Yesterday, I made my way through Downtown Coral Gables, the ritzy upper-middle/upper class city within metro Miami. This city is really spectacular...and pictures really don't do it justice (al least mine don't). I just took pics of downtown but all the homes in this huge city are mediterranean-style (many portofinos, stuccos, etc). And I don't just mean mediterranean-ish homes, I'm talking distinctly mediterranean. It's Miami's flagship for old money, this place is not rich but WEALTHY. If you want funky and hip high-rises you go to Miami Beach, if you want quaintness, you go to Coconut Grove, but if you want smart elegance and chic, you definitely have to hit up the Gables. I just got into the digi camera scene so I have to learn the ropes (like changing the quality to superfine). These pics are ok, however. I'll do better next time!!

A few blocks away from the main retail avenue of downown...Beautiful condos

http://gallery.photo.net/photo/2389821-lg.jpg

http://gallery.photo.net/photo/2389822-lg.jpg

(Sorry for the blurriness...as I said, I'm learning)
http://gallery.photo.net/photo/2389824-lg.jpg

http://gallery.photo.net/photo/2389828-lg.jpg

Offices

http://gallery.photo.net/photo/2389847-lg.jpg

http://gallery.photo.net/photo/2389857-lg.jpg

http://gallery.photo.net/photo/2389919-lg.jpg
If you look to your left, the "trolly" is a new form of transportation for getting around the city (Miami-Dade Transit still fully services here however), it looks like a trolly but it has wheels, essentially a bus, but still very nice though.

Here's a close up of that building
http://gallery.photo.net/photo/2389958-lg.jpg

More condos
http://gallery.photo.net/photo/2389859-lg.jpg

http://gallery.photo.net/photo/2389856-lg.jpg

the same ones from the first few pics
http://gallery.photo.net/photo/2389861-lg.jpg

http://gallery.photo.net/photo/2389917-lg.jpg

http://gallery.photo.net/photo/2389872-lg.jpg

Check out the detail
http://gallery.photo.net/photo/2389867-lg.jpg

Constuction is not only rampant in dowtown miami or north-east miami coast, it's happenning here too!
http://gallery.photo.net/photo/2389956-md.jpg http://gallery.photo.net/photo/2389957-md.jpg

here's a rendering
http://gallery.photo.net/photo/2389862-lg.jpg

http://gallery.photo.net/photo/2389959-md.jpg

a few blocks away
http://gallery.photo.net/photo/2390030-md.jpg

There is a great heap of shops and restaurants and businesses that flood every street. Here are a few streetscapes
http://gallery.photo.net/photo/2389939-lg.jpg

http://gallery.photo.net/photo/2389961-lg.jpg

http://gallery.photo.net/photo/2389962-lg.jpg

the historic Coral Gables Ciy Hall
http://gallery.photo.net/photo/2389926-lg.jpg

http://gallery.photo.net/photo/2389965-lg.jpg

funky government-issued car
http://img124.exs.cx/img124/6783/101_0130.jpg

Here are some more pics

http://gallery.photo.net/photo/2389967-lg.jpg

an alley
http://gallery.photo.net/photo/2389968-lg.jpg

a park to the left
http://gallery.photo.net/photo/2389970-lg.jpg

condos
http://gallery.photo.net/photo/2389983-lg.jpg

This builing is simply AMAZING
http://gallery.photo.net/photo/2390017-lg.jpg

http://gallery.photo.net/photo/2390016-lg.jpg

http://gallery.photo.net/photo/2389993-lg.jpg

http://gallery.photo.net/photo/2389987-lg.jpg

http://gallery.photo.net/photo/2389997-lg.jpg

http://gallery.photo.net/photo/2389992-lg.jpg

This one's cool too
http://gallery.photo.net/photo/2390001-lg.jpg

http://gallery.photo.net/photo/2390010-lg.jpg

http://gallery.photo.net/photo/2390004-lg.jpg

Are we in the islands...lol
http://gallery.photo.net/photo/2390013-lg.jpg

Here is the very tip of the tallest building in Florida in downtown Miami (about 5 miles away)
http://gallery.photo.net/photo/2390019-lg.jpg

Back to the Gables
http://gallery.photo.net/photo/2390021-lg.jpg

http://gallery.photo.net/photo/2390024-lg.jpg

Traffic back home
http://gallery.photo.net/photo/2390033-lg.jpg

http://gallery.photo.net/photo/2390036-lg.jpg

From MIAballinboi:
http://mywebpage.netscape.com/BallinBoi316/Miami5.jpg

very nice pictures, but that pic isnt by me its by smiley, i just uploaded it for him :)

heres some projects that will be around the coral gables/ coral way corridor

blue on coral way
http://www.preconstruccion.com/images/the_blue_on_coral_way.jpg

midtown lofts
http://www.preconstruccion.com/images/midtown.gif

andalusia
http://www.preconstruccion.com/Andalusia/andalusia1.jpg

giant gables marquis
http://www.preconstruccion.com/images/gables_marquis_preconstruccion_com.jpg

another tower

http://preconstruccion.com/images/100alhambra.jpg

I saw this thread from a link from another thread....and dang! Very nice! :)

Nice shots.
Coral Gables is indeed a great place. It's very walkable.

It's home to a lot of corporate offices and consulates.

The main drag is called Miracle Mile. It was a very chic shopping district in the 40's and 50's. It's still really nice and walkable. I think it was one of America's first planned communities.

It's nickname is The City Beautiful.

Next time I want pictures of the venetial pool, the biltmore some of the entranceways.

I was in Miami over the weekend and stopped by Coral Gables and was very impressed by its size, I had no idea. I thought it was more a streetcar suburb like Winter Park in Orlando with one main drag of nice shops and restaurants, but its almost an entirely separate alternative to Miami. And a nice one at that!

wow, great thread. I had idea Coral Gables had this much going on.

