The New Landlord of Parkwest
Under normal circumstances, Falcone’s plans for Parkwest would be astounding, but in Miami, normal circumstances are hard to come by. There are other projects that resemble Falcone’s vision for a city-within-a-city nearby: CitiSquare, Omni, and Midtown. In fact, his vision is simply the latest of Miami’s mega projects. This does not change the fact that his vision is unprecedented in scale and scope.
Since Lev Leviev and Shaya Boymelgreen acquired the Hank Sopher parcels beginning in 1999, they were the primary land owners in the area west of Bicentennial. Daniel Kodsi, around 2003 began his acquisition patterns in the area as well, and although busy developing Paramount Bay has yet to start Paramount Park. Today, the three real estate giants are no longer the landlords of Parkwest. The title is now Art Falcone’s. Let’s take a closer look at the area in question:
Map: The area highlighted in blue west of Bicentennial is where 85% of the Falcone acquisitions have taken place. North of the I-395 are two blue areas. The one south of 15th street is roughly the area allocated to Citi-Square, and the area north of it is the Omni. I have also repositioned the I-395 itself to illustrate, more or less, what the realignment of the over pass would look like. The current track of the I-395 is highlighted in green as the current FDOT plans call for the creation of park space along the current track once the project is completed.
With three mega-projects planned so near to one another, the prospects for the future of both Parkwest and the Media and Entertainment District are tantalizing big and forward-thinking. The trend seems to be the total overhauling of existing infrastructure in favor Miami 21 building guidelines; wider streets and avenues, new thoroughfares, more green space. The Falcone rendering even includes a rotunda and grand fountain on N.E. 1st Avenue.
Image: Rendering of the Parkwest plans from aerial vantage point
The plans seem to compliment the Parkwest’s newest towers well and are in the preliminary stages. However, with so many residential projects now stalled or canceled, it’s difficult for some to get enthusiastic about even this massive new development. If you have doubts about Falcone’s seriousness, then consider that other than strategically amassing this impressive Parkwest portfolio, in anticipation of executing to the best possible outcome, he and his team have traveled to
“Europe, China, Dubai, Japan, India and across South America and the United States for ideas. Favorites include Tokyo’s Roppongi Hills, Paris’ Champs Elysées, Dallas’ Victory Park and Rio de Janeiro.”
and are collaborating with the likes Zyscovich and Elkus Manfredi. It’s clear that Falcone recognizes the historic opportunity for development he has in Parkwest. His international visits tell me that he and his team have high urbanism standards and want to apply the best urbanism ideas to their plans for the Magic City. Being in the heart of the Core, whatever happens in Parkwest will surely spill over an effect the CBD and M&E. Although early in the planning stages, owners at Parkwest’s newest condos must be rejoicing at the thought of Falcone’s plans, and they certainly shouldn’t be alone.
According to 
These folks are thinking about an initiative that took place 34 years ago. 34 years ago the level of massive construction in Miami would have been unimaginable. Much has changed since then and basing their arguments on a 1974 vote seems like an archaic way of going about dealing with the current state of development affairs and planning for the future. This is not to say that past initiatives should be disregarded, but 34 years is a long time. In looking at 
It is not a matter of discrediting the legitimate concerns of Neighbors United, but frankly, what is more important, more open space or larger world class centers of culture and learning? Apparently, these folks feel that the actual structures need to be scaled down in order to accommodate more green space. This would come at a high cost: a decrease in space for exhibitions, fewer lessons to be taught to our children, less art to be admired, etc. The emphasis needs to be on fostering culture and knowledge not having more space to have picnics and walk dogs. Certainly the plan should be balanced but more important are the museums themselves not the green space outside.
The City of Miami has several under utilized urban parks that need funds to improve their use. It would be a good idea to put pressure on the City to use added tax revenues for a more effective public parks master plan than it is to stress more green space in the proposed Museum Park. Bringing up these issues is constructive, but one must factor in the compromises that would have to be made in order to accommodate their requests. In doing so, most will see that the cost of facility reduction outweighs the benefits of more green space.
local parking lot magnate Hank Sopher. Until 2005, Leviev and Boymelgreen had been the undisputed landlords of Parkwest. In 2005, Daniel Kodsi acquired several significant parcels in the neighborhood. This pattern is important to see because it indicates that these two separate entities are likely to be the most active in changing the area and capitalizing off of its progress. It also indicates that these developers consider the area to be a high priority on their land portfolio. The entire west side of N.E. 2nd Avenue from 11th street till 7th street is owned by either Leviev/Boymelgreen or
Daniel Kodsi. For all intensive purposes they are the landlords of what is fast becoming one of Miami’s most important urban neighborhoods. In studying land acquisitions, one will find that Parkwest is where Leviev/Boymelgreen has the biggest cluster of parcels. Considering their extensive financial resources, development experience, and ambitious current plans, one can almost count on them transforming Parkwest to the point of being unrecognizable. Kodsi’s presence in the neighborhood implies that his Paramount Park project was more of a bridgehead in the area, while these later acquisitions are a sort of invasion into the heart of Parkwest. He will have room for at least two more major developments on parcels located
on the west side of N.E. 2nd avenue on 9th and 10th streets—behind 10 Museum Park and 900 Biscayne respectively. Leviev’s plans for Marquis West on their N.E. 2nd avenue and 11th street lot indicate that their future projects will be similarly dense. Although high density is a safe guess, it’s not clear what Daniel Kodsi will do with his parcels to the south of the Marquis West. Considering all of his Paramount projects, he is likely to think and act big. Under the surface, Parkwest is rumbling with activity. Look for these development juggernauts to steamroll forward with big plans for Parkwest soon.
