Karl Lagerfeld Designing Lobbies at Estates at Acqualina, Although He Probably Thinks its Gauche

When Karl Lagerfeld comes to Miami, he stays at tres chic hotels like the Raleigh, the Delano, or the Standard. The Russian oligarchs who buy all his clothes, however, stay at the massive and tragically opulant Acqualina. So it makes absolute sense, on an economic level, that Mr. Lagerfeld, the famed creative director at Chanel, would be hired to create the lobbies of the two newest editions to the Acqualina Resort itself, the towering Estates at Acqualina. Of course Lagerfeld gave an appropriately gushy quote to the Acqualina people for their press release as reprinted in the Real Deal, (“I am excited by the opportunity to design the lobbies of The Estates at Acqualina and take great pride in knowing that the spaces I create will be such important spaces in the building,” etc. etc. said Mr. Lagerfeld) because that’s just what one does, but the quote doesn’t actually say what he thinks of Acqualina itself. Maybe he thinks its gauche? Coco would definitely think its gauche.

Delayed by a Year, American Dream Miami Will Have More Traffic Than The Magic Kingdom

American Dream Miami, which is planned to be the largest shopping mall in the world, has been delayed by a year due to traffic concerns by the county. Although developer Triple Five Group had submitted plans to the county, for approval this year, they withdrew the request after the county said it needed more information about the impact of traffic from the project. It also gave it to them. The new traffic analysis is 4,500 pages that covers the mall’s potential impact from southern Broward to Hialeah and Miami Lakes. The analysis predicts 70,0000 trips a day, and 5,200 during up from afternoon rush hour. That’s more people than go to the Magic Kingdom, the busiest theme park in the world.

King of Diamonds Strip Club is Coming to Ocean Drive, And Neighbors Are Really Pissed

The Netherland Hotel. Via Flickr/Pablo FJ.

The notorious King of Diamonds, the Tremont Towing of strip clubs (recent press mentions covered the absence of building permits for the 60,000 square foot N. Miami club, a teen party hosted at the club, celebrity partying, and a legal battle between management and the litigation rights of its strippers) is opening in a space on Ocean Drive, in the historic Netherland Hotel. Construction noise at the future venue, a frequent neighbor complaint for any development, is according to reports is exceptionally loud and inconsiderate. Afraid that the King of Diamonds on Ocean Drive will be anything like the Noth Miami location, a public meeting is being held nearby at Il Villaggio on July 27th at 5 PM.

The City Inn on I-95, Bleak and Abandoned, Will Reopen as a Holiday Inn Again

One of the ugliest of the uglies on I-95, the abandoned ten story City Inn, is being renovated to become a Holiday Inn, its original hotel flag. A new ‘coming soon’ sign has appeared on the hotel’s east side facing the highway. Starting with that The Next Miami found some more info in a Miami Herald feature on abandoned buildings published a few years ago. It was built in 1969, just after the new I-95, from which it hoped to attract sleepy tourists and those taking longer Florida Keys-bound vacations. Instead, it couldn’t compete with the highways and a deteriorating neighborhood, becoming a Days Inn for a while, then the off-brand City Inn and popular prostitute and shady-person hang out, and now a halfway gutted-out carcass.

Le Parc at Brickell Scores Temporary Certificate of Occupancy

West of Brickell’s Simpson Park, construction has just finished at Le Parc at Brickell, which has received its Temporary Certificate of Occupancy says Realtor Christopher Adeleke, Le Parc In House Agent. Le Parc is ‘officially’ done, and buyers are beginning to move in. Simultaneously, a brand new model show unit has been furnished and designed by Ligne Roset, highlighting the sales push for Le Parc’s remaining units. Pricing information is below.

The most important aspect of Le Parc is actually just right there in its name: the park, and its location in a relatively hidden corner of Brickell, which a long time ago a blogger once dubbed the Simpson Park Triangle. “The building really becomes alive with all the greenery of the Park in the East, and the dynamic city landscape in the West.” says Adeleke. Le Parc at Brickell is an urban infill linkage between the old growth hammock of Simpson Park, and the quiet urbanity of the Simpson triangle.

