Urban Development Review Board - Regular Meeting

The name Miami originates from the Miami tribe, who resided near Lake Okeechobee until the 17th or 18th century. This Native American influence is embedded in the city's name and heritage. Miami was incorporated as a city on July 28, 1896, with a population of 400. This marked the city's establishment as an official municipality. John B. Riley was the first mayor of Miami and played a significant role in shaping the city's early governance. Happy birthday, Miami, celebrating the vibrant spirit of a city that shines bright. Cheers to you.

Today is the Miami Police Memorial where we come together to honor the 41 officers that have given their lives in service of our city. We remember them along with their surviving families to come here and to come true on our pledge that we will never forget the sacrifice they made for our great city.

It is important not only for the memory of those officers that have given their ultimate sacrifice, but also for the families so they could know that we still remember them and we still support them. But it is also very important for the officers that are active right now to know that what they do is important and that we care about them and we will never forget their sacrifice and their service that they do every day to the community.

Energy Star certified buildings save energy, money, and help protect the environment. Miami City Hall was certified as an Energy Star building with a score of 80, meaning that it performs 80% better than similar buildings of size. Through Miami's Building Efficiency 305, the E305 program, we benchmark building efficiency.

actuated traffic control signal but instead of the typical solid red indication the MPS will display a flashing red indication during the pedestrian clearance interval how to use pedestrians The pedestrian signal can be activated by pressing the button when a person arrives at the intersection and wishes to cross the street. Pedestrians should wait for the walk signal to appear before attempting to cross and should only initiate the crossing when it is safe to do so, making sure vehicles have fully stopped behind the stop bar. As pedestrians proceed through the crossing, a countdown will indicate the remaining time to complete the crossing. If pedestrians arrive at the signal to cross after the countdown has started, do not cross. Please press the button to activate the cycle and wait for the walking signal indication. Drivers Drivers should pay attention to the light change on the signal. If the signal shows a green light, it means that drivers can proceed normally. If it changes to a red light, they should stop at the stop bar pavement marking. When the red light is flashing, it means drivers must come to a complete stop. Then, look both ways and proceed with caution if no pedestrians are present at the crossing. The MPS is intended to ensure safety at pedestrian crossing.

Are you lost in the transit maze? No worries. Call 311 for expert guidance. Get real-time information on bus stops, routes, and schedules. With 311, your commute will be a breeze.

This is great. The residents of this area had asked us for a dog park, for a park that would have outdoor exercise equipment, and we finally got this done. And for those that Just want to lay back, read a book, relax, watch nature, drink a soda or water. We have a nice little area there. It's a zen park with flowers, with vegetation so they can come and enjoy.

It feels awesome to add yet another park property to our inventory. Great to be here with the community and residents of this area celebrating the opening of East Shenandoah Park and beginning their path to wellness.

It's enjoyable for me to see the evolvement of the whole community and bringing this to fruition for the community now, for the dogs, the fitness, and the Zen Park is an amazing feat.

It's been a great opportunity to come out, see how the community is enjoying the park already. We've already had residents knocking down the gates while we were finishing up our construction process. So it's great to see everyone out here enjoying the park.

And we're actually happy. I mean, this is, to me, a one of a kind. I'm involved in the city since I've been here the last eight years. Having the dynamics of a dog park with open spaces and tying it in with a fitness athletic for adults. We're quite happy we're done. We're completed and now turning it over to the neighbors.

We're in Little Haiti celebrating Haitian Flag Day. This is our annual event and the community has come out to celebrate the cultural richness of Little Haiti. I'm here to celebrate Flag Day. Everything in my family is with me. We're celebrating Haitian Flag Day.

We got food, ice cream, they're dancing, DJs, performances, everything.

We're celebrating Haitian Heritage Month in our very own little Haiti. All the Haitians are here. We're celebrating, we're happy, and we just want to broadcast our independence.

Father God, in the name of Jesus, we come now to say thank you that you are God Almighty. Bring us together into a oneness and open to us your knowledge, your wisdom, and your understanding.

Our responsibility is to speak up for the least, the lost, the left out, and the last. Those that have no voice, it becomes our responsibility to speak up for them.

I'd like to see the interfaith community come together and pray. If we're going to go to heaven together, we need to learn how to come together and fellowship and pray.

Prayer is where we got to today, and prayer will lead us home. Thank you.

This is my third annual interfaith breakfast. I get together with our pastors because they are absolutely stakeholders in our community, and this is my way of connecting with them. It's a great time for all. Great is thy faithfulness.

This is a great initiative that we have partnered with FHP and today not only are they continuing to create awareness, which is extremely important, it's about not just the parents. Talk to your family members and explain to them how important it is for the children to remain restrained inside their vehicles.

Just basically reminding everybody to look before you lock, right? Simple tips like leaving something in the back seat of the car. It could be your cell phone, it could be a tablet, it could be really anything just to make sure that you're looking in that back seat before you lock the car because everybody thinks it can't happen to them, right? Or it's impossible, but it does happen a lot.

I remember like it was yesterday, it was actually my third shift ever with the department and we responded to a call for a baby locked inside a vehicle at a park. Once we got there, luckily the baby was okay and we got there right on time. So we were able to take the baby out of the back seat and luckily everything was fine. But always remember, look before you lock so we can prevent stuff from this happening in the future.

This is a great opportunity for us from the Royal Caribbean Group. This is an example of the collaboration. Funds were able to maintain and distribute it to causes like this, child safety and other things.

It's important for families and parents to be vigilant, especially here in South Florida, because it's so hot and it can get really boiling really quickly. And so, yeah, we just need to be very vigilant and always not leave the child in the car because it's a hazard.

In Florida, it's not a matter of if, but when a storm will hit. Damaging winds and rain can devastate our communities and impact our way of life. And when severe weather strikes, power outages will occur.

At Florida Power & Light, we understand how much our customers and communities depend on reliable electricity and that every moment without power can feel like an eternity. That's why we train year-round so that when severe weather strikes, we're ready to respond for our customers when they need us the most.

FPL officials recommend taking these steps to prepare. First, create an emergency plan. Discuss with your family what to do in an emergency, especially if someone in your family relies on electricity for a medical device. Second, have a hurricane kit ready with all necessary supplies, including enough food, water, and medications to sustain your family in the event you lose power for an extended period. Third, make sure you are staying informed. Listen to emergency officials in your community, follow the local news, and download the FPL app for information about the status of power restoration.

It's important to have trees trimmed on your property by a professional tree trimmer before a storm is already on the way. Once a hurricane warning is in effect, it's too late to trim your trees, as those limbs and branches can become projectiles once debris pickup is suspended following a hurricane warning.

During a storm, nothing is more important than your safety.

During a storm, safety is our top priority and it should be our customers' top priority as well. Stay away from windows, please stay indoors, and keep your families safe.

After a storm, FPL recommends you stay far away from downed power lines and report them to 1-800-4-OUTAGE.

Thanks to FPL's investments in smart grid technology, we're able to see which homes have power and which homes don't have power after a storm. We have a proven process for restoring power back for our customers, which focuses on restoring to the largest amount of customers in the shortest amount of time until every customer's lights are back on.

As soon as it is safe to do so, FPL begins the restoration process by repairing any damage to power plants, then move on to restoring power to critical facilities such as hospitals, police, and fire stations. At the same time, FPL works to return service to the largest number of customers in the shortest amount of time. FPL is here to help you.

In order to prepare for storm season and also tips on what to do after a storm, please go to fpl.com slash storm.

Every year, the City of Miami Risk Management Department hosts three different employee health fairs at three different locations that are strategic to disseminate the wellness message that we want to convey. Miami Police Department, we also go to Solid Waste because it's close to the Parks Operation, GSA, Public Works, and Solid Waste, of course. And finally, MRC, which is our main administrative building. We have financial experts that can help you navigate the extra expenses that you might find as you go through the health plan. We want people to be educated. An educated consumer makes the health outcome be positive.

I know that City of Miami employees are handling big issues for us every single day. So this is just an opportunity for me to provide wellness services in the context of mindful breathing, gentle stretching, and really having a chance to reflect, pause, and to

Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. you Thank you. you you so so Thank you. Thank you. Thank you for watching.

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Before we start our meeting today, I would like to honor and recognize someone who's made a lasting impact in our city and this board, Matthew Nartzen. As our board liaison, Matthew has served with dedication, professionalism, and heart. His insight and responsiveness have greatly strengthened the connection between our board and the city. and his presence will be deeply missed. Over the past two and a half years, Matthew has led our UDRB annual workshops and reviewed over 110 planning and zoning amendments, including key projects such as River Landing, Bremen SAP designation, SAP Wynwood Mana, Magic City Innovation District, Miami River Greenway, Waterfront Development, Lemon City, Little Haiti, Omri CRA, Streetscapes. Matthew, your humble leadership and keen attention to detail have helped us exceed expectations. The UDRB sincerely thanks you and publicly acknowledges your tremendous contributions. Though we're sad to see you go, We're excited for what's next. On behalf of the city, I'm proud to present this certificate of appreciation for your service. Thank you, Matthew, and best of luck. And now if we will please all stand for our Pledge of Allegiance. We just have our lobbyist note.

