Urban Development Review Board - Regular Meeting

Thank you.

We'll get started with UDRB's September meeting. If we can please get started with our lobbyist note.

Good afternoon.

Good afternoon. 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 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 the city clerk's office and online at municode.com. A few other notes. The agenda for this meeting and the materials for the items on the agenda were published and made available to the board in advance of the meeting. The materials were 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 Miami TV at miamigov.com slash TV and Comcast Channel 77 for residents within the city. In addition to the comments provided here at City Hall, the public may submit comments via the city's online comment form until closed by the chair. All comments received will be included in the public record of the meeting. These public comment options established for this meeting comply with Section 286.0114 of the Florida Statutes. Members, are you comfortable with all of the notice provisions set forth in these uniform rules and procedures?

Yes.

Thank you.

We can all please rise for Pledge of Allegiance. It's 2.05. We'll call a meeting to order. We have any requests for absence waivers? Okay. We're calling the meeting to order. And if we have any absence waivers.

Yes, we do. We have two member Behar and member Member Lewis.

Do we have a motion?

A motion to approve.

Second. Second.

Chair, if I may, I'd like to introduce one additional board member. Welcome in Manuel Gallardo to the board, a nominee from District 4. Manuel's a UM School of Architecture graduate, registered architect in Florida, Georgia, and Tennessee, licensed general contractor. and has extensive experience in real estate, commercial, restaurant, and various other projects within Miami. So thank you for volunteering and looking forward to supporting your service on the board. I was just welcoming the new board member to the board. We need to take roll call.

Chair Labrada?

Present.

Vice Chair Barrera? Here. Member Behar? Member Lewis? Member Perez-Azul? Here. Member Permui? Here. Member Zamstis? Here. Member Zapatini? Here. Thank you. Can we please close online public comments?

Motion to close the public comments online.

Motion to, well, we never voted on the absentees waivers. No, that was roll call. We didn't vote on the waivers.

Barrera was the motioner, and members Zappatini, I mean, members Perez was the seconder for... Right.

We have to vote.

Okay.

Chair Labrada?

Yes.

Vice Chair Barrera? Yes. Member Pomoye? Yes. Members Appatini?

Here.

Member Perez-Azura? Yes. Member Zamses? Yes. Motion carries.

Before we close the public comments, we just need to approve the minutes for July's meeting.

Motion we approve July board meeting minutes. Second.

Roll call. Chair Labrada?

Yes.

Vice Chair Barrera? Yes. Member Pramui? Yes. Member Zapatini?

Yes.

Member Perez-Azul? Yes. Member Zamses? Yes. Minutes approved. Thank you.

Thank you. We can close the public comments.

Thank you.

It's on. Here? Okay. So we've closed the comments online and we'll open the comments for everyone to speak before we present our first item.

So, Chair, you asked for just clarification or just for the purposes of those present, the purpose of the board and the powers that you have. So I'm happy to do that. So just to mention that this is the Urban Development Review Board. It's a recommending board, it's not a decision-making board. Just to mention that in section 62, it states that it's hereby established a board to be known as the City Urban Development Review Board. It's hereby established for the purpose of recommending whether the design of developments and or improvements pursuant to Miami 21, the zoning ordinance of the city, as amended or superseded, are in conformance with the city guides and standards. So this board is here to recommend to the city whether or not the project's design is in conformance with the code. It doesn't make actual decisions. That's still within the purview of the planning director as the project's brought forward. In terms of the projects that are before you today, we have clear procedures that have been supported by this board of which projects are brought to this board and when. All projects over 200,000 square feet are brought to this board or any other project that's recommended by the planning director. All projects are tracked to bring them to the first available UDRB meeting. Projects that have completed a full cycle of review by staff and have been resubmitted to the city with meaningful responses to staff comments may be scheduled. So that means that they've been submitted to the city, staff have reviewed them at least once in the full cycle, and then we bring them forward to the board. We now bring projects much earlier to the board than we have done in previous years. The idea being is that we want to get everyone's comments and input into the project so that they can be responded to in subsequent cycles. The challenge with bringing them too late is often the project is then complete and finished, and then it's kind of trickier to then add in additional amendments. So we bring them early to this board to get everyone's comments, the board's recommendations, and then staff work with the applicants to respond to those projects. should be noted that projects are not routinely brought back to this board regardless of the recommendation the recommendation stands and staff then work directly with the applicant to move the project forward it is however at the applicants risk to determine when projects come here they can make that decision about timing so the applicant is determined to bring it forward today that's if there are substantive changes significant changes that change the entire nature of the project in terms of height and things like that then it's possible the planning director may bring it back to this board again but that isn't routine as such so this is again just to reiterate it's a recommending board and to allow a peer review of the project to allow staff to then work the applicant to move the project forward so the chair thought this would be helpful just to for the purposes of today just to review that thank you if you have any questions you're welcome to ask the questions through public comment when we open it through the chair

So we start with the first item and then invite our comments, our public comments.

UDRB 1, minute track number 17993, PZ24-18816. Property address, 1837 Northeast 4th Avenue. Project name, Edge House. Location, Edgewater. Transit zone, T636B-L. Square footage, 728,283 square feet. Stories, 56. Lodging, 608 hotel units. Parking spaces, 296. Application type, ASPR. UDRB requirement pursuant to Article 7, Section 7.1.1.2.10. The project exceeds 200,000 square feet. Thank you.

We'll open it up now to public comments. And if we could please limit our comments to two minutes.

