at the Republican National Convention (where he yelled at a chair)? Rubio followed him and made a nervous joke — after he took a sip from a water bottle at the podium.

“I think I just drank Clint Eastwood’s water,” Rubio smiled. Rubio’s speech that night was solid, but he flubbed a line at the very end, accidentally calling for “more government instead of more freedom.”

From a theatrical perspective, the RNC address and tonight’s speech were a sign that Rubio isn’t at his best with a prepared speech. His rhetorical skills are better designed for the floor of the Senate, in a give-and-take debate or during an interview. Off the cuff, Rubio seems far less likely to come up short.... or thirsty.

Regardless, this on-camera incident was just inexplicably odd for a politician so accustomed to being under the media spotlight.

"In the short time I’ve been in government, nothing has frustrated me more than false choices like the ones the president laid out today," Rubio said Tuesday night, reaching for the water bottle.

One second.

Two seconds.

Three seconds.

"The choice isn’t just between big government or big business," he resumed after taking his swig. "What we need is an accountable, efficient and effective government that allows small and new businesses to create more middle-class jobs...."

I’m sorry, you were saying something?

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Oscar Nominees Before They Were Famous

As hard as it may be to believe, Oscar nominees Bradley Cooper, Ben Affleck, Jessica Chastain, Anne Hathaway and Jennifer Lawrence were once fresh-faced actors itching for their big break in the biz.

Pics: Star Sightings!

Click the video to see the five stars (before they became famous) in their very first on-screen roles!

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Cuomo’s calculus

Yesterday morning, an ad in the Des Moines Register warned Gov. Cuomo not to OK fracking in New York. Hours later, the state announced that it will miss a key deadline and the fracking-review process will have to start over from Square One.

Is there any better evidence that Cuomo’s interests in fracking lie not in what it might mean for New York’s economy but what it might mean for his chances for president?

Recall that Des Moines is in Iowa — whose caucuses kick off the presidential primaries. The activists who placed the ad know that Cuomo has had his eye on the White House since he was just a gleam in his father’s. By placing their ad in Iowa, they ensured his attention.

Their message was unequivocal: “Not one well” it says in giant print. It ends with a warning: “Your choice now will be remembered forever.” That’s a slight exaggeration. By “forever” they mean the 2016 Democratic primaries.

On the other hand, if Cuomo does as they demand, back home in New York he’ll be remembered as the governor who sold out the state for personal ambition. Not that he seems to care.

Consider his excuse for missing the deadline: A state agency is still reviewing fracking’s health impacts. Even though another state agency reviewed the impact two years ago. Even though the federal government and other states have deemed fracking safe. Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper said yesterday he even drank fracking fluid to show how safe he believed the process to be.

But Cuomo understands the ad’s message: Should he dare allow fracking, an influential Democratic constituency will hold it against him if he runs for president.

New Yorkers should remember that too.

Have an opinion on this Post editorial? Send it in to LETTERS@NYPOST.COM!

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A close look at compact megazoom cameras

The lenses get longer, but the bodies get smaller. Pretty amazing. These four cameras offer wide-angle lenses with long zooms, giving you a lot of shooting flexibility, but without the bulk of larger dSLR-style megazooms.

Canon PowerShot SX260 HS

Rating: 4 stars out of 5 (Excellent)

The good: Shooting modes are for every type of photographer, casual to advanced. There is a useful long zoom lens with excellent image stabilization, and overall excellent photo and video quality for a compact megazoom.

The bad: Menus and controls can take getting used to, battery life is short and photos get noticeably softer-looking indoors or in low light.

The cost: $209 to $325.99

The bottom line: The wider, longer lens, a few much-needed design tweaks, and excellent photo quality add up to one pretty great compact megazoom.

Panasonic Lumix DMC-ZS20

Rating: 4 stars out of 5 (Excellent)

The good: Excellent design and feature set, including an ultrawide-angle 20x zoom lens, GPS and semimanual and manual shooting modes, as well as fast shooting performance and improved low-light photo quality from previous versions.

The bad: Using all of the high-performance features, such as the near-pointless touch screen, can cut into battery life. Also, photos are noisy and soft when viewed at 100 percent.

The cost: $229.99 to $294

The bottom line: The zoom lens might be the main attraction, but the camera is all-around excellent.

Sony Cyber-shot DSC-HX30V

Rating: 4 stars out of 5 (Excellent)

The good: Excellent photo and video quality for its class, fast shooting performance and plenty of shooting options for everyone.

The bad: It’s expensive, especially when compared with competing models. It’s not the easiest to use and the feature set is so deep it might be overwhelming for some users.

The cost: $299.99 to $419.99

The bottom line: The feature-rich camera has a great mix of speed and photo quality.

Samsung WB850F

Rating: 3.5 stars out of 5 (Very good)

The good: A feature-packed compact megazoom with a versatile lens, very good picture quality and excellent Wi-Fi capabilities.

The bad: Shooting performance is a bit mixed, battery life is mediocre and interface, while very good, can take some time to learn.

The cost: $288 to $379.99

The bottom line: For snapshooters looking to enter the world of connected cameras, this is a good place to start.

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Miami-Dade investigating police-involved shooting in Florida City

A manhunt was underway Monday night for suspects following a police-involved shooting in Florida City.

Details were sketchy but Miami-Dade police officers appear to have exchange gunfire with one or more suspects at a home on the 300 block of Northwest Eighth Avenue.

No officers were injured. One person may have been wounded by the gunfire that broke out around 8:45 p.m.

It’s unclear what prompted officers to open fire.

Late Monday night, a police helicopter and K-9 units circled the area with a giant spotlight apparently searching for suspects. A six-block radius around the shooting was closed off to traffic.

