Urban Development Review Board - Regular Meeting

Fast for Venezuela as it's been impacted on a very high level and so it was my priority to make sure that we could bring the community together to be able to get back to Venezuela and do this run in conjunction for them.

Every community has a run club, but we didn't have one here in the downtown Omni area. So we got together with a small business in our area, Boxer Gym. We're supporting the small businesses like we do throughout our district. Along with building the community and getting the residents activated in this area was to collect goods for Venezuela. So we're collecting all week long at Boxer Gym, and those will be delivered to them at the end of the week.

Omni is all about supporting our small businesses and community. This is a great example of a business that is all about community. And we're all getting here together today to support Venezuela and collect as many items as we can to help out over there. So we couldn't be happier. We're super excited about it and we're looking forward to do more of these.

The community is going to respond tremendously because we are so invested in Venezuela and helping them recover from that earthquake. I think everyone's going to come out. I'm here, my colleagues are going to be here, and mixing a cause with exercise is a great way to bring awareness and attention to what we're trying to accomplish here today.

Today we're here in support of the Venezuelan community. I want to thank City of Miami, Miami Police Department, Vox Art for putting this event together and obviously Omni CRA. Thank you for doing this for the Venezuelan community.

I am so excited to be supporting this 5K run today here at Boxer Gym within the Omni area. Could not be prouder or more excited to be here.

Go Boxer. Amazing event to bring awareness to an amazing cause. We are here, boots on the ground, Miami PD, Miami Fire, members of our community, everyone coming together for an amazing cause to bring awareness, resources here as a husband, as a father, as a human being for an important matter.

community coming together, the city of Miami. You know, sometimes people say the world is dark, but to see this, some light might spark something even bigger in our country.

Did you know we have an ordinance to protect our waterways? From May 15 to October 31, no fertilizers due to heavy rains washing them away. Save time and money by skipping fertilizers. Use eco-friendly ones from November to mid-May. Let's keep Miami's waters clean. Details at Miami.gov slash fertilizer. Protect our city and waters together.

The consequences of illegal littering are significant. Surprised people in the act can face fines of up to $15,000 and even criminal charges depending on the severity of the offense. It is important to emphasize that this behavior will not be tolerated in Miami and measures will be taken against those who violate the waste management regulations. La imagen negativa creada por el vertido ilegal también afecta la reputación de nuestra ciudad y puede impactar en el turismo y el crecimiento económico. Por un futuro limpio, detén el vertido ilegal de basura. Juntos, podemos crear un Miami más saludable y sostenible para todos nuestros residentes.

It's important to be prepared for a possible storm before it happens. The hurricane season is from June 1st to November 30th, so now is as good a time as ever to prepare. Before a storm hits, stay connected to local news updates and pay attention to evacuation orders. Create an emergency safety kit including flashlights, batteries, first aid, and cash. Stock up on water bottles, non-perishable food, and medications. Don't forget to establish communications with family members should you lose power or have to relocate. Your property is important to protect too. Install hurricane shutters or hurricane proof windows and doors to better protect your home. Review your insurance policies and keep important documents with you should you have to evacuate. Fill up on gas and double check your car. With these safety steps in your toolkit, you'll be better prepared should a storm hit. Preparedness is power during a hurricane, and you wouldn't want to be caught off guard. For our complete hurricane safety guide, go to Miami.gov slash hurricane.

Attention to all certified gardeners operating within the limits of the city of Miami. Please keep the waters free of remains of leaves and debris. Obstructed waters can cause floods in our neighborhoods. Together we can protect our city. I can and I will. I can and I will. I can.

Mantras are really helpful for me in managing my mental health. I can and I will. The mind is so powerful. Love your mind.

We're here at a vacant lot that currently has some issues that co-compliance is here to address. There used to be two structures which got demolished by the city because the owner wasn't able to maintain them. And now the grass is overgrown again and the property, it's not maintained. So we're here to assess the situation and carry out some type of communication with the owners if we can get them. And if not, the city would have to get involved. They have 10 days to come into compliance. swale which would be the overgrowth along the right of way it would be clearing up the lot as well as registering it with the city of miami because it is now vacant and is no longer a structure on here and it's not being occupied a lot like this is a hazards to our neighborhood it attracts illegal dumping it attracts trash stray animals and it devalues the property values of the houses around us as a reminder if you so happen to own a vacant lot it is to be registered with the city of miami by doing so you can go on to our website under co-compliance It will provide you all the steps that are needed to take.

Buying on the Internet is very popular. Here are some tips to make the transaction safer.

Meet in public places such as shopping centers, coffee shops or police stations instead of inviting strangers to your home. Verifique las calificaciones y comentarios de los usuarios en la plataforma. No comparte información personal y evite dar su número de teléfono. Tenga cuidado con los compradores que quieran hacer un trato fuera de la plataforma. No dé códigos de verificación que puedan robar sus credenciales o información bancaria. Manténgase en la plataforma al realizar negocios y presente una queja si es necesario. Siguiendo estos consejos de seguridad, puede protegerse y tener una buena transacción.

The City of Miami is launching a new program to help you. Through our graffiti removal program, you may be able to get this removed at no cost. Just go to our website and fill out the form. Someone will reach back out to you to let you know if you're eligible for this new program to help keep our city beautiful, clean, and spotless.

The graffiti mitigation program consists of up to $1,000 for the fiscal year, helping the property owners and the residents come into compliance and to help to ensure that the businesses are working. In order to apply, you have to be eligible. Please be current on your yearly taxes and make sure that you are the property owner for the commercial business or the residential property. We do welcome art in the city of Miami. The difference between art and graffiti is based on the transect zone. It also has a permanent process when you're allowed to do art. Graffiti is not allowed. We encourage the homeowners and the business owners to take advantage of the mitigation program. That way we can help to determine what's art and what's vandalism. The Code Compliance Department, along with the City of Miami, encourage you to make Miami beautiful again.

I don't know what happened. I didn't even drink that much. Illegal dumping is a real issue here in the city of Miami.

Reporting incidents of illegal dumping is vital to addressing the issue promptly. Residents can report such incidents by dialing 9-1-1 for in act and 3-1-1 for after the act dumping by submitting a report on our official website MiamiZeroWaste.com. under the Let's Get Rid of Illegal Dumping tab. Your cooperation is crucial in maintaining the well-being of our community and environment. Illegal dumping can also be reported by Crime Stoppers at 305-471-8477. There is a $500 reward for reports that result in citation or arrest. By working together, we can create a cleaner, healthier, and more sustainable Miami for our residents.

Kug's was a pop-up first, and it started in 2019. 700 square feet in the same space that we have now, but it was a fraction of what it is. Our idea was to create a home for our pasalitos and our croquetas, but then it expanded into more food. We wanted to re-envision Miami classics with a little bit of diner love, and the community took to it super well. We're known for our pancake, which is a banger, very delicious, but it's really the menu overall. It provides something for everybody. I love the fact that Miami loves us. We love them back because I feel like this can be a cornerstone of not just Coconut Grove.

and online on munico.com. The agenda for this meeting and materials for the items on the agenda were published and made available to the board in advance of the meeting. The materials are also available online at miamigov.com. Please silence all cell phones and other noise-making devices. Any person with a disability requiring assistance, auxiliary aids, or services for this meeting may notify the board liaison. Any person may be heard by the board through the chair and pursuant to the published notice for not more than two minutes on any proposition before the board unless modified by the chair. When addressing the board, the member of the public must first state his or her name, address, and what item will be spoken about. When the board takes action or votes on any proposition, it shall do so by a roll call vote to be recorded and included in the record. Please note that board members may have generally been briefed by city staff on items on today's agenda. The meeting can be viewed live on Miami TV and on Channel 77. In addition to comments provided here at City Hall, the public may submit comments via the city's online comment form. The comments submitted through the comment form, if any, were distributed to the board members and city administration throughout the day so that the board can consider them prior to taking any action. Additionally, the online comment form will remain open during the meeting to accept comments and distribute to the board members up until the chairperson closes public comment. All comments received will be included in the public record of the meeting. These public comment options established and provided for this meeting comply with Section 286.0114 of the Florida Statutes. Members, are you comfortable with all the provisions set forth in these uniform rules of procedure we have established for this meeting?