Hello, all. My name is April Doina, and I'm an Edgewater resident and owner at the 1800 Club. I'm speaking today to express serious concerns regarding the proposed development at the addressed address, at 1837 Northeast 4th Ave. While growth and revitalization are important, this particular project raises a number of red flags that cannot be ignored, especially when it comes to safety, livability, and long-term sustainability. Firstly, the decision to have this zone as a commercial rather than residential is deeply flawed. It removes basic protections, including the ability to install speed bumps. In a neighborhood where children play and seniors walk, the absence of traffic calming measures is not just inconvenient, it's dangerous. Commercial zoning invites faster traffic, but denies us the tools to keep our streets safe. Secondly, the flooding is another chronic issue, which I recently addressed with Commissioner Pardo's office, where we have a street sign that says, flooding possible. Well, that's not a fix. That is just a short-term solution. a sign that's just creating chaos in our community. More concrete with this development has less absorption. Without a robust storm water management plan, every heavy rain becomes a hazard in this community. Residents have already faced property damage and rising insurance costs. The development could push those burdens past the breaking points for our community. How is this development also avoiding taxes as it is a commercial property with 608 units that will be a full Airbnb property? I'm very confused at how they're not contributing to the current school systems in this particular community. Calling it a hotel when all their advertisement is daily rentals, easy living, thank you.

Is there anyone else that would like to comment?

Good afternoon, board members. My name is Vanessa Conde. I'm the president of the board of directors at Gallery Art Condominium in Edgewater.

Thank you for the opportunity to speak.

I'm here because the proposed 57-story edge house tower and similar projects will severely worsen traffic, pedestrian safety, and infrastructure strain in Edgewater.

The pace of new towers is astonishing.

Yet our only true corridor is Biscayne Boulevard, which already struggles with daily gridlock. We've had vehicular deaths on Biscayne, including at Biscayne and 20th where one of my own residents lost her son. We've also had dogs on leash killed by reckless drivers trying to get around the intense traffic that is constantly on that road. Adding hundreds of daily trips from edge house plus ride shares, deliveries and service trucks will push a failing system over the edge. There are no public parking structures, as far as I know, to absorb the surge in vehicles. On my street alone on 24th Street, Aria Reserve is bringing 700 units per tower on that one street. Without a comprehensive mobility and parking plan, this growth is unsustainable for this neighborhood. Pedestrian risk will spike as constant garage and alley movements intersect with narrow sidewalks used by families and pets. I actually almost got run over with my pet by a car careening through an alleyway that is considered a city street. This is a public safety and quality of life issue. Lighting matters too. When I saw the way Edge House is being placed, bumped up against these other buildings next to it, I was kind of shocked. And they usually are designed with bright LED design lighting that I think should be prohibited on towers built so close together. Light spills directly into neighboring homes, disrupts sleeps, harms well-being, and degrades the residential character of our community. And that style is typical in our neighborhood. Our drainage, power, water, and street capacity are already overextended. Until there is a neighborhood-wide plan that addresses traffic flow, pedestrian protections, parking capacity, and infrastructure upgrades, I urge you to deny or defer approvals for Edge House and other projects like it. We have these buildings going up and nothing happening on the ground. Thank you.

I have a few pictures for you. My name is Neil Nathanson. I live at 1800 North Bayshore Drive, apartment 2415. And I'm here to say that this building is just way too big for where it's being located. I handed out some pictures. This first picture is the site looked at from my balcony, looking down on the construction site. I call your attention here. This is a one-lane alley that runs between 18th Street and 19th Street. And both of these buildings have their own service entry points. Every day, a couple dozen trucks, cars come in there with package delivery, trash pickup, and just all kinds of traffic going on. Turn the page, you'll see what the alley looks like on a typical workday. One lane of traffic. Now, these two buildings manage well enough because they're at each end of the alley. But if you drop a 57-story building in the middle of this site, The only way people can get in and out of there for truck service is on the one-lane alley. That's going to create a whole lot of confusion and conflict between the various buildings. Now, turn the page again to this map. This is what... This is what Google Maps shows as the site. Take note of Northeast 4th Street, 4th Avenue. It's got three different places. It's got the straight portion, it's got a curved portion, and it's got this other piece that angles up there. Turn the page to this one now. This is the intersection where the curved piece juts off from the straight piece to the left. And the building is going to be located to the left of that curved piece. Cars are going to come in there. They're going to sweep through the building, and then they're going to exit right back out the same place. I want to... Think about this. There aren't any permanent residents there. These are all Airbnb. They're transients. They're coming in. They don't have cars. They're here for business. They're here to go to the beach. It's just too big. Thank you.

Look at the pictures.

You'll see.

Just for the record, thank you for the information. Just for the record, staff haven't reviewed the material submitted. And also the applicant asked for a copy of the materials and it's been provided to them.

Thank you. Do we have any other public comments?

Esteemed members of the board, I'm here before you today to represent the residents of Edgewater. Resident.

Sorry, one second. Please state your name.

Please pause my time. Excuse me?

Please state your name and address.

Sorry, I didn't want to waste time with my name, because you only gave us two minutes. Hi, I'm Ben Gordon, and I live at Quantum, which is 1900 Bayshore. Thank you.

And then one more thing. You said you're here in representation. Did you register as a lobbyist?

I'm just a citizen who lives. I'm a business owner. I'm not a lawyer or a lobbyist. I live in the Quantum building, representing the interests of Edgewater. That was more of like a metaphorical.

Got it. Thank you.

But I lost my place, so please give me one moment. Resident. Let's let that sink in. What is a resident? Someone who lives, participates, and engages in their community. Edge House creates a disturbing precedent of Manhattan-style urban mismanagement, posing hazards to their owners, tenants, and neighbors. Edge House misrepresented themselves as a mixed-use residential hotel property when, in reality, it's no more than a bare-bones Airbnb property. If allowed, it creates a New York-style urban density precedent that does not meet the housing needs of our community. It also has a non-permitted illumination plan, which is beyond the city code requirements for... sorry that first thing threw me off of a contrast ratio which is required by city code not to change under any conditions this public this project evades taxes using a scheme to offset their required school tax requirements using this the parking plans are woefully adequate using stacked valet-only parking to fail to address the number of units by several hundred and creating safety hazards during evacuation scenarios like hurricanes, fires, or frequent floods. The developer has not conducted a traffic study to understand the impact of their new automobile density. Even worse, they haven't even had a contract with a valet vendor, assuming it'll be easy to find an operator willing to provide 24-7 support for a multi-hundred unit property with deficient parking as it is. Stacked parking itself in a confined space has proven to be extremely hazardous. Collapses, fires, explosions, and major safety issues abound. Edge House wishes to establish an Airbnb haven and investment property opportunity. Many areas of Miami are restricting or banning Airbnb at this point, so I please recommend that the board refuse this proposal. Thank you very much.

