MIAMI | Downtown, Brickell, Omni, Edgewater

[Brickell]

According to some at SSC groundbreaking will be in December.

Here's the first tower of a huge river front project... the old name escapes me at the moment.

http://www.globest.com/news/216_221/miami/131257-1.html

Neo Epoch 1 Unveils 41-Story

[Aessotariq]

Posted on Sat, Feb. 19, 2005

REAL ESTATE

Towering over Freedom Tower?

Plans are afoot for a new 649-foot high-rise condo that will loom over the historic Freedom Tower in downtown Miami.

BY MATTHEW HAGGMAN

[email protected]

Developer Pedro Martin wants to build a 63-story story condominium in downtown Miami that curves around the landmark Freedom Tower on two sides and soars over it.

The high-rise condo -- proposed to shoot up 649 feet -- would dwarf the Freedom Tower, rising more than twice as high as the 256-foot historic building.

Martin, chief executive of Miami-based Terra Group, formally bought the Freedom Tower property at 600 Biscayne Blvd. and an adjacent parcel at 666 Biscayne earlier this month for about $38 million, the developer said.

The proposed condo tower would stretch onto both properties and straddle the Florida East Coast railway line dividing the parcels, according to plans filed this week with the Miami Planning Department.

''This will be beautiful,'' Martin said in a brief interview Friday afternoon. ``We will do a high-quality project.''

Last week, Martin said he would pursue the intention of the previous owners, the Mas family, to put a museum chronicling the Cuban-American experience in the building.

The tower has long been admired but has languished as developers failed to find a viable use for it.

FREEDOM'S HISTORY

Built in 1925, the Freedom Tower was initially home to The Miami News, a now-defunct newspaper. From 1962 to 1974, the 16-story stucco tower earned its name when it served as a processing and support center for Cubans fleeing the Castro regime.

But the property fell into disuse, and in 1997 the Mas family bought it for $4.1 million, declaring their intention to create a museum and office for the Cuban American National Foundation in the building. Neither happened, though the building was renovated.

The 600 Biscayne development is the latest proposed high-rise on Miami's downtown Biscayne Boulevard corridor that for years was dotted by vacant lots but now could become crowded with vaulting condo towers.

Six high-rise condos, including 600 Biscayne, are slated for construction on the six blocks between the Performing Arts Center and the AmericanAirlines Arena.

Martin is building a high-rise three blocks away at 900 Biscayne Blvd. He is also negotiating with The Herald's parent company, San Jose, Calif.-based Knight Ridder, to purchase 10 acres surrounding the newspaper's Miami bayfront headquarters.

RAILROAD SPACE

Florida East Coast spokesman Hussein Cumber said the company expects to close on an agreement next week granting Martin air rights over railway line that passes through the property.

''It does not impact current or future rail operations on the rail corridor,'' Cumber said, referring to FEC's deal with Martin.

Some have proposed using the line for passenger travel. Currently, trains travel to and from the Port of Miami-Dade through the property only about once a week, Cumber said.

The 600 Biscayne tower is proposed to have 658 units and 11,000 square feet of ground-floor retail space, including a restaurant, according to documents filed with Miami's Planning Department. No office component is currently planned.

Revuelta Vega Leon is the project's architectural firm.

The approval process for the building can take anywhere from six months to a year and result in significant changes to the proposal.

Martin said the concept of a modern high-rise rising next to older, architecturally admired structures has been successfully executed in Berlin, Mexico and Boston.

For instance, the sleek glass John Hancock Tower looms over the critically acclaimed Trinity Church in Boston's Copley Square.

''There are several places in the world where they have historical older buildings with new architecture behind and over it,'' Martin said. ``We are keeping the history. If someone wants to go inside the 1925 building, it is there.''

Link to article

[Brickell]

ehhhh...

I'll need to see the design on this one.

Nice to see another tower, but Freedom Tower is the one landmark that should stay that way.

[Urban_Legend]

Even though I love urban living, I'd never live at "666 Biscayne Blvd".....no way, lol.

I don't like the idea of surrounding it by two sides. That's one odd shaped building.

[Dale]

Even though I love urban living, I'd never live at "666 Biscayne Blvd".....no way, lol.

I don't like the idea of surrounding it by two sides.  That's one odd shaped building.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I'd live there.

But then I believe all the stuff in Revelation has already happened. B)

[Aessotariq]

^ a friend of mine had a post office box with that numeric sequence... used to freak people out

I wish I had a rendering to make a definitive judgement, but the new building design might have the effect of accentuating the historic tower even more, if you stood on the southeastern corner, assuming it's an L-shape.