Yes.

Thank you.

I ask everyone to please rise for a Pledge of Allegiance. All right, I'd like to call this meeting to order. It's 2-0-4. If we could please do roll call.

Member Barrera?

Present.

Member Behar? Present. Member Gallardo? Here. Member Lewis? Absent. Member Perez-Ozua? Absent. Member Pamoui?

Present.

Member Zamstis? Chair Liberata?

Present.

Vice Chair Zappatini?

Present.

We have quorum.

Do we have any requests for absence waivers?

Yes, Chair. Member Zamses requested an absentee waiver.

Make a motion to approve.

Second. Thank you.

And we please make a motion for minutes for the March 18th meeting.

Motion to approve.

Second.

Thank you. First item, UDRB number one, minute track ID 19542. Project name?

Sorry to cut you off, but do we have any public comments?

There are no public comments. Can we close them?

Yes.

Thank you.

Do you have a comment?

Hi, good afternoon. I have a public comment on this item. Representing Bayhouse Condo, Bobby Behar, Gunsler, Office 600, Brickell Avenue. We do not intend to oppose. We welcome and encourage development, and we think this will be a wonderful addition to the neighborhood. However, we'd just like to express some concerns regarding transportation and construction, and would request that fully evaluate and request to meet with the developer to address those concerns. Thank you. Thank you.

UDRB, item number one.

I think we have one more public comment, sorry. Sorry.

Hello, everyone. My name is Grisel Hernandez. I'm the property manager of the Crimson Condominium, which is directly adjacent to this property. And like this representative, we have no objection to the actual construction, but we do have some concerns regarding the process that we'd like to speak to the developer about as well, since we haven't been reached out to.

Thank you. Any more public comments?

Thank you. UDRB item number one, minute track ID 19542, property address 717 Northeast 2nd Street, project name Okeoliliya Tower, Location, Wynwood, Edgewater. Transit zone, T636A-L. Square footage, 383,059.6 square feet in the tower and 92,684.4 square feet in the garage. 53-story tower, 8-story garage. Application type, waiver. Waiver pursuant to section 7, 1.2.1. 5A-29B of Miami 21 to reduce the minimum front setback of the podium along Northeast 27th Street by 10% from 10 feet to 9 feet. Waiver pursuant to Section 7.1.2.5A-29B of Miami 21 to reduce the minimum front setback of the podium along Northeast 27th Street by 10% from 10 feet to 9 feet. Waiver pursuant to Section 7.1.2 of Miami 21 to permit a 10% reduction in the depth of the second layer from 15 feet to 13.5 feet along all frontages for the tower parcel. Waiver pursuant to Section 7.1.2.5 A-19 of Miami 21 permit parking in the second layer above the second story along principal frontage for the garage parcel. Waiver pursuant to section 7.1.2.5 A-19 of Miami 21 to permit parking in the second layer above the second story along secondary frontages for the garage parcel. Waiver pursuant to Section 5.6.1F of Miami 21 to allow pedestrian entrances to occur at a maximum distance greater than 75 feet. UDRB requirement pursuant to Article 7, Section 7.1.2.10. The project exceeds over 200,000 square feet. Thank you.

Good afternoon, Madam Chair, board members, Carlos Diaz, and Iris Escarra, with offices at 333 Southeast 2nd Avenue, here on behalf of the applicant. Before we start, I want to quickly say that we heard from the two neighbors here today, and these developers have done other projects in the area. As you can see, the Mizoni project there, just to the left, and we'll absolutely be in communication with the neighboring associations to discuss as the project moves forward, especially during construction. We know it takes a lot of coordination, so we're definitely on the same page there. We're joined today by Juan Berancor from Adrian Smith Gordon-Gill Architecture, who is the project architect, and we'll walk you through the design in more detail. We're also joined by our architect director, Gadiel Marquez, and our traffic and landscape design team, in case the board has any questions. This is another important Miami project for Adrian Smith Gordon-Gill, following the successful completion of Oona and 830 Brickell, and we're very excited to be here to present their latest waterfront project. To orient the board, This site is located in Edgewater at the very end of Northeast 27th Street. It's actually a very narrow site. It's about 81 feet deep, and we have three frontages. We have Northeast 27th Street, Biscayne Bay on the east, and the inlet on the north. And as you may know, that inlet has actually seen a lot of construction over the last few years. We're actually the last piece on the inlet. So you have Crimson just to the west, Icon Bay north, right in the middle of the inlet, then the Cove, which is a project that's under construction, and Villa, which is also under construction, and there's Moon Bay Condominium, which has been there for about 15 years. So besides what I mentioned, it's a very narrow site, and we have three frontages. As many of you know, the city charter in Miami 21 imposed additional waterfront standards and waterfront setbacks for waterfrontages, and we have two waterfrontages in this property. This means that our buildable area is really squeezed in from all sides on this site. So when you account, and one more thing I forgot to mention is, we actually had to make a 4,000 square foot right-of-way dedication on this property, which is about 18% of the lot area. So when you account for the right-of-way dedication, the waterfront setbacks, and the narrow depth of the lot, there's very little room to build parking on site, which is why the team solved that constraint by building a standalone parking garage just around the corner. That garage has ground floor retail to activate that pedestrian scape immediately around it. And by moving the parking, the project is actually able to be opened up to the waterfront and create a better pedestrian experience, and we're delivering significant public amenities. So the project itself is a 53-story tower with 117 residential units. And one of the key benefits of the project is open space. As you know, Miami 21 requires 10% open space. We're providing 46% open space on this very small lot. The other major thing for the project is really the baywalk connectivity. So you have the baywalk that's intended to go all along the bay, and this is one of the missing links on the baywalk. So our property has about 350 feet linear frontage on the water. And those 350 feet are very important because once the project to the south gets developed, which hopefully will be soon, you'll be able to basically walk along the waterfront from Icon Bay Park, which is a city park just north of us, all the way to Margaret Pace Park.

And that's the bay walk, which, as you know, has landscapes and amenities and benches and all of that.

With that, I will turn it over to Juan, who will walk you through the project and design, and we'll remain to answer any questions you all may have.

Good afternoon, I'm gonna try to use my screen. Can you see that on your screens? Is there something there?

Yes.

Perfect, thank you. Thank you, Carlos. So as Carlos mentioned, my name is Juan Betancourt. I'm the design partner with Adrian Smith, Golden Girl Architecture. And we're going to talk about four basic design principles that really, thank you, that really kind of influence the design of the project. The first one is really we wanted to maximize our response to the site opportunities. As Carlos mentioned, we have a very narrow site. So as he looks at it as a challenge, we look at it as an opportunity. opportunity to do something different something special and unique on this site that really culminates this long stretch of the bay so it's really the last plot that's left on that spot we wanted to anchor that space we want to make sure that we are going to activate the street front the waterfront and the arrival spaces so we have two sides to face the bay and we want to make sure that both of those sides are activated with program that we don't have any blank walls or dead spaces really facing the waterfront We really want to make sure that the building has a unique architectural expression that is referred to as a refinement through restraint. So the building has a kind of simple, elegant expression that is tied into the adjacent buildings, but we want to bring it differently through materiality and through light. And the way we use light as a special way of taking the texture of the building to a look at the way the sun in the morning plays with the balconies, how we activate the spaces, how we take advantages of the site especially. This is our ground floor plan that you can see on the screen. Because it's such a narrow site, if we locate the core in the middle, kind of centrally in the middle of the floor, in the middle of the building, we won't be able to get enough space on either side for functional units. Knowing that the best views are both east and north of our plot, what we've done is we shifted the core. We have a core that's been shifted in the middle of the service core to the south to allow us to wrap around the floor plate with units, maximizing the views for the residents and allowing the ground floor on the north side to be activated. If the core was on the north side of the plot, we wouldn't be able to activate it. We would have a dead wall on that side.