This story will be updated when more details become available.

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Bachelor Recap Sean's Sister Provides Perspective on Tierra

Apparently there is one girl whose words have weight enough to sway The Bachelor from his affections for Tierra, and that's his sister Shay.

One week prior to the all-important hometown dates, Sean flies his sister to St. Croix to help him work out his feelings for the remaining six. Harking back to her sage, sisterly advice before he embarked on his Bachelor adventure, Shay tells Sean not to "end up with a girl no one likes." The words strike a painful chord with him seeing as Tierra's alienation from the other ladies is no longer a secret.

Pics: 'The Bachelor' Scorecard (Did the Relationships Sizzle or Fizzle?)

Inspired to test his sister's intuition, Sean decides to introduce Tierra to his sibling, but when he arrives to the ladies' hotel, the resident mean girl is found weeping after an all-out war of words with AshLee. At first dismayed by her pain, Sean comes to realize the humane thing to do would be to send Tierra home, fearing she won't be able to handle the more stressful weeks ahead.

"I can't believe they did this to me!" are Tierra's departing words as she is sent packing. "I hope the girls got what they wanted."

During the final rose ceremony in St. Croix, Lesley is cut loose from the remaining five. Despite their incredible connection and friendship, Sean worries that the relationship had gone stagnant.

Pics: Meet 'Bachelor' Sean Lowe's Lucky Ladies!

A confused, crying Catherine takes Lesley's elimination especially hard as she believed that Sean and Les, in her opinion, were better suited for eachother than she will ever be with Mr. Lowe.

Next Monday on ABC, Desiree, Lindsay, Catherine and AshLee will get to introduce their maybe-husband-to-be to the family, but it seems the hometown dates don't go over as well for Des in particular, whose protective brother appears unwilling to accept her "playboy" boyfriend.

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Cops pop gun-toting teen after rooftop firefight

Cops shot an armed teenager and apprehended another man after a gunfight erupted on a Brooklyn rooftop last night, sources said.

Police said a 16-year-old male opened fire on a Brownsville rooftop at 10:13 last night. When the officers returned fire they shot him three times.

The teenager was shot once in each arm and once in the leg.

“They were just shooting blanks,” said Hennesy Mark. “They were just shooting up in the air. It’s like a cap gun.”

Cops said the gun, which was retrieved at the scene, was real. Two men were arrested.

“They took a Spanish kid out on a stretcher,” said Tina Brown, 30. “ He was alive, but he didn’t look happy.”

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Green cards for sale at a South Beach hotel: Competition is on for EB5 investment visas

If David Hart gets his way, South Beach’s 42-room Astor Hotel will be on a hiring spree this year as it adds concierge service, a roof-top pool, an all-night diner, spa and private-car service available 24 hours a day.

New hires will be crucial to Hart’s business plan, since foreign investors have agreed to pay about $50,000 for each job created by the Art Deco boutique.

The Miami immigration lawyer specializes in arranging visas for wealthy foreign citizens under a special program that trades green cards for investment dollars. Businesses get the money and must use it to boost payroll. The minimum investment is $500,000 to add at least 10 jobs to the economy. That puts the pressure on Hart and his partners at the Astor to beef up payroll dramatically, with plans to take a hotel with roughly 20 employees to one with as many as 100 workers.

“My primary responsibility is to make something happen here over the next two years that will create the jobs we need,’’ Hart said a few steps away from a nearly empty restaurant on a recent weekday morning. “It’s all going to be transformed.”

Though established in the 1990s, the “EB5” visas soared in popularity during the recession as developers sought foreign cash to replace dried-up credit markets in the United States.

Chinese investors dominate the transactions, accounting for about 65 percent of the nearly 9,000 EB5 visas granted since 2006. South Korea finishes a distant second at 12 percent and the United Kingdom holds the third-place slot at 3 percent. If Latin America and the Caribbean were one country, they would rank No. 4 on the list, with 231 EB5 visas granted, or about 3 percent of the total.

Competition has gotten stiffer for the deep-pocketed foreign investors willing to pay for green cards. The University of Miami’s bio-science research park near the Jackson hospital system raised $20 million from 40 foreign investors under the EB5 program, most of them from Asia. The money went into the park’s first building; visa brokers are waiting to see if the second building will proceed so they can offer a new pool of potential green-card sales.

In Hollywood, the stalled $131 million Margaritaville resort had hoped to raise about $75 million from EB5 investors before ditching that plan last year to pursue more traditional financing. A retail complex by developer Jeff Berkowitz in Coral Gables also launched a program to raise $50 million in EB5 money for the project, Gables Station. Hart worked with other EB5 investors to back pizza restaurants in Miami and South Beach. A limestone mine in Martin County also was backed by EB5 dollars.

This year, the city of Miami itself is expected to get into the business by setting up an EB5 program to raise foreign cash for a range of city businesses and developments. The first would be the tallest building in the city — developer Tibor Hollo’s planned 85-story apartment tower, the Panorama, in downtown Miami.

With a construction cost of about $700 million, Miami’s debut EB5 venture hopes to raise about $100 million from foreign investors, said Laura Reiff, the Greenberg Traurig lawyer in Virginia working with Miami on the EB5 effort. “This is a marquis project,’’ she said.

The arrangement is a novel one for Miami, with the city planning to help a private developer raise funds overseas for a new high-rise. And it would allow Hollo and future participants to tout the city of Miami’s endorsement when competing with other Miami-area projects for EB5 dollars. “We will have the benefit of the brand of the city of Miami,’’ said Mikki Canton, the $6,000-a-month city consultant heading Miami’s EB5 effort. “A lot of these others are privately owned and they won’t have that brand.”

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