CORAL GABLES & CORAL WAYS CONDOS?

[dave8721]

It looks like the plans to partially demolish the Coconut Grove Playhouse for condos are dead. This is probably a good thing. Why is it that all redevelopments of theaters in Miami always seem to involve making the theaters smaller? It would be great to hear someone say "I am going to renovate blah blah theater and add 500 seats". I know it needs some major work done, but why does that always mean removing bunches of seats? Any time I've ever tried to go to anything there (Jerry Seinfeld many years back or Dave Chappelle more recently) the show sell out forever in advance because the theater is already too small.

http://www.miamisunpost.com/secondstoryfrontpage.htm

Developer Backs Out of Proposal to Redevelop Coconut Grove Playhouse

“We have a playhouse that we need to bring into the 21st century.” – Shelly Spivack, chair of the Coconut Grove Playhouse Board of Trustees/Directors

By Mario Martinez
Staff Writer



As the Coconut Grove Playhouse celebrates the opening of its 50th season, its neighbors are celebrating the fact that plans to build 100 new condos and a parking garage on the property suffered a giant setback when the developer announced he was pulling out of the deal.

In May, the Playhouse’s Board of Trustees and Directors approved an $8 million deal with Henry Pino of the Strategic Property Group for construction of a 250 parking space garage with retail storefronts, 100 condominiums and two new theaters on the property at 3500 Main Highway. But the plan came under heavy criticism from county residents, historic preservationists and neighboring merchants when it was announced that some or all of the theater would have to be demolished to make way for the new construction.

Pino’s plans also would have converted the theater, which now consists of 1,100 seats at the main stage and a 135-seat “encore room,” into a 650-seat main facility and an intimate 250-seat stage area.

Originally built as a movie house in 1926, the Playhouse has been a fixture along Main Highway and on the national regional theater scene for the last 50 years and Groveites showed they were not willing to part with their theater without a fight.

Upon learning of the construction plans for the Playhouse, a group of residents urged the Historic and Environmental Preservation Board (HEPB) to designate the property as historic. On June 7, Playhouse officials went before the board and dozens of concerned Groveites to say they fully supported a historic designation for their theater. The HEPB then decided to prepare a site designation report that would be completed by the October 5 meeting.

But Pino and the Strategic Property Group are no longer interested in developing the Playhouse property, regardless of how the HEPB votes.

“Under the preliminary agreement between Henry Pino and the Playhouse, there was a period of due diligence established for the parties to explore the agreement and make sure it was a fair deal that could be worked out,” said Seth Gordon, whose firm Gordon & Reyes represents the Playhouse. “[Pino] wanted to have the due diligence period extended and although the Playhouse was willing to provide an extension, they could not agree on one.”

Gordon said it remained unclear whether the Playhouse’s directors would explore further development of the property and directed questions to the Playhouse’s new board chair, Shelly Spivack.

Spivack said the Playhouse has not made any decisions regarding redevelopment of the property and insisted the board’s main concern is the theater’s continued progress.

“We have a playhouse that we need to bring into the 21st century,” Spivack said. “Everyone is focusing on developing the property and historic designation, but no one has focused on the fact that we’ve been doing live theater for 50 years now. We need to focus on the fact that we’re a part of the County General Obligation Bond (GOB) and that we have $15 million sitting with the county to refurbish the Playhouse and that needs to be our focus at the moment.”

In November voters approved a $556 million GOB for countywide art programs, museums and educational facilities and allocated $15 million for the renovation of the Playhouse. In 2003, the state conveyed the 2.3-acre site and the building to the Coconut Grove Playhouse, Inc., but a deed restriction demands the presence of a theater on the property.

It was unclear exactly how Pino’s proposed development would have stood up to the deed restriction; many neighbors felt it clearly breached the deal. Grove residents and activists greeted news of the developer’s withdrawal from the project with enthusiasm.

“We are very excited that the Playhouse can be restored and has the opportunity to be historically designated,” said Marc Sarnoff of The Grove First, one of the most vocal opponents of the proposed Playhouse development. “Hopefully this will also prevent the city manager from trying to move it to the waterfront.”

