Posts filed under 'Brickell Village'
The chart below is one of several I prepared that are based on the latest DDA Development Activity Breakdown Report. It represents office/retail development (built, under construction, and approved) from 2002 to mid-2007 in Brickell Village. In an effort to compare DDA data with with an alternative source (to get the best overall picture), I deferred to CBRE’s market outlook. Let’s look at the DDA derived chart first:
Continue Reading November 14, 2007
Image: (from left to right) Infinity, Axis, and Vue on South Miami Avenue
Envisioning Brickell During the Boom
Since the inception of the surge in construction activity that later became known as the boom, I have envisioned how the skyline would transform. As activity picked up, so many projects were being announced that I found it increasingly challenging to remember them all off the top of my head. Still, I would look at the skyline and consider the height and design of those projects that were anticipated to fill in the sky. Now that the boom has dissipated, it has become clear that many projects that were announced may never come to exist. Several examples of this can be readily found on South Miami Avenue. Let’s see what I mean on a map:
Continue Reading August 22, 2007
The sales phone number on the sign is disconnected. That’s not encouraging. In 2005, Renzi’s plans for the Beacon were reportedly expanded from 38 to 50 stories. However, the unimpressively designed website doesn’t reflect the expansion while the sign on the parcel does (but at 53 stories). The reality on the ground shows no activity on the site. Some sources point towards a 2008 completion, but it seems that the project could be heading towards the scrapped book.
Continue Reading August 20, 2007
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
August 20, 2007
The BCC site, which is bisected by South Miami Avenue, is up for sale. The land owner, Kevin Reilly, was supposedly affiliated with NY-based Millenium Partners–builders of the Four Seasons–, but the project gained little momentum. This would have been amazing to see come to fruition, but now it’s a pipe dream it seems.
Image: West lot (above)
Image: East lot (above)
August 20, 2007
I remember walking into the sales center of 1390 Brickell Bay and thinking that the model kitchen looked like it belonged in a space station during the 1970’s (do space stations even have kitchens?). The sales rep barely spoke English, and the unimpressively laid out units were being sold as time shares. I was in and out in 5 wasteful minutes.
1390 Brickell Bay fizzled because it was a bad idea. The site is boxed in. The design and lifestyle concept wasn’t fresh enough to compensate. Timeshares don’t sell well here. The interior design element seemed to target cosmonauts, and the developer had zero experience. This project fizzled before the downturn. Why? Crap gets scrapped.
June 19, 2007
New York-based Extell Development has a broad and impressive portfolio of office, residential, and hotel towers mostly in Manhattan and Boston. Their latest venture represents their first foray into the Miami market: Avenue Brickell.
Avenue has gone up rapidly, with no negative publicity, and the project, despite it being light on glass and heavy on concrete, is looking sweet.
Continue Reading June 6, 2007
The vantage point of the images below are from a north Brickell Avenue sidewalk. Looking around, the construction boom surrounds you.
Continue Reading May 22, 2007
Map: Simpson Park Triangle
Orientation
There is an interesting pocket of development activity in the Brickell Village area. It is contained within S.W. 15th Road, the I-95, and S.W. 1st Avenue. East of the I-95, south of Brickell Village, and west of the Roads, the neighborhood forms a triangle slightly smaller than Brickell Key. The Metro-Rail runs adjacent to it.
Continue Reading May 21, 2007
Recently, the Miami City Commission rejected plans for the Columbus Centre Tower located on 15th Road and South Miami Avenue. Now, the developer, Nickel Goeseke, of Cervera Real Estate, has reduced the height of the proposed tower from 56 to 50 floors. The project’s construction is estimated to cost $490 million. The project will be on the May 24th agenda for the City Commission.
May 16, 2007
What do Hong Kong and Miami have in common? Well, for one, they are nearly on the same latitude. The city’s both deal with massive tropical storms, except call them by different names (hurricane and typhoons). Both metropolises are a hub for hundreds of multinational corporations, but Hong Kong is still leaps and bounds ahead of Miami. Aside from these basic similarities, the Magic City has a little bit of Hong Kong in it: Swire Properties Ltd. This international conglomerate is a big part of Hong Kong’s vertical evolution. The firm is one of the largest developers in the Chinese island-metropolis. They are the builders of Taikoo Shing, a 61 tower development. Swire also developed the monolithic multi-phase Pacific Place project, which includes four towers with three hotels (Shangri-La Hotel, Conrad Hotel, and J.W. Marriot - all with a presence in Miami: SLH in Island Gardens). Pacific Place also includes a high end shopping mall. Also in Hong Kong, the firm is the master mind behind the highly successful City Plaza project.