[bobliocatt]

This building, wrapping the Freedom Tower, sounds pretty interesting. If designed right, it could actually complement the quality of the historic tower. I'll wait to see a rendering before passing judgement.

[Brickell]

Soleil in edgewater neighborhood to go "sporty". Interesting idea, but a bit off if you ask me. Some good info on the Leviev Boymelgreen developers though.

http://www.bizjournals.com/southflorida/st...tml?t=printable

Developers distinguish sporty Soleil

Susan Stabley

Developers of a new residential tower in Miami's Edgewater neighborhood want buyers to break a sweat when choosing to live in their project.

Marketing spin for the 288-unit, 43-story Soleil, at 3100 Biscayne Blvd., is dubbed "the sweat campaign," as the new community is being sold targeting the sporty.

About 50,000 square feet there will be dedicated to basketball, handball and tennis courts, plus a pool, fitness center and Zen garden for yoga.

The athletic angle is what the developers hope will distinguish the project from the many under way in Miami. More than 9,100 units are under construction and nearly 40,000 more are waiting to break ground. The project lies just east of the ambitious Midtown Miami project, a $2.3 billion planned community on a 55-acre former rail yard. Midtown's second tower sold 80 percent of its 392 units in a single day.

Soleil would be the third residential project announced by Leviev Boymelgreen Developers, a partnership between foreign conglomerate Africa-Israel Investments, led by chairman Lev Leviev, and Brooklyn developer Shaya Boymelgreen.

Leviev Boymelgreen also has in the planning stages:

* Marquis, a 310-unit, 61-story condo that would replace the Port of Miami hotel (a former Howard Johnson hotel) at 1100 Biscayne Blvd. Prices are from $500,000 to more than $7 million, with a total estimated sellout of $250 million. The project will also boast a 48-room boutique hotel. Completion is planned for the end of 2007.

* Vitri, a 66-unit, eight-story condo with double-level lofts at Fifth Street and Alton Road in Miami Beach. The property was bought in July for $9.8 million. The project is still in the planning phase and the developers hope to divert traffic from Alton Road to West Avenue.

Leviev Boymelgreen is also eyeing a mixed-use project that would provide downtown parking for the garage-deficient Miami Performing Arts Center. The partnership has also been building 1680 Meridian, an office condo. The property, which included a 61,381-square-foot building, was bought for $6.8 million last year.

Billion-dollar entry

Leviev Boymelgreen entered the Miami market with a billion-dollar committment during the summer of 2004 when the joint venture acquired 25 parcels from Miami Beach parking lot magnate Hank Sopher. The principals pledged a seven-figure investment for the properties in southern Miami Beach and in Miami's Brickell, Park West and Edgewater neighborhoods, which are expected to be developed in phases over the next decade.

Since then, Leviev Boymelgreen has continued to buy land in Miami.

Like the sites for Vitri and 1680 Meridian, the property for Soleil was not part of that Sopher deal.

For Soleil, Leviev Boymelgreen bought a four-acre parcel - which includes the Executive Plaza Building, built in 1972 - for $17.9 million in October, according to county property records.

Soleil would rise from a commercial parking lot just north of an 886,801-square-foot office building on the west side of Biscayne Boulevard. While the office building will be kept, a five-level, 295-space parking garage behind the structure will be built first.

Timing for construction of the 514-foot Soleil is tied to the completion of the garage, de la Fuente said. Soleil will have six levels of parking and with more to service customers of the project's future retail (9,188 square feet) and restaurant (2,907 square feet). A total of 876 spaces are proposed.

"We hope to have 200 spaces in excess for the neighborhood," said project manager Bob de la Fuente, a land-use attorney who joined Leviev Boymelgreen after leaving Miami firm Tew Cardenas in August.

The project is expected to cost $96 million, according to city documents, and generate $954,059 in tax revenue to the city annually.

[Brickell]

It doesn't look like this will cancel the MET3 project, but an interesting find. HOpefully this isn't Miami Circle round II.

http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/10966602.htm

MIAMI HISTORY

More Tequesta 'circles' found

Discoverers of the Miami Circle have found concentric circles of a similar size across the river on a downtown development site.

BY MARTIN MERZER

[email protected]

Call it the Miami Concentric Circle.

Archaeologists exploring the heart of downtown Miami have unearthed two concentric rings of ancient post holes reminiscent of the Miami Circle that members of the same team discovered directly across the river in 1998.

''We have found another of those missing pieces of Miami history, beautifully preserved under a parking lot,'' said archaeologist Bob Carr of Davie, who also was instrumental in the discovery of the Circle.