Thank you. Please remember to state your name and address.

Yeah, my name is Nina Schumann, 1800 North Bayshore Drive, Unit 2208. One of the problems with this plan is that it has probably three times as many dwelling units as it has parking spaces, which other people have referred to. And I would like you to consider what that means in terms of an increase in traffic in the area and parking, which is already kind of non-existent. When you have people who are visiting and don't live in the area or are here for a week or they're here for a month, they're going to use Uber transportation. And we've estimated that it's approximately 2,000 more vehicle trips in that neighborhood every day. So I'd like you to take that into consideration. It's just a lousy plan with maximize the dwelling units and minimizing parking space. Thank you.

Hello, everybody. My name is Samantha Gold. I'm an Edgewater resident and an owner at Citea Condos for over eight years. Some of you may remember me from last summer when I led the opposition and petition against the development across the street from this current development at 419 Northeast 19th Street. I'm here again because this Edgewater house presents many of the same challenges. The developers are continuing, in my opinion, to manipulate and abuse the Live Local Act. This has got to stop. Adding money into the City of Miami Trust that may never benefit the actual neighborhood is not okay. Adding 20 stories and 200 units with no affordable housing component is also not okay. We're in a housing crisis, yet developers continue to ignore the part of the act that actually calls for the affordable housing. Let's remember it is an option. When is this gonna end for us at the City of Miami? Edge House is being sold as a 55-story building on little more than half an acre lot. I remember Mrs. Labrado, you mentioned some of the scale issues that we're having with many of the developments that are trying to come up in Edge House, in Edgewater, excuse me. And beyond the height and density, the developer continues to ignore that Miami is a driving city. Most households have one to two cars, and again, they're asking for waivers to continue reducing the parking. They are also, we are now on back-to-back with two developers that want to do stacked parking with a valet-only system, and again, not offering you guys the information you need, such as the parking study, or even a valet company that they've vetted. Remember, these are literally across the street from each other, one small little street. These waivers should be raising a red flag consistently to the UDRB, which is why I'm glad you're here. They're pushing the parking chaos onto the neighborhood rather than actually providing the acceptable parking limits. So again, we are seeing profits over people again. Even worse, there is clear misrepresentation. I am a realtor, and Edge House has already sold 20% of its so-called condos, but now they're claiming they're a hotel. Thank you, UDRB.

Hello, Tony Chaudhry, owner at 1900 North Bayshore, which is a quantum unit 615. I don't have a prepared statement, but what I want to share is when I bought the unit about 10 years ago, there's a lot of, let's say, short-term rentals and things happening, especially at the Opera Tower. with a lot of Airbnb, and what we saw is murders, drugs, people that came to Miami to party, out of control. Today, this Edgewater community is a community. I think that's what came from many of the speakers. What that means is people live there, it's their home. At Quantum, we just built a children's playground on the indoor playground. These are voters, these are long-term residents that care about a community. And a short-term rental, such as this being proposed, disrupts all of that. And that is my biggest concern. I think a lot of my friends and neighbors here raised a lot of other issues, but we're the folks that actually live and work here. And this, developers have right to build, but not this kind of a setup. That's the biggest concern. And it's an active block, large block of voters. I think, I don't know how many petitions we had, 1,500 or so thereabouts. With the timing of today, a lot of folks couldn't be here. But there's a lot of people involved that don't want to see this being approved the way it's being proposed. Thank you.

I appreciate the time. My name is Todd Glass. I'm also a long-term, 15-year-plus resident at 1800 Club. I've seen Biscayne Boulevard grow from two lanes to four lanes. It's a wonderful community to live in. I'm a retired healthcare professional, and my concerns come more from a healthcare issue. Floods have developed on 18th Street between my building, 1800 Club, and Aria. We are forced every minor rainstorm to drive our vehicles, walk our dogs, and our grandchildren through these floods to get to the park or to get out of the building. I don't understand how we can... have a building so large come in and not address the infrastructure to the community. Also the destruction to green space at Margaret Pace Park. I used to enjoy walking my dog, walking my family through the park. Now it's just littered with so much debris, so many people coming and we just need to work on green space development if this structure is going to be built and also I would appreciate a mass transit study to help us with mass transit through this area because the building does state we have mass transit we really don't it's two and a half blocks away to get to mass transit and the last point I would just like to make is doing a survey for this study of driving in the community, a driving study. I mean, so many accidents and things occur. I can't even walk to Publix in the morning without having difficulty crossing the street. And it's unfortunate. I love the area. I love Miami. Like I said, I'm retired. I love living here, but this is just, in my opinion, a little dangerous and disrespectful to our community. So thank you for your time.

My name is John Dunn. I live at 1800 North Bay Shore, apartment 601. And I haven't been before anything quite like this since I retired from the Army many, many years ago. I realize there are many technical issues with Edge House, and many of them have been addressed. My issue with this project is its very concept. Is it a hotel? Is it a condominium? Is it a combination of hotel, condominium, such as the Doubletree Hotel? and the grand condominium. It seems to me it is none of these, but rather the developers are creating an Airbnb complex which is sold as a condominium. If it was a real condominium, there are not enough parking spaces. The problem for so many of us is the Airbnb concept. We have some experience with this concept. About a year ago or more, at the Opera Condo at 1750 North Bayshore Drive, initiated an Airbnb program. How many units were involved, I do not know, but it was a nightmare for the neighborhood because the police were constantly being called out for various problems. None of the hotels in the neighborhood were experiencing similar problems at that time. Once the Airbnb program was canceled, the police were back working at a normal level. I would suggest you contact the police about this problem and also about other problems with Airbnb. With Edge House, there are going to be over 600 Airbnb units available. It will be a security nightmare for the neighborhood, and your police budget will have to reflect that reality. I realize at this point it is very difficult to stop a project because of zoning, but you have the power to approve a hotel or a condominium, but not this Airbnb concept. If this is approved, you are setting the stage for similar projects in Miami and the corresponding increase in crime. Thank you very much.

any other public comments that's a no we'll go ahead and close the public comments I want to thank everyone for taking the time to attend and voicing your concerns and perspectives you know it's better so thank everyone for for showing up and voicing your concerns. It takes this civic engagement to make our community what it is today, and I respect that. Again, as was mentioned earlier, as a board, our role and our purview is limited. I want to say that we don't ignore your comments. I think it's important that you do. And with that, we can encourage the development team to take into consideration. So allow us a moment to listen to the presentation, and we can discuss further. We can get started.