So this way, every unit has views to the bay, both on the east, on the north.

And the way we shaped the architecture on the west allows for the units on the west to actually take advantage of those views as well. Our entrance is on the east. You can see here. So while it's shifting the court towards the middle of the site, we're able to open up the entire east of the site. We have a large arrival lobby that is glazed. We'll look at that in a second. And then we created a plot as well that responds and tries to mediate between the building, and the bore in the bay walk. So we create a landscape area that kind of extends the feeling of the bore walk into the bay walk into our plot. You can see the adjacent arrival spaces around there. This is our typical floor plate. As I mentioned before, the offset core allows us to create units that maximize the use of the sites, creates natural light for all the spaces, and everyone has views out towards the bay. We wrapped around the balconies to create the architecture that allows us to make sure every unit has access to the wonderful views that is really why you're in this plot. As you're coming down the road, we want to make sure that since the building's towards the end of the street, that we accentuate that entrance with a canopy. But really, the service podium is the first thing you arrive, that you see as you arrive on the site. So that language of the architecture wanted to be something simple but elegant and expressive. It kind of gives you an idea that the building's kind of anchored to the ground, and it opens up as you arrive. The other reason for needing to kind of waver on the podium setbacks, because we need that core To come straight down to the ground. So this is the view of the lobby arrival space as you're coming into the end We're creating a cul-de-sac to arrive for the turnaround there and we open up the lobby completely towards the waterfront So we're trying to minimize the density and the kind of opacity of the building on the street you see as well the plaza space is created that on the deck of the level of the lobby level that allows that connectivity visually to the waterfront and Here's as we pull back further. So the building really opens up and arrives at that corner. And we want to peel those layers back. So it really kind of anchors that corner as you're coming down the baywalk. And that openness is a connection that we're looking for that connects us from the other buildings from the south. Here's at night. So we want to make sure that the building is... it's alive and it comes together and then that feeling really wraps around to the north side on the north side of the bay um as i mentioned before because the core is offset to the south we're able to wrap around program to the north so the baywalk both on the east and on the north will be activated with program on the second level above the ground level is our mandatory floor so that the units really don't start to the third floor so we're able to create a kind of of public realm spaces both at the ground and at the second level that make that connection. From a materiality perspective, we've tried to keep the building minimum, clean, simple. We want to, as I mentioned, light and texture are the elements that we're playing with the most. We want to create a textural relationship to light. We enjoy the morning light. We think the reflections of the water are special. We think the warm tones of the building, the champagne, metals, and those colors really play off the morning light. But we also like texture. We like the vertical light. So our core elements, clad in a stucco texture facade that allows you to play shadow and light, it gives the building a different element. We know the core wall wants to be a special element. We see it as an opportunity for art. We see opportunity for art and architecture when light really begins to do a combination of things. It really anchors that building. from the waterway as you're coming in from the city, you can see it, and from the water, but it really ties together the rest of the building, kind of anchors our building. And this is a view as you come in, as I mentioned, from the water, and it kind of really creates this kind of simple, elegant architecture that really allows the balconies, the public spaces, the outdoor spaces to be the major element that represents the architecture in the skyline.

Thank you.

Thank you.

We'll get started on our left. Ignacio? Yes.

Okay, I'm very familiar with the site. It's an incredible site. I do think you took advantage of the site itself, its narrowness. You're maximizing a lot of things here. With regards to the tower, I think you have a beautiful, very elegant, almost sculptural tower. You've done a very good job with the corners. And I especially like how you anchor the tower to the ground. So I just have positive things to say about that. That's it for me.

I'm going to go ahead and go. I compliment the design. It's a very beautiful, elegant design, very simple, but yet, again, elegant. I think it's going to be a great anchoring to that corner, and you've done a great job in articulating the pedestrian realm around the whole waterfront area. I don't have anything else to say, but you've done a great job. Just a condition, make sure that you do talk to the neighbors to make sure that everything is good. With that, otherwise, you've done a great job.

Absolutely.

Mr. Barrera.

Thank you. I think the right word was elegant. I think the tower is very elegant, and it's great to see that that corner that's going to play such a critical role as an anchor is going to be this building, because actually the way that it, again, connects to the ground, the radiuses and the softness that it introduces in that corner, I think, is very unique in the way it was done. So I'm in support.

Yeah, I want to echo my colleagues. I think it's very elegant and sophisticated. I particularly like the treatment of the entrance at the bay and lowering that wall that is usually 10 feet high. I think it's a very elegant solution. I do want to understand a little bit about the core wall. In the 3Ds, it looks like it has a fluted design, but in plan, it looks fairly flat. How are you intending to build that? So it's precast, right?

Yeah, there'll be a texture added to the concrete board. Okay, great.

It's just you're not showing that in plan, and that's exactly what we were expecting. Perfect. Okay, great.

You should hold it for a while.

Okay, so it will be precast, and then you have the horizontal lines on top, the marking, the slabbage. And what's a slabbage? Treatment. It looks like it's a bronze or has a different color.

I think we're still working through that right now, trying to figure out. There's a warm color to the building that we're trying to figure out whether it's a champagne or bronze.

Is it painted or is a metallic element attached to it?

I think it's going to be a painted finish.

Okay, painted finish. Okay. That's it. I just wanted to clarify. Thank you and congratulations.

Okay, I got some questions. Is this building tied to the garage, or this is independent of the garage?

It's actually, it's all, so these projects, the lot to the south, and Missoni, and the garage, they're all tied together in what's called the Covenant Loo, so it's like a phased project that's been built in phases. So it's connected to the same property. But not part of this presentation, right? Correct. The garage itself is less than 200,000 square feet, so that's why the tower has been the primary focus of the presentation. But if you have any questions about the garage, we're happy to answer.

I think the garage is really awful. The elevations are really awful. It looks like it came out of Home Depot fence siding. There's no artistic quality to the garage walls. I mean, you could do so many things to that. It just seems like a transformer station from FPL. There's no thought of creativity or artwork in there. It's just like plain things coming down and it could be a transformer inside. It just doesn't look very good. I like your presentation. Super detailed, super clear, super chronological press presented. Your renderings are fantastic. I think the building, there was really no other option to do the plan except the way you did it. It wasn't like, hey, let me do five schematics. I think there was only one version, which is the one you had. I don't like the 27th Street veneer. I like it all the way on the top, but I don't like it on the ground floor. It just looks very cold. I don't know if there's something you can do, maybe a fake... glass or something at the bottom because it just doesn't look, it doesn't enhance the building at all. It makes it kind of like cold to the pedestrian, not to the tenants. And I think it will be more attractive also to the visitors and the tenants to make it more friendly. I guess that's the word, friendly, instead of taking it all the way down to the ground floor. Now, this is a vacant lot, right?

Yeah, I think there's an existing building there now. Yeah, it's a vacant lot.

So you're going to demolish something there, I guess? Correct. There will be a building there that will be demolished. Okay. When you say dedication of the road, that's already been plotted before, right? Before you even bought the land?

Yeah, it's just, this is obviously a very old part of the city. And the original lot used to take what's the street now. So basically to make that street go all the way to the water, they were required to dedicate. Exactly.

So it wasn't a surprise. It was part of it when you purchase a building.

Correct. It's a surprise to the original owner, right? How 4,000 square feet were taken away.

