Boom or Bust: Miami

One of Brickell’s most impressively designed projects is under going work on its foundation. Capital at Brickell, designed by Fullerton Diaz Architects, has an award winning design, will include retail, office, and residential space, and is situated across from One Broadway. It’s being developed by Cabi Developers.

Image: Foundation work on the site of Capital at Brickell

The Filling Station Lofts, developed by Intrepid, has one of the most forward thinking marketing campaigns I’ve seen lately. The image above illustrates the ampleness of 18′ ft. ceilings and cleverly employs a silhouette of a 15′ ft. tall baby giraffe to show the excess space above.

According to the developer, three Hummers stacked on top of one another could fit in a Filling Station Loft. This is a neat way of showing the unit height dimensions. The Filling Station Lofts is being marketed extremely well, but the building’s design alone is impressive. Check out the project website.

The project is located in the heart of the M&E District on N.E. 17th Street across the street from the newly built Parc Lofts, and a short walk away from the proposed Bayview Market. The neighborhood remains unstable but has a great deal of potential.

Developed by Robert Wennett, The proposed 1111 Lincoln Road mixed use development, located across the street from the Zyscovich-designed Lincoln Road Cinema (1100 Lincoln Rd.), is sharply designed and unorthodoxly thought-out. The project combines the architectural brilliance of two preeminent firms: Zyscovich, and Herzog & De Meuron (designing the planned Miami Art Museum and designers of the Allianz Arena in Munich and Beijing Olympic Stadium).

Image: Raymond Jungle courtyard landscaping and unit interior rendering

The project will have 50,000 square feet of curated street-level retail space with 18-30ft high ceilings and a 300 space parking garage. Located at the west entrance to Lincoln Road, the site offers optimal visibility for its future tenants. The project will include residences that are surrounded by Raymond Jungle landscaped courtyards. This standout project further solidifies Zyscovich’s leading role in innovative design in Miami Beach, introduces a world-class international architectural firm to the Beach, adds Class A commercial space to South Beach, and compliments the westward expansion of Lincoln road.

Image: Cipriani North View

In 1931, Giuseppe Cipriani and Harry Pickering opened Harry’s Bar near St. Marks Square in Venice, Italy. The waterfront establishment near the picturesque plaza became a sensation with Venetians, visitors, and celebrities. With the success of Harry’s Bar, Giuseppe opened the now world renown Hotel Cipriani in Venice.

The Cipriani’s were so successful that John D. Rockefeller brought them in to operate the famous Rainbow Room in NYC. In 2001, the Italian Ministry for Cultural Affairs declared the Harry’s Bar a national landmark. Today, Harry’s Bar is considered one of the finest restaurants in the world, having expanded into London, Hong Kong, New York City, and now, Miami.

Miami Beach’s version of the Cirpiani Tradition, however, will involve transforming the historic Saxony Hotel into a luxurious resort condo on the beach at 32nd street and Collins Avenue. The team heading the project includes New York based Patrinely Group, Giuseppe Cipriani (grandson of founder), internationally renown formula one star and entrepreneur Flavio Briatore, and the widely respected Ugo Colombo.

This project brings a little bit of Venetian Cipriani tradition, Rainbow Room class, and Ugo Colombo luxury to Miami Beach the American Riviera. The development team, led by Ugo, is sound, the building historic, the location world class, and the lifestyle concept singular.

Amenities include:

• A “signature world famous” Cipriani Restaurant
• 600 feet of beach
• Grand ballroom
• Spa
• Fitness center
• Three swimming pools
• Business Lounge
• Cipriani International 24 Hour Conceirge
• Valet and Limousine Service
• Cirpriani-trained Housekeeping Service
• Butler Service

Jorge Perez and his company, the Related Group, have dominated the southern tip of South Beach for years (Yacht Club at Portofino, Murano, Portofino Tower, Murano Grande, Apogee, ICON South Beach–many of them designed by Sieger Suarez). Now, they are moving ahead with plans for Viceroy South Beach, an ultra luxury resort and residences complex. Viceroy South Beach, which is situated directly across from both the Portofino Tower and Apogee, will further cement SoFi as one of Florida’s most elite communities. Considering that the area was a blight spot in the city landscape as early as 1995, it is a marvel of urban development to consider its drastic evolution in 12 short years.

Resident “privileges” include:

• Event and menu planning by Viceroy South Beach catering professionals
• Fresh flower delivery and arrangement
• Personal chef services and in-residence catering available through Viceroy signature restaurant
• Personal fitness trainers and outdoor running companions
• Preferred pricing at Kor Hotel Group online shopping collection
• Priority Status for Viceroy resort and restaurant reservations
• Signing privileges and direct billing for all resort services at Viceroy South Beach Resort
• Spa and massage services available in Viceroy South Beach spa, in-residence or poolside
• Wine sommelier consulting services through exclusive local wine boutique; professionals for hire

Resident Services include:

• 24-hour security
• One-year membership to Equinox Fitness Center
• Cable television and high-speed Internet access
• Car wash and detailing services
• DVD, video game and music rental and delivery
• Housekeeping service
• Interactive resident information system panel and smart building technology
• Landscaping services for exterior common areas, courtyards, pools, and pathways
• Laundry and dry cleaning services
• Life and fire safety (including sprinkler system)
• Lifestyle and residence management services: Residence oversight, supervision, administration, management and care
• Lobby attendant/doorman
• Pest control and refuse services
• Pool services and amenities (including towel services, umbrellas, magazines, water and on-site staff)
• Shoe shine and repair services
• Sports recreation instruction and equipment rental (including tennis, golf and water sports)

Who came up with the idea of painting a gigantic bright green parabola on the building sides with accents of royal blue in the front and rear? This is horrible for the skyline! First off, we all have to look at it. Secondly, if you own at the Club, and would like to add dark wood or light marble floors to your unit, what do you do about the bright green wall outside in your terrace area? Nothing. What can you do except hate it? There goes any interior décor harmony. It’s even worse for those with partially painted green walls. This is all part of the parabola effect. As if painting the walls this painful color combination is not bad enough, they painted the steel railings too!

There is a much bigger problem with the color scheme: the bright green and blue will fade. The building is near the bay and salt air will diminish the color faster than if it were farther inland. This means that the condominium association will have to paint the building every couple of years. This is no minor cost. We’re talking a couple of hundred thousand dollars per instance. It all could have been avoided with lighter tones. This means that the condominium association will have to fund their reserves to allocate money for the expected repainting of the green parabola exterior. Funding the reserves, although prudent, is not always done in order to reduce monthly maintenance assessments. The alternative means special assessing the unit owners for the funds—not a desirable option. In the case of The Club, the color of the exterior is so bright that if it faded, it would look too terrible to ignore. This means more maintenance and higher assessments for The Club’s unit owners.

Continuing on a negative note, the building’s parking garage is the biggest and nastiest that Brickell has seen in years. It exceeds the height of the neighboring building to the west. There was no effort to cover it, make it more attractive, or compact. Rather it is a blight spot in the beautiful Brickell skyline. For the nasty color scheme, impractical maintenance implications, blah design, and abhorrent parking garage, the Club is by far the most repulsive new building in Brickell. Congrats!