Any person who is a lobbyist pursuant to Chapter 2, Article 6 of the City Code must register with the city clerk and comply with and comply with related city requirements for lobbyists before appearing before the Urban Development Review Board. A person may not lobby a city official, board member, or staff member until registering. A copy of the code section about lobbyists is available in their city clerk's office 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 board members may have generally been briefed by city staff on items on today's agenda. The meeting can be viewed live on miamitv.com and on Comcast Channel 77. In addition to the comments provided here at City Hall, the public may submit comments via the city's online comment forum. 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 a public record of the meeting. These public comment options established and provided for this meeting comply with Section 286.0114 Florida Statutes. Members, are you comfortable with all the notice provisions set forth in these uniform rules of procedure we have established for this meeting?

Yes.

Thank you.

I'd like to call the meeting to order. It's 208. You can please do roll call.

Chair Labrada?

Yes.

Vice Chair Barrera? Here. Member Behar? Member Lewis? Here. Member Perez-Azul? Member Pamoui? Member Zamstis? Members Appatini?

Here.

Thank you.

Do we have any requests for absence waivers?

Yes, we do. Member Pramui, Member Behar, Member Perez-Azura, Member Zamstis.

And we have minutes from last month.

Yes, we do. June 25th.

I move we approve.

Second.

Second.

Call to vote. Chair Labrada?

Yes.

Vice Chair Barrera? Yes. Member Lewis?

Yes.

Member Zappatini? Yes. Minutes approved, four to zero.

And do we have any, thank you, do we have any online comments?

No, ma'am, we do not at this time. Thank you. And what I would like to ask, can we close online public comment?

Yes, please.

Thank you.

Any comments here in the public? So if not, I think we can get started with our first item.

UDRB item number one, MINUTE TRACK 17851. ADDRESS, 4175 SOUTHWEST 15TH ROAD. PROJECT NAME, 7 BROADWAY. LOCATION, BRICKLE VILLAGE. TRANSIT ZONE T648B0. SQUARE FOOTAGE, OVER 400,000 SQUARE FEET. THE NUMBER OF STORIES ARE 54. THE NUMBER OF UNITS IS 113. THE NUMBER OF PARKING SPACES IS 193. The application type is a waiver. Waiver for the permit to reduction of the principal secondary frontage setbacks above the eight story waiver to permit a reduction of the side and rear setbacks, waiver to permit pedestrian entrances, waivers to permit parking encroachment, waiver to permit up to 10% decrease in frontages, waiver to permit 10% decrease in the depths of the first and second layers, waiver to permit up to 10% decrease in the depths of the search and parking stalls, waiver to decrease minimum separation distance of vehicular entrance. This project exceeds over 200,000 square feet. Thank you.

Can you ask him to confirm the dimension of the waiver for the setbacks?

The dimension of?

The waiver for the setbacks.

From what to when? Can you confirm what the dimension of the setbacks are for the waiver?

The front setbacks above the eighth story are going from 20 to 10, and the side is reduced from 30 to 25 above the eighth story.

Thank you. Yes. Thank you.

Dear members of the board, I will be excusing myself since I'm a member of the development team. Thank you.

Good afternoon, Chairwoman, members. Thank you so much for being here in this month at this time of the year. We appreciate so much your service to this board, and we can't thank you enough. You're here on a voluntary basis, and we're here to get this building developed, so we appreciate your time. With that said, I'd like to walk you through this site. Forgive me. Iris Escara, my colleagues Carlos Lago and Brian Dombrowski have been working on this project. I'm here to assist them on this with offices at 333 Southeast 2nd Avenue. I'd like to carefully walk you through the waivers that are being requested to explain each one to you before we present the building so as the architect Joel Thiem from KPF presents the building, you'll be able to analyze why we had such a hardship with regards to this particular site. We also have a model here in context and a model that you all can enjoy as the presentation advances and see. This over here is actually in scale with the buildings around it. This particular site is at 75 Broadway. So if you're going into the Brickell District from the south, this is one of the sites right after the curve on Broadway, next to 1451 Broadway in that area, just for context purposes, letting you know where we are.

Do you have a context plan we could look at?

A context plan?

Site, context, site. Just to show a little bit more context.

Give me one second.

That'd be helpful.

Thank you. But we can put this one slide.

So for orientation, this is Simpson Park. So we're South Miami Simpson Park and 15 Road converge. The circle where there's a fountain over by the 1450. I don't know if you've ever been to Cervera's real estate office. That's our neighbor. So it's really a very small site. It's triangular in shape. Right next to us, there's the metro mover and the underline on the western side. And on the other side of that is the Publix, to put it in general context of where we are.

The circle is just behind the building. Excuse me? The circle is just.

Correct, the circle is right here. Gotcha. The circle is right here. Over here there's a multi-family development that's being developed. Cipriani Residences is on this side and then this side is Simpson Park and the historic South Miami Avenue. So this is the last, one of the last parcels before you transition into the South Miami Avenue area. To walk you through a few of our waivers, the site is a small site. The architects did an excellent job. We've coordinated with the planning department, with the fire department in order to make this as efficient as possible. And in doing so, the code allows us to apply for certain waivers to help facilitate some of those hardships that we have. at the ground level with regards to the site, the three frontages. In addition to that, because there's just so much you could do, we also have a deviation in our flight path. So right within our building, and you're gonna see that the tower has two different height elements. Part of that is designed and part of that is because the FAA and the MDAT height levels shift right in the middle of the site. So that is something that the architects also had to work through. So a small site with three frontages at the ground, and then an adjusting height from the regulations. So even though it's allowed 80 stories and so forth, this is a 54-story building, 113 residential units, and 193 parking spaces. So as previously mentioned, above the eighth story, we are asking for some setback deviations. We're asking to be able to go straight up from the frontage. So typically, we are meeting all our ground floor setbacks. So the 10 feet on all three sides, we're in compliance. However, above that, we've asked to be able to go straight up with a waiver and not have to do the additional 10 foot setback. We already abut.

That's the facade render there of that condition, right?

Correct. So we can go straight up and that's one of the waivers that we have requested. In addition to that, typically when you have two curb cuts, you're supposed to have a 60 foot separation distance from that. We're asking for that 60 feet to be reduced to 24 feet because we have a four court coming in and out for the drop off circulation. The other waiver that we have, which currently the city just adopted a new legislation to really enhance and facilitate podiums, which is actually a really good legislation, which I encourage you all to read if you haven't already. This is no longer a waiver, but at the time we applied, it is a waiver. And that is to be able to have parking in the second story. Now with the new podium legislation, that no longer is required, but it is one of our requests because at the time of the filing, it was applicable. The other thing that we have is we are mechanical parking, as the architect will present the circulation and the services. We're asking for the depth of 26 of the spaces of the drive out to be reduced to 22. With that said, if there's any questions, I'm happy to advance to the architect presenting the building in context for you.

Now let's let him present.

Hello, my name is Jeffrey Kenoff, design principal with Cohen, Patterson, Fox.

Hi, I'm Victoria Dushku. I'm a senior associate principal with KPF.

Again, thank you for your time. It is an honor to present to you today. And I believe we're speaking with architects as well. Great.

Architects for architects.

I know.

Doesn't happen very often.

As you clearly know, and as I believe everyone in the audience will know, that urban sites come with a high level of responsibility. In this case, it was a unique set of responsibilities that we had a building that not only had to be responsive to its obvious adjacent site, but Brickell as a district as well, Simpson Park across the street, and then of course the water's edge. So how can an urban project start to stitch in all three of these aspects? For us, the challenge was that this building could not have a single front or a more prominent facade, and that all of the urban integration needed to be done equally across all three elements that it was addressing. As you can see here, the site was extremely challenging, not just in size, it's a quarter of the site behind it, but also in its shape as well.

And so when we say the site is tight, we really mean it. You know, it's only... 136 feet wide and, you know, just over 75 feet on the smallest side. And that is, you know, to give a sense of scale, when we talked to the fire department, we explained to them how many fire trucks, and they said, oof, how are we going to stage in an emergency? And so we've had a lot of conversations with the fire department, and they've kind of opined on our planning, and so that's kind of right into what you're seeing here. And not only that, but we did talk about the setbacks that we have on the project. And so that makes even smaller footprints. So within the podium, we have about a 13,000 square foot floor plate. But when you get to the tower, we're around, you know, 7,500 square feet for each floor. Not only are we constrained in plan, but we're also constrained in section. So this site is over the FAA path to here to the airport. And so half of the site is limited to about 600 feet cap. And so that's been taken into account when we talk about our hardships and what we can really fit to make this development successful. And as I think you can see in the context model and here on the slide, we've been working to make sure this is of a density that is part of the context and part of the larger developments that are happening within Miami and specifically this neighborhood.