Good afternoon, Board. Carlos Lago and Carlos Diaz with offices at 333 Southeast 2nd Avenue on behalf of the applicant. If you could just permit us one second to put up the exhibit boards. So we're very excited today to be here to present to you the Edge House project. I'm joined today by architect Kobi Karp, who will walk you through the design and the architecture of the project. I want to clarify one thing first. This is a fully by right project under Miami 21. And I want to be very, very clear here. We're not requesting any waivers. We're not requesting a warrants. We're not requesting a variance. We're not requesting an exception. This is not a live local project. And we're not requesting any special deviations from the code. This project fully complies with Miami 21. and with the comprehensive plan and fully complies with what the city envisioned 15 years ago when they passed Miami 21 and the comprehensive plan. This site is an irregularly shaped corner lot located in the southern portion of Edgewater between Biscayne Boulevard and Margaret Pace Park. The property is located in a TOD However, it has long stood vacant and currently does not contribute to the community or to the pedestrian realm. The property has two street frontages and a rear alley. To the west is Northeast 4th Avenue, which is a short, curved street that runs about two blocks. This is a secondary frontage and contains the only curb cut and vehicular parking access point for the project.

Excuse me, Mr. Lago. Is there... Do you guys have a site plan that describes the area a little bit larger than the perspective that you have there? Sorry and thank you. Do you have a smaller scale so we can see the surrounding streets, Mr. Coby? Yes, I do. Okay, can you bring that one up? Yes.

You don't have another in between. So you'll see this is actually an interior. You'll see this is like a half moon.

He's referring to like you have in the drawings, a map that shows the site vicinity. Yeah. That's the scale that is. Do you have a better scale?

We'll give you some of the drawings. We'll give you the actual sheet so you can see it. So we have Northeast 4th Avenue, which is a short, curved street. That's where our regular access is. At the rear of the site, we also have an existing alley, which currently provides service and loading access to the neighboring buildings. And we'll provide service and loading access to our project, which is required by Miami 21. We don't have a choice. Loading and service must go through the alley. On the north, we have Northeast 19th Street.

Carlos, do you have the...

On the north, we have Northeast 19th Street, a tree-lined road which directly connects Biscayne Boulevard to Margaret Pace Park and the Bay. This is the primary frontage and is being fully lined with double-height amenity spaces that create transparency, activity, and keep eyes on the street. This habitable liner not only completely masks parking on the second floor, but it also creates a very interesting architectural feature for the project. The streets abutting the property today consist of broken sidewalks and a lack of street lighting. This project will bring new sidewalks, landscaping, and activation to create a safer and more inviting pedestrian realm. Now I'm gonna show you an aerial image. I'm gonna show you an aerial image that shows the alley of the property. So immediately to the west. So immediately to the east of the property, as I mentioned, it's fully developed with these two high rise buildings, right, which have their existing back of house and unscreened parking and loading their unscreened parking and loading facing the rear alley. which is currently visible all the way to Biscayne Bay. So this project is actually gonna screen the neighboring properties, unscreened and open parking and loading, which is not a condition that helps anybody or it's not a condition that is something that's promoted by Miami 21. So the project consists of a 56-story tower hotel with related amenities. We have mentioned, you know, mentioning this on the record, it's a hotel, and our building permit is for a hotel as well. At the street level, the building is designed with active uses and extensive glazing to create a safe, welcoming pedestrian experience along both street frontages. The project is not built lot-to-lot line, and I think that's important because if you look at the adjacent buildings, they're almost fully full of lock coverage. There's very little open space in the adjacent areas. But this project offers 21% open space. And that's completely open to the sky. That's not 21% on an amenity deck. That's 21% on the ground floor all the way up. That's more than double the 10% that's required by Miami 21. So we're not fully developing this site. We're leaving FLR on the table, we're leaving density on the table, and we're providing more than double the open space, which is unheard of in the urban core. Most notably, a large open space is proposed at the southern end of the project, introducing much-needed landscaping and new trees that will soften the block and add greenery to this urban setting. So our alley is also going to have a large green area, which no project has. And you can see that in some of the images that are up here of the proposed green space that Kobe will also walk you through. The parking garage is fully screened with a design inspired by the surrounding tree canopy, using warm tones and vertical rhythms to extend the area's green character into the architecture. All loading is proposed through the existing alley to the east. keeping all back of house functions away from the pedestrian realm, as required by Miami 21. Together, these elements bring life and activity to a property that has been vacant for years, while supporting the continued growth and vitality of the area. To summarize, this project is completely by right and fully complies with Miami 21. The project will enhance the area by improving a vacant lot into a walkable development that will enhance the pedestrian realm and connectivity to the park, bay, and the rest of the neighborhood within a beautiful design. Colby now will walk you through the project, and we will remain to answer any questions you may have. Thank you very much.