Let me just say that I have been saying we need Coral Gables info for over a year. I just haven't been able to get it myself except for a bit on the web - that's why I took that picture above - so you could see that it had a real skyline. It is very nice.

yeah coral gables can match alot of cities jus on its own

thanks guys...i saw that a thread on coral gables was warranted...can't wait to get out and take more pics of other areas

cool info on the gables projects ballin boi, that last one is gonna be sweet!!

Holy shit. I knew it was growing alot from what it used to be, but damn. That's a REAL DT, with a real skyline now...

Maybe we better dredge up that "hottest DT in Florida thread" again. Coral Gables may not be the "hottest", but it may be the fastest growing DT in Florida, percentage-wise.



BTW, it seems like a cross between DT Disney and DT San Jose California.

New develpments also:
La Torre del Valle
40 Calabria Ave
Coral Gables
http://southflorida.bizjournals.com/southflorida/stories/2004/01/26/daily5.html
5 story

Valencia Grande
Coral Gables
http://valenciagrande.com/contactus.html
8 stories


Puerto de Palmas
16 stories
"Commence approx. June 2004
Completion estimate to be June 2006"
Break ground in Summer finish summer 2006

Ponce De Leon
1607 Ponce de Leon
http://www.bizjournals.com/southflorida/stories/2004/02/09/daily23.html
14 stories

La Palma
Minorca Avenue at Alhambra Circle
Floors (OG) 12
Beame Architectural Partnership
Status proposed

Merrick View
"www.merrickview.com.
"

lool jasonhouse, another reason why miami metro is #3 rank in skyscrapers, we need to get all the miami metro skylines, kendall has a crapload of cranes around, theres even a couple cool towers just south of mia, and the famous Burger King building

other towers

milano tower
13 stories
http://www.dak-realty.com/pre-construction-Coral-Gables/MilanoTower.jpg

gables club tower II
17 stories
http://www.dak-realty.com/pre-construction-Coral-Gables/TheGablesClubTowerII.jpg

i think this topic should be changed to the official coral gables thread, :cheers:

more updates

http://specialsections.miami.com/newspapers/miami/sections/20040528_8002/001_20040528_8002/293484.jpg http://specialsections.miami.com/newspapers/miami/sections/20040528_8002/articles/123041.gif http://specialsections.miami.com/newspapers/miami/sections/20040528_8002/articles/123042.gif http://specialsections.miami.com/newspapers/miami/sections/20040528_8002/articles/123043.gif http://specialsections.miami.com/newspapers/miami/sections/20040528_8002/articles/123083.gif http://specialsections.miami.com/newspapers/miami/sections/20040528_8002/ads/192411.jpg

Beautiful pics. I am stationed not too far away from Atlanta at the moment and was wondering if Coral Gables could be the Buckhead of Miami or is it closer (judging from these pics) to Beverly Hills of the east coast. Am I comparing apples to oranges or would these be adequate comparisons?

I just did a quick calculation and found that metro Miami (incl. Broward & Palm Beach) has 1.8% of the nation's population, but over 4% of its highrises (note, this is according to SS.com, which, as we all know, is incomplete, but still cool to know!) If the u/c and approved buildings are added, it's closer to 5%. Add proposals, and it's over. That's 1 out of every 20 US highrises in metro Miami.

That's gotta be off. What's NYC account for? Half?

Still sounds cool though.

I made a mistake.... 1 out of 20 for all of North America, not just the US. Even more impressive. It has 5% of all US highrises; 6% counting u/c & approved.

I counted 922 completed highrises in the three counties. The number nears 1,100 with u/c and approved highrises. I recall seeing some kind of elevator database that claimed South Florida had 1,300 highrises, but they included buildings 10 and 11 floors, so ~1000 sounds close.

NYC metro probably has a bit over 1/3rd of all US highrises (at least those counted at SS.com).

I wish SS.com had some kind of meter or scale guestimating how well-counted a city is. Some are completely counted, others only a fraction. Which are which are anyone's guess.

Very impresive...I'm not surprised though, we don't just have downown miami but so much else...downtown miami is just a small fraction of all the highrises in the metro area!!!

Dang. That's a lot of construction. So Florida, so nice!

an older shot
http://skyscraperpage.com/gallery/data/643/5309coral_gables.jpg

Beautiful pics. I am stationed not too far away from Atlanta at the moment and was wondering if Coral Gables could be the Buckhead of Miami or is it closer (judging from these pics) to Beverly Hills of the east coast. Am I comparing apples to oranges or would these be adequate comparisons?

Though surrounded by Miami, Coral Gables is a separate municipality, like Beverly Hills in Los Angeles or Brookline in Boston. These places were developed in the early years of the automobile era, and reflect the suburban desire for exclusion (they would say “exclusivity”). Above all, they wished to remain administratively separate from the bigger city of which they were satellites.

Like Beverly Hills, Coral Gables is an enclave of high style suburban prosperity with a glitzy shopping district that has urban characteristics. It was planned by a developer named George Merrick in the 1920’s. His architectural notions came from Addison Mizner.