So here was the question from the beginning.

How can a project begin to elevate urban integration, a pedestrian experience, and quality for the overall district? Immediately, in lieu of doing five facades with five different responses, the concept for the entire building was imagine if it was just one facade, one sinuous wrap that would pull people, pull pedestrians, pull urban integration all the way through and tie all elements together in an equal fashion. Like any building, it's set up of a lot of parts, some parts that we want to be extroverted, but other parts that you want to start to hide. And the building would actually find a way to use that wrap to create a singular form, a singular structure such that you weren't looking at an extended parking deck or mechanical and all of it would be stitched into the fabric of the building. There was a love and kind of a passion for this notion of fluidity. that the way that people move in cities is sometimes not straight and the way that the building would respond to its natural environment, including natural light, would be bent and that the project would lean into those bends. And what would happen at the end is because of the site, we would actually embrace that form and you almost get this flat iron knife edge that goes up and acts as a gateway to the park, pulls you into the site, and allows all of its facades to be equally integrated with a relationship happening harmoniously around. At the facade itself, that same vocabulary and DNA carries into its details, so everything from the form of the building to the materials of the building to the glass of the building, all fluidly going around. And from the base going up, you're not confronted with a giant parking deck. That real... Strong attention was paid to how do we stitch this building together so that you don't know necessarily where one program begins and another one ends, but most importantly, you're not looking into a series of cars or vehicles. There's probably no worse experience than going through a city and having headlights be the kind of foreground of what you experience as a pedestrian. So in this case, creating one building that wraps all the way up and then, of course, materials to the side. Authenticity in materials was high on the list in terms of good quality stones, metals, glass, bronze, all cascading and carouseling around the project.

So when we talk about the ground floor and really trying to fit, you know, five pounds and, you know, 10 pounds in a five-pound bag, that's really what you're kind of seeing here. And so, you know, the core kind of based on the tower planning above kind of found its way based on those setbacks. But it was clear that the only way to make this work is to have drop-off on Broadway. We have to maintain a 60-foot separation for traffic at every corner. And so that kind of lends itself to this singular U shape. So there's one way in, one way out to make sure that there's a clean sequence of cars and there's no backup on the street. Because of Southwest First Ave is such a small frontage, we're not able to have any access on that street. And we were able to tuck in kind of all our servicing onto Southwest 14th Terrace, the North Street. And so trucks would pull into a truck elevator, which would bring you down to the basement. All the loading and servicing habits there. And then that truck elevator will bring them out so they have a clean, clean exit back onto the street. As we said, we've started talking with the fire department who strongly pushed for the FCC to be located on that corner. Obviously, we'd want to give more habitable space to the pedestrian experience, but given their constraints, that's the only place that they were okay to work out and function, along with working out the fire hydrants and things like that. And then we've had to allocate a good swath of the ground floor plan for the FPL vault as well. So that's an ongoing conversation.

Yeah, so the goal of any good project is its integration with the site. And in this case, that results in an integration between the interior spaces, the landscape, and the architecture all kind of working as one. Without question, you could see the bends and the fluidity that we talked about in terms of their urban responsibilities also pulling into the inside of the building as well. So the pedestrian experience, the urban integration becomes quite fluid in terms of how people go through it. Here you see the drop off with the tower above it. Here you see that pedestrian experience the urban connectivity of the street that you walk along We have habitable program at the base, and we have inner screens and activity happening, so it's beautifully lit at night Here we have the 14th Street Terrace view you can see that that wraps around all facades as well And then of course the approach Coming down Broadway you can see that building is takes that same vocabulary into all aspects of its front.

And so like Jeff alluded to earlier, we don't want to see the cars any more than the pedestrian would want to see a car. And so we've really worked to make sure that the facade cladding at the podium really and truly is an extension of the tower above. it's hard to tell where one program starts and stops. And when we have a glass facade, it isn't vision glass. You know, there will be a solid wall behind there, so you, you know, as a crash guard, but also as something opaque that the headlights aren't visible. So we've able to kind of create this reveal where there's also this stone component, which also acts as parking, but adds a bit of depth and relief to the all glass facade.

All right. So here you see the view coming from Broadway. You start to see the building just sinuously tie all the way from the bottom to the top. You start to express some of the use of it through the balconies and the kind of extroverted program of some of the amenity spaces. But again, there's this kind of passion for understanding its responsibility to Simpson Park. also how it's used in these kind of bends, find themselves again, not just in the form of the building, but in the details as well. And in this case, using the balcony to give a little privacy and cleanliness to what happens on a balcony, and at the same time, thin up as it goes to the view. So you start to see the wall of the building raise up and swell, breathe in, and then exhale as it gets to the views at the corner. That wraps around the building. All mechanical systems and everything else, again, just like the podium, are integrated into the tower. And then at night, of course, you see its final presence within the site. And once again, as we talked about, something that would uniquely find a balance of how it related to three opposing forces. With that, thank you so much.

That concludes our presentation. We're open to any questions you all may have.

Thank you. Would you like to get started, Mr. Lewis?

Sure. Thank you very much, Madam Chair. I appreciate the duet presentation. That was wonderful. I would recommend weaving as opposed to stitching. I heard stitching quite often characterized because I do believe it's more of a weave and a compositional fluidity that helps succeed the composition of your project. Site characteristics are in your favor in spite of the complex and small footprint. Being triangular, number one, the Simpson Park and open green space to the south is a tremendous opportunity. I'm glad you took it on because it's a tough site. I would like to know a little bit more, expound if you could, of the destiny or the future of that additional piece of land to the east that's sitting there in your block. Is there a reason why that wasn't part of your development?

That's Ms. Cervera's property. Sorry? That's Alicia Cervera. That's their offices. We would love to know what they were doing, but I think those ladies are keeping it tight to the chest.

No possibility of.

Not that we're aware of.

Expansion there. Okay.

We'd love to. I'll send her a note saying you said that. We'd love to.

Okay. It just makes sense, right? I'm sure you tried. Perfect. So, I think the radial corners, edges, are super key to the success of this composition. And it's urban context which is our primary focus. Choosing the fluidity of the lines and the breathing in and out, as you will, with the tones and chords and references, I think is spot on. And I also appreciate the articulation of the natural materials throughout the facade. I noticed that the waver of the setback above the eighth level was softened, going to only 10 feet with the scalloped curve. And I appreciate that as well. And I think that you deserve and I'll support the project as presented. Good luck with relocating and working out the technicals, the vault room and the others I see have robotic parking. And is there a waiver on the parking?

No, we have plenty of parking. We're not asking for a parking reduction.

conceptual as it is, we still didn't see anything like floor plans on the way up or cross sections or I'm sure you have those. I'd invite you to expound just a minute if you could. But that's all I have for comments overall. It's tough to work out a rear wall corner core and the articulation of that facade as it goes up was a concern that I had. And I think the FAA setback in height worked tremendously to your advantage in massing properly a skyline feature.

Just to walk a little bit through the plans that we didn't show in the presentation. I think we walked through the ground floor plan. I think down here you could see some of our typical podium plans where the core is kind of nestled in that back corner. Right. And we're not using automated parking. It's all valet parking. And so the idea is at the ground floor, they would go into these two car elevators and then park in stackers that kind of line, you know, some mechanical space, but largely line the parameter of the floor plan. And so the parking is, you know, I think we have six floors of parking. And then at the typical floor and typical tower, we get that setback that happens on the east side. And we're able to fit three units on a typical floor plan for residential.

Gotcha. And the elevators all stop at every floor?

Elevators stop at every floor and all direct service lifts to the units. And then from a stacking perspective, all elevators also stop at the amenity floor. So there's a wellness floor on level eight that utilizes that setback as a terraced. And then we have a lounge at the highest most floor before we have the FAA setback and the roof deck.

Right. The development to the north is going to be a resi? Yeah. You said?

Resi. There's the Cipriani residences is one half of it and the other two towers are multifamily rental.

Thank you. Beautifully rendered.

What Mr. Lewis said. No, honestly, there's a lot of projects presented to us on these small sites. And this was a very creative solution. I love the curves. It really softens how it connects to the sidewalk and to the pedestrian. I love the fact that even though you have this solid wall in the back because of the circulation, how you've treated it with the same materials that you have the rest of the building. So I think that brings great value at a great expense. We know that's cheaper to just put stucco or precast panels, but the effort that's being made there lends to the elegance of the building. The fact that you did have to have that step back because of the FAA really added a really nice touch to the design that I think really adds to it. I'm supportive of the project.

I have to say, you know, I echo what my colleagues also mentioned. The fact that you've included public art within and thought of it as part of your design, I thought was excellent. It's a great gift to the city, even though you don't have a public program, just to have that walkability and have that gift to the neighborhood is wonderful. I also agree the materials that you've selected are very elegant and timeless. I'm curious in how the circulation works. I know you have one way as you're dropping off, but do you have to back into those the lifts to bring the cars up.

