Bomb Threat for Lunch Outside the Downtown Metrorail Station

Photo by Sean McCaughan.

Today there was a bomb scare underneath the Metrorail and Metromover tracks in Downtown Miami, just outside of the Government Center Metrorail and Metromover Station. At noon Metromover service was stoppped for, as the P.A. message put it, “temporary police activity.” (we were on our way to lunch and had to take an Uber instead) Around 2 pm police were seen directing people some distance away from a bomb-detonating robot between Government Center and the HistoryMiami Museum. The bomb itself could not be seen. Metromover service was still shut down (and we had to take Uber back to work). That’s all we know so far. Lunch was otherwise delicious.

Brickell’s Southside Park Has Finally Reopened

Southside Park, via Google Maps.

After being closed for two and a half years, Brickell’s Southside Park, one of the few green spaces in the neighborhood, finally reopened about a month ago. The park was one of those shuttered for remediation a few years ago when contaminated soil was discovered throughout many of Miami’s public parks and spaces, causing a major local controversy. Southside Park is just west of the Metrorail tracks between SW 11th and SW 12th Streets.

Terra’s David Martin Debuts his New Real Estate Column in Forbes

David Martin

A warrior and a poet? Meh. Maybe not, but David Martin, head of Terra Group and developer of Grove at Grand Bay, Park Grove, and GLASS, is now a developer and an author. He’s writing a twice-monthly column over at Forbes on ‘real estate development, design, and sustainability,’ beginning with a discussion on why more buyers in South Florida are end users these days as opposed to speculators. To summarize his point in just a few words: Miami’s a bit more grown up, and that makes a big difference.

Super Bowl in the Bag, the Dolphins Are Hustling on That Stadium

Miami Dolphins Stadium Construction. Photos via Miami Dolphins.

The Super Bowl is officially returning to Miami in 2020. However, the shade canopy at Dolphins Stadium, a massive structure now under construction, has to be done in about three months. The Dolphins play the Falcons August 25, meaning the awning has to be done by then. The rush to upgrade the Miami Dolphins Stadium is tight, and now comes with Super Bowl-sized stakes too.

Super Bowl LIV is Coming to Miami in 2020, Which is Just Perfect

Miami Dolphins Stadium rendering with new awning structure.

Today the NFL awarded Super Bowl 54 to Miami for the 11th time in 2020, four years from now. That’s a new record of Super Bowl games hosted in any single city, continuing Miami’s larger than life tradition of Super Bowl spirit, and perfect timing to take advantage of the brand-spanking-new improvements to the Miami Dolphins Stadium. (Recently known as Sun Life Stadium) The game’s real economic impact may be questioned, or bigger than expected, but hey, this is tradition. (Most recently called Sun Life Stadium, but soon maybe not) Giving Miami the yearly game in 2020 is also just clever as hell, with a little subtle Miami love sprinkled in. Written in Roman numerals, as Super Bowl numbers tend to be, this one is Super Bowl LIV. If Roman numerals spelling name of Miami’s biggest club doesn’t say it’s a Miami party, than what the heck would? Bottle service anyone?

Downtown’s Iconic Miami Tower Has Sold for $220 Million

The Miami Tower, an icon of the Downtown Miami skyline since its construction in 1987 to designs by starchitect I.M. Pei, has been sold to the Simitomo Corporation of America, for $220 million. The tall, slender wedge of a building is sheathed in glossy white and mirrored stripes, and puts on elaborate lighting displays nightly with a system of LEDs. (they recently replaced the original floodlights) Always a big visual statement on Downtown’s ambitions to be an au courante urban core, the Miami Tower had a series of owners over the years, and a series of names. It originally was home to to the il-fated Centrust Savings & Loan, and to some will probably always be remembered by its original name, the Centrust Tower.

Inside Jacob Brillhart’s Subtropical Modern Miami River Home

Inspired by a synthesis of the most iconic and minimal of ‘High Modernist’ houses (think of Farnsworth House by Mies van der Rohe and Philip Johnson’s Glass House) and the subtropical vernacular of a hot and humid climate, Miami architect Jacob Brillhart designed and built his dream home in Spring Garden, one of Miami’s oldest neighborhoods. The neighborhood and the house are both tucked in a tiny peninsula poking out into the Miami River.