Downtown Coral Gables. It may remind some of Beverly Hills, others of Kansas City’s Country Club District or Cleveland’s Shaker Heights, or yet others of Chestnut Hill (both the one in Philadelphia and the one in Boston). All owe their essential character to the roaring twenties and the curious blend of suburban urbanism that emerged from this early flirtation with the car. All are characterized by a strong underlayment of local businesses mixed with a few chain stores.
The center of Coral Gables is called the Miracle Mile:
http://66.230.220.70/images/post/coral/54.jpg
In the last decade, Coral Gables has experienced a second spurt of expansion. Behind the largely one- and two-story main street, vast apartment and office buildings have sprung up along with parking structures. They have that bland but competent revivalist look that many associate with such mainstream commercial architects as Robert Stern and Elkus-Manfredi. Don’t know who actually designed the blockbuster; the smaller, foreground buildings are from the Twenties:
http://66.230.220.70/images/post/coral/55.jpg
It all looks mighty good.
http://66.230.220.70/images/post/coral/56.jpg

From www.georgemerrick.org/Mission.html:

“George Merrick had two very special abilities. He could dream in great detail of the perfect environment in which to live and he had a talent for making his dreams come true
http://66.230.220.70/images/post/coral/57.jpg
George Merrick, a confident man, the son of a Massachusetts preacher.

The city of Coral Gables is his legacy. He envisioned the Biltmore Hotel, a great university [the University of Miami], Venetian Pool, a grand City Hall, magnificent country clubs and golf courses, 40 miles of waterways, parks and fountains, notable entranceways and majestic streets.”
http://66.230.220.70/images/post/coral/58.jpg
The Biltmore Hotel, world-class luxury, renowned for its golf.
http://66.230.220.70/images/post/coral/59.jpg
http://66.230.220.70/images/post/coral/60.jpg
The golf.
http://66.230.220.70/images/post/coral/61.jpg
http://66.230.220.70/images/post/coral/62.jpg
Majestic streets. Mature tropical landscape.
http://66.230.220.70/images/post/coral/63.jpg
http://66.230.220.70/images/post/coral/64.jpg
Like most other buildings in the residential districts of Coral Gables, the churches have a Spanish cast. Some are pink and some are yellow, and all are stucco.

* * *

From www.theledger.com/static/top50/pages/merrick.html:

George Edgar Merrick grew up loving poetry and romanticizing about "castles in Spain."
Those inspirations became the driving force behind his efforts to build the first, the best and the most famous suburb in Florida: Coral Gables.

Born in 1886 in Springdale, Pa., Merrick moved to Miami with his family in 1898.
He studied at Rollins College in Winter Park. From those studies and trips to Mexico and Central America, Merrick conceived the idea of turning "castles in Spain" into a living community.

By 1922, Merrick began carving out what he would call a "City Beautiful" on the 3,000 acres of citrus groves and pineland his father, a minister, left him.
Put simply, Merrick was a real-estate salesman. But he elevated that profession to an art form through the creation of Coral Gables. The town was designed with wide, tree-lined boulevards, expansive swimming pools, glorious arch-ways, delicate bridges and sedate urban golf courses. Merrick's secret was his passionate devotion to aesthetics. He insisted that if the right kind of Spanish red tile could not be found in America, he would import it directly. And he did.

By 1924, Coral Gables was being called "America's Finest Suburb." Its reputation grew in three years to a national enterprise valued at $100 million.

The Depression threw the brakes on Merrick's dream town, which never reached the peak of his vision. Merrick continued in real estate until 1940, when he became postmaster of Miami, a position he held until his death at age 55 in 1942.

To this day, Merrick's home in Coral Gables is maintained as a living museum to the man who dreamed of castles in Spain.
--- Logan D. Mabe

* * *

From the National Geographic Guide to Miami and the Keys:

“Merrick called his creation the City Beautiful, and it was: with broad streets connecting broad plazas, public amenities such as the gorgeous Venetian Pool…and a fantasy of pools and grottoes…It was a vision of Utopia, it was real, and it lasted, surviving the collapse of the Florida land boom right up to the present day.
http://66.230.220.70/images/post/coral/65.jpg
The houses are the true glory of Coral Gables. Built in different variations of the Spanish style, their consistent architectural excellence bespeaks a savvy architectural review board that can distinguish an accomplished design from junk. Obviously they rely on aesthetic judgment, rather than formulas and guidelines; the quality of the architecture testifies to that.

Merrick would be proud. The trees he planted now arch over his boulevards like great arbors, shading downtown sidewalks in sun-dappled coolness. The turret-topped [downtown] Colonnade building, site of Merrick’s offices, still stands, now part of a stately hotel. The Venetian Pool is as grand as it was the day it opened, and Coral Gables’ houses are still every bit as desirable as then, sought after by buyers who make up the affluent core of the city’s 45,000 residents.
http://66.230.220.70/images/post/coral/66.jpg
A Spanish fantasia, extravagant as flamenco. In addition to the over-the-top wooden balcony, there are no fewer than four surface treatments in a small area: crisp, white stucco, ancient weathered stucco from the back alleys of Granada, the ubiquitous Miami coral stone and…ivy! Notice also how these transition into each other in different ways, and the oh-so suave way the coral bench oozes out of the wall. Finally, the tropical climate peppers the whole composition with little patches of green moss. What do you suppose is the curb appeal coefficient plugged into the appraisal for such visual delights?
http://66.230.220.70/images/post/coral/67.jpg
Coral Gables’ corporate residents include over 140 of the biggest and most important businesses and financial institutions in South Florida. The 260-acre University of Miami’s Coral Gables campus counts nearly 14,000 students and a facuty of 1500, and has an unusually rich repository of fine art and antiquities at its Lowe Art Museum.
http://66.230.220.70/images/post/coral/68.jpg
A fairly modest house, reflecting Merrick’s belief in planning for a broad cross section of the population. Note how close this house is to the garage of its brand new neighbor. Even so, it would fetch an astronomical price by the standards of most communities. Who says design doesn’t make money?
http://66.230.220.70/images/post/coral/69.jpg
Mediterranean Revival architecture dominates Coral Gables, but other exotics bloomed here, too. Sloped tile roofs distinguish the Chinese Village on Riviera Drive…The rural residences of 17th-century Dutch South African colonials are re-created at Maya Street…and the tastes of Normandy dress up Le Jeune Road…Italian village life is the theme on Altara Avenue…and on Santa Maria Street, houses in the Colonial Village celebrate our Yankee heritage." (Sorry I don’t have any of this to show you; the sun was going down all through this photo shoot, and eventually I just ran out of light.)
http://66.230.220.70/images/post/coral/70.jpg
A hacienda on a large lot.
http://66.230.220.70/images/post/coral/71.jpg
The air conditioner is an unfortunate upgrade.
http://66.230.220.70/images/post/coral/72.jpg
If this house is old, it has been much redone in recent times. It still manages to look good.
http://66.230.220.70/images/post/coral/73.jpg
Crisp modern detailing with a slight accent.
http://66.230.220.70/images/post/coral/74.jpg
Seriously pink, this post-modern mish-mash still manages to look good pretty good on its tiny lot, though a bit new money…
http://66.230.220.70/images/post/coral/75.jpg
…and old money.