The now-famous Miami Circle is 38 feet wide and sits on the south bank of the Miami River. It attracted worldwide interest, stirred considerable controversy and ended up blocking a major development.

The newly discovered circles create a 36-foot-wide feature -- apparently marking the foundation of a prehistoric house -- and were found on the north bank of the river, at the sprawling Metropolitan Miami development site near the InterContinental Hotel.

Builders plan condominiums, stores and offices for the six acres. Scientists say the discovery should not interfere with development, but it is scientifically and culturally significant.

Though major differences exist between the Miami Circle and the concentric circles, Carr said they both are about 2,000 years old and share the same creators -- the Tequesta tribe, South Florida's original occupants.

The Tequesta lived on both sides of the river for as long as 2,500 years.

By 1763, they were gone, rendered extinct by European explorers and the diseases they carried.

''Now, we have another physical, material record of people who were here before us -- that continuity, that sense of place that is really important,'' Carr said as his team dug out and marked new discoveries Tuesday, including the jaw bone of a dog found buried just outside the concentric circles.

He noted that the new circles are close to the original shoreline -- ''prime real estate,'' he called it -- and apparently helped form one of many ancient house foundations that could be unearthed as the exploration continues.

'FOOTPRINT' OF HOME

''We believe this is the footprint of a Tequesta home, something that gives us a lot of clues about the way the Tequesta lived,'' he said.

The purpose of the double ring of circles is unclear: The house might have had two sets of posts, Carr said, or a larger house might have replaced the original one.

In any event, archaeologists believe that gaps in the pattern of holes show a doorway on the northern edge and possibly on the southern edge of the formation.

Carr, who worked for Miami-Dade County when his team discovered the Miami Circle, now runs the Archaeological and Historical Conservancy.

The nonprofit group was hired by the Metropolitan Miami developer to perform a legally required archaeological assessment of the site.

More elaborate and substantial than the concentric circles, the Miami Circle is comprised of 26 carved basins and apparently had ceremonial and possibly commercial purposes over the centuries, making it far more worthy of preservation, Carr said.

The concentric circles are quite different, he said.

''These are much more subtle holes,'' Carr said. ``They are much smaller, just large enough to support posts.''

The team found beads and crushed animal shells in some of the holes. Elsewhere on the development site, it found some scattered human bones and thousands of beads, pottery shards and other artifacts.

The developer, MDM Development Group, previously promised to display cultural artifacts in one of the plazas planned for the project. On Tuesday, the company also pledged to preserve the concentric circles -- either in a plaza, a museum or both.

''This will have no effect whatsoever on development,'' said Gaby Garcia, an MDM spokeswoman.

``It's just post holes and they happen to be in a circular formation.''

Ryan Wheeler, chief of the state's Bureau of Archaeological Research, said he saw the concentric circles and wanted to learn more about what else was found there, but he tended to agree that the discovery would not affect development.

''It certainly seems like it has some similarities to the Miami Circle,'' Wheeler said, ``but maybe it will have a different trajectory.''

Among other things, he and Carr said, the discovery should end any doubt about the authenticity of the Miami Circle.

Some critics have suggested that the Circle was formed by phenomena like rain or runoff from a nearby sewage pipe.

BUILDING TEMPLATE

''It looks like the Tequesta had a unit size for their buildings, a template that they used,'' Carr said, ``just like some of our builders today use a blueprint for ranch homes.

``Scientifically, this really cements the validity of the Miami Circle.''

[miamistreets]

You know what i would really want,it would satisfy me,and i wouldnt ask for more if people actually would build the Verticus building.The one show in www.skyscraperpage.com,it shows a building that would be 800 m.That would be awesome to have in Miami.

[Brickell]

1390 in Brickell to get a redesign. I'll look for a new rendering to go along with it.

http://www.bizjournals.com/southflorida/st...21/daily27.html

[Brickell]

With the amount of money they paid for this one I'd expect this to be a very tall, very nice tower. Keep an eye on this one.

http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/10974996.htm

Sopher, group buying Brickell parcel

opher, group buying Brickell parcel

Hank Sopher and Leviev & Boymelgreen's latest real estate prize: a much sought- after property along Miami's Brickell Avenue.

BY MATTHEW HAGGMAN

[email protected]

Real estate investor Hank Sopher and development group Leviev & Boymelgreen have won the bidding for a highly prized 3.5-acre property on Brickell Avenue auctioned off by the Venezuelan government.

Price: at least $70 million.