Sarnoff said City Manager Joe Arriola is backing an idea to relocate the Coconut Grove Playhouse to Dinner Key. Back in February at the monthly Coconut Grove Chamber of Commerce luncheon, Arriola said although nothing was set in stone, plans to move the Playhouse to the Convention Center site were being considered. However, Arriola has not formally announced any proposed move for the Playhouse.

The Miami HEPB will present its historic designation report on the Playhouse during its meeting on Wednesday, October 5 at 1:30 p.m. at City Hall.

[dave8721]

The Mile had a setback in its attempt to put a 22-story 240 foot tower at Douglas and Coral Way. Commissioners said it would be out of character for the neighborhood (keep in mind it will be right next to the 200 foot tall Gables Marquis).

http://www.miamitodaynews.com/news/050929/fyi.shtml

MILE AWAY: Developers of Mile, a commercial and residential project on Coral Way, must return with new plans, Miami city commissioners voted last week. The planning department had denied rezoning but the zoning board voted in favor 6-1 of rezoning 3622 SW 22nd St. and 3605-3625 SW 22nd Terrace from a 1.72 floor area ratio height to a 2.9 - almost three stories. According to records, planners said no because they felt the development would be out of scale with its surroundings. Commissioners last week set a Nov. 17 deadline to applicants M Three Corp. and the Key Real Estate Development Corp. to offer new plans.

[MIAballinboi]

that sux, wow, would have been great there,

[canine7]

does anyone know anything about the key coral way condo...
It is in the preliminary stage of getting its permits and should be at 3222 coral way.
GABLES MARQUIS IS AT 3232 CORAL WAY...
How is this possible?

Its not sergios,benjamin moore,etc.Anyone know what is located at 3222 coral way.

THE MILE,I think will still happen....It will be where the restaurant habana vieja and boston market are located---across from sears....4 blocks from gables marquis

Any info on key coral way condo would be greatly appreciated....

keystone villas 2 will hopefully go up at 3538 coral way and make the area even better

[dave8721]

My guess is that it must be pretty small so it can squeeze between Gables Marquis and 32nd Ave.

[nimbyhater]

not exactly a condo... but relavent to the neighborhood... looks like the big box thing is goin through


Gables mall ready to open one more time

By Marilyn Bowden
A mall at Coral Gables' doorstep that has failed three times in 12 years is nearly fully leased for re-opening, and officials are seeking reconstruction permits to capitalize on a residential boom.
Miracle Marketplace, 3301 Coral Way, the latest incarnation of the original Miracle Center, is to be open to the street. Working drawings are being fine-tuned, said Michael Mouriz, principal of Keystone Homes, and "we hope to be in for a permit by the end of the year. As soon as we get that, we will begin demolitions and start building."
Mr. Mouriz is in a joint venture with James Schlesinger of Talisman Cos., which resurrected Cutler Ridge Mall as Southland Mall.
Miracle Center, designed by Arquitectonica International, opened in 1989 with plans to add residences above it. But after eight years, it was reinvented as Paseos Mall, a Spanish Colonial shopping center with pushcarts, kiosks and specialty stores. That, too, failed.
In 2001, Swerdlow Group bought the site to convert the mall to offices for high-tech companies, but the dot.com crash scuttled those plans.
"Many factors are in place right now that didn't exist in the past," Mr. Mouriz said. "Coral Way itself is a very different world than it was a few years ago. Big-box retail has taken over, and with all the residential construction, there are a lot more people."
Bally Total Fitness gym, the only remaining tenant, will expand from 28,000 square feet to 50,000, Mr. Schlesinger said, and be joined by Marshalls, Bed Bath & Beyond, Office Max, Ulta, Designer Shoes Warehouse, Pay Less Shoes, PetsMart and Sweet Tomatoes.
Keystone is adding to the residential boom with Villas of Coral Way across the street. The first phase is done, Mr. Mouriz said, with all but a few units sold to end users, and Keystone last week began demolition for Villas II next door.


http://www.miamitodaynews.com/news/051006/story2.shtml

[MIAballinboi]

^ yea i remember that mall right on coral way, the total failure, lets hope something good comes out of it.