There is a back, there's a T, yeah.

So Adrian Dabrowski is part of Kimley Horn.

Good afternoon, Adrian Dabrowski with Kimley Horn, traffic engineer on the project. So correct, to get into those elevators, vehicles will have to back into them on the ground level. And then also when they're on the parking levels, when they're coming back down, they have to back in so then they come out head first. So there's definitely coordination that will happen in education with the valet operator to make sure that it's operating optimally so then vehicles are able to circulate through the site appropriately. But that was one of the reasons why we had to have the driveway separated so we would have more space to stock vehicles. Otherwise, if we have the driveways, the entry and exit next to one another, it'd be really difficult to turn the vehicles around. So that was one of the purposes of that waiver as well.

Thank you for clarifying. I'm in support of the project. I think it's wonderful. It's a nice addition to the neighborhood. So thank you.

Ready for a motion?

Ready.

I'll recommend a motion to approve as presented.

Second.

Roll call on UDRB item number one, minute track 17-8-5-1. Mover, Member Lewis. Seconder, Vice Chair Barrera. Madam Chair?

Yes.

Vice Chair Barrera? Yes. Member Lewis? Yes. Item passes 3-0. Thank you. Congratulations. Thank you, everyone.

Thank you very much, and have a wonderful summer break. See you in September.

Thank you, Iris.

UDRB item number two, minute track 17842. Address 7501 and 7553 Northeast 2nd Avenue. Project name Little River. Location Little River Central. Transit zone T680. Square footage just under 500,000 square feet. 22 stories. 350 residential units, 140 of them are affordable. Commercial square footage is 143,000. Parking spaces, 406. Application type, exception, waiver. Exception to exceed the maximum lot area of 40,000 square feet. Waivers to permit parking above the first story. To extend into the second layer along primary and secondary frontages. Waiver to allow up to 30% reduction of required parking for development within one half mile of a TOD or a quarter mile of a transit corridor. Waiver to allow the vehicular separation below the minimum required distance on a secondary frontage. waiver to exceed maximum distance between pedestrian entrances along a frontage. The project exceeds over 200,000 square feet. Thank you.

Thank you. Good afternoon, members of the board. Ethan Wasserman with Greenberg Charg, 333 Southeast 2nd Avenue, here on behalf of the applicant. With me today are various members of our ownership team, as well as Albert Cordova, our project architect. So we're happy to present this application. This is a Live Local Act application. The past couple agendas, we've discussed Live Local at length, so I won't get into it unless you'd like me to address that. But specifically, the nature of our application is an exception to exceed the minimum lot size. In this zoning district, it's maximum lot size. It's 40,000 square feet. We are an assembly of the entire block, but we have two folios. One folio is already 50,000 square feet, and this is just to add the corner, which is... and automotive use that's not in service anymore. So we're adding 10,000 square feet into it. But we do own a full city block here. Now the criteria for an exception is if it has a neighborhood serving use. As staff has mentioned, we have 140 income restricted units. I believe every neighborhood should have affordable units in them. I believe that's a neighborhood serving use. Staff has advised that that's one criteria. Another one is the commercial use on site. So because we have commercial use, that will obviously, the more successful it is, the more it serves our neighborhood and our community we are asking for some of the familiar waivers you're all familiar with parking in the second layer 30 parking reduction on a transit corridor and we have two what i'll call preemptive waivers it's the driveway separation for our service corridor as well as pedestrian spacing you'll see in a second how we've allocated our back of house and it's also next to a a park that we're providing inside of our, a very large courtyard, I should call it. And so because of the way the zoning code is written, the pedestrian entrances to that do not count towards the spacing requirement for pedestrian entrances.

So I will turn it over to Albert, but of course I'm happy to answer any questions you have.

Thank you, Ethan. Good afternoon, Madam Chair, members of the board, Albert Cordavez with Coral World Architects at 4210 Laguna Street, Coral Gables, Florida. First and foremost, I want to thank you all for the time today reviewing our presentation. We're extremely happy to be here this afternoon. We've worked hard on this project to get as much as we can for this program in a workforce, live local environment, and worked hard very much with city staff and our client to produce what we truly feel became and culminated into a great project for the community and for the city of Miami. So we encountered a site that typically rare, a small little block, but with four frontages. And I think that was key to one of our biggest design elements was just really to take that opportunity and use even secondary and tertiary frontages and primary frontages and use Most of that, over 80% of it, were truly good active uses throughout. And that was one of our key design goals, having this type of parcel and taking that pedestrian realm and infill sites like this and now to a next level, right? The second was to have another opportunity to really provide real quality,

Do you have a context plan to support?

I'm sorry, I apologize. We didn't print one, but we have one in the package.

I didn't print it, but sheet A002.

Okay.

Northeast 2nd and 71st Street.

That would help. Here we go.

Remind us of your adjacent zoning.

So we have T6, T6-8. We have the zoning to the south. And this is all T6-8 and T6-8.

Surrounding us to our west is a Miami-Dade County-owned site, a large, exceeds 40,000 square feet housing site to our west. To our east is T5. To our north is T68. And we're the first property outside of the industrial zoning to our south. So we're that transition from the industrial.

From the industrial to the T6.

You've got the T5R on either side.

On the east, correct.

Correct. And the west. And the west. Okay. All right. Thank you. Appreciate that. Sorry to make you back up.

I apologize for not being here with the printed locator mop. Okay. So again, first opportunity of design was to culminate that pedestrian realm to that next level. And second, which is not typical of these type of projects, we really wanted to provide some real pedestrian quality spaces. And we had an opportunity to provide a super general score yard, approximately over 6,000 square feet, which is centralized within the U-shaped residential structure. And we did that. In many ways, the units are going to be comforting with the views. And in addition to that, we placed our main entrance and support spaces of the main residential building right on axis with that beautiful courtyard. So as soon as you identify the entrance to it, you'll have full transparency to the courtyard on axis. And I think that could create a really, again, transition between the exterior pedestrian realm and the interior more passive residential spaces. So getting a little deeper into the ground floor itself, again, going back to the active uses, we anchored the southwest corner with a retail component of approximately 6,000 square feet. And we, as we typically do, we generated a separate drive and a separate access for all the service, the loading, internalized completely with access to one of the three vertical cores that we instituted in the building. So everything is essentially internal here. All this is units on the north coming out to the south. What happens on the second is basically a double height space. to incorporate additional height into the ground floor. And then the typical floors above that start having the parking system with direct access to two of the vertical cores and the U-shaped building around the centralized courtyard. Very typical up to the eighth level. The only difference is essentially some exterior articulation that generates the grid that we're proposing with the brisolets and the balconies. So again, Being able to amenitize our project substantially, again, one of the design goals was to incorporate an amenity, almost 9,000 square feet of amenities at that particular level. Again, overlooking to the courtyard, to the frontage space, and with a great opportunity to roof the parking garage system with a full pool amenitized deck, which we did it intentionally at that particular area because of two things. One, it's next to the industrial district. And second, the views of the south are exceptional. City views to the southeast, to the south, And then, obviously, we're going to get our sun in the summer and winter, right, at that particular setup. Floors above that, we started taking, in respect to the lower transect areas to the east, we started setting back the tower, as you can see here, for a smaller tower envelope. And, again, just a very minor articulation difference between floors, which generates the grid component as we have it. And lastly, when it came time to select the spirit of the exterior elevation theme, we looked back at the Little River, at the origins of the industrial sections of Little River, being close to that particular. So we decided to go with this scheme, which houses, you know, it's inherent that you're trying to bring out some of these industrial qualities with the exoskeleton imitating, emulating the steel members. We brought that down to the pedestrian realm areas, the use of brick veneer into the thing, the use of a lot of metal, perforated metals, perforated balcony railings, as you can see in our elevations and our renderings. So, again, trying to bring that spirit back in a way that we can still afford it in the program, but generate a lot of articulation and a lot of good spirit in terms of the industrial environment. origins of Little River. Again, we're extremely happy to it. I'm not going to lengthen the presentation, but I'd love to any questions or any comments that you might have.

Thank you. I'd like to get started.

I think it's a really beautiful project. It has a very unique identity for the Little River neighborhood, which we don't see this brick slash in the rest of the projects. I'm very excited about that. I would like to know a little bit more about the treatment of the metal covering the parking garage. It seems like it's... What is inside the... Is it a mesh? Is it solid?

Yeah, it's a mesh. It's a perforated screen mesh. The way we would like to do it is with small circles, approximately an inch and a half, separated an inch from each other so that there's no real vision behind it. In addition to that, we're proposing a crash wall at the parking up to 42 inches in height. So it'll be well covered for any vehicle lighting or what have you. And then in addition to that, the exoskeleton, which I think it just drives the style. And this is all going to be done in aluminum, obviously for maintenance purposes, but we're emulating the steel sections that we used to have in those times. And then, as you can see here, bringing some of those elements back to the ground level so that we can actually bring it back to the building and back to the garage and mix them in and just kind of harmonize the whole thing with the same style.