''I am not at liberty to say the price, but you can safely say it is somewhere between $70 million and $80 million,'' Sopher said. The parties signed a contract for the property last week, he said.

The 1101 Brickell Ave. parcel, which includes an 11-story and 19-story office building -- and also houses the Venezuelan consulate -- drew tremendous interest from investors because it is a large lot on Brickell Avenue with views of Biscayne Bay.

Nearly 80 prospective buyers considered the parcel owned by the government-run Banco De Desarollo Economico y Social De Venezuela, or BANDES. On Feb. 2, some 18 bids were filed with the Venezuelan government, according to a source close to the deal.

In a nod to skyrocketing prices amid South Florida's red-hot real estate market, the Venezuelan government initially warned it would not sell the building for less than $37.8 million. That turned out to be an easy hurdle to leap.

''When I learned that this property was going to be made available,'' said real estate broker Edie Laquer, who represented the buyers, ``I reached out to Shaya [boymelgreen] and Hank because this is the perfect scenario they are looking for.''

There's enough room on the property to construct a third building if the buyers choose, Laquer said. She added the development could include retail and residential components.

''We are beginning to evaluate whether we have to tear down one office building or leave them both up,'' Sopher said. ``The only thing we are convinced of is that the garage must come down.''

Boymelgreen could not be reached for comment.

The Venezuelan government bought the building in 1983 for $31.5 million, according to Miami-Dade County property records. It was represented in the sale by Eddy Dominguez of VR Business Brokers in Coral Gables.

Neither Dominguez nor officials at BANDES could be reached for comment.

The sale represents another bold move by Sopher and Leviev & Boymelgreen, who continue betting heavily that South Florida real estate values will continue their skyward ascent.

Leviev & Boymelgreen, a partnership between Brooklyn developer Shaya Boymelgreen and Tel Aviv-based conglomerate Africa-Israel, burst onto the scene in July when it announced it was buying $130 million in real estate and spending $1.5 billion to develop it. It is marketing its first high-rise on Biscayne Boulevard, Marquis.

Sopher made news several years ago when he started buying up unwanted land in downtown Miami that has since become hugely valuable. More recently, he lost his bid to buy the Miami Arena in the city's auction.

Sopher said the Brickell deal should close after May 1.

[miamistreets]

wow,those people have a lot of money to go around and buying things.If I were them Ill probably be doing the same thing.But not that much buildings though,probably cruises too.

[Aessotariq]

This is AMAZING news...

Posted on Tue, Mar. 01, 2005

Overtown to get hotel, condos

Poor in income but rich in history, Miami's Overtown neighborhood is now attracting condo builders -- and an upscale hotel.

BY MICHAEL VASQUEZ

[email protected]

Miami city leaders Monday endorsed a $93 million plan to radically transform a storied block in Miami's Overtown neighborhood -- adding pedestrian-friendly shops and restaurants, a mix of rental apartments and condominiums and a photo gallery chronicling the history of black Miami.

And to top it all off, a Hilton. Overtown would have its very own Hilton hotel.

Miami -- in the midst of an unrelenting building boom -- is changing at high speed, with long-forgotten neighborhoods now firmly in developers' sights. Overtown is one of those neighborhoods, and the proposed 149-room Hilton Garden Inn would be the impoverished community's first hotel opening in decades.

Ten years ago, had someone dared to use the words Overtown and Hilton in the same sentence, the reaction would have been swift and severe, said Stuart Blumberg, president and CEO of the Greater Miami & The Beaches Hotel Association.

'People would have said, `What? Are you crazy?' '' Blumberg said.

Nowadays, Blumberg is optimistic that a hotel adjacent to the under-renovation historic Lyric Theater and a $200 million condo project called Crosswinds can work. The nonprofit Black Archives owns the Lyric and is spearheading the $93 million development effort next door.

Miami city commissioners, acting as the city's Community Redevelopment Agency, unanimously endorsed the proposed mixed-use project, dubbed Lyric Promenade. Miami tentatively chose that plan over four others submitted for the same city-owned square block, framed by Northwest Eigth and Ninth streets between Northwest First and Second avenues. Under the deal, Miami would sell the property -- which has stood vacant for years -- for $3.5 million.

''This is a win-win situation for everyone,'' Miami City Commission Chairman Joe Sanchez said.

A final agreement between city and developer must still be worked out before construction can begin. Should negotiations stall, Miami would be free to entertain other proposals.

Dorothy Jenkins Fields, founder of the Black Archives, envisions crowds at the new-and-improved Lyric Theater, the sounds of B.B. King coming from a blues restaurant included in the planned new development, and people of all colors showing up to take part.