Hi. Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen. My name is Colby Carr, 571 Northwest 28th Street. As Carlos mentioned, and I just want to bring a couple of things to your attention on this design specifically, is that our site, as Carlos mentioned, is surrounded by landscaping. So what we did here, both inside and outside, the developer felt that the green space is critical. So right here, along our neighbor to the south, we created a park, a linear park, And that linear park is this design right here, which is open and it's for the children to be used. Furthermore, that we used is that we have an opportunity to create a pedestrian path, a widened pedestrian path, all the way on 4th Avenue and all the way as it wraps around on 4th Avenue, leading you towards the park. The reason for that is our public spaces, the lobby, the amenities are like this. They are spaces with glass, two-story glass that open up, sorry, my back, that open up to the outdoor. So the intent is to bring the landscaping, the green space into the lobby, into the amenity areas of the project. The project is designed, as Carlos mentioned, in context of the neighbors. So I made a little sample material board as well. It's right here. And I'll bring it over here. All the materials, the stone and the finishes, the facade of the undulation on the screen, it is a three-dimensional screen. that is vertical, and thank you. And that screen, if you look at the drawing, it's on page A608, part of the record. It's a three-dimensional screen, and it has another layer screen behind it, so you do not see the vehicles nor the lights. So to be specific, and you can see it here, And you can also see the section. Thank you so much, Carlos. Oh yes, please, please. So what happens here is that not only the footprint, not maximizing the footprint on the site, we're actually less, as Carlos said, instead of 10, 20%, but really we also created also the green space, thank you, of the linear park. And to give you a perspective, this is the existing condition And the existing condition on 4th right here and on 18 right here is where the park is. So we created the park right here and we created the pedestrian path all the way around the block and wider than is existing in the neighboring properties because we feel it's nice for people to walk around and enjoy that space. Right here, if you look at the detail of the land, and by the way, I'm here with my landscape architect and with Mr. Garcia, also for the traffic consultant. We have everybody here for that. Because our intention is in the materials you'll see on the building outside, it's stone and it's a decorative metal. It's a very high-end finish on the outside. The intention is to have this kind of a material and finishes all the way around the building. And that is the intent of the design. The developer is an interesting individual who is design oriented and has been pushing us for this direction. And I'll show you just a couple of little thoughts. You see how the park here opens up like an aperture? So as it gets wider with the site, it gets wider over here. So if you look closely at the plan, there's activities both to come in and use the park, but then as you walk along the sidewalk and there's trees that we are planting along this side as well, meaning along the street. So you walk within a green space all the way around. And the reason for that is that when you come around the corner, you are able to walk to the green space, to the park. And that park we feel is important for the people who live in the community. And we want people like our next door neighbor to be able to walk around our block in a pleasant fashion. So that's where that came from. The, sorry, Carlos, forgive me. The closeup, and I'll just pass this around if you don't mind, because when you look at, and we blew it up so you can see the treatment on the ground level, on the street level, for what it is that we are looking to do in the relationship to the street. We have the glass. We have the three-dimensional finials of the grills. We have the treatment of the amenity areas right here. So even as you walk and you're looking up, you have nice materials and finishes. And these columns are white mosaics. So every surface has a finish onto it. So the idea is to make a nice crystalline volume that has nice finishes. Thank you. All the way around the property. Because what we wanted to do is, besides the stone finish and the ability to come in and out, is to engage the street. You'll see in the plans that our amenities and our public areas and our lounges all have glass to look back into the street and onto the the pocket parks that are across the street. So with that, I'll be quiet. If you have any questions or suggestions, thank you so much for your time.

Yes, Anthony. Mr. Senses, can you speak into the microphone? Thank you.

Thank you. Can you spend a few more minutes telling us about the building? How is the parking? How are the typical floors? Thank you. What is the distance of your building from the other building? Things like that. You only spoke about the bottom floor.

Thank you. What happens here in context, this is on page A604, you can see that this site is juxtapose on an angle from the neighboring properties. And so what happens, it created an opportunity for us to take our building and have it completely disengaged from our neighbors. What I mean by that is we are on an angle completely different of the neighboring, meaning the other buildings are all on Bayshore, multiple buildings. What we have done is we have put our building, right here in this location, right across from the pocket park on 4th. The interesting thing that allowed us then to open it up where everybody else is facing this way, we are facing the other way on the back. So we are on the back and there are many tea areas are facing the water in this direction. So when you look closely here, oh, you're the best, thank you. Thank you. So when you look closely at the site plan, the building curves. It has two cores. And the curvature is all the way around. And this is fourth. So what happens is that people walk along here. We have our entries on the streets. But then we have two cores. And we have glass all the way around with balconies all the way around. And these cores, as you can see, they allow for quite a nice short distance to every unit. So it's a very nice project with a very nice quantity of short spaces to walk. It's like a two-core tower. And so what happens is that the other buildings, there is an alley. This is our property line. Then there is their alley. There's an alley in between us. which is the loading area. So the loading areas for all these buildings is from this alley. So the alley is a bifurcation of the spaces. This is the back door of the buildings. Their front... Oh, thank you, sir. I'm going to change your name to Vanna White. So what happens is that if you look at this right here, this is a solid wall of the pedestal. This is a screen wall of the pedestal. And our building sits across the public alley and then the setback. So that's what we are basically doing. We're taking our back, but our pedestal will have the nice treatment all the way around, as you can see in the corner, because what we want to do is we want to have the glass crystalline treatment all the way around to the public right-of-ways, Antoni. Please.

Could you also walk us through your ground floor and the circulation, vehicular circulation and pedestrian?

Yes, yes, of course, with pleasure. So what happens is that at the ground floor. Oh, thank you so much. On 4th Avenue right here, this is where we come in. We drive in. And this is where you walk into the building right here on the corner. So what we've done is we've brought the glass and the landscaping all the way to the corners and the crystalline volumes all the way. Can you see okay, Anthony?

I can't see.

Okay, good. And then here we brought in the cars, but bring them all the way in. And then we started the ramp all the way in the back. And just as an important note, thank you. We put our FPNL vault. our switchgear on the alley, not on the public right-of-ways. We put the loading right here. This is the loading only, and this is your generator. So we kept all of the sides open with landscaping and giving you the front facade all the way around. We kept on the alley the loading, the generator, the FPNL vault, all of the service. We didn't put any of that on if you will, the pedestrian-oriented public right-of-way. And our building also, as you can see, has the penetrations right here for the loading, and then the ramp simply comes up and goes over it. So all of this right here is a welcome to the corner treatment area.

We're not touching the building.

Excuse me?

We're not touching the building.

No, not touching the building. We're not touching the building. towerette surrounded by landscaping all the way around.

Thank you.

Any time.

Any chance you have traffic study?

Traffic, yes. Where is my traffic study? Individual, here.

Mr. Richard Garcia with Traffic Engineer.