I think you're doing in this particular elevation that very successfully. You're playing with the scales. You are addressing the pedestrian. But I would love to see that... language carried out on the other side of the parking garage. If you can see there, it feels like you are doing, yeah, in that particular elevation, you have one, two, three, four, almost six stories of just floor-to-ceiling parking garage. It would be beneficial for your project, I think, to continue that reduction of scale at the pedestrian level that you are doing so successfully in the other elevations. Other than that, I think it's a great project.

Maybe kind of in the middle here, tying in both of the column sections.

Yeah, I think it would help a lot, like bring the scale down so it doesn't read like a very monumental development next to the current residential houses.

That's a great point, thank you.

Thank you.

It's not often you get the ability to design a project that encompasses a whole city block. It makes it easier when you don't have to abut any other buildings, but I think you've done a great job of maximizing the ground floor with regards to retail, residential, and minimizing the impact of all those back of house functions that we normally have to have. I like the introduction of the materials historically into the neighborhood, and I think you've done it in a very tasteful way. And the exoskeleton, those angles are also carried out throughout the balconies, so that vocabulary that you started there, you can see it throughout the building. And I like the scale at the pedestrian level. I think it's very well designed, and I'm supportive of the project. Thank you very much.

Thank you again. Beautiful presentation, consistent, and I appreciate the site plan reference and stepping back and getting into the zoning. That's our primary objective is the urban impact. And it's always a pleasure to work with competent, talented architects that can bring together that second level of detailing. that we get to appreciate once the first scale is addressed, we think, successfully. And the terracing and wrapping of the building appropriately with the language is also Very welcomed. I wish there had been more of a history of this light industrial vocabulary of Little River back in time, but we get a chance to compliment that, bringing that forward with your brick veneer work as well as the off-white, eggshell white trims and the colors and the eyebrow brise soleil grid. Hopefully that maintains the depth that you've presented here. It looks like it's about six, four feet or varies. Yeah.

And I think it needs to because of the proportion.

Yeah, absolutely. If it starts to come back, it gets back to a very typical slab edge. So we want to maintain that depth is critical. I also appreciate the parking garage metal cube articulated with about a 40, it looks like a 55%, as you described, your radius is of void, which will protect. So one, just a couple, two details to conclude. My support would be, be sure your parapet, your headlight block will be pushed back enough. I've done a lot of perforated metal work, and once you come up and you paste it right on the back of the perf panel, you lose the breathing ability and the accent color that you could have on that behind coming through. You know what I'm talking about. That vibration.

Great point. Just a few inches is all you need. And the color of the crash wall on the exterior also has a lot to do with it, too.

Exactly. And then the second highlight, I would take some time. Your night rendering... illustrates a weakness in using architectural lighting to its utmost impact and highlighting all your architectural components. That whole grid, you want us, you know, we're 50% night, 50% day. So your rendering is the best time to start articulating that soft architectural lighting that's required on these buildings to bring forward the concept and not just rely on a, never properly orchestrated interior lighting by the residents of the building. I think that's important for you, particularly in Miami.

Great point as well. And that's it. Thank you, Dean. Yeah, of course.

Thank you. I think you've honored the site's context. with the language that you've chosen and the materials exposing the structure using just a large-scale format and the grid, the repetitive rhythm. I would love to see, and I think you've done a great job in introducing the canopy within the main facades. But remember, this is Miami and we're bringing a new program and a new project to this site, which hopefully is going to enhance the walkability of the neighborhood, bringing trees with canopies rather than palm trees are much more useful. You know, whether you want to keep the scale of the palm trees, fantastic, but, you know, on the pedestrian level, that's, you know, something that you, it's a gift to the neighborhood. So other than that, I think it's a wonderful project. The scale, you've done an amazing job.

Thank you very much. Could I add one more comment? Just in compliment of your experience and typical projects, it's much harder to do these urban infill projects mid-size than to come in and propose the sculptural high-rise towers of your previous applicant that came forward here. So I wanted to just let you know, personally, I appreciate your work and the flow and the consistency. It's not easy.

Thank you again. Thank you all. Thank you.

That concludes the comments. We're ready to make a motion.

I move that we approve as presented.

Second, I make a friendly amendment to the motion to include better architectural lighting as well as articulating a little bit of the breaking up the massing of the parking cube as suggested. Anything else?

And I would add as a condition also to reconsider instead of the palm trees to have trees.

Deciduous trees. Shade trees.

I accept those friendly amendments.

The condition on breaking up massing, which elevation or elevation?

Of the garage parking cube, the metal mesh cube. On the south side where? South side in particular. Okay. Thank you.

Yeah, and can I add one more? It's not a condition, just a suggestion. You have a lot of programs in that area of the elevation of the parking garage that maybe when you do that study, you can open them so it doesn't look like an entire unusable wall of a parking garage. So I would just see if you can do something.

Great point again. Thank you.

Are you clear on the recommendations

He'll read it back to us.

I believe I may have missed the fourth, if there was a fourth. Condition one include enhanced lighting.

Exterior architectural lighting, yeah.

Nightingale. include enhanced exterior architectural lighting. Two, break up massing of the parking garage on the south elevation. Three, substitute palm trees for shade trees wherever possible. Was there a fourth?

No.

I didn't hear one. That's it, right? Three.

I'll second it.

Roll call on item UDRB number two, file ID 17842. Mover, Vice Chair Barrera. Seconder, Member Zapatini. Roll call, Madam Chair LaBarada.

Yes.

Vice Chair Barrera? Yes. Member Zappatini? Yes. Member Lewis?

Yes.

Motion passes with approved conditions four to zero.

Thank you very much. Thank you.

Congrats. You start a trend in the neighborhood.

UDRB item number three, minute track 17854, address 413, 421, 431, and 453 Northwest 3rd Street. Project name, Rio Vista Apartments, location, Loomis Park Historic District. Transit zone T68L, square footage, 221,477 square feet, 10 stories, 140 units, 161 parking spaces, application type, special certificate of appropriateness. This project exceeds over 200,000 square feet. Thank you.

Good afternoon, board members. Carly Koschel, Burkow, offices at 200 South Biscayne Boulevard, here today representing BRCA CB Development LLC, the applicant, the beneficial owner of 413 and 421 Northwest 3rd Street, and the contract purchaser of 431 and 453 Northwest 3rd Street. With me today are Jennifer Makani and Ivan Benate with Studio MCG Architecture, and Italo Balbi, Jesse Otley, Ashley Bosch, and Belisha Savick on behalf of the applicant. We're here before you to present a design that's over 200,000 square feet. You just heard staff mention 221,000. thousand square feet. But unlike many of the projects that you typically review, this project that's before you is here pursuing a special certificate of appropriateness, which is a historic preservation process. This particular property is located in the Loomis Park Historic District, And the subject property of this area may look somewhat familiar to you. It's just west of downtown. And this particular site is just along the north side of Northwest 3rd Street, across from the Loomis Park building. that contains a lot of the historic structures. What's really interesting about the Loomis Park itself and the historic structures that are included within Loomis Park are the fact that those structures are not native to that site. They are relocated historic structures. And so in our conversations with historic preservation staff, one of the conversations has been, how do you form compatibility with historic structures that are not actually historic because they've been relocated? But what's before you today is a project for its size, and it is larger than other projects within this area, but it does comply with zoning. This is not a Live Local Act project, which means it's proceeding under its existing zoning. Pursuant to the T68 standards, the project does include 140 residential units, where approximately 156 are permitted as of right. It's 10 stories, where 12 stories is permitted by the underlying zoning. So it's not maximizing its density, it's not maximizing its height. And as Jennifer will explain, the design team has really gone through, put a lot of thought into the compatibility with this historic context. A few items, high level items for your consideration are the two to three story podium which pays tribute to the urban forms that historically existed along this roadway and specifically to add compatibility and not overwhelm the Scottish right structure that is immediately to the west. Actually, one thing that I didn't mention is that there is an existing historic structure that was originally constructed as a single-family home, the Frank Galat House, and that home, as part of this proposal, is to be preserved and retained and enhanced and reutilized. And going back to this proposed new structure, the podium is also articulated into smaller volumes that move along the roadway so that what faces the roadway is more recollective of what has existed along the roadway in the past. And it's also important to consider that special consideration has been given to the specimen-sized live oaks which exist along the Northwest Third Street roadway. So the massing of the podium has been shifted and articulated to accommodate those specimen-sized trees. The new structure has been set away from the historic Frank Galat house, as well as it's important to realize that the podium is two to three stories in height. which means that it doesn't rise to the level of eight stories, which is permitted by Miami 21. The tower itself, which sits on that two to three story podium, is set back 30 feet from the front property line, as well as 30 feet from the rear property line, really centralizing that massing in the most respectful way possible. So the project also features elements which draw from the neighborhood elements of architectural components elements of massing and With that we and landscaping and hardscaping which is specific to this area and has historic value and native compatibility so with that Jennifer can walk you through the proposed design and we're here for any questions and