Because it sounds like you have a relationship, you like the person, and then you find faults with it. No, no, it's just a lot of waivers to this, you know, what I call false, I guess, things that you want to change. So can you explain the one on the loading zone? You mentioned something that you need another foot or something because you needed to enclose the loading zone or something like that, or maybe I misunderstood. The waiver, I can't remember the number. I think it's number four.

On the waivers? Yeah, I can answer that. I think what you're referring to is, so Miami 21 breaks up the site in layers. So the first layer is 15 feet. The second layer is 15 feet behind the first layer, which is 25 feet. So in this site, if you're going 25 feet, it's almost half of a lot at that point. So we asked for a 10% reduction to be 13 and a half feet as opposed to 15 feet. That's what that is. It just allows us to have the loading basically one and a half foot closer to the street.

That would enclose the space or something or the viewer? No, no.

It's just where the loading is located.

Or the length of it, or is that, you know, what's making the waiver, I guess, the requirement?

The waiver is, there's not, once you take away 25 feet on the front, on the street side, and 25 feet on the water side, there's not enough room for the loading. So we need basically an additional three feet, one and a half in the back and one and a half in the front, to have the loading place where Miami 21 requires it.

Because it wasn't deep enough, is that the reason?

Correct. Okay.

I like the eyebrows. I think it's a very simple building. There's no really any thrills to it. It's just very functional. And that's all my comments.

Thank you.

I don't agree with a lot of his comments, but maybe just me.

So I think your solution for the entrance and the way you treat that corner on the edge of the water is fantastic. I think it's inviting and it's a great corner, a pivot for that to tie the bay walk. One thing I did notice that I think would be helpful, that area is lacking a lot of shade trees. And while these palm trees that you're outlining in your landscape plan are beautiful. They do little for the pedestrian comfort. And I think if you consider using some shade trees along the way, I think it'll really tie everything together and make that, you know, just that more successful. So other than that, I don't have any other comments.

Thank you. I think that's a good, very good comment. And whatever the Baywalk requirements, if the shade tree, you know, can incorporate. I'd like the building, I'm going to make a motion to approve as presented with a recommendation of meeting with the neighbors, and a recommendation condition to incorporate shade trees. Shade trees on that east side. On that, yes.

I would say along.

I want to make sure that when we say approved as presented, like you keep the curved walls of the balcony, you keep the balconies with no railing, you keep the sludge edge condition. Everything that you're showing right now as conceptual, it's basically what we're approving.

Correct. Yeah, the project presented today, of course. Yes.

I'll second that motion.

Ricky, there's a game waiting for us.

All right.

Okay, ready to vote. Member Barrera?

Yes.

Member Behar? Yes. Member Regalardo?

I cannot approve it without the conditions.

Chair Labrada?

Yes.

Vice Chair Zapatini? Yes. Member Pamoui?

Yes.

Motion passed 5-1.

Thank you.

Congratulations. Thank you all very much. UDRB item number two, minute track, 1-9-5-4-3. Property address, 619 Brickell Avenue. Project name, 619 Brickell. Location, downtown Brickell, temporary at Omni CRA building. Transit zone, T6-48A-01. Square footage, 1,274,492 square feet, 75 stories, 321 residential units. 7,596 commercial square feet. Parking space is 894. Application type, administrative site plan review. UDRB requirement pursuant to Article 7, Section 7.1.2.10. The project exceeds 200,000 square feet. Thank you. Charlie, the comment earlier.

Mr. Seeger, the comment earlier was intended for you, okay? The comment about keep it very brief, it was meant for you.

All the way on here in the drive.

Eagle song.

Good afternoon, everyone. Iris Escara and Carlos Diaz on behalf of the applicant. We're kind of excited to be back at UDRB. It feels like we were in a little bit of a hiatus here, but so we were gearing up today to be here with you all. This project is located at 609 Brickell Avenue, which many of you know is the first Presbyterian church. This is actually a mixed use that not only has residential and commercial but it also has religious use. So through this partnership with the church we've been able to come in and present this beautiful as of right design. To give you a little background and context, the church structure itself is a designated historic site. There is nothing before you today. There are no changes, no edits, no nothing to the historic structure. We've already been to Hepbord. With regards to the back of this building is actually currently a school. We've already received a historic resolution with regards to the demolition of just the school portion and preserving the historic church, which is in the front. And we have a condition of 15 feet separation between the historic church and the new building as a result of that resolution. So the item before you is a collaborative effort between Norman Foster and Sigur Suarez. So we will have Charles present as well as Rob Harrison from Foster and Partners present as to the collaboration. Our whole team is here to answer any questions. Bill Eager on behalf of landscaping, to the extent you have anything, and we're happy to advance with the presentation and we're open for any questions. Thank you. With that, I'm going to let Charles go first.

Soccer is waiting. Thank you. Just to make it very simple, most of you know where the site is behind the church, Mary Burkle Park and Bank of America.

Can you please speak up into the mic?

Thank you. The site plan is... You just need to put it close. It's been a while. What we've got is a very complex pedestrian flow all the way around this property on basically four sides. The bay walk, the park... the drive in to the restaurant and the lobbies. There's five lobbies in the project. There's two on the ground north and south for pedestrians. The main lobby is elevated up inside the building via the ramp. And then there's another lobby for the restaurant. And there's another lobby for the civic purposes of the church. There's like 95,000 feet of that. and the yellow is starting to begin the blue is starting to be the tower the services contained within and everything there's no waivers no exceptions no variances nothing with that said iris has already talked about the general site plan the pool deck sits on the podium and if i don't finish in less than Five minutes, I'm gonna get my head chopped. So this is a blow up of one of the renderings, kind of giving you a position of the beautiful Bayfront and the turn towards the park. And then from there, take you on a bit of a tour. Over here, looking up towards the west, down the park side, turn, there's a dining area here for the restaurant and then it becomes the common areas up above until the four floors of apartments and then more apartments. And then as you turn, you look down over here and you see the walkway going around on the bay side that's already actually built and be modified just slightly for the terrace coming out from the restaurant. And then this is the park, sitting in the park. There's a fantastic flying saucer. When you look. You flipped them on me already. All right, so this is, when you turn the corner, on the south side is the drop off for the restaurant and for the south lobby. And of course for the other uses. And the bar is here, and then this is the Nobu restaurant and the south lobby for pedestrians. That's beautiful. And then we'll move right along. I'm going to make my five minutes.

You don't need to.

I already missed it? I don't think so. Well, maybe I did. Anyway, to finish my part of this, There's the three required context photos nighttime, daytime back towards the bay and towards the city. And it's a fantastic addition to this neighborhood. And I think it'll really imbue imbue a lot of pedestrian traffic intermixing with the park, the bay. And I think it's going to be a great success. Thank you.

Now, Rob.