Overtown -- once again -- as the place to be.

Born and raised in Overtown, Fields is old enough to remember it serving as the business and cultural hub for Miami's segregated black community. While Overtown now buzzes about the prospect of one new hotel, in those days it had many, and no shortage of famous entertainers clamoring to stay in them.

''I was a little girl growing up when Overtown was at its zenith,'' Fields remembered. ``I knew Billie Holiday. I knew Nat King Cole. These were people you would just see walking up and down the street.''

In later years, Overtown declined sharply. A key reason: a decision by white politicians to plow through the heart of Overtown in the 1960s to make way for Interstates 95 and 395.

Overtown residents have since heard countless government promises of revitalization and a return to the good days.

Repeated disappointments bred skepticism, and some wonder whether Overtown's current rapid transformation will help those who already live there or simply push them out to make way for wealthier condo buyers.

The Lyric Promenade proposes 160 condos starting at $225,000, as well as 150 affordable rental properties priced between 30 and 60 percent of the county's median income.

Denise Perry, co-director of Power U, an Overtown-based grass-roots organization, said the project will only marginalize the community's poor, despite the inclusion of rentals.

Perry also wondered how many Overtown residents would be able to get jobs at the new Hilton without being bilingual.

''Are they really going to be able to hire people from our community who are not just going to get jobs cleaning a hotel room?'' Perry said.

Link to article

[Urban_Legend]

I'm so glad this Overtown project is coming into fruition! It might be one of the best urban projects in Miami, and that's saying something!

Oh look, I found a rendering at SSC.......

[up+down=midtown]

IM SURPRISED THE HILTON WOULD WANT A HOTEL IN OVERTOWN,WHICH KINDA MAKES SENSE ITS AWAY FROM MOST HOTELS,CHEAP LAND,UPINCOMING AREA,BUT WHY OVERTOWN.'THERE ARE MANY UPINCOMING AREAS IN MIAMI

WOULD YOU GUYS STAY THERE?

I PROBABLY WOULD BUT IN A FEW YEARS WHEN IT CLEANS UP

[Aessotariq]

Maybe the question should be, why not Overtown? They've certainly waited long enough. You can't revitalize an area without taking risks. Secondly, this would go a long way toward healing old wounds in a neighborhood that has gone through so much, like being ripped in half by I-95, and three separate riots within the same decade.

[Dale]

Overtown's not actually a very big area, is it ?

[Aessotariq]

Here's some perspective... This is a map of all City of Miami neighborhoods:

Each square created by the intersections represents one square mile, so I'm guessing Overtown to be close to 4 square miles, give or take.

[bobliocatt]

Exciting news indeed. Overtown has waited decades for redevelopment of this magnitude. Its not the most affordable, but its competitively priced compared to many of the new developments popping up around town. The most important thing is, its going to serve as a catalyst for more redevelopment. The affordability should come with the small (under 10 unit) infill projects. This definately sounds like a winner to me. BTW, does anyone have a photo of the Lyric Theater?

[Dale]

Thanks, tivo. It's a tad larger than I thought.

[Brickell]

You're right though dale. Overtown is quite small, relatively. Look for the developed area to be east of 95 and south of 395 for now. Also let's be honest. There's not much left in Overtown. Probably a couple of thousand residents, the poorest in Dade county, very few of them are landowners. They aren't going to be the ones benefitting from this. This is great for downtown and Miami though. I certainly endorse buildling affordable non-ghetto housing and saving the cultural elements of the neighborhood. I can't see how this is for them though.

From google a before and after restoration of the Lyric theater.

[Brickell]

A few more Overtown images. It really is a shame, but this part of the city has really taken a beaten over the years.

Way back in the day.

The state of Overtown today

notice all the ghetto housing (many of them condemed and empty) and blank lots

and a future Lyric theater expansion

[bobliocatt]

Where is the location of this project, on the posted aerials? While its going to be quite impossible to make affordable housing for people living in projects, one good thing that can come from this is the preservation of the soul and history of the community. Examples of this include Ybor City, in Tampa and Beale Street in Memphis. If you think about it, the historical community of Overtown has already died. The best thing to do at this point, is preserve the significant historical buildings left.

[Brickell]

I believe it'll be the parking lot kitty-corner NW of the old arena. Metrorail is cutting along it's eastern border and there's a stop just to the south. That's the lyric theater there to west bordering 2nd ave. In fact, now that I relook at the rendering you can see that the lyric and it's expansion has been incorporated to the rest of the block. It's the area shown directly center in the overhead shot of Overtown I posted.