The Design District’s Jeanne Gang Condo Tower Likely to be Replaced With Shops by Oslo Firm
Sweetbird South design by Reiulf Ramstad Arkitekter.
The Next Miami noticed a recent submittal to the Urban Development Review Board for a new row of shops and retail at 99 NE 39th Street in the Design District, replacing the planned condominium tower designed by starchitect Jeanne Gang. The new design, by Reiulf Ramstad Arkitekter of Oslo, is a two-story retail structure with just under 30,000 square feet of commercial space, and is going before the UDRB because the design will encroach into public space. Just like the old Gang project, which sadly appears to be no more, the Design District Associates (the developer) is calling the project Sweetbird South.
In Miami Transit Debate, BRT Gets The Bum Rap
BRT in Cleveland. Photo via Flickr/Wyliepoon
Trying to unsnarl hellish traffic in South Miami-Dade, as well as the rest of the county, almost nobody wants buses, reports the Miami Herald. Yet, according to its advocates Bus Rapid Transit is a viable and much less expensive alternative if done right. And the South Dade Busway, which is the closest Dade County gets to Bus Rapid Transit, is seriously not done right. The New Tropic has a nice summary of what constitutes good BRT, but think of things like dedicated bus lanes, right of way for buses so they don’t have to stop at traffic lights, raised ‘stations’ for quicker embarking and debarking, prepaid fares, and other ways to make the bus experience more efficient, and well, more ‘rail-like.’
County transit planners are trying to upgrade the South Dade Busway to true BRT, but encountering major opposition from practically everyone down there, a population that feels burned by broken promises for rail. “Unless you’re talking about light rail, don’t bother coming to South Dade talking about bigger buses,” said Kionne McGhee, the state representative who led the charge against the county bus improvements. “There’s not a single pastor, a single mayor, a single city council member who is asking for bus. They’re all asking for rail.” And they don’t want a single thing built for BRT that cannot be reused for light rail in the future.
Have you taken true BRT somewhere? What did you think of it? Would it work for Miami? Leave your replies in the comments below.
The Betsy Unveils is Renovation Plans by Shulman + Associates
The Carlton Hotel expansion to the Betsy.Art
Just in time for Curbed Miami’s ‘renovation week’ (Did you know it was their ‘renovation week?’ We didn’t) the Betsy Hotel has debuted renderings of its expansion into the neighboring Carlton Hotel, along with a new addition, and rooftop pool that connects the buildings. Designed by Miami-based architecture firm Shulman + Associates, a modernist firm that specializes in creative and sensitive historic preservation, the renovation began months ago. Diamante Pedersoli and Carmelina Santoro, interior designers of the original Betsy renovation, are doing the interiors of the expansion as well. Naturalficial did the landscape design. So, it’s great to finally see what they’re doing.
The “new” Betsy will comprise the original Betsy Ross hotel, a Florida Georgian structure designed by L. Murray Dixon on Ocean Drive, which now will be known as the Colonial wing, and the Carlton Hotel, a classic Art Deco structure originally designed by Henry Hohauser, to be known as the Art Deco wing. Finally, along with the new Art Deco wing, the alley between the two structures will be revitalized, and two four-story wings are being added with suites and special event spaces that will also support the new rooftop alley-spanning pool.
Alton Road Strip Sells For Record $2,011 Per Square Foot
1600 Alton
The Alton Road construction boom is continuing with the latest property to trade hands, the retail strip at 1600 Alton Road, home of Dunkin’ Donuts, Pizza Hut, and Lyon Freres, for a whopping $2,011 per square foot. Marcus & Millichap’s Scott Sandelin told the Real Deal that this is a record price for the area (total price: $12.25 million) The buyer, who is undisclosed but could logically be Russell Galbut’s Crescent Heights (they own and are redevelopment a lot of other similar land on Alton, have deep pockets, etc.) is apparently already eyeing redevelopment plans, in keeping with the redevelopment happening up and down Alton in the area. As this is one of the very few underdeveloped parts of all of Miami Beach, well, it’s about darn time.