[rider_of_rohan]

Hotel-condo planned for Gables

By Sherri C. Ranta
A Tennessee hospitality company plans to build a 215-unit hotel-condominium with a Hilton flag near downtown Coral Gables and the city's Miracle Mile shopping district.
A subsidiary of Maximum Hospitality paid $16 million for the 1.7-acre vacant site at Salzedo Street and Navarre Avenue in late September and plans to franchise the project as a Hilton hotel, said Guy Trusty, president of Lodging & Hospitality Realty, a Miami commercial real estate and hotel development company.
Mr. Trusty described the project, in permit stage at the city, as "a purpose-built hotel condo, conceived and built from the ground up as a hotel condo." Many hotel condominiums, he said, are built as something else and then converted.
"There is a real need for new hotel rooms in Miami-Dade," he said. "Over the past five or six years, we've run out of land. All forms of real estate are now competing with condo developers - that's driving up prices.
"There's record land costs," Mr. Trusty said. "Consequently, almost every other form of commercial real estate has been pushed out of the market."
Miami-Dade property records show the acreage is an assemblage of at least three parcels - all parking lots - that include 317 Minorca Ave. and 320-322 Navarre Ave. The lots were purchased for $11 million in January by 2020 Salzedo Ltd., records show.
Almost the entire block bounded by Salzedo Street to the east, LeJeune Road to the west, Navarre Avenue to the north and Minorca Avenue to the south has changed hands in the past few months, Mr. Trusty said.
JHM Hotels of Greenville, SC, purchased the nearby Holiday Inn at 2051 LeJeune Road for $11 million in June. Built in 1971, the 95,774-square-foot hotel has 168 units, according to county property records.

http://www.miamitodaynews.com/news/051013/story1.shtml

[Dale]

Did Burger King ever release a rendering for its new HQ ?

[BornInTheGrove]

i remember they released some kind of rendering, of the front facade only, though

[nimbyhater]

there was a pretty crude picture of it when they ran that little article about it in the herald... looked like ur typical gables generic medditerranean... nothing special... but like i said, it was pretty crude

[dave8721]

Pdf showing the project plans for the new 'bank' development in downtown South Miami that will feature restaraunts, row houses, and a bank. Will go accross the street from the just finished HSBC office building.

http://touzetstudio.com/pdf/Binder1.pdf

[streetscapeer]

great...this project will do wonders in extending the downtown area!...and it looks nice and urban too

[dave8721]

Traditional NY or Boston style row houses for downtown Coral Gables:

http://www.almeriarow.com/

[dave8721]

Thought I would post some pics of a forgetten collection of midrises (10 to 14 stories) at the extreme southern end of Coral Gables: Deering Bay off of SW 152nd St and 67th Ave. Its on the border of Pinecrest and Coral Gables but was annexed recently by Coral Gables. Known more for its golf course on the Bay designed by Arnold Palmer.

[dave8721]

Originally Posted by dave8721

Pdf showing the project plans for the new 'bank' development in downtown South Miami that will feature restaraunts, row houses, and a bank. Will go accross the street from the just finished HSBC office building.

http://touzetstudio.com/pdf/Binder1.pdf

Of course no sooner to I post this it comes out today that the project is dead for now due to massively increased construction costs and the projects inability to adapt to them due to South Miami's restrictive zoning.

Its the headline article here:
http://www.communitynewspapers.com/2.../sm_index.html

[streetscapeer]

^ oh fudge!


I like those rowhomes though!

[dave8721]

Here's Diursa. 12 floors, 132ft at 3105 SW 3rd AVE (Coral Way west of Brickell in the Roads area)

[Toucano]

I checked out Almeria Row, sent them an e-mail, these babies are running at 1.5 and 1.6 million...

[dave8721]

A project I hadn't seen before: The Plaza at Coral Gables, 1505 Ponce De Leon Blvd. 13 floors, 142ft Rental Building. Approved last year but I haven't seen any progress.

http://citybeautiful.net/CGWeb/docum...%20Reading.DOC