* * *

Some might say the fools who live here are unaware of their own folly, and have driven real estate values through the roof by the law of supply and demand. The fools?: why, they just thank their lucky stars that they can afford to live in such a nice place (it even reminds some of them of home). And you know what: when the bubble finally bursts, Coral Gables might be one of the few places with its real estate values left standing. Even in the Great Depression there was a market for nice things.

Though the gridded streets of Coral Gables are continuous with those of Miami, you can tell immediately when you pass out of Coral Gables. The zoning becomes the usual idiotic drivel, and in march the parking lots, the raunch and the junk. Just like the places where almost all of us live. Eighty years after Coral Gables, the Masters of Suburbia have not learned its lessons.

The masters of suburbia care not to learn its lessons, because it pays not to.

thanks a million for such an accurate and moving photoessay skydivejunkee... I think all of us here should take more pictures of neighborhoods and satellite cities too....I've been meaning to do so for Coral Gables, but there just so much on both sides of US1....thanks also for all that historical background, and architectural analysis!!!

The masters of suburbia care not to learn its lessons, because it pays not to.

New urbanism is the latest attempt to create the granduer of successful suburban neighborhoods, unfortunately what they lack for the most part is successful integration into an existing street grid, Celebration included. The only one that I've seen take in regard for its surroundings is Baldwin Park.

In terms of real estate and commerical property value, wouldn't Coral Gables be the ultimate example that it indeed does pay to care?

This project would do wonders for Coral Gables...does anyone have any info on it?



http://preconstruccion.com/images/100alhambra.jpg

its called 100 alhambra tower... heres the website http://www.100alhambratower.com/

but the site doesnt really give anything...

sry, thats all i got

YES Street and Nimby, THIS 16-story Condo Tower will rise as well north of Downtown Coral Gables in a nice Residential area Growing Fast, WAIT till you see 55 MERICK WAY go up as well just two blocks south of this one, Interest Rates are still steady at www.interest.com I HOPE they stay low for another year !

do you have any info on 55 merrick way? any renderings perhaps, iver heard alotta good things about it

there's a rendering and some info at this website

....it doesn't look that special, but good nonetheless!

http://www.condocompany.com/Coral-Gables/Condos/55Merrick/


http://www.preconstruccion.com/Andalusia/andalusia1.jpg


http://www.preconstruccion.com/images/55_Merrick.jpg

STREET and NIMBY, I see a little Activity happening on the SITE of 55 MERRICK Today :cheers: , Oct,14th, This CONDO TOWER at 100 Feet accross Douglas Road ( S.W. 37th AVE. ) From the Huge REDONE SEARS Store, WILL be the State of Art Project Matching the Other Towers just to the north on Douglas Road. Coral Gables is really changing these Days FOR THE BEST. FOUNDER GEORGE MERRICK Would of Been PROUD to Find OUT how His CITY BEAUTIFUL as he Called it back in the roaring 20's BECAME TODAY, I hope he's watching UP There. :)

Great news Chuck...Merrick would sure be proud....I see Douglas road is getting a little canyon...hehe!

douglas, coral way, brickell, biscayne, the canyons will surround us everywhere! miami will soon join the ranks of the US's great urban centers

Another tower to add to the mix in downtown Coral Gables: Ponce Tower - 15 stories plus an 8 story "atrium wing".
http://www.poncetower.com/

it looks like a great add to the classic architechture of the Gables!!

Ponce Tower
http://www.analar.com/preconstruction/preImages/Ponce-Tower.jpg

Ponce de Leon
http://www.interinvestments.com/new%20layouts/the_ponce_de_leon/graphic.jpg

55 Merrick
http://www.analar.com/preconstruction/preImages/merrick.jpg

Valencia Grande
http://www.analar.com/preconstruction/preImages/preValencia.jpg

Puerta de Palmas
http://www.interinvestments.com/new%20layouts/puerta_de_palmas/graphic.jpg

Milano Tower
http://www.miamibeachocean.com/pre-construction/MilanoTower.jpg

great midrises for the gables :), it's very bustling down there...and what I really love about the gables is that there is no big-box retail retail, their all privately-owned, elegant shops and restaurants that get alot of business, it's an urban haven! All the big-boy retailers (Louis Vitton, Armani, etc,etc) are housed in the "Village of Merrick Park" 5 minutes away!

so many mid-rises goin up in the gables, like u said, a total urban haven, theyre doin it rite, im tellin u, but itll take em a long ass time, miamis takin the fast track!

Is anybody else getting sick of these cookie cutter med-rev styled mid-rises? I'm not totally against them, I just wish they'd change it up a little. I guess that's part and parcel of living the Gables though.

