Boom or Bust: Miami

Coral Gables was intended to be a Mediterranean style retreat for the affluent. It was among the first planned communities in the country. The Merrick family alluded to Spanish architecture, built coral stone columns, fountains, the Biltmore Hotel in the style Seville’s Giralda tower, named streets after palaces and cities in Spain, and did it all to bring old world elegance and culture to their newly planned “City Beautiful”. George Merrick had a vision, but like most great visionaries his dream outlasted his life. With Merrick long since gone, others have carried his torch, but none of them more preeminently than Fullerton Diaz Architects.

Today, Coral Gables has evolved into a sprawling community with a thriving international business district. The Gables CBD is unique in the sense that it is an offshoot of the Merrick Mediterranean architectural vision, but unlike a typical CBD, is composed mostly of mid rises. In the Gables, one can see newly built complexes with old world elegance. The Gables CBD is an architectural showcase in this respect, but Fullerton Diaz steals the show.

Here is a list of their current Coral Gables projects, which totals about a quarter billion dollars in construction:

Giralda: Phase I (commercial) Phase II (mixed use) cost $36 million (below)

The Palace: Mixed Use joint venture with the Palace Mngt. Group & the City of Coral Gables/ cost $49 million (below)

55 Merrick: Residential and Commercial/cost $51.7 million (below)

San Remo: Professional medical office condo/cost $31 million (below)

Agora: Medical arts facility/cost $16.6 million (below)

1300 Ponce: Residential and commerical/cost $29 million (below)

Alhambra Grande: Retail, residences, and office/cost $20.6 million (below)

1607 Ponce: Retail, residences, and offices/project cost $16 million (below)