Thank you, Madam Chair, members of the board. It's a pleasure to be here with you today in this beautiful building and it's an honour to be able to present our project to you. Thanks to Charles for taking you through the wider context. I want to talk initially about the more localised context of the site. really to take you through the progression of the different steps of the building, from the immediate First Presbyterian Church along Brickell Avenue, then how it steps back towards our podium building, and then further back to the residential tower, which is on the waterfront. So that progression from street through to river frontage. To go into a little more detail on the immediacy and the context and the relationship of the church with the rest of the buildings behind it. The landscaping that we have with Brickell Park to the north is a beautiful way of separating our development from the adjacent ones. The detailing that we have picked up on in the church's facade, we've echoed that in elements of the western facade of the podium building. the detailing around the openings for the windows, the way those have been reflected in the building behind it, the use of stone and the way we have subdivided that down in a very similar proportion to the way that the elevation of the building itself was originally defined. So that sense of proportion, that sense of rhythm, that sense of materiality and that sense of certain details provides the relationship between the church and the podium building behind it. The drop-off area for the church's facilities in the southwest corner of the site opens up that corner still further, that then runs down through to the waterfront that side, that goes out to the park on that space, and you're again picking up on some of the detailing that we have on the podium building, reflecting and drawing inspiration from the original building. Now to move on to the tower itself, the residential tower itself. I'll start with the central picture here. The building is very much composed and is intended to be a striking silhouette on the skyline. spaced it into a series of volumes that rise vertically. Those are in relation to the opening up of the views that we get towards Biscayne Bay. They're also practically to do with the apartment types that we have within each of these different approximately 15 story communities. They're separated by a double height space. in between each of them. And the way we emphasize the twist, there's a small twist of about seven degrees from each of these different volumes as they move up. We've enhanced the detailing around edges of it in order to draw particular attention to that and to make that twist more defined, more evident, more obvious. The wider context of the building against its backdrop, you can see the five different stages. You can see the gradual twisting that occurs between each of them. The top of the building is more opened out. We have again the separation layer here and then a setback right up at the top with its openings in order to create that distinctive summit to the building. And then finally our image that we have over here where I think you can see the relationship of the building, how it flows through into the podium, and the primary elements, the separation of the five different volumes, the gentle twist that occurs between each of that, the use of materiality along the edges in order to, again, enhance these ribbons that spin around right the way across all of these different layers. So the silver edge that you see The glazing is very much a subsidiary element set back from that. The overall impression is of these edges that you see running up here and the primary form of the building with its five different volumes arranged in order to create a very distinctive silhouette on the skyline and in order to create a very memorable, we believe, companion to the surrounding urban context of the Brickell district. Thank you very much.

Just two more comments, and that would conclude our presentation. I want to highlight the site allows for 1,525 units. We are proposing 321 units, so way below what is otherwise allowed. 10% open space is required. 32.5% open space is provided. Lock coverage is typically 80%, and we are at 53%. It goes without saying that I'd like to thank Earl, Ann, and Bill for the synchronized architectural presentation of our boards. It has helped us go quite swiftly. With that, I leave it for the board, and we're here for any questions you may have. Thank you.

Thank you. Can you touch a little bit on the materials that you're using on the edge of the building as the balconies twist and turn?

Sure. Probably the best image to illustrate that is this central one here. We have the silver metallic edges that run around the vertical face, which is about a seven or eight inch deep section, which runs around here. Then on the soffit, the soffit is split into two. So there's the silvered edge for the first part of it, and then there's a rendered edge further back where that goes in towards the glazing. That is again in order you're looking up at the building it's to enhance that very bright silvered edge which we hope will then reflect the surroundings so you'll get a combination of reflections of the sea you'll get reflections of the sky but it's all metal this is all metal yes on this edge here and underneath there underneath as well yes that portion that runs on that soffit there you'll see the way the Western edge of the building, perhaps I can show you on the model here. The western edge of the building is much flatter. It's more of a sheer facade on the west because we don't have, other than where we have some openings here, we don't have open balconies. On the eastern side, which faces out towards the bay, that's where we have all of the setbacks. That's where the balconies occur. But you have this point running along here, which is what we illustrate in the visualization there. It's where you're having to go from a very thin element on the slab edge here and you transition to a much thicker vertical element on the back. That's what you're seeing on this detail here, how we make that transition zone. So the silver that we have on the underside of the soffit then wraps around and becomes the vertical component that runs through on the western edge. It's a way of tying that ribbon around all the way.

That's what I wanted to make sure, that it is tied together.

Correct, yeah. For us, that was such an important feature, not only to tie the ribbon all the way around the building, but also it marks this edge really distinctly. So when you look, you can really see that twist. We looked at different geometries. When it was more rounded, it was very... it was difficult to see the steps in the buildings in these different communities separated out.

Great, thank you. We'll start on our right, Mr. Gallardo.

Hi, is his name Rob? Rob, are you the designer or are you representing the office?

I'm both the designer and the representative. Together with my colleague, Aaron, who's there with two designers.

You guys have done an excellent, excellent, excellent product. It has a lot, a lot of value from different points of view. You can go down the bay. This can become another 333 Walker building in Chicago. or becomes an icon. It kind of reminds me of I.M. Pei for some parts of it. The plan almost reminds me of the Apple headquarters. I think the geometric forms is almost like the new Miami. You know, all these square, rectangular buildings. I mean, probably this would be a photographer's dream. Not only photographers, somebody walking by, somebody on a boat, it just, the way you respected the church, everything you mentioned, sometimes architects talk and they say, oh, the building represents this and it represents that. I mean, I could see everything you're saying just by looking at the drawings, everything, all the details you mentioned, the west facade, of the building behind the church, you respected everything. You looked at every little detail, I'm sure, all the way to the top of the roof. I think it's just gonna be probably one of the most outstanding buildings in Miami. I congratulate you because I think it's something people will shoot for in the future. The way you study the building, the way you give it so much thought and care and all these volumes, it just looks like it's super geometric, organic, even flank or right kind of building. So I really appreciate your product. Thank you.

Thank you. I was expecting a butt to come in there, but I'm very grateful that there wasn't. So thank you very much.

I agree. I think I want to congratulate the team. You guys did a fantastic job. It's a very challenging site, especially because you're working with a historic structure. And I think it's a very, very clever, sophisticated, and very respectful solution. I love the scale. that still from Brickell, the church is still very important, and the volume that you did behind it is restrained, and kind of plays a language that is still beautiful and very modern, and at the end you have a very beautiful, sophisticated, sculptural, you know, glass modern tower at the bay. It's very, very challenging, so congratulations, and thank you for doing such a great work in Miami.

I want to echo my colleague's comments.

I especially love the connectivity at the water level with how the podium is broken up. It's not a solid podium that goes down to the ground. It has different tiers with different levels of activity. And I think that really adds to the experience of not only the people walking by, but the people that are going to be living there or visiting the restaurants there. So, and again, I always wondered how you're going to treat this such a beautiful, because that is a beautiful building. One of the most beautiful we have in downtown. And the respect you showed for it and how you picked up on some of the details I thought was very elegantly done. So the tower is a sculpture, but I'm really in love with what you did at the podium.

I agree. You've done a fantastic job. The tower is absolutely beautiful. Everything about the project is amazing. My only comment, and if you could put up the facade to the church, the backdrop to the church, because everything you have is very horizontal, and it looks amazing. And that's the only area that you introduce some vertical elements that is going away from the horizontality that you have. And I was trying to pick up, because you referenced the church, but there's no, I don't see an element that ties it to the church other than the trim. To me, that backdrop to the church, it should be a backdrop, but when you have this beautiful building, including the podium, there doesn't seem to be a continuation all the way across. Again, what you've done with the tower, it's absolutely magnificent. I think it's going to be one of the most beautiful buildings in Miami. Why not continue that horizontality and just break it up like that?

When we looked at the proportion of the church, and we don't have a direct elevation, but when we were looking at the proportion of the church, and there were two aspects to that. One was the overall proportion of the glazed element, and then there was the width of the stained glass window itself relative to the stone separation piece. We used the same proportions in terms of the width, that same proportion in the width. That's what defines the number and the spacing and the width, the relationship of the glass to the solid.

I can see some of the windows in the church and I can see their correlation to those in the back. I just find that, you know, such a beautiful, and that was just what struck my eye. Otherwise, you've done an amazing job. This is going to be a fantastic project, and congratulations. And I also want to, you know, congratulate Charlie Seeger for only stopping it at four and a half minutes.

Not that anybody was keeping time, Charles.

No, not at all.

Okay, thank you, Robert. Okay, first I wanna thank the team for providing us with this model. I mean, that helps a lot in the presentation, and that's not, you don't have to do that, but for myself, and I'm sure my board members here, my colleagues, we truly appreciate when you do something like that. Yeah, I would like to continue the conversation with... that Robert stated, it's very, one of the most difficult things in architecture is to respect a historical building adjacent to it. I believe the backdrop framing that you've done a very, very good job. However, when you look at the, are those the materials, those long, are those windows or

They're blank windows because it's through into car parking spaces behind it, so they're blank windows.