Their Far East projects are not confined to Hong Kong. They are building Taikoo Hui Cultural Plaza in Guangzhou (formerly Canton), north of Hong Kong. The impressively designed three tower project looks more like a new United Nations than a cultural plaza. The three towers are connected by a major hub in the center that includes a convention center, shopping mall, commercial spaces, along with a major transit interchange. The building’s main lobby is a massive glass-encased cube. Swire has built and is building dozens more major projects in Hong Kong and throughout the region.
- Image Source: Emporis - Taikoo Hui Cultural Plaza in Guangzhou
The multi-faceted international conglomerate has the ability to build more than just “big”. Now, consider their involvement in Miami’s urban market. Swire has all but claimed Brickell Key (Claughton Island) as their own Miami outpost. As of late, Swire is responsible for all three Tequesta towers, the Courts, Courvoisier Courts, the Mandarin Oriental, the Carbonell, and their latest development, Asia (pun intended). As a result, Brickell Key has evolved into a highly unique urban island community. Swire Properties has played the role of catalyst.
What is amazing about Swire is that their projects go vertical consistently, quickly, with minimal buzz, and the result is always an excellent development. Strikingly, since the 1970’s, Swire has focused its North American real estate activity solely on Miami. From their site:
Swire Properties Inc., the USA real estate operation of Swire Pacific, has been active in the development of investment and trading properties in Florida since the 1970s. Its primary focus is on Brickell Key in downtown Miami, where a number of commercial and residential properties have been developed.
Could there be something in Miami that reminds Swire of Hong Kong? There is, and you can rest assured that it isn’t the weather. Miami’s abuzz with economic activity and Swire’s latest Miami developments have been their most ambitious to date. The Far East firm has a proven track record of success on Brickell Key. Its efforts have largely remained within the quaint man made island, but there have been mini-forays into other nearby markets: South Beach’s Floridian and Jade Brickell. A mini-foray however is nothing compared to what this quiet giant could really accomplish.
Swire’s activity on Brickell Key could be a microcosm of what might happen in mainland Miami should the firm delve heavily into it. Let’s just say that Swire is running out of space on Brickell Key, and the mainland looms temptingly close. Should Swire move more aggressively into the Miami urban market, there will be no doubt of its ability to execute and in grand style. The resulting development could bring Miami closer to Hong Kong than previously thought.
April 9, 2007
It’s painful to look at the Espirito Santo Building’s damage almost two years after the
building was hit hard by Hurricane Wilma. I know that the issue was not lack of windstorm insurance, but for the sake of God, how long does it take to get the claim through the red tape? What if a major storm would have hit last season?
Here we have one of the city’s most striking buildings looking as if it belongs in Beirut’s battered skyline. What’s even more baffling is that it’s home to one of the city’s most high-end hotels, Conrad. Where’s the sense of urgency? Anyhow, the glass is finally getting replaced and hopefully the Espirito Santo will get back to its original form soon.
February 19, 2007
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!
February 12, 2007
Here you have a banner that is supposed to advertise a development right off of Brickell Village near the Roads. It’s hard for me to tell you what the development is because the banner is blocked by a portable restroom. If you look more closely, it’s called One Plaza West Brickell. I’d be worried if I bought a unit at this place, although the project is probably dead in the water anyhow. If it isn’t, then the developer must be obscenely busy to not notice his graffiti-ridden ad banner being blocked by a mobile shitter. If I were the developer, then somebody would be in deep shit. On a lighter note, the partially blocked floor plan looks pretty attractive.
February 11, 2007
The Columbus Center, planned for Brickell, raises some questions about the viability of such a development getting topped off given the markets saturation. The planned 56 floor 710ft condo/hotel tower will have to seek approval from the FAA for a space variance. Currently, the site allows for just over 600ft in height. There are also concerns that the tower is going to create a shadow over Simpson Park, but the architect, RVL, claims that due to the projects unique design, this will not be the case. The project is scheduled for a 2011 completion. Continue reading for the full Daily Business Review article.
Continue Reading December 5, 2006
The Charts below are designed to track both the distribution of density and height of Miami’s proposed, under-construction, and recently topped off high-rise developments among three urban neighborhoods: Brickell Village, the Central Business District, and Uptown. Chart A, below, includes 97 of the newest and tallest projects in Brickell Village, Uptown, and the Central business District (CBD).