Biscayne Beach Topped Off Today, All 51 Stories of It
Biscayne Beach topped off today. Photo via Biscayne Beach.
Over in Edgewater today, the under-construction Biscayne Beach condo tower topped off 51 stories, celebrating the milestone today with a traditional lunch for the construction workers and topping off ceremony for the swells. (We assume this is what they did. We didn’t actually attend) Built as a joint venture between Eastview Development and GTIS Partners, designed by WHLC Architects, and interior designed by Thom Felicia of Queer Eye for the Straight Guy (seriously) the building is almost completely sold out.
Tennis Pro Andy Murray Unloads Condo at Jade Brickell
Andy Murray’s Condo at Jade Brickell.
Tennis pro Andy Murray, currently ranked the #2 tennis player in the world and a 2012 Olympic gold medalist, is selling his $2.9 million 45th floor unit at Jade at Brickell Bay, according to Variety’s Real Estalker. The Scotsman picked up the unit, with distant views of the tennis center at Crandon Park, in July 2008 for $1.575 million, must have used Jade Brickell Unit #4501 as a vacation home since then (as evidenced by the limited interior decoration and kitschy Union Jack pillow as a memory of home), finally listing it for $2.9 million. MLS data now indicates a sale is pending.
Since setting up camp at Jade, Murray picked up two UK homes, including a ‘mock-Regency’ outside London, and a 19th century Victorian mansion called Cromlix house outside his hometown of Dublane. Just like many a local boy gone big, yes even Murray returned home to nab the village manor. Museum or not, just think of how many a very young Miamian has walked into Vizcaya and thought “someday I’ll buy this place.” No word yet on whether Murray is finding somewhere else to stick his flagpole in Miami, or going home to play ‘country squire’ full time.
AirBnB is Killing it in Miami Despite Patchy Legal Landscape
A Miami AirBnB
Miami is AirBnB’s fifth largest market in the U.S. The short-term home rental app is killing it down here, where hundreds, possibly thousands of small South Beach apartments are rented out on a nightly basis to tourists from across the world. It’s not just the beach that’s raking in the dollars though. “Miami is one of our largest U.S. markets and certainly a broader part of our strategy,” Christopher Nully, a spokesperson for Airbnb, told The Real Deal, which took a deeper look into the future of the company’s presence in Miami. “We really see increased growth in the market, but not just along the beach.” And this is all happening despite a patchy legal landscape, where short term rentals are allowed to varying degrees in various South Florida municipalities, and enforcement is highly uneven.
So, is the AirBnB landscape really as much like the Wild West as it sounds? Well, kind of yeah. It’s a system so unstreamlined that “I’m not sure anyone knows how to deal with it,” said Joe Hernandez, head of the real estate group at Weiss Serota also told Real Deal. Meanwhile, the hotel industry feels “under attack,” as Russell Galbut, partner in hotels such as the Gale, and the Shelborne, said while at a panel recently.
Miami Beach Community Church Courtyard Demolished
Over the last few weeks demolition began at the Miami Beach Community Church’s courtyard at the corner of Lincoln Road and Drexel Avenue. The courtyard was the sight of a heated historic preservation feud pitting preservationists and open space advocates against developer TriStar Capital planning to build a three-level retail building designed by architecture firm Touzet Studio. The preservationists lost and now the site is being prepped for construction. The future structure will have multiple levels of prime retail space with glass frontages and an art deco-inspired corner treatment that mirrors the 420 Building across the street. There will also be a rooftop garden space. The project will include lighting and landscape improvements to the church’s facade as well.
Will Smith Spotted Condo Shopping at Zaha’s One Thousand Museum
Will Smith back in the day.
The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air himself, Will Smith was spotted shopping for a condo at One Thousand Museum, designed by the late Zaha Hadid, the New York Post reported today. This juicy little bit of celebrity gossip is corroborated with a photo The Next Miami post of the encounter yesterday, showing a much older/not nearly as fresh Fresh Prince in bright red shorts and a Dad-polo shaking hands with the sales team. There’s no word yet on what he thought of the building.