But are you using, is it the finish? Is it a window? It's glass. It's glass, okay. Sorry, glass, okay. So that, it's just very subtle. You've done a great job in doing it. My only comment there would be, if you make a glass window, probably you've done such a good job, right, framing it, that it might appear to be part of the historical building. So if you, a subtle change in the material or color, or maybe a glass with a frit on it or something like that, and that way it won't in any way compete with the historical building. It's up to you. You've done a great job. With the tower itself, exceptional design, beautiful. I don't have any comments there except that it's a beautiful building. One other thing which is Again, a design, it's either here or there, whoever designs it, but I have to put in my two cents with, can you put the rendering up with the circular, the water side, at the podium?

Would you like to take the mic for this? Would you like to take the mic for this?

Okay, in my opinion, you've done an exceptional job with the tower. Once you get to the, what level is that, fifth or sixth? Once you get to that circular element, I think some of that continuity is lost. In other words, There's a lot happening. There's very exciting, beautiful spaces. But how it connects to the tower, I think it's a little, there's not enough continuity there. The curvilinear geometry does work very well, but in terms of voids, and I think it gets a little bit busy for that area, and the, what's the circular element? That's about... The wellness. So that, if you do something like that, it should be like made out of gold or it should be double the scale or it should be a lot more. But to take that element, that's wellness part, that should be like a major element. focus of the project. If you're going to take that out of the way it's done, you're going way out of the way to present that feature. So if that, my only comment is more subtle, less, more continuity and the openness and the articulation of this area I think could have been handled a little bit more with finesse, a little bit more to incorporate it into the tower. But I understand it's a design. I think it works, but I think it's a little too much happening in that one. But I love the project. I want to commend the entire development team. And thank you again for the model. And this is going to be one of the most beautiful structures in the city. So thank you very much.

And guys, to your comment, you know, and I see what you're saying, but you know what seems so nice about it is that that was the opportunity to carve a way and just, you know, do something at the pedestrian level that is gonna be perceived, in a way, the way I look at it, it's gonna be perceived much nicer than if you kept the same rhythm coming all the way down. I think this gives you a more exciting, and it was an opportunity to carve, and at least that's the way I perceive it.

I think, you know. I agree, and that's a very good comment. However, the differences for me is just a little bit too much, too extreme. But in terms of articulating and carving and void versus solid, that's very playful and that's not an easy thing to do. You've done an exceptional job. However, when you go one floor up and you go to the ground, I think it could have been handled with a little bit more finesse and That Jetson-like, in a good way, circular element, I think it's too small and too narrow to make a statement with that geometry. But it's my opinion. And again, I want to just know that you guys did an exceptional job. But that's just my comment.

Thank you, and I'm not gonna repeat what everyone has mentioned, but it's a very successful, and I think that the sculptural aspect of the tower along the edge on the water side is very successful. In particular, how difficult it is to transition from a historic building to a modern tower. I think the backdrop that you've proposed behind the church, pays homage to the historic details. One thing that I think I want to clarify is the detailing that you have along the windows and the backdrop of the church, is that precast? Because I think that makes a big difference between having those details in stucco versus precast details.

It'll either be like a faux... Keystone, which is on the church. It's also faux, I believe. And maybe precast, it depends on the structural engineers, but it'll be.

Well, hopefully it is, because it would just be.

It's going to be Keystone. That was the whole intent.

Okay, fantastic. Other than that, I don't have any other comments.

And I think the glass comment, it should be, instead of being just opaque, it should be some glass just to give us more of a continuation. Yes.

Since we have a motion. I can make a motion to approve with conditions. I guess the condition would be, in my opinion, the glass, looking at the glass behind the church, just so it could feel a little bit like a church. And the program element in the sculptural piece, if you could just rethink the interior program, like my colleague mentioned, I think it would be nicer if it's not a fitness equipment, perhaps a yoga can move there so you can use it as a more flexible space. Since you're gonna see it, it's nicer if it's flexible rather than gym equipment from the bay. Other than that, I think it's an excellent project and congratulations.

A second.

Thank you.

Need a second?

We have a second.

Member Barrera? Yes. Member Behar? Yes. Member Gallardo? Three yeses. Member Pamoui? Yes. Chair Labrada?

Yes.

Vice Chair Zappatini?

Yes.

Motion passes. Thank you.

Congratulations. Just in time. Yes.

All right, motion to adjourn.

No, we have one more item.

We still have a discussion item, Chair.

Thank you. I want to leave. Game started. No, no, no, no. It's a valid point, but you know, that one...

We're ready for the discussion item.

Is the microphone working?

Yes. All right. Madam Chair and board members, thank you for taking the time to meet with us today. I know we usually have to introduce ourselves. So Shamim, design director from Gensler. Moriel is also here with me, also from Gensler, Miami. We're going to be holding a discussion. This is not meant to be just a presentation. We wanted to engage with you. And this is really about the Wynwood Vision document that we've been putting together, which I'm sure you've heard of. The idea behind the Wynwood Vision document was to create a design guideline that basically defines a shared neighborhood vision for what Wynwood should be, its history, its character, and also its evolution. We want to create a clear and visually compelling design intent booklet so that that could be given to both developers for future development and also to entice development within Wynwood. So what we've done so far, and I know we're limited on time. I'm assuming we have until four-ish?

We do. We're just thinking of the game, but the Brits have already asked. No, no, wait.

Is there any way that we could postpone it? To be honest with you, if you really want an engagement for all of us, is there any way that we can move it to our next session? Would that be possible?

That's up to you. You guys let us know. Let's wait for Paul, because I know Paul has a stake in this as well.

Let's wait a minute for Paul.

Yeah, we're just all going to be interested in watching the quarterfinals.

I do want to note the next meeting is in September, so that's a consideration for the board.

That's fine for us.

Right, but for the project arc, it's going to be past September. when we're creating the content, and this is kind of feeding the content, so.

Yeah, so again, being respectful of your time, and we do want your engagement, so by September, we would have already wrapped up all our engagements with all the different stakeholders, so that's why we wanted to make sure that we got, you know, your opinion as well, but again, if if what you're saying is you're not going to be able to focus, then we want to make sure that we're, if it's going to take an hour, if you're going to take an hour, you're not going to get me to engage.

I'll be honest.

Okay.

If it's, if you do it, if you could do it quicker, you know, we can do it.

We can try and get it through in half an hour. How about that? Does that work?

Yeah. And apologies guys. I mean, I'm sure you all know we haven't had a meeting the last few months. So this was kind of the only one we could get in plus the recess in August. The only thing I would say is if you, well, I'm a big World Cup person as well. I understand the importance. My only suggestion would be if you all wanted to do this a different time that wasn't at a meeting so that they can meet their deadline. But then that's, you know, taking more time out of your schedules and regrouping. I think if we can get it done in 30 minutes, that'd be best.