Good afternoon, my name is Jennifer Makani with Studio MCG Architecture. We're very excited to be here today. Not only is this project just a half a block from the Miami River, it's across the street from Loomis Park and with views of downtown, so we're really excited to be a part of this project. I wanted to show you the context map first. The site is located in this area here, I don't know if you can see that on the screen, but we are right next to the Scottish Rite Temple along Third Street. North River Drive is the diagonal street that runs along the park, and we have Fourth Avenue on our east along with I-95. So it's a very urban area. There are a lot of historic structures, but there's also a lot of high rises in the area. This is a view from over the river. And when we started this project, we studied the district and the historic nature of the street, as well as the previous buildings that used to sit on the site. And we all agreed that we needed to keep the scale down for the pedestrians to two to three stories and set back the main tower. We also agreed that it would make sense to place the residential uses along the street, activating the park, since that's what was historically there. We placed five townhomes along with the lobby on the residential building at the ground floor facing Third Street. We're also restoring the existing two-story home on the site and keeping that use as residential. You can see the townhomes in blue, the lobby in orange, and the restored single-family home in pink, which screen the parking garage and back-of-house uses. We have also set back the lower floors to match the setback of the existing residents on site, which is not only compatible with the rest of the street, but it allowed us to be able to keep some of the existing oak trees on the site that line the street. We also pushed back the entries to the parking so they disappear between the residential uses, and the parking entrances create a nice gap between the building breaking up the masses. We also broke up the facade of the lower levels by using different materials, varying landscape heights, and work with different transparencies throughout the facade, depending on their use. The residential facades are also raised up from the street with stoops, while the lobby is closer at grade. This is a rendering of more of the townhomes on the eastern end. Again, we broke up the facade with different materials, limestone, aluminum, wood, stucco, and glass. This is a close-up of one of the townhome entrances. The townhouse's facades are all slightly different, with the architecture varying with the porches, steps, and landscaping that surround each entry, making the street experience more organic. This slide shows the scale of the existing and proposed buildings at street level. The Scottish Rite Temple just to the west of us is really the star of the show of the street with its 50 to 80 foot facade, tall colonnade, grand steps to the entryway. Even though a facade is long, it's broken up and keeps the scale facing the park. The tower is set back and in scale with the 12-story building to the north. This image describes how we are screening the parking areas from Third Street. We have almost completely lined the parking facade with residential and lobby uses. The only parking facade that is visible is set back an additional 20 feet and is screened with a decorative brise au lait. These are the tower plans, and as I scroll through them, you can see how the building has stepped back all around. So as the building rises, the building gets smaller, breaking up the facade. And it also kind of recalls the ziggurat of the Scottish Rite, how everything is coming up in a pyramid. We have used a mixture of materials on the building. Most of them are modern interpretation of the materials located on the surrounding structures in the neighborhood. We have coral stone cladding on the base of the building. Some areas are rough cut and others are square cut. The aluminum elements such as the railings and trellises are the color of wood, and they also have the dimensions of wood, which we thought was very important. The screening of the garage is also a vertical wood screen similar to the board and batten structures in the park. The paving on the front of the building is a shell paver, defining the public and private areas of the ground floor. And then, thank you, thank you all for giving us this time today, and I'm here to answer any questions that you may have.

Thank you. Mr. Lewis, would you like to get started?

Yeah, thank you so much. This is a very good effort, but I think it's lacking in cohesiveness and a bit choppy. an unimpressive composition overall for the neighborhood. I don't see how the base relates to the tower with the exception of a few details of finishes. I think the interior of the tower could be improved tremendously by rotating the elevators so that I get more daylight into the corridors and lobbies and not have a blind lobby at every floor. Again, it just seems a very unremarkable solution to a remarkable site, and I'm familiar with your firm and your work, and you take on very important infill projects, and I would urge you to... reconsider a more cohesive solution. The somewhat Balanesian articulation of the base into components and townhouses doesn't marry enough or weave, not stitch, as I said previously in another application. They were successful in weaving. Here, this is an example of trying to stitch it together, and it all starts with this house that is stuck in your perimeter, and you're basically killing that house's future and life. It's just waiting for demolition now with a parking garage within 10 feet of its rear facade. I don't even know how that could be approved or that happened. They must have sold off that poor parcel in the back or... It's a tough one. It's a tough one. I know the Scottish Rite. I know the site and all of that influence. I think you could have more influence to that Art Deco, classic Art Deco architecture that the Scottish Rite Temple is leading you to. And I just find it to be a lack of opportunity. I'm sorry. That's where I stand right now. I'll be glad to listen and... a consideration to my colleague's position.

Maybe I shouldn't have gone first.

I'm very familiar with the site. I've been to the Scottish Fright Temple for fever concerts, and actually my alma mater, the original Miami Senior High School, is one of the buildings that's been relocated to that site. I really like the podium. I like the facade along the street and the scale and how it relates to the scale of the house. But I must agree that when I look at that and I see the tower behind it, there's a disconnect. The vocabulary, you try to continue it with some of the wood lattice on the tower, but I don't think it's a strong enough effort to connect the two. with regards to more lighting in the quarters or not. I mean, that's always favorable. So if you can do that, I would support that. I just think that it's really that, again, the scale of the podium, I love it. It looks like it's organic and it doesn't look like it was all built at one point in time. It looks like it grew over time, like a normal traditional neighborhood. But when you put it up against the tower and there's just that lack of connectivity between the two vocabularies that I think is the crux of it there. And then the parking garage along the north facade, I think it needs to be broken up a little bit. I think it looks too solid, even though it's slats. And I like the material of it. I just think it's just too long and looks too solid. And those are my comments.

I agree, too. I'm sorry. I think you did a fabulous job at the townhouses at the ground level. I like the materiality, the texture, the scale, the trees. I think it's going to be a beautiful pedestrian experience. But unfortunately, it's not translated in the tower. When we see both of them, it just feels like disjointed, separate programs. And I personally think the challenge that you're facing is in the planning of the tower itself. If you replan the tower, the way that you're laying out the elevator lobbies or the spatial nature, it would help you define a better tower. Right now, half of your tower has to walk significant amount of an elevator to get to their residence, it doesn't really feel like a high-end experience. But your townhouses does. When we look at a townhouse, it feels like a luxurious townhouse that you could sell for millions of dollars. but not necessarily the tower. So I would start by the interior planning of the tower and then adjusting some of the way that you're detailing the facade of the tower itself so it reads more cohesively. I think the elevations that you have facing the other sides, I'm a bit confused about, it feels like it's an interior elevation. If it's an interior elevation, like a zero lot line, why would you be treating it with that texture wood material? Can you walk us through how you're treating each elevation? We're very clear in this one. Sure. What are the other elevations look like?

Sure.

Sure, so I got it. So on the west elevation, again, we're facing the temple, right? So we do have some open parking areas, but we are set back. We're not at a zero lot line really anywhere. You're able to walk all the way around the building. And we thought that was important because there's existing landscape, there's existing trees, so we did push the building in a bit. So on the parking garage facing the temple, we do have a little bit more of a setback. So we have an open brise soleil on the garage, because we do want to make sure the garage is an open garage. I think that's important, just to be able to just build the building. When you look at the front on Third Street, Again, we've screened the garage almost completely except for the entry to the parking garage that's set back. So you can see here, those are the parking entry and exits. That's the only place you can see the parking. There is an open screen, but it has a 30-inch high crash wall in front of each one. So you won't be able to see the car lights in those areas. And then I'll go to the plan here. So on the elevations of... On the rear elevation, yeah, I do agree with you. We probably do need to break this up a little bit more. The lot behind us is full of trees. There's affordable housing there as well. So that will be screened. I don't think anybody's really gonna see that facade. What we also did on this facade was we didn't cover the parking on the roof. So... that facade is more like two stories, even though it's three stories. So we were able to bring that wall down. Normally the garage would go up all the way to here, but we just kept that 42 inch high wall so the garage doesn't seem as tall to the buildings to the north.

And also, that garage is typically, that podium level is permitted to be eight stories in height. And what the design team did was bring it down to just two stories and not have the roof section for that third level. It's also set back. two feet away from the property line, so it gives a little bit more space than it needs to have, as well as the tower is even further set back. So the design is something that I think that we can evaluate a little bit further, just how to maybe further change the design facing the north elevation. But it is an interior property line that will not be visible from the right of way to the north. Additionally, the sensitivity of the tower has been placed, the tower's over 30 feet set back from that property line, so the perception of mass isn't going to be felt by those parcels to the north. That's part of the thought process that the design team put into that particular elevation.

Does that answer your question? Yeah.