Having completed the house a year or two ago (for much more on the Brillhart House and its design, check out his portfolio) and settled in with the family, the Brillharts opened it to the public over the weekend for Our House, “unique design and retail initiative,” as the invitation put it, with furniture, art, and design pieces all for sale, accompanied by a lecture and workshops.

Inside the warm-but-restrained, modernist vessel for living was a colorful smorgasbord of design, with just the perfect amount of well-selected clutter to make it feel cozy. Outside again, Jacob had another surprise: a half-built movable wooden vacation home, which he’s building in his back yard. It’s designed to be disassembled into a flat-pack and shipped to Eleuthera, in the Bahamas, where a gorgeous beach-front lot is waiting for it.

Aventura Mall’s New Wing Designed by Carlos Zapata is Going Vertical

Aventura Mall New Wing, designed by Carlos Zapata.

Since news first broke a few years ago of Turnberry Associates‘ plans to undertake yet another massive expansion of Aventura Mall, officially making it the second largest shopping mall in the country, the new wing has been redesigned, and construction has begun to emerge from the ground. The Next Miami has some site photographs, and points out the building has ‘gone vertical’ (meaning construction is now above ground level), typically a more significant milestone for much taller buildings which need deeper foundations to be laid underground first.

The design of the new wing has been completely transformed compared to earlier schematics, which were of a much simpler enclosed mall layout, with skylights and an exterior oriented toward a new garage and various driveways. The new plan, by architect Carlos Zapata, is sleek, steely, and futuristic, with flying cantilevered awnings shooting out at jaunty angles, tons of glass, high ceilings, and a completely outward orientation. Shoppers stroll on bridges spanning a lower shopping area with a driveway artfully cut through. An exterior court ringed with shops and restaurants is the futuristic counterweight to Aventura Mall’s more traditional piazza area. That outdoor space, near Cheesecake Factory and the movie theater, has sunny pink stucco, Spanish tiles everywhere, terra-cotta barrel tiles on the roof, and an aqua blue statue of seahorses holding up some kind of orb.

A press release goes into more detail:

Aventura Mall has launched construction on a major expansion that will include a new three-level, 315,000 square-foot retail wing and multi-level parking garage.

The new wing, which is expected to open in late 2017, will include several destination restaurants, more than three dozen retail stores, a new food court with indoor/outdoor seating and a rooftop garden, and VIP concierge area perfect for private dinners and events.

Designed by renowned architect Carlos Zapata and JPRA Architects, the new wing will be built on the east side of the property, near Macy’s. The structure will blend seamlessly with Aventura Mall’s existing architecture but also provide a completely unique experience for visitors. The contemporary space will blur the lines between inside and outside with an immense glass façade and a skylight that extends the entire length of the concourse. The design will provide an abundance of natural light and panoramic views of the surrounding landscape. Outdoor courtyards will be ideal for dining and people watching, and select pieces from local and international artists such as Wendell Castle and Mark Handforth will spark conversation.

An Early Look Inside Edgewater’s Missoni Baia Tower

Atrium

Russian oligarch Vladislav Doronin, owner of the Aman resort chain, is coming to Miami in a big way just as the real estate market begins to cool down. Having already partnered with Ugo Colombo’s CMC Group on Brickell Flatiron, Doronin’s OKO Group is going solo on his next big Miami project (the first of at least three he has in the pipeline). It’s a luxury Edgewater condo tower called Missoni Baia, branded by the eponymous Italian fashion house (a trend which as the New Times noted, has become kind of a thing in Miami lately). The 146 units will be large, ranging between 2 to 4 bedrooms.

Designed by Asymptote Architecture and Revuelta, Enzo Enea is doing the landscaping and Paris Forino design is doing up the insides, at least some of which, according to the first interior rendering released, is going to be all kinds of white-on-white. Renderings of a pair of pools meanwhile, show them to be located on the west side of the building, long and slender, and lined with trees that will give a rather lovely “hey I’m swimming in an orchard” kind of a feel. Shade is good.

Those won’t be the only pools though. According to Real Deal: “Amenities will include a flow-through deck with cabanas, an Olympic-sized lap pool, hot and cold plunge pools, a children’s pool and tennis courts. Residents will also have access to an infinity-edge pool on the development’s bayfront terrace, a gym, saunas and spa treatment rooms.”