Do it. Start. Go ahead. So, you know, we'll kind of bridge the context. Basically, we're working on design intent guidelines for Wynwood to help future development. It's rapidly changing. We're doing a lot of sessions and interviews through that. You know, we're starting to identify the findings. The key kind of themes are Wynwood is changing, as we all know, pretty rapidly. So this is the time to get ahead of it. and that we really need to think about all the different facets of a neighborhood as they go together, not just your property, how it connects to other things. So we are really thinking about how you draw people in, how you make wandering easier in the neighborhood, you know, the comfort, the kind of meandering, making people linger more and explore, and how do we keep Wynwood creative as developers also from outside of Miami come in and start to put projects that maybe are starting to lose a little bit of that character. So what we really wanted to focus on today is these domains of impact through which we are developing a guideline of strategies for Wynwood. So what we were going to do is go through each one and kind of discuss some of the main pain points we've found and put it to you to help us see if there's anything that's a higher priority or if there are any gaps that are identified. And what we can do is kind of condense that if there are any particular of these five that you want to hone in on, maybe we don't need to talk about all of them today, then that will certainly save us a lot of time. I think very quickly, we're looking at built form, so that's the shape of the building, the materiality that's used, adaptive reuse, kind of the rhythm of the, like as you're going in and out of the building, the street life, so storefronts and transparency, kind of spill out zones, outdoor dining, public ground being more sidewalks, shade, lighting, comfort, creative identity, more about the murals, wayfinding, art, a little bit more of that cultural storytelling, and activation and programming. So I just dropped a lot of, you know, talked a lot. Maybe we start with built form. I think that's probably one of the ones that is going to be most relevant to this group, and then we'll look to you to which other topics you find important to weigh in on. in the time that we have with you. Does that sound good? Yes.

And we'll take you through them kind of page by page. And again, these are some of the things that we've heard from all the engagements that we've had. So the pink points are really the points that we heard over and over again when it comes to built form. So the neutral palettes that you find on the architectural facades now, they feel very sterile and have not contributed to what the character of Wynwood should be as it evolves. Overburdened regulatory reviews for adaptive reuse projects. The limited wall space for murals. Poor building soundproofing. There's a lot of residential developments that have come up that are complaining now because they are not using double or triple glazed windows. And because of that, a lot of Residents are actually leaving too much noise that's going into the residential projects within Wynwood. Faux materials lacking authenticity. So stamped brick or facades that are made of stucco that are meant to look like an I-beam. The lack of setbacks that constrain the public realm. So when you go to some of the streets that are zero lot line setbacks and you only have five or six feet, you're not really able to do anything with the public realm. So thinking about that. Ineffective parking screening. There's a couple of violators that we don't need to say, but everybody knows and keeps speaking to in terms of the reference of a bad screening product. And then underutilized roof decks. So these are some of the things that we heard under the built form category. And I'll pause for a second and see if you had anything to add to that specific component.

I had an experience yesterday just walking through Wynwood, getting to a lunch meeting, and there's no shade. But I was able to go through the scaffolding for an adjacent project that's under construction, and I found that everybody was crossing the street because it was more comfortable to go underneath the scaffolding than it was to walk on the sidewalk on the other side, even though there was shade on the other side. So there's some sense of, you know, just having some covered, whether it's, you know, shaded trees or a colonnade. And I know a lot of developers want to maximize the footprint. But, you know, to make this neighborhood walkable and as engaging as we want it to be, I think that's something to be considered. Just having these colonnades. I mean, I immediately thought of Bologna, which is the city of, like, the colonnades and how amazing it is. especially now in the summer.

Thank you. I got a question because this presentation, obviously, you've been working on it.

Yeah.

You coming to us and really, you know, without the opportunity to look at this, analyze, you want our feedback on the spot, which is, I think, not fair, or at least in my opinion. You want me to, because I see everything that you're proposing, but, you know, the comment that the chairwoman just made, I think it's very valid. Because unfortunately, what you see there is not, you know, I think that it would have been more advantageous for us to have seen something beforehand, my opinion. I mean, because you want us to, you're coming here to check the box. We went to UDRB, I'm going to the next. That's what you're doing.

Well, what we would actually want is more of a discussion with you rather than a presentation of you saying yes and checking a box, because that's what we did with all the other stakeholders. So this is the time that we can actually get your input. So, It's the same way we did all our other sessions with the stakeholders where we'll come and we'll kind of present the big ideas. In this case, this is really about the built form and then get your feedback and what you see can be approved so that we can then put it into the design guidelines. So this is still part of the process. We haven't reached the end part where we're synthesizing things yet.

I'm going to propose something and see if everyone's amenable to this. Will you share the presentation with us? And then if everyone on the board is comfortable, maybe we can set a time aside from today to really discuss and be able to have, you know, give you some feedback and have the back and forth discussion.

I'm in favor of that. What I don't want to do is make it so prescriptive that the architect is going to be, you know, I don't want to become another corrugator. where you have to follow so many requirements and you don't have a lot of opportunity. And this is an area that I think it could be very conducive to be able to do more creativity. And that's my only concern, without really analyzing and looking at it, that we may end up something there. I think what has been proposed, I think it's a great idea.

We're on the same page. We actually said the exact same thing. We don't want this to be like a design guidelines for Coral Gables. We were thinking of this more as actually what we came up with was this idea of vibe lines, not guidelines. So it's not prescriptive. It's more about the things not to do that haven't worked as opposed to prescribing what to do. To your point exactly. So we're on the same page in terms of the intention there.

And to build on that, maybe what would be helpful is knowing that you're looking at projects and reviewing and approving things. What are, maybe we can kind of zoom out for a second and look at these kind of spheres we're focused on. What are the kinds of things that would be most valuable for a document like this to cover and to make sure that we're providing guidance on from your perspective as projects come to you and to the WDRC for approval?

I think the domains of impact that you've mentioned are all the things that we focus on which are under our purview and it's on the pedestrian scale and how it impacts the fabric of the neighborhood. Scale, materials, sidewalks, that experience of of the pedestrian being able to see something interesting, not just a flat facade with punch windows. I don't know if you want to finish maybe your presentation so that we hear it and then maybe... We can.

We can go quickly through. So that was just the built form. The street life and interface really is about what makes a street worth walking and staying on, which is kind of what you were referring to. And some of the pinpoints there was the lack of shade, which is exactly what you're talking about, utilities that are cluttering the public realm, so that really is more specific about how to architecturally resolve these things, sidewalks that can't fit outdoor retail, and this has to do with setbacks, curb cups that kind of interrupt the pedestrian flow, so really thinking about the positioning of that, blind corners at street crossings, poor entry articulation. There's also a secondary thing about rental prices for retail that is really pushing out the locals, but that's not necessarily a design issue. But the way we've thought about that is if you can design retail spaces that are not meant for large retail subdivisions, but smaller retail, micro retail that's built in at the ground, then that'll help that local retail flow. So that's the street life and interference. In terms of the public realm, It's how do the spaces between the buildings shape everyday life? As you know, Wynwood is really about the paseos and the courtyards. And so how do we make sure that they're activated and not dead spaces? And so this is really about inconsistent sidewalk quality, dark cavernous paseos, limited public seating, limited lighting, lack of rideshare drop-off zones. There's not many parks or open spaces. That's obviously a huge thing within Wynwood. on-street parking versus streeteries, and then also the unmarked and unsignalized intersections. And I'm going this quickly because I know we're running out of time, but anytime you'd like to make a comment, please do. Then, of course, the creative identity, right? That's the big question about Wynwood. How can every project reinforce Wynwood's creative identity? So this is really about mural signage, wayfinding, integrated art on projects, cultural storytelling, so the loss of existing street art at the ground level, loss of cultural spaces and institutions, corporate generic signage, poor district wayfinding, inauthentic art and ads. Elevated art doesn't impact street level, so really thinking about where we're putting that percentage of art on new construction and lack of creativity on display. And then the activation and programming is really how Can these places remain active long after construction is complete? So this is really thinking programmatically about what makes placemaking. So it doesn't just happen when you make a space. It's about how you activate it with pop-ups, events, programming, flexible uses, community gathering, vendor opportunities, and nighttime activities. So those are, in a nutshell, some of the issues that we've kind of gone through and talked about through those five domains. And then this was the question that we had, what is the one thing this document must achieve for Wynwood?

So what we can do in the 10 or so minutes, or maybe a little bit less, is we could regroup another time. I think it would be great to get kind of a gut reaction of all the items that we just went through. Is there something from the perspective of a review board Is there something that jumps out as an easy win something that we can frame for developer they're likely to follow it's going to have a big impact kind of an easy win is there anything that's like. This is a high priority we need to make sure we get this right and put it in front of the developer and is there anything we missed that stands out as as not part of what we talked about and we can talk about that as a whole we don't need to go into each specific.