And unfortunately, I would say that I do agree with the comments that we've heard. I am appreciative of the sensitivity in bringing in the lower scale on the main facade. I think the, you know, the introduction of the townhomes on that elevation is fantastic. But I do, you know, agree that the project as a whole lacks a little bit of cohesiveness. You mentioned a lot of architectural elements that you're using as precedents for this project. I think maybe simplifying that a little bit, you have the ziggurat, you have the terracotta, and the wood.

I think if we do,

makes a design a little bit more concise. The tower, even though you have brought it away from the setbacks, or given an additional setback, it does read as a very big massing, even though it's narrow. So I think it's a matter of just architectural language and simplifying a little bit of the details.

Yeah, there's a, if I may hand and glove a little, We're talking about details and working it in, and it doesn't stitch or knit together an overall cohesive. I think the tower and the vocabulary of the massing and the movement could be tremendously improved and better complement your context, in particular the Scottish Rite Temple and its 500 years of history versus... you know, 10 years of quasi not affordable housing, but I don't know, this looks a little bit more like a rental than a condo building, at least the tower units. And we're kind of working our way around instead of biting into the heart of the matter, so.

It's not a condominium, by the way.

It's rental, right, right, so. And you mentioned an attempt to kind of ziggurat the tower, but it's not evidence anywhere other than the top story. There's a slight setback. If you really wanted to set back the building and better relate, it's one way to do it, I think you could have had a much more interesting approach, at least to one end of the tower. successfully articulating a reference to your context better.

If I can ask for clarification, is it that the tower needs to be more articulated or simplified?

Well, the architectural language, you have a lot of different elements here. You have the vertical slats on the, I guess it's the elevator core. You have the pergolas, you have the stepping back. There's a lot of different architectural languages that are not cohesive with the town homes in the front. So I would say it's a little bit of both. and its width either breaking it down so it doesn't read as one monolithic elevation, even though you have stepped it back and you do have these pergolas and kind of breaking that up, but it still reads pretty massive.

The tower or the pedestal? The tower. Yeah, okay. So for us starting this out, it's the pedestal, really. That's the urban experience, and that's where I think the clients have said, you know, Let's put our money towards that because that's what people are experiencing.

And that reads. Yeah. That reads. I think you've done a great job. It just doesn't, what you've done in the townhomes, that language doesn't relate to the tower. And I think that's kind of where the disconnect is. And that for me is what doesn't read as a cohesive project. It almost seems that you have the townhomes and then at a later time, this phase two, different project, you have a tower, and you're making that distinction. And if that's the direction that you're going, then you nailed it. But I don't think that's, you know, from the way you presented, it's not, that wasn't the intent, it just came off.

So the instruction is to further study the relationship between the podium and the tower, the architectural design relationship between the podium and the tower.

Honestly, I would think about planning your tower differently. The arrival at the lobby of every unit, if you do something better than that interior corridor that you have, you could start tying that with the language. You have it already. You started it, but it didn't translate into a very pleasant experience going home. It feels like a very rental property. while your penthouse feels like the Four Seasons in front of the beach. So you have like a discrepancy, which... Disconnect. I'm sorry?

Yeah, disconnect.

The disconnect. But you did a great job at the townhouse. I would figure out a way to translate that to the rest of the tower by bringing the same feeling that you were able to achieve in the townhouses. And in my opinion, that starts with just planning the interior... to create that feeling. Maybe while you do that, you can start tying it back to the townhouses in scale and in detail. It doesn't have completely different elements and different languages.

That would be my advice. Mr. Barrera mentioned, reminded us that the issue, as much as we like the themed townhouse work and the facade, attention to details in the street level there, that experience. I believe that it's also, you could be suffering from a podium that you fractured up so much volumetrically, it no longer really acts as a podium to your high-rise behind, and therefore can't manage it it you have a breaking of the massing so much and then the house on the corner which is kind of a given that you start that we had to start with doesn't help that either so you know we're not here to solve it carla we're here to you know recognize where it can go and and improve but uh these are a few considerations i i'm sure you get where we're coming from sure

My comments really is the cohesiveness between the design. I think the tower portion is broken up.

It has different elevations.

It has reveals, recesses. So it's not an issue of that as much as just looks like two different architects designed this project. One designed the the street level townhomes and another one designed the rest of it. There was an attempt to make the link again with the terracotta vertical elements that you have around the garage and then you have it in the elevator and you have it like in the, I guess it would be like maybe the cooling tower area or whatever. But that's just not enough to link the whole project together. That's really my issue is that they need to be the same care that was taken in the design of that podium seems to be lacking in the design of the tower. That's just, you know. But as far as the massing of the tower, I don't have an issue with the massing of the tower. I think the massing is fine. I think it's broken up enough both vertically and horizontally with regards. It's just the architectural styles, they're so distinct. Because you try to create this organic growth on the townhomes that then you get to this pragmatic design of the tower. It's all the same, right? All the balconies are the same, glazing is the same, and they just don't talk to each other.

Two different uses. You have a townhome and you have a rental building, so it's going to inherently most likely look different. Yes, I understand.

Do we have a motion?

I'll make a motion. Sorry, I saw you're about to speak. Go ahead. Your turn.

I was going to make a motion to approve with a condition that you study the articulation of the tower and the planning of the tower. So the language... feels more cohesive with the townhouses.

That would be my...

It's very general, so I don't know how to give you specific instructions on what to do, but that's the feeling that we want to capture. Thank you.

I would second that.

Mr. Lewis, do you have anything else that you'd like to add?

I just want to make sure it's a, Matt, would that work, even though it's not very clear? Do you want a clear direction on how to execute that?

I think it's, we do appreciate a more firm verb at the beginning, so study is pretty fluid, and we would like And if you have more specifics, because what I have now is study the articulation of the tower and the architectural language of the tower so that the building as a whole has more unified design.

So what if instead of study it's to implement a more cohesive design so that it's it's clear that there is action expected as a result of the condition That it's not just studying that there is actual changes that you expect in the facade and the design of in the cohesion between the tower and the podium Okay, you should ask I mean it's hard to define could we

close the hearing for discussion between us members. That's where we are now, right?

Yeah, no.

No? Well, I know that. What I'm saying, I don't mean to close the meeting. I'm saying that...

It would have to be on the microphones.

Right. That's what I want. I just want to have a moment to talk amongst us. I feel that it's too much to ask. It's going to start getting to the point where we're offering or designing for them I would think the applicant would feel more comfortable coming back on their own and not take a vote that could be more negative than positive. And therefore, I ask Madam Chair to go ahead and maybe ask them if they'd be interested in that option before we try to... I know we're in the middle of a motion, so we have to, I think, follow up and vote. But you asked if I had any other comments to add, so that's why I'm piping up. Thank you.

I think I understand the direction.

We do have a motion and a second, and tentatively that one condition I read, and the most we can ask from you all as staff to help support us, is the most specificity that you're able to give in this moment. So I can read back that condition if you'd like.

What I would like to, as a second of the motion, what I would like to is more instead of studying, implement a design of the tower that incorporates more of the design elements that are part of the town homes so that it is a unified design.

define unified design I think that's what I struggle with is in giving that what was presented was assumed to have been a unified design by including a lot of the same details that the town homes have and so I think that's why I struggle and you know giving that feedback

And how you would interpret it so yeah, I mean It's not an ugly project So nobody's saying it's ugly. It's just that we think it can be better Right, that's really the goal here is to make it better And that's what we're struggling with because I don't think it merits having them go back and lose the time of bringing it back. Because I think it's obvious that this company has the experience and the design capability of doing what needs to be done.

So do we have a second? For sure, they have the ability. That's not the question. The urban impact, I think, is less positive than negative, particularly with the lack of dialogue with the Scottish Rite Temple. And some of the previous examples in history in this neighborhood took stronger keys. from that context. That's all. I mean, you couldn't remove the context and say, oh, this belongs next to or part of this historic neighborhood. That's the other thing I was going to ask. I'm sorry. Have you gone to the HEP Board yet?

No.

You preferred to come here first?

We were asked to come here first because it is over 200,000 square feet.

Gotcha. Okay, that makes sense. So... You know, our concerns are, I still think the tower could be more gracefully masked and reflective of its context, cleaned up. And there is a simplification there, looking less like an affordable housing, massing, compromised in some of the details, and more like the richer context of the neighborhood and the presence that you have here. So that's why I share Madam Chair's reticence to try to summarize this in a motion of approval and get to the point, well, they asked for that, and we'll give them that, and what about this, and we won't see it again either. I just think that somewhere in between in your previous concept sketches and where we are today, there was a disconnect between the townhouse podium If you look at successful podium projects, and most of them are on Miami Beach, moreover than here. There's a few in the Grove, but typically there's townhouse or it's a combination. Now, Architectonica has succeeded in doing both in a way that's more contemporary, but they know how to tame the tower and fold into a podium and a base, whether it be townhouses or otherwise. it still acts as a base whereby the cubification or kind of separating the pieces. This looks like it could be a Balanesian villa or somewhere in the modern Siena Valley and not have anything to do with the grove. So it's kind of an imported style. I wouldn't say, oh, that's part of the podium of the building behind it. Though you keep using this rendering and not a fuller context rendering. And if you were to put up the, I think it's the west facade elevations of the overall, you could understand where we're coming from here. And then you start into how to weave it together. This is where I'm struggling.