Brickell City Centre’s R&R Towers Hit $180 in Sales, With Rise Opening This Summer

Plus a Brickell City Centre Fly-Through, Via Drone-Cam

Brickell City Centre’s two residential towers Reach & Rise have done a combined $180 million-plus in condo sales to date, say the megaproject’s public relations wonks, with Reach 90 percent sold out and Rise 45 percent. Reach opened to residents back in April, giving it a head start in sales, while Rise is scheduled to receive its Temporary Certificate of Occupancy (a.k.a. that’s move in day!) sometime this summer. Prices for remaining units have also been bumped up by 10% in response to strong sales despite a slowing market, although even things at City Centre are obviously tamer than they were a year ago.

N25 Drone Progress 5 – April 2016 from Brickell City Centre on Vimeo.

City Revokes Midtown Walmart Construction Permit

Photo by Lucas Lechuga.

The Miami Building Department has nailed the controversial new Walmart in Midtown Miami, revoking a construction permit it issued near the end of last year. The reason for the usual move was explained as a lack of unity of title, in a letter issued to the retailer in February and reported by The Next Miami. “A partner in the project, Midtown Opportunities, needed to sign a covenant in lieu of unity of title, along with the Midtown Community Development District.” Evidently, when Walmart didn’t fix the situation in the intervening four months, well, there went the permit. Neighborhood activist and opposition leader Grant Stern’s response conveys a subtle hint of satisfaction: “I’m glad the city of Miami finally revoked Walmart’s foundation permit. Walmart’s plan has a fatal design flaw, that violates Miami21 and that we’ve been pointing out to our public officials in writing, in public meetings and in court since 2013.”

Update (October 2020): The parcel of land where a Walmart was slated to be built in Midtown Miami still remains vacant. Gio Midtown, an apartment complex, has been built across the street to the east of it.

Debate Over Arquitectonica’s Babylon Apartments Preservation Goes National

The Babylon Apartments. Photos courtesy Phillip Pessar.

The aesthetically pioneering Babylon Apartments has a date with the City of Miami Historic Preservation Board on July 5th, potentially resulting in historic designation status. Architecture firm Arquitectonica’s “first building that wasn’t a house,” as described by one of its heads and cofounders Bernardo Fort-Brescia, is also one of its most important, and a seminal piece of Miami’s architectural history. The debate over the Babylon’s fate has also become national news. Miami Condo Investments Editor Sean McCaughan’s report on uncertain future of the Babylon is over at the Architect’s Newspaper:

With its bright red, ziggurat form, one of Miami-based architecture firm Arquitectonica’s first buildings, the Babylon Apartments in Miami’s Brickell neighborhood, is at risk of demolition if its longtime owner, a former “spaghetti western” movie star, gets his way. The six story building is an icon of subtropical postmodernist architecture in Miami; it’s also one of the signatures of the city’s ‘Miami Vice’-era 1980s comeback. The Babylon also earned Arquitectonica its first international award, a Progressive Architecture Citation Award, only a few years after the firm’s founding in 1977. More…

Paramount Miami Worldcenter Adds Indoor Observatory to Rooftop Sky Deck

Paramount Miami Worldcenter’s upcoming rooftop ‘Sky Deck’ complex will a little less open to the sky, with the luxury condo tower’s latest design tweak, made by developer Dan Kodsi. The Real Deal got the low-down from Dan. A portion of the multilevel, yacht-like complex of decks, pools, and lounge areas that is going at the tower’s top is being enclosed in 12-foot floor-to-ceiling glass, with panoramic views. The new observatory’s telescope (Telescopes? A new rendering shows more than one) will connect to a large digital screen, for group sky-gazing. Finally, a specially added glass elevator just off the 56th floor lounge will take those ‘looking up’ to the 1,200 foot observatory on the building’s 60th floor. Paramount construction, meanwhile, is still in the very early stages, leaving plenty of time for design tweaking like this.

Paramount Miami Worldcenter Construction. Photo by Michbelle La Llave.