Hi, good afternoon. Richard Garcia, 8065 Northwest 98th Street. We did a traffic statement pursuant to the city code. I could go into the details, but it's a preliminary type study because your code calls for your own city consultant to perform their independent traffic study. So what we do is we do a preliminary traffic analysis to determine the number of trips so that your consultant can determine the extent of the study. They reviewed our traffic statement several times, in fact, and they had comments which we addressed, and they found it acceptable. We also did part of our preliminary analysis is mostly internal as opposed to the traffic impact study that they're going to do, which they'll look at the streets. We did look at the valet analysis. They had us do that several times until they were satisfied that that would be acceptable. Like it was stated earlier, the site is going to use 100% valet. And so we had to do several iterations of a valley analysis to make sure that it would be acceptable. And we analyzed it and held it to a very high standard for traffic engineers. We did it to a 99 percentile threshold, which even they commented, your consultants reviewing it, that that was a very high threshold. Usually in traffic engineering, we use 85th percentile, but we use a 99 percentile. to ensure that there'll be adequate capacity within the building. This is all internally to the building. This would not affect any of the valley, would not affect any public right-of-way traffic impacts of any sort. So with that, I'll conclude, unless you have any questions or...

So for valet drop-off, where would that be done? Inside?

No, the drop-off for the valet is on the second level.

Yeah. So what also we have, and we have the cars. Let's say you live there, you come down. On the second floor is where you can pick up your car. So if you come with the baby, come with the groceries, that's where you can pick up the car. Thank you. So what we did, and it's on the plans, it's part of the record, page 303. You come over here, get yourself in the car, and then you ramp down from there. And also as a side note, I brought these renderings of the park, you see, with the materials and the finishes on the building with the stone and the aerial of the park as well. Yeah, thank you. Thank you.

We can get started. Excuse me. We have already closed, unfortunately, the public comments. So we need a chance to review and have our own comments from the board. Thank you. Mr. Sampson, would you like to get started?

Yeah. I just have some questions. Thank you for your presentation. I see on that drawing that the delivery area, I'm perplexed about the alley in the back, the width of the alley and the movements. I see that, what is that? Can you show me the drawing of the back? Yeah. What are those, do you have a diagram of movements in an alley?

Oh, yeah. Yeah, here we have it. Thank you.

What is the width of that alley?

Yeah, I'll bring it closer. It's down by Langen.

What is the width of that alley?

The width of the alley total is 10 feet.

The width of the alley is 10 feet.

10 feet, right?

Yeah. Yeah.

So within this 10 feet, you expect trucks to go in and out from your building as well as from the other building?

Currently, that's what they do. It's a one-way alley.

Currently, there's no building. There's only one building.

No, currently, the alley services the other buildings. The purpose of the alley? Yes, there it is. Thank you. So currently, this alley right here, is servicing this building and this building.

I understand that. I'm saying what is the impact of this alley being used now for another building?

Got it. So what we do then, Anthony, is we have all of our loading inside. You see here the traffic? The truck comes in, turns on around here. And that's the way we have them all ingress and egress online. in our property you have a truck this is a truck yes correct so this is the moving custom truck moving trucks all the way around and this is done by langen on each and every and they have the cars or the trucks coming in on the south and exiting under north that's the way it is now and why do you have a truck if this is a hotel oh because some people they might want to bring their furniture in, or somebody wants to move in and bring their TV in, or they have deliveries, so our truck comes in. Yeah, it's required by the code. It's a code requirement.

No, I understand, but it's a hotel, right?

Yeah. Yeah. Correct. It's a lodging facility, absolutely.

And then the traffic study that you have done indicates that there is no impact on traffic congestion because of this building?

100% correct. 100% correct. And that's why we did it with Langen. But the traffic with Mr. Garcia, to confirm to your staff, the city staff, the public works, for the permitting and for the approval that it is designed not only to meet the code, but to be an as-of-right design solution.

Okay. Okay. I reserve my time to have additional comments.

Thank you.

Can I just ask two things? One is that you speak into the microphones. It's hard to hear. Yes. And the other thing is with the boards, can you keep the boards on the easels because the cameras can then pick them up? I appreciate that. Thank you very much.

Yes, sir. I'm sorry. Yes.

I think in general, Kobi and team, it's a very beautiful design. It has very nice materials.

Thank you.

It's done with the best of your abilities to select a very high-end product. I like the proportion, how you cover the parking garage with a 3D screening that is actually quite expensive from what we see typically.

Thank you.

I want to clarify a couple of details just to make sure I understand. In your renderings, you're showing a curved balcony in glass. Is that the intent with no post? Would you intend to do that? Curved balcony glass with no post at the balconies?

Yes, that's correct. That is a true statement.

Okay. My other question is you're showing a palm tree rendering at the corner, but in the site plans, they're not shown.

That's correct.

Is the intent to add them or add more landscape at the ground level as shown?

Based on our discussions with the city staff and the landscape, they want us to add these palm trees, and we shall. If that's okay by you.

Yeah, I just wanted to clarify. Also, in your material board, you're not showing wood under the canopy. Is the intent to also show wood under the canopy of the tower?

Yes, ma'am. Exactly. Wood here and wood here. Perfect.

I have a couple concerns. The north elevation is showing, because you're raising the level of your lobby significantly, it has a wall that is quite high, and there's no dimension in your sections, but it's plus or minus between 6 and 10 feet, right? Yes. So if you're walking as a pedestrian, that seems like a pretty high wall. I was wondering if you would consider adding landscape to buffer the wall so as you're walking to the park, it doesn't feel like you're walking next to a very high wall.

Absolutely.

It would reduce a little bit of the sidewalk, but I think it would add... Yep, absolutely. It would just enhance the experience.

100% correct.

Yeah, I think it's shown, for example, very low landscape, and in the elevations, you can see the 6 to 10 feet stone wall, but it's not as pleasant.

100% correct.

Is the park that you're showing public, or is it private?

We don't mind making it public. It's perfectly fine, but if you want us to keep it private, we'll keep it private. We're okay either way.

I just want to clarify the intent. So right now it's private?