And I know there's been a motion and a motion and second, and we're still kind of- Yeah, you're right. Yeah.

Mr. Attorney, thank you for reminding us. We have to vote.

Yeah, would you like to, you have an option of you can withdraw the previous motion and then propose a new motion with the conditions that you all discussed. That's the neatest probably way to go about it. Would you like to do that? No.

Or vote on the- I retain my second, so let's vote it.

Do you have anything else that you want to add to amend and start over again? Okay, then I think we can vote.

So to confirm, I only have one condition at the moment. To implement the design elements of the tower, incorporating architectural elements of the townhomes to better unify the design.

Well, you have to add the context issue, right? Better relating to the context, historic context in particular, the Scottish Rite Temple.

I'll accept that from the amendment.

Right? Okay.

Because if we're adding that, it's best to do a new motion.

And actually, HEP board has, well, dealing with HEP staff, it was more about using elements of the buildings that were on the site previously. And that's where some of that context came from. So which were completely different. They were 1920s buildings with wood and trellises and the wood rails. And so it wasn't exactly talking about the Scottish Rite because that's its own context. Building that's still there. So we were drawing from the buildings that were on site previously.

I got you. I got you. But if you look at your context reference board and you can put it up on the screen.

Yeah, we should we should vote on a motion. So we need we need a new motion.

Take out the recommendation by Mr. Lewis. Leave it as originally presented by the attorney.

So there's a motion and a second. So that motion needs to be voted on before you can make another motion.

Unless you want to withdraw the previous motion.

Yeah, let's withdraw. Withdraw. Make it easier. And let's start a new motion. So the person who made the motion has to withdraw the motion.

I'm withdrawing my motion.

Perfect.

I make the same motion that you read before. I don't understand what the difference is. That the, without reference to the, I forgot what she had stated with regards to the historic buildings that were on site. I think that, in my opinion, is more relevant. to the building that was built later, which is a Scottish Rites temple. I did not take that into account when Mr. Lewis made that recommendation. So I go back to the original motion to look at the elements of what was stated by the architect, that they looked at the original buildings on site, and that we take the vocabulary of the town homes, bring some of those elements into the design of the podium to create a more cohesive uniform design for the overall project. That's the motion.

Are we all good with that? Or we need to add?

Well, if somebody wants to second, in a second.

Do we have a second?

We have a second.

I can second.

We can vote.

Roll call on UDRB item number 3, 17854. Mover, Vice Chair Barrera. Seconder, Member Zapatini. Roll call. Chair Labrada?

No.

Vice Chair Barrera? Yes. Member Lewis? No. Member Zapatini?

Yes.

Okay, so this is where that fun thing happens where if you guys have a tie vote, we have to come back.

Yes, she's correct. Give us a moment.

Correct. If it is a tie, we'll have to go to the next meeting unless it's withdrawn as a new motion if you actually want it to go forward, if you want a firm decision and not have it moved to the next meeting. But as of now, if it's a tie, it would have to go to the next.

If it would move to the next meeting, they would come back with a new presentation, taking more considerations, or?

They could come back with the same presentation, and then, like, if you, you know, there might be more members here to, you know, it's unusual circumstance, but it's tied, and it's four members. That's why, obviously, we'd like to have more members here, but then, you know, in odd numbers, this circumstance doesn't happen. It is written into the code that if it's a tied vote, the item continues into the next meeting, which will be in September.

So would they be able to come to the next meeting?

Time certain request. Yeah, we don't have a backlog of applications for UDRB, so there'll be capacity to come back. They can come back the same presentation, or they could withdraw the item and then present again a different one.

We don't have an August meeting, I think. September. September.

So we basically will be delaying this project 60 days. Correct. You haven't made a decision or recommendation. I mean, staff will continue to work with the applicant in the interim on the project, but, yeah, effectively, the project can move forward without a recommendation.

Can I say one thing? Can I just add? We are going to HEP Board, and those recommendations do go to HEP Board, so we will make changes to the HEP Board submission based on those comments, and we still have to go to them, and they will get your recommendations.

The HEP Board in September?

It's, yes, that is our plan.

So you don't need our approval to go to the headboard. You just need it to come before us.

So the challenge with the headboard, not challenge with the headboard, but the process is that the headboard is quasi-judicial, so they're approving something, the project. This is a recommending board, so it works differently in that respect. Apologies, James, if I'm speaking over you.

You're correct, it's a recommending board.

So we would always prefer to get to the project to a point that it can be approved by HEP, because otherwise any changes subsequent to HEP would probably more likely impact the historic building. Their purview isn't the entire project, but the historic components. But if there are things that might impact on that, in theory, they would have to go back to HEP to get an amendment to what was approved by HEP. That's why we try and get the project through these recommending boards before it goes there.

Gotcha. And if I may, through the chair, the HEP board does review for historic compatibility. The jurisdiction of this board is the size of the project because it's over 200,000 square feet.

Right. Honestly, that's not a concern of yours. Your concern today is to review the project and come to a determination. There was a motion made. You didn't reach a consensus. It's a tight vote. It continues to the next item, next meeting. If the applicants want to bring back an amended project to you, that's up to them. It's in their purview. If they bring the same project and there's more members that can make a decisive motion, That obviously moves the project home, but this is written into the code, this scenario. So it's really up to the person that made the motion to either withdraw it and then try and seek a motion that builds consensus among the board, or it just comes back. That's really your options at this point. So I think it was Mr. Labrada.

That's because we tied? Tied. We can't just make another motion?

You would have to withdraw that. The person that made the motion, Mr. Labrada,

Mr. Barrera, I apologize. I request you withdraw your motion.

So you have an option to withdraw. That would be on the basis that you could come to a consensus.

As a result of a tie vote, I resend my motion.

Okay. So you're back to the discussion item at this point.

So we need a new motion.

I'll be willing to make a motion to approve the project with the... term you used which was the implementation of a more cohesive podium a better integrated relationship architecturally with the tower and the podium and i would ask that there be uh intervention of a more contextual level of detail, missing, particularly in its reflection with the Scottish Rite Temple, and similar scale buildings, not just the smaller residential references you have. Okay, I'm going out. This is more than you need for the recommendation, but I'm explaining why. And then add a skyline cohesive top to this building that is devoid of celebration meeting the sky. I mean, it's really so a top. And then a body of the tower that better relates to the podium, number two. And number three, if you will, a podium architecture that better fulfills its role as a podium. So that's like three as opposed to the one.

So Matthew's going to read back the motion and the conditions you proposed. We may break them out a little bit. Well, there's no second yet. Let's see what the conditions are, then other people can amend them as needed. So let's do that before we second.

I did my best to type that all. One implements a more cohesive design that is architecturally more compatible between the tower and the podium with references to the original structures on site. Two, reflect the historic structures in the design of the proposed building. Three, add a cohesive roof and roof line.

Yeah, it's basically base, body, and top.

Mr. Lewis, just a moment, just a moment. So other board members, if you wanna, they're the conditions that have been put in motion. Do you want to amend them or add to them in any way and recommend that to Mr. Lewis?

Can you read that one more time, please?

Sure. Not completely proud of the last two. One implements more cohesive building design that is architecturally more compatible between tower and podium, and that includes references to the historic structures on site. Two, reflect the historic structures such as the Scottish Rite building. And three, add a cohesive roof design and roof line.

More cohesive.

More cohesive.

And then we're looking for a second. I'll second. If the conditions.

I'll second the motion.

We have a motion to roll call.

UDRB item number 317854. Mover, Member Lewis. Seconder, Vice Chair Barrera. Roll call. Madam Chair?

No.

Vice Chair Barrera?

Yes.

Member Lewis?

Yes.

Member Zapatini?

Yes.

Motion passes three to one with conditions.

Thank you. Thank you. Congratulations.

We do break until 10, correct?

Yes, break in terms of your hearings with review and recommendation of projects. But there is a scheduled UDRB workshop on August 20th that is to be led by staff. That's still to be determined who will be the next liaison. I do want to take this moment to thank you for that recognition at the beginning of the meeting. I was about ready to fall out of my chair. very kind. Thank you. And I've learned a lot in the past years that I've been liaison. I hope that you all continue this voluntary service because it really does serve us as staff, planning staff, city staff, and the city of Miami as a whole to elevate and achieve better outcomes in the development of Miami in a balanced and measured way. I I see the heart and the passion every meeting from you all. So thank you. It's inspiring.

Thank you, Matthew. And Madam Chair, could we get a motion to adjourn, please?

Motion to adjourn.

Thank you.