I have a couple comments. I would say that when you're dealing with multiple codes, it's always helpful to understand the comparison, because if you're developing there, you have to still look at Miami 21 and your guideline, right? It's always helpful to understand, are they anything where they differentiate, or is there areas where they have a common interest or incentives? And developers are driven by incentives everywhere, so you have to figure out What do they gain by doing shaded tree or whatever you want them to do? And how can you clearly show that in your document? For example, in Coconut Grove, if you developed in that neighborhood, if you put this open space in the front of the property, you're allowed to build 15 feet into the setback. That's a huge gain of free area that you get by adopting this approach. I guess, design language. So I would think about making it very clear and very simple. But to get to that in the Coconut Grove neighborhood, you have to read 15 pages of Miami 21 and you have to be an expert and an architect and all these things. But that would be my one comment.

Sometimes these bonuses create more headaches than what they give. Like these buildings that are super high, Sometimes you have to balance, and I guess that's where your grade is going to be, how you're going to balance the bonuses versus, because once the developer gets these bonuses, everything's going to be like Coral Gables, like you said, because Coral Gables is all bonuses. Right. And it hasn't turned out to be that great either. So there's a delicate balance, which I don't know how it's going to work.

Thank you. Any other comments before we close? I know the game has started, so I do understand that.

I think the comments you heard, I think are very good and very valid. You know, at the end of the day, to me, when I go to Wynwood, the pedestrian realm doesn't feel very comfortable.

Exactly.

Okay? And a lot of things that you mentioned are attributed to that. I think, you know, the sabrata, the shade, you know, It doesn't feel like you want to walk there. Some of the buildings are coming up right up to the property line on a five foot sidewalk. That doesn't feel very comfortable. Maybe an incentive going back. Maybe for the ground floor, maybe if you set it back, you get something more so the developer has incentive to be able to encourage them to do that.

Right.

Because at the end of the day, you know, a little bit here, a little bit there for the developer. And, you know, it doesn't mean if you give them incentive, they're going to say, yes, I'm willing to do that.

Right.

So that's what I think we should be, you know, really focusing on. Thank you. Yeah.

And I think, too, I was going to say this also to touch on what Robert said. Being that it was an industrial manufacturing company, Warehouse area, the sidewalks are just too small.

Yeah.

So unless there's a way to either bonuses to promote wider sidewalks or looking at narrowing streets, making some streets one way as a way of being able to capture more sidewalk to make it more pedestrian friendly. Because that's really the one thing Wynwood isn't. It is not pedestrian friendly. You know, when you walk from brewery to brewery, well, not anymore because every day there's fewer and fewer breweries to walk to, which is one of the things that is a shame there. But it's that even if you wanted to put shade trees, you don't have room to put them. There's just no sidewalk. There's no space for it. There's a few streets that have sidewalks, but the majority are just these narrow, little, by foot, maybe sometimes even smaller, it feels like. And that's one of the biggest challenges. And then you get a post in the middle of the sidewalk, too.

Right. There's ways to do that. Look, and I don't want to use Corrie Gables as an example, but they do force you to do bump-outs.

Yes.

Okay? Okay. which gives you, you know, you lose some liberal parking, but gives you area to put trees, where if you have a five-foot sidewalk, you can't do it. But if you incorporate a bump out, you know, now, if you incorporate a bump out, give me something in return.

Right.

I think dedicated bike lanes also to just have that additional layer of, you know, just traffic. And maybe that's, you know, promoted by having, you know, some dedicated one-way streets. You mentioned something else that I thought escaped. It'll come to me.

The artwork that goes in the buildings is something that also, I don't know how it's controlled. When it comes here, it's a beautiful in-design presentation image that we have no idea what's going to end up in the building. There should be some way of a board that reviews it or some set of experts that really, if you really want to build something very thoughtful, there should be some discussion about what ends up happening there because we can't really control it and neither can you, actually.

Yeah, and that was part of our discussion, actually, that potentially as part of this and the integration of the bid into the process, there could be a list of local artists that if a developer is coming from out of town and they have no idea how to even connect an artist to their project, we can make it easier for them by having a list of the local artists within Wynwood also that they could contact to truly have an art that is local And not just a pattern on the side of the buildings, which is a lot of the complaints that we've heard is those are just geometric patterns. It's not really the mural art that Wynwood is known for. So we are thinking of those things. But it's difficult to define art. So that's the other thing, right? Correct. Correct. Yeah.

I also think, you know, in terms of programming, curated art programs where they can rotate, I mean, I think that's something that Design District does very successfully. Yes. You know, and it's a good model because on the street level, every facade is so different. There's a lot of differentiation. There's nothing that's completely straight. You have shades. You have programming. You have art. So I think it's a good example of, you know, something that's been, which is new, and they were able to deliver successfully for the pedestrian, you know, and that landscape. Right.

Thank you.

Thank you very much.

Okay, thank you. Appreciate it.

And we'll discuss this, the Gensler team and I. I think we have maybe, you know, either if you guys want to send out the presentation, if they want to send additional feedback via email, they can do that. We can also discuss potentially spending, you know, another half hour or hour at the training in August.

Yeah.

We can kind of put time aside for all the UDRB folks to speak with you there.

I'm willing to do that personally.

Great.

Great.

Well, we'll look forward to that.

Thank you so much. Thank you. Thank you.

Thank you.

Do we have any other item, Madam Chair?

No, I think we're all done.

Do we have meeting minutes to approve?

We already did that. Motion to adjourn. Second.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you. you

Welcome to Empower 305. I am Helena Poleo, and today we have a very special show for you. We are celebrating Women's History Month, and I have the honor of interviewing our mayor, Miss Eileen Higgins. Welcome, Mayor.

Well, hello. It's great to be here in the studio.

It's wonderful, isn't it? Yep. Our guys have done, our guys and gals have done a great, great job with this space. So thank you guys so much. Now, Miami has a long history with women leadership. We are the largest city to have been, actually the only major city to have been founded by a woman, by Julia Tuttle.

Yeah, Julia Tuttle. Then we had Mary Brickell. Unfortunately, we just lost another shero of our community in Thelma Gibson, 99 years old. She paved the way for so many women to be of service in the community. So this is a place where it wouldn't be what it is today if we hadn't had women leaders early on. That's right.

But you are the first woman mayor for the city of Miami. Hopefully not the last, of course.

Hopefully not. There's lots of young girls ready to prepare for this role. I meet them all the time every time I'm out and about now. That's right.

I have two little girls who look up to you and who now say, well, there hasn't been a woman president yet because to them, they are able to see heroes such as yourself and see themselves in these positions of power. What does it mean to you to have run as a first woman mayor, to have won as a first woman mayor of Miami?

I mean, it's very meaningful because being a woman, there's often a lot of firsts and we have to branch out and do things a little bit differently. And sometimes we have to work a little bit harder to break glass ceilings. I started as an engineer in manufacturing and I can tell you I worked in places where I was the only woman, not the first woman, the only one. So it is meaningful to know that women, young girls, teenagers, now can see themselves in elected positions locally here in their own town, not just somebody else that might be up in Tallahassee or somebody might be up in Washington, that it's local. The other thing that's great about local government for me, that's why I like it, is it's friendly, right? I see people every day. I probably see between 100 and 250 people every day. So for young women and young girls, it's real. They get to meet their mayor in a way that they'll never meet a female senator, for example. So they can ask questions and they do ask questions.

And you are very out there in the community. You go to a lot of events. You do a lot of media. You're very front and center. And I can tell you from being a mom for two little girls, that's a huge deal because they can see you every day, whether they don't see you at the supermarket.