Continue Reading November 8, 2006
Data can be misleading at times, whether it is in this case will soon be determined. I have employed the use of bar graphs that are designed to visually represent new building density in three neighborhoods, which will be the subject of this analysis: Brickell Village, CBD, and Uptown. According to the bar graphs (scroll down to view all), the current CBD seems to be in for an uphill battle, especially versus Brickell Village. BV has more new development taking place. The neighborhood’s newest buildings are going to be averaging the mid-500ft. level in height. There will be 7 buildings at, near, or above 800 feet in height. To put that in perspective, the once city’s tallest Wachovia tower is shorter than all of them. Already, the city’s current tallest, the Four Seasons is in Brickell Village. Density is spreading west from Brickell Avenue towards South Miami Avenue and west along the Miami River. There are impediments to the growth, however.
Continue Reading October 31, 2006
The 426 foot 500 Brickell tower complex is well situated, although not waterfront. The two rectangular towers are connected at the top with a bridge-like architectural structure with a large oval opening allowing in sunlight. Such a connecting architectural feature is exciting and novel by Miami Standards. It will create a great visual effect for the building’s residents on the amenities deck; a sense of inclusion in exclusivity and proportional grandness.
Continue Reading October 30, 2006
Capitol Towers I 64 floors 805ft Residential—Proposed
Capitol Towers II 64 floors 805ft Residential—Proposed
Four Seasons 64 floors 789ft Office/Hotel/Residential—Completed 2004
Infinity I 52 floors 604ft Residential—Approved
ICON Brickell 60 floors 586ft Residentail—Proposed
ICON Brickell 60 floors Residential—Proposed
ICON Brickell 51 floors Residential—Proposed
Plaza on Brickell 56 floors 585ft Residentail—Approved
Premiere Towers I 52 floors 579ft Residentail/Office—Approved
Premiere Towers II 52 floors 579ft Residentail/Office—Approved
Villa Magna I 52 floors 574ft Residential—Approved
Villa Magna II 52 floors 574ft Residential—Approved
Park Place II 32 floors 418feet Office—Approved
Jade Brickell 49 floors 528ft Residential—Completed 2005
1101 Brickell 74 floors 849ft Office/Residential—Proposed
Flatiron 73 floors 849ft Office/Residential—Proposed
Brickell CitiCenter 1 76 floors 808ft Residential/Office—Approved
Brickell CitiCenter 2 69 floors 790ft Residential/Office—Approved
Brickell CitiCentre 3 50 floors 808 feet Residential/Office—Proposed
Avenue 46 floors 495ft Residential—Approved
Espirito Santo 36 floors 487ft Office/Hotel—Completed 2004
Asia 36 floors 483ft Residential—Approved
1390 Brickell Bay 47 floors 478ft Residential—Construction
Latitude 42 floors 476ft Residential—Construction
Plaza on Brickell 43 floors 460ft Residentail—Approved
Point at Brickell 42 floors 442ft Residential—Approved
Brickell on the River 42 floors 423ft Residential—Construction
Brickell on the River II 46 floors Residential—Approved
500 Brickell 42 floors 423ft Residential—Approved
Vue at Brickell 37 floors 423ft Residential—Completed 2004
Axis I 37 floors 418ft Residential—Construction
Axis II 37 floors 418ft Residential—Construction
Park Place I 36 floors 413ft Residential—Construction
Club at Brickell 42 floors 411ft Residential—Completed 2005
Carbonell 39 floors Residential—Construction
Avenue 34 floors 400ft Residentail—Approved
The Beacon 36 floors 396ft Residential—Approved
Skyline at Brickell 34 floors 376ft Residential—Completed 2005
Skyline at MBV 34 floors Residential—Construction
NeoVertika 35 floors 369ft Residential—Construction
Latitude One 23 floors 305ft Office—Construction
The Sail 29 floors Residential—Construction
Coral Station 28 floors Office/Residential—Approved
Reflections on the River 24 floors 283ft Residential—Approved
Emerald at Brickell 27 floors 270ft Residential—Contruction
Solaris 22 floors Residential—Construction
Brickell First 21 floors 215ft Residential—Proposed
Brickell Village 14 floors 173ft Office—Proposed
SMA Tower 649 feet
Brickell Station 56 floors 599ft Residential—Proposed
One Broadway 36 floors 439ft Residential—Completed 2005
600 Brickell 68 floors 903ft Office/Hotel/Residential—Proposed
October 21, 2006