Right now it's private, yes. Liability and so forth.

And the next clarification is the drop-off for the valet. I know you're picking up a car inside the podium, but the drop-off, would that be on 4th Avenue?

Correct.

Okay.

Correct.

I think that's the extent of my comments. I think it's a very beautiful project. Thank you. Hopefully everybody finds a way to make it happen.

Amen.

Yeah, no, again, thank you for the presentation, and thank you for the public also for their comments. I really appreciate Mr. Lagos' clarification that the project is fully by right. I think that's important for us to understand, and also for the public to understand that this meets everything on the code and doesn't exceed, doesn't contain any waivers. So definitely appreciate that clarification. As far as, so I've got a couple of comments here. As far as traffic calming, because that was a concern that the public had. What are you all doing around traffic calming? And if there's an opportunity that you can add something on the surrounding streets for that.

Yeah, so we are speaking to public works and see if they would allow us, you know, to introduce the bumpers, the speeding around the block there. Because we're in support of that 100%. And we would like that as well.

Okay, yeah, no, that would be great. I had a note about the clarification of the alley access, and so I appreciate you already did that. Another concern from the public was the illumination. I thought, you know, it was brought up about LED lighting. Can you kind of... Tell us a little bit about that and why would that be a concern or has that been addressed?

For us, it's not a concern. On the contrary, we want more lights around it. So we are going to meet and meet the requirements for light. requirements around the alley and around the street.

No, I think what the concern was, was, you know, up high, the public was concerned about light reflecting into the neighborhood, neighboring units.

No, we're not going to have any floodlights shining up the building or anything like that.

Okay, okay.

I appreciate that. Yes, sir.

And as far as understanding that there will be a lot of people coming in taxis or right and left Uber type rides, is there a designated drop-off area for these vehicles that come in and pick up and drop off people? Can you walk us through where that happens in the side plane?

Yes. So what we did is we have also For the same thought process, we're bringing you into the property and letting you drop off and to pick up on the second floor. As well as right here in the front, we are going to have people that can pick up and drop off if it's an Uber and help you with the bags and so forth.

Yeah, no one's going to come up that ramp to pick up, you know. If I'm calling an Uber, I'm not calling him up the ramp. No. I'm calling him up the ramp. Yeah, you come right here. Yeah.

And or right here.

So I think it's important that that's noted well on the plan. Yes, sir. That, you know, they pick up and drop off areas for the passengers, for the residents. 100%. And, again, that comes back to the traffic calming, right? How do you direct those people in and how do you direct those people out? so they're not speeding through the neighborhood. Because that's a valid concern. I've actually enjoyed walking around the neighborhood. I don't live around there, but, you know, it's a very pedestrian-oriented neighborhood. So I do value that concern. I think that you guys should address that.

Absolutely. Absolutely. Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you, Francisco.

Mr. Permoy.

Thank you. Question first for Mr. Lagos. So you did state that it's as of right? That's correct. Okay. And then there was another, there was a public comment regarding the LLA. Is that?

This project does not live local. It has no increased density. It's 100% by right. Under Miami 21.

Thank you very much. Mr. Karp, I think it's a very elegant design. The The tower works very well, I think, with the surroundings. And the pedestrian realm, I think it's very well handled. Thank you. There is a, what is the height of the podium? The top of the podium, right where the void starts.

What's the height? 95. 95. 95 feet.

Okay. So there's one perspective, one rendering that really, I don't think it helps your cause, but that's not that bad. So I thought it was a little bit higher than that. And I do appreciate how you brought the glass up.

Yeah.

So the only thing I would, I like the project, I like the, the mix, the program, and how you handled and resolved those challenges is the verticality versus the horizontal. And the podium, I think it emphasizes height instead of breaking it down. But we honestly can't tell from a rendering how it's actually going to look. So I just would have approached that with more horizontality to break that podium dimension, but that's just a design, you know, another way to go.

Thank you.

But I think you have a beautiful project, very elegant tower, and I really like how, with what you were given, how you handled the pedestrian realm.

Thank you very much.

Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

Mr. Gallardo?

I agree with his comment about the podium. It seems like it's really kind of a little bit brutal, all the way coming from a horizontal tower to a vertical, I guess, strips, I guess, right?

Yeah.

And it seems like if it could be broken up somehow or some pattern. I don't see a pattern. I see a pattern on the rendering. Yeah. I don't know if it's a shadow or it's actually a color change. Yeah, it's a color change.

It's a color change.

Yes, absolutely. I'm not sure. My opinion, I don't think it's going to be seen enough to break the vertical. I think that's why it was done, because you wanted to break that vertical mass. When I say mass, it's not only mass, it's just emphasizing vertical lines. So I don't know if maybe it's a different kind of pattern or broken up somehow. And I think a transition between the, I guess what he calls a podium, the middle part and the bottom. I don't know if you need, it'll be better like some type of corners or some type of transition instead of that coming to another horizontal. It seems like the horizontal, vertical, horizontal.

And my other question was just the... I can study that, thank you.

Just to make it a little bit more personal, I guess. Yes. Friendly. Yes. And the other question, I may have missed it. When you have somebody coming in, let's say hotel, and they have, you know, they come in their rental car or whatever, and to bring the bags, where do they park? Here in the street?

So we have two options because we would like them, if they come in and they want to get dropped off, they can go into the garage, into the ramp.

Would they know that?

Yeah. Yeah, they would have signage. And then we would also have drop-off at the ground level and then take the car inside.

And the question about the Uber, I guess you can have Uber on either side of the street? That's correct. Either side of the street. Yeah, absolutely. Will it be blocking traffic?

No, because we have parking notched in. If you look at the plan, you see there's a notch on both streets.

So that notch is just for visitors or drop-offs? And lay-by, yes. It's not somebody who's going to park there all day, right? Correct, correct. And somebody's going to tell them you've got to move or something like that? That's the idea.

Mr. Karp, please speak into the microphone.

Yes, ma'am. I'm sorry. Forgive me. My wife tells me to talk quietly all the time here. I'm asking to talk loudly. Thank you very much.

This is your opportunity.