I don't know, do people complain about the upper east side of Manhattan looking all the same?

im sorry but all these developments look alike and most are the same color it looks like their all stealing each others design like ice1 and 2 did to ten museum or maybe using the same architect

ya, ice really did jack ten museum, which sux, cause i hate em both, so ugly, luk they they should b built in tokyo

The thing I also like about Coral Gables is Francesco. If any of you live nearby, go there. It's an excelent Peruvian restaurant. THE BEST!

When I went, I was impressed by the tall buildings.

Wasn't Ice designed before 10 museam? Ice is one of those projects that has taken forever to get off the ground. I remember it selling units like 3 years ago and it still hasn't broken ground.

I was there only last week, got some good shots of the place, they use this special kind of rock in some of their houses. Including a place with this pool where they shot some Tarzan back in the day.

EVERYONE :) , 55 MERRICK is Definately Started, Heavy machines on property Digging the foundation. This 10 Story Tower is Awesome, I hope it gets done quickly, its Perfect for the City of Coral Gables ! :cheers:

Wasn't Ice designed before 10 museam? Ice is one of those projects that has taken forever to get off the ground. I remember it selling units like 3 years ago and it still hasn't broken ground.
TRUE DAVE :) , BUT , NOW ICE 1 is back IN ACTION, and the Newest Construction CRANE is there ON SITE putting in the SEAWALL FIRST, as City requirements GO :bash: , and then its the FOUNDATION Prepare, as the REBARS are already in the GROUND, it just needs the Seawall Finished FIRST. :cheers:

I don't know, do people complain about the upper east side of Manhattan looking all the same?

No, because it doesn't.

Coral Gables could strive for a more modernistic element to their new projects and still keep the whole med. revival stuff if they want. Sort of like South Beach Art Moderne...

I was there only last week, got some good shots of the place, they use this special kind of rock in some of their houses. Including a place with this pool where they shot some Tarzan back in the day.

Are you talking about coral stone? I believe that is what most of the original homes were built out of.

Yea that was it. I think they said it was unique to the place.

Ponce Tower looks intriguing. wish we had a bigger pic.

i no that the gables is tryin to preserve that mediterranean theme or w.e, but every single one of these buildings looks almost exactly the same, lets see some other stuff, or at least mediteranean buildings that look different from each other

well they can do like different time periods of mediteranean like seville has done

Took these pix a couple of weeks ago.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v41/MIIAIIRIIK/SSC/45092.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v41/MIIAIIRIIK/SSC/45093.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v41/MIIAIIRIIK/SSC/45094.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v41/MIIAIIRIIK/SSC/45095.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v41/MIIAIIRIIK/SSC/45096.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v41/MIIAIIRIIK/SSC/45097.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v41/MIIAIIRIIK/SSC/45098.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v41/MIIAIIRIIK/SSC/45099.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v41/MIIAIIRIIK/SSC/45100.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v41/MIIAIIRIIK/SSC/45101.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v41/MIIAIIRIIK/SSC/45102.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v41/MIIAIIRIIK/SSC/45103.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v41/MIIAIIRIIK/SSC/45104.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v41/MIIAIIRIIK/SSC/45105.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v41/MIIAIIRIIK/SSC/45106.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v41/MIIAIIRIIK/SSC/45107.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v41/MIIAIIRIIK/SSC/45108.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v41/MIIAIIRIIK/SSC/45109.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v41/MIIAIIRIIK/SSC/45110.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v41/MIIAIIRIIK/SSC/45111.jpg

Throwback architecture in Coral Gables might actually cheapin' what is there now. The city would really benefit from some modern stuff in the mix.

M II A II R II K , Mark :) , GREAT PICS, I love the BILTMORE HOTEL :) , that was George Merrick's Favorite and Best, He's the Founder of Coral Gables. The Hotel top is being Renovated. and painted to its original color of 1926. :cheers:

im wit u skydive, they need to throw some modern stuff (or just anything not mediteranean) into the mix, makes the mediteranean pop out, it gets boring, u need contrast!

well that's one of the reasons I really like 100 Alhambra!!


http://preconstruccion.com/images/100alhambra.jpg

That's what I'm talkin' 'bout !

I'd still like to see a bigger pic of Ponce Tower. It looks promising.

Nice

I'd still like to see a bigger pic of Ponce Tower. It looks promising.
DALE, :) SAME HERE, I want MORE PICS of this PONCE TOWER and the Website to it, More INFO PLEASE :) , Thanks MEN and Any Women out there, lol. :cheers:

Coral Gables, the town of Laws, but I love it, nice and...green. Feels kind of weird someone posting my house on a public forum...

NICE
great pics mark, im there right now in coral gables and theyre also huge CRANE FANS chuck lool

giant cranes wherever you look!

Thanx! Wish I could go back!

M II A II R II K , Mark :) , GREAT PICS, I love the BILTMORE HOTEL :) , that was George Merrick's Favorite and Best, He's the Founder of Coral Gables. The Hotel top is being Renovated. and painted to its original color of 1926. :cheers:

Yes the Biltmore is probably Merrick's masterpiece and the most recognized landmark of the city

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v41/MIIAIIRIIK/SSC/45098.jpg

The design style of the Biltmore Hotel as well as that of the Freedom Tower (old Miami News bldg) in downtown Miami were borrowed from the Giralda Tower in Seville, Spain

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v480/Nolke/29.jpg

Coral Gables :) ," THE CITY BEAUTIFUL " We need MORE Beautiful PICS like these.THANKS DON PACHO :) , THE WATER TOWER, The Venetain POOL, The Gateway Entrance, The Towers at all Entrances to Coral Gables :) , THIS is ART, Needs Preserved FOREVER . :cheers:

$48M Office Condo Project Set to Break Ground in January
By Melissa Bogdany
Last updated: November 22, 2004 04:21pm

CORAL GABLES, FL-Five months after going on the market, Plaza San Remo, a $48-million medical/professional office condominium project planned for the southern end of the city has sold out and groundbreaking is scheduled for January.