Yes. Good comments, Manuel. I'm going to study them to implement them.

And the last question about the park. Who's going to use the parking?

The park is going to be for the kids and for the individuals who live in the building.

What's the building adjacent to it between your building and the park?

Yeah, that's the existing shorter building on the aerials. It's an existing apartment building that's there. I'll bring it to you right here.

Will they have access to this park too?

If they want to, it's right next door. They'll have visual.

Because sometimes you don't know who's there.

Right.

That's what I'm saying.

So that's what I'm saying. That's what we brought up and we said, and I agreed to keep it private and secured and protected by the security.

With a gate or key or something. Yes.

Absolutely.

Okay, no further questions.

Thank you, sir.

With regards to the tower, again, excellent job, very elegant, with a very challenging site. Thank you. I agree with my two board members. Could you put the rendering back up at the main entrance? Yeah. Right there. No, the one below, the larger scale one. This one? Yeah. Yes. Yes. I like the way you did the canopy to introduce where you're entering the building to bring the scale down. I like the way that's broken up. But I would have to agree that the vertical slats do nothing to break up the mass of the volume of the parking. I mean, if anything, it accentuates it. So I would agree that there needs to be some type of horizontal element or breaking up of the slats, something that... Because the colors don't do it. And I know you tried to create the horizontality with the colors, but it's just not... I'm pulling it off. The other challenge that I see is that from what was presented, and this is the staff, is that 10-foot alley is meant to be the service alley for these buildings, correct? Is it the intent of that alleyway to be the service alley for these buildings, all buildings there? Yeah, that is, as I presented, that's the... Yeah, no, but I'm saying is that, because honestly... Fortunately, the buildings that are behind it are not at the property line. Because if they were at the property line, it basically would be impossible for the maneuverability study that I'm looking at right now, A, only shows like small panel trucks. It doesn't show anything bigger than that. Anything larger than that would not be able to get in and out of that.

So right now, the same trucks that go and service the existing buildings... same trucks would be servicing this building.

I don't know, I'm looking at it. They're just basically smaller panel trucks. I mean, it's fortunate that the building's opposite.

Huh? Yeah. No, I have it. I'm looking at it right now. You have this? I have this right there. Yeah. I have it. Exactly. And what we did is we loaded it up on the inside. Yeah. So, because we don't want... to block it right so you see right here on this alley they come in here and they load this way so what we said is we don't want to interfere with them so when we come in here we're going to turn in and then be able to turn around and come back out and go out the same way, this way to the north.

So based on the drawings that I was saying, this is a one-way alley, and it was going that way?

Yeah, it's a one-way alley going from south to north. It's going this direction? Yes, sir, with a dockmaster on our part.

Okay, because there was a drawing, one of the diagrams showed the direction going in the other way, which would have been more problematic.

You are 100% correct. Yeah, staff met with us, and they wanted to clarify. Staff wanted us to show the trucks. They wanted us to show how they come in, And how they get out. And also they wanted us to show how they are coming into the ramp in the front. And how they're coming into the entry in the back. And they wanted us to load into our property. Not to have this condition, you see. So they made us turn into and on our property.

And the garbage trucks, is there going to be enough clearance for them to turn the containers over underneath the building or do they have to pull back out?

No, no, they have the 15 foot clearance.

I know, can they do that under the building or do they have to back out?

No, they come in, load, take the garbage, dump the garbage in the back and then they're going to come out. And the duct master is going to be there to make sure.

The question is, is there enough vertical clearance for them to pick up the container and load it onto the building, or do they have to then back out into the alleyway to flip the garbage?

We have the vertical clearance. We have between 12 to 16 feet clearance in our loading area. Okay.

So the answer is yes, that the truck will be able to go in and not have to back into the alleyway to... Do what it needs to do to empty the container. Okay.

Their trash pickup across the street is in the alley.

Yeah. No, I was just saying because, again, one of the other drawings I saw showed the direction of the alleyway in the other direction, which would not have worked with the diagram they're showing here.

So that clarification that you're going in that direction answers that question. Sorry, on page A500, and we had to give them the blow-up and show them the clearances and the hides up. 15 to 25 feet. Good point. Yes, sir.

Excuse me. I have one question in regard to the alley. During construction, because it's a zero lot line, you would need to actually dig deeper into the part of the alley to build that wall at the zero lot line. Has there been any conversations on how that's going to affect the neighboring building or how do you actually build this?

Right now, we're not touching the alley. And if you go by the site right now, you'll see that we have a construction fence.

Yeah, but you're going to have to build the wall at the zero lot line in the alley. And to build that, the foundations, you know, you're at zero. You're going to have to go deep into the alley to be able to build that.

Yeah, we'll do that as part of the MOT.

That's correct. So, I'm sorry, but I wasn't finished yet. So the, and this is more for staff, at what point is the actual traffic study introduced for review in the process of the approval of the project? Because right now all they did was provide the criteria by which staff will then contract. Correct.

So it's a requirement of the building permit. This is an ASPR, which is testing the principle of the buy-write process. So as in all applications, the traffic study is a requirement of the building permit. I don't know if the building permit itself has been submitted and it's running in parallel with this project.

It is?

Yes. So that's probably why they have additional information to present to you today is that the two processes are running in parallel. But it's a requirement of the building permit and then it's...

It's a requirement of the building permit? That seems kind of late because what if there's challenges with regards to level of service and so forth? Well, then the developer be required to make improvements. In other words, if the actual traffic study says there's a problem with the level of service based on the traffic impact in the neighborhood and they have to.

Sorry, if I just clarify something. So this is a fairly new process that the city has introduced. It's an ASPR. It replaces the previous preliminary zoning review process, which gave applicants, in principle, clarification whether the project can go by right. The ASPR gives them an actual entitlement that they can then put the building permit into process. That doesn't change the fact that it's still a by-right process. It could go straight to building permit. They don't necessarily even need to go through the ASPR process. So this may seem premature in that regard, but it's no different than if a waiver or a warrant was to come through here.

No, I understand, but the question is, once a traffic study is completed and it states at the level of service there needs to be improvements to the right