The 100,000-sf, seven-story project, being developed by Venera Holdings LLC, is slated for a 2.5-acre site on the east side of Red Road and bordered by San Remo and Venera avenues one block south of US Highway 1. Venera Holdings is a partnership of banker and investor George Scholl and Ford Gibson, a more than 20-year commercial real estate industry veteran and president of both Venera Holdings and San Remo Developments LLC, which Gibson formed in 2003. Gibson is formerly president of Codina Group.

The office condos range in size from 1,200 sf to 20,000 sf. Twenty-year-old, Miami-based Kenneth Weston & Associates Inc. is handling sales and marketing for Plaza San Remo. Space was offered for $285 and $305 per sf, or roughly $350,000 to $6 million. Gibson says he expected the success they experienced in sales, with the project selling 60% of the space in the first two weeks.

The anchor retail tenant is Whole Foods Market, which is taking 50,000 sf. Other tenants include dentists, plastic surgeons and dermatologists. The project offers five parking spaces per 1,000 sf.

"The medical office market is thriving," according to Kenneth Weston, president of Kenneth Weston & Associates. "This trend is particularly strong within the medical profession. The concept of Plaza San Remo was developed to meet the specific demands of the medical market."
http://globest.com/news/165_165/miami/128832-1.html

$48M Office Condo Project Set to Break Ground in January
By Melissa Bogdany
Last updated: November 22, 2004 04:21pm

CORAL GABLES, FL-Five months after going on the market, Plaza San Remo, a $48-million medical/professional office condominium project planned for the southern end of the city has sold out and groundbreaking is scheduled for January.

The 100,000-sf, seven-story project, being developed by Venera Holdings LLC, is slated for a 2.5-acre site on the east side of Red Road and bordered by San Remo and Venera avenues one block south of US Highway 1. Venera Holdings is a partnership of banker and investor George Scholl and Ford Gibson, a more than 20-year commercial real estate industry veteran and president of both Venera Holdings and San Remo Developments LLC, which Gibson formed in 2003. Gibson is formerly president of Codina Group.

The office condos range in size from 1,200 sf to 20,000 sf. Twenty-year-old, Miami-based Kenneth Weston & Associates Inc. is handling sales and marketing for Plaza San Remo. Space was offered for $285 and $305 per sf, or roughly $350,000 to $6 million. Gibson says he expected the success they experienced in sales, with the project selling 60% of the space in the first two weeks.

The anchor retail tenant is Whole Foods Market, which is taking 50,000 sf. Other tenants include dentists, plastic surgeons and dermatologists. The project offers five parking spaces per 1,000 sf.

"The medical office market is thriving," according to Kenneth Weston, president of Kenneth Weston & Associates. "This trend is particularly strong within the medical profession. The concept of Plaza San Remo was developed to meet the specific demands of the medical market."
http://globest.com/news/165_165/miami/128832-1.html

A Whole Foods Market? This is my neighborhood, and I can assure you there is already a Publix directly around the corner from this site, and a Winn Dixie 4 blocks away, I know I eat a lot but do we really need that many grocers?

GREAT NEWS RENNER, This is WHAT CORAL GABLES is All ABOUT, I LOVE this City, TOO, Second to MIAMI, BUILD IT and Get it DONE NOW !!!

Here's a rendering of Plaza San Remo (http://www.plazasanremo.com/home.html)


http://www.kennethwestonassoc.com/properties/Color%20Rendering%20WEB%20II.jpg

Looks nice, and will be right accross the street from Sunset Place. Has any one seen the new Medical building going up and Sunset and 62nd Ave? Cool curvy glass building and circular decorative structure on the roof.

^ yeah i saw that building nice.

so is this goin up on that patch of land that was crappy apartments that they tore down a year or two ago and has been empty ever since?just east of that gas station and that shopping center that has a ace hardware and a chicken kithcen (my neighborhood, but for the life of me i can remember the names of the streets, lol) seeing this go up there would b amazing, the neighborhood could use it

I think its going up across the street from the Wendy's where there is just single story stores now. I have no idea what is going to be done with that huge vacant lot where they tore down the apartments. There used to be a sign up on the fence saying "A new plan for living" but that sign is gone. Homework assignment for our forum members: FIND OUT WHAT THE HELL IS HAPPENING WITH THE HUGE VACANT PARCEL ON RED ROAD AND 74TH STREET!!!

so where the specs and the papajohns r on us1?

I think that if you stand on Red Rd with Wendys on your back then it would be the lot on your left.

where subrageous and outland station are? lol, sry, i no this neighborhhod like the back of my hand, just not the names of the streets,

That's what I'm talkin' 'bout !
TRUE DALE

This is a cool sounding development for downtown South Miami across from Sunset Place. "Project Sunset" at 5750 Sunset Dr would be 4 stories, with 4 restaurants, a bank, commercial space, and 106 Multi-family units. Its going before the South Miami zoning board on Jan 12th. If you look farther down in the link though you see they are trying to push through a ban on all structures over 4-stories.

http://www.cityofsouthmiami.net/documents/AgendaPlanningBoardJanuary112005.pdf

Here is the location of the development:

http://img129.exs.cx/img129/1772/sun57507mi.jpg

Here is an article talking about the post I just made. South Miami reallllly needs this project, as someone who lives there, I can't wait:

http://www.communitynewspapers.com/2004/spapers/local1_sm.htm

South Miami Corporation is banking on a big new project for the city

By Frances Dubson

For several weeks now rumblings about the next big project heading to South Miami have stirred up speculation as to what exactly it will be. Now it’s official—plans are on file with the city and an application has been submitted for review and approval.


Pictured in this architect’s
rendering is the new
building that will house the new First National Bank of South Miami.
The applicant, South Miami Corporation, which owns three city blocks and is owner of the city landmark bank, First National Bank of South Miami, is planning a mixed-use development on more than four acres at and around 5750 Sunset Drive.

“The Hometown Plan is the vision of Downtown South Miami and this project literally embraces the Hometown Plan,” said Tucker Gibbs, Attorney for the South Miami Corporation. “We are going to be the first major project in South Miami that actually does what the plan says to do, and that is to bring residents into downtown which will truly make it a live, work and shop development.”

The four story project will have nearly 90,000 square feet of commercial space including four restaurants, offices, retail shops and residences. Its boundaries will extend from 57th Court to 58th Avenue on 72nd Street (Sunset Drive), and from 57th Court to 58th Court from 73rd to 74th Street.

First National Bank of South Miami will be staying where it is so loyal bank customers do not have to worry about finding a new bank. There is also a plan in place to keep an operating bank lane throughout the construction phase.
The project is also expected to provide two parking garages and a surface parking lot. Parking requirements will be met as the size of such a project requires 606 total spaces and there are 653 total spaces on the plans.

“We will have the required parking for retail and office space and a separate parking area for the residential part of the project and we will be above and beyond the required parking needs plus extra parking,” Gibbs said.
A major concern of South Miami citizens is what such a project will do to traffic in the already congested area. A traffic study will be conducted and presented publicly.

Victor Dover, of Dover, Kohl & Partners, is heading the planning and design.
“We are conducting a traffic study, but we are not concerned that it will cause a problem because we are building under the Hometown Plan threshold,” said Dover.

“We want the traffic analysis to make sure we have positioned the entries of the garages in a way that will optimize the operation of all of the intersections, which is where traffic congestion becomes most apparent. We’ve given the traffic engineer a special task to make sure our design is best for the neighborhood.”

According to the plans, the residential density is estimated at 24 units per acre. There will be 106 diverse residential dwelling units with studios as small as 420 square feet to almost 900 square foot one bedroom/one bath, two bedroom/two bath units ranging from 770 to just more than 1,500 square feet of living space and three bedroom/three bath units from 1,008 square feet to just more than 2,400 square foot units.

There will be Town Homes as well as Row Houses similar to those you would see along the French Quarter in New Orleans.
Residents won’t have to worry about looking at three city blocks looking like they came out of one mold.

“The idea is to take what sounds like one big project and break it down into a great deal of architectural variety,” said Dover. “There will be several architecture firms working on this development because the goal is to maintain the character of the historic, old time South Miami, which was created by adding up buildings.

Such an approach is advocated by the Hometown Plan so for us it’s a dream come true.”

It all sounds wonderful so far, but before this project gets the green light, the developer will have to iron out all of its needs and requests with the City Planning Board.

They’ll need the commission’s approval on two requests for Special Exceptions as well as approval for a Special Use for its planned 13,000 plus square feet of restaurant space.

The Special Exceptions requested are to get approval to permit four bank lanes rather than the two allowed according to the city code. Currently the bank has eight lanes which are there because they are grandfathered in since the bank has been on the premises for nearly fifty years. The bank lanes have also been designed inside one of the parking garages.

The second Special Exception request is for permission to build more lot coverage than what’s allowed.

Sandy Youkilis, Consultant for the City’s Planning and Zoning Department agrees that such a project would not only meet the Hometown Plan, it would help the city a great deal.

Youkilis said, “It would be a major investment for our downtown and bringing people to live downtown is extremely positive for any urban area. It will add life and it will also significantly contribute to the tax base of the city.”

What’s interesting is that this project is right across from the Shops of Sunset Place who have been having financial trouble for several years however the First National Bank Project will be nothing like their neighbor across the street.

Dover said, “The two couldn’t be more different – if one wants to find something good is that it provides us with an easy example of what not to do so quick. This project is not introverted, its extroverted, Shops of Sunset is introverted and turns its back on its neighbors and that type of development doesn’t make healthy streets. In our project the edges of our streets will have doors, windows, balconies and human presence.”

Ground breaking is projected for early 2006.
No cost estimates have yet been released.
A public hearing for this project before the Planning Board is scheduled for January 11th

thats amazing, god i hope that happens, downtown south miami is reaaaly shapin up! hope it happens soon so some more life gets breathed into the neighborhood cause sunset place is goin down fast, i dont give it more than another few years

So many condominiuns are up in downtown Miami. I wonder if they will EVER be filled, Coral Gables needs more residents.

Question: You know all those designer shops on "Miracle Mile" (think god for spell checker)? How do they survive? I mean taxes on stores there are huge and I never see anyone in those stores. Only ones filled there is Burger King, that hair cut place and Navarro pharmacy...

things in those stores are so expensive, they make enough money on one customer a day to survive with a nice profit, lol

well the same thing happens in the design district and yet there aren't enough free space.

and on miralce mile theres more pedestrian traffic.

well the same thing happens in the design district and yet there aren't enough free space.

and on miralce mile theres more pedestrian traffic.

Oh yes everyone is going crazy because they need a wedding dress every weekend :sleepy:

What I see there more often is tourists, I remember when only Coral Gables residents walked there. I used to walk there, the road seems to always be on construction/refitting...

what are you talking about,the design district doesn't sell wedding dresses and never has,it sells antiques ,paintings,furniture and other things.and has two popular night clubs called grass and the warehouse.

what are you talking about,the design district doesn't sell wedding dresses and never has,it sells antiques ,paintings,furniture and other things.and has two popular night clubs called grass and the warehouse.

Look in the windows of the stores some time, a very good chance the store you are looking in sells them...

i've been to the d.district many times and at most theres liike 5 stores that sell clothing and the rest sell other things

people go to Coral gables to buy wedding dresses not the design district


check out my design district thread buried somewhere in the Florida forum!

well, im not much of an expert on the subject... alls i no is that last time i was on miracle mile i noticed, hey, luk at that, theres like 5 wedding stores.. so im assuming that it is miami's wedding dress mecca, i however have to say that ive never really been to the design district (save drived by on the highway), but its reputation is more for design, art, and clubs, thats the buzz i hear about it

but like i said, im no expert

And its not like its 5 wedding stores out of hundreds, Miracle Mile is pretty small...

zulu i don't get what are we arguing about.i'm confused.

not downtown coral gables... but didnt want to start another thread, so i put it in the best gables thread i could find... recently had to do a project on 1920 architecture in miami... went all over miami, heres just the few i took of the biltmore

http://img46.exs.cx/img46/7568/pic0011di.jpg
http://img198.exs.cx/img198/3731/pic0035ak.jpg
http://img198.exs.cx/img198/2042/pic0050lu.jpg
http://img198.exs.cx/img198/2765/pic0066sw.jpg
http://img198.exs.cx/img198/5373/pic0073xm.jpg
http://img198.exs.cx/img198/2471/pic0083np.jpg
http://img198.exs.cx/img198/263/pic0094wv.jpg
http://img198.exs.cx/img198/120/pic0139wb.jpg
http://img198.exs.cx/img198/9256/pic0181ph.jpg
http://img198.exs.cx/img198/9167/pic0209ti.jpg
http://img198.exs.cx/img198/5026/pic0218xf.jpg
http://img198.exs.cx/img198/5193/pic0223cr.jpg
http://img198.exs.cx/img198/6686/pic0233xi.jpg
http://img198.exs.cx/img198/1372/pic0243jm.jpg
http://img198.exs.cx/img198/434/pic0286rz.jpg
http://img198.exs.cx/img198/3342/pic0297yo.jpg
http://img198.exs.cx/img198/2765/pic0305rh.jpg
http://img198.exs.cx/img198/583/pic0318wj.jpg
http://img198.exs.cx/img198/3480/pic0327yo.jpg
http://img198.exs.cx/img198/6429/pic0361hg.jpg
http://img198.exs.cx/img198/5382/pic0373oc.jpg
http://img198.exs.cx/img198/5398/pic0389uu.jpg
http://img198.exs.cx/img198/8242/pic0392xx.jpg
tp://img198.exs.cx/img198/6421/pic0407yy.jpg

awesome pics man!

finally you contributed something nimby

nice pics:)

finally you contributed something nimby

that hurts uptown, as true as it may be... i also got a whole section on 20's architecture downtown and on south beach... ill get that to you guys soon

ooo....can't wait for those;)

NIMBY's :) Pics are the best of the Gables, I had to bring this one back from the past, and that's gotta be his sister in that 16th pic in his picture post pointing the other way, " don't take a picture of me, " shes saying, lol.
also everyone check out this new condo in coral gables at www.poncetower.com enjoy it !!! :cheers:

Chuck, any news on the Gables Marquis or 100 Alhambra tower??


I'm eager to see those pull through:)

NIMBY's :) Pics are the best of the Gables, I had to bring this one back from the past, and that's gotta be his sister in that 16th pic in his picture post pointing the other way, " don't take a picture of me, " shes saying, lol.
also everyone check out this new condo in coral gables at www.poncetower.com enjoy it !!! :cheers:

that actually one of the girls that i had to do the project with... and she would b extremely pissed if she new this picture was online, cause she looks really bad there, she must b like squinting there

wish i couldve gotten picture of the gables besides the biltmore... hopeuflly in the near future... downtown coral gables is just exploding! gettin more offices than all the rest of miami combined practically

streetscapeer I went by gables marquis sales office last weekend The realtor said they are waiting for one more permit from the city for coscan to start construction 1 BR hole in the wall theyare pricing at 376,000

who is coscan?
Turner is the construction company right?
I was also told they plan on leveling the empty sales center today and tomorrow(which is on the actual site).

The new one is right next door. They have an awesome model of the project.

Can anyone take pictures of the model and put them on line?

Again,could you tell me what coscan is?

coscan is the general contractor they have their office right next to the sales office. Or coscan may be just the construction manager and turner is the general contractor im not sure but coscan has done a whole bunch of jobs including one of trump'sroyale, uptown marina lofts http://www.coscanhomes.com/

Thanx. Im so siked for this 1 to start.

I wonder whats going to happen to the mechanic shops and the little green spanish restaurant on the corner of 32 and 22nd...They will look a little out of place with this amazing 20 story building connected to it.

I know sergios restaurant is supposed to get a make over

Both sides of coral way and 32nd will be amazing. On the other side of the street Midtown lofts of miami (14 FLOORS)has already started to be built...

The same architect (cohen,freedman,encinosa) designed both that one and the Gables MARQUIS(20 STORIES)...I THINK THIS 1 WILL BE AMAZING.
I JUST DONT KNOW WHAT THEYLL DO WITH THE BODY SHOPS AND THE TACO BELL RIGHT THERE.

Next to midtownlofts(also 32nd and coral way)they are starting "blue of coral way", and next to that they leveled another small bodega 2 days ago.

There is another small abandoned 1 floor structure there that looks like it may be demolished. The median lighting project will be heading right throught this area soon also

damn...Coral Way is taking off!!

thanks for the well-needed updates and Welcome to the forums canine7:):)

gables marquis sales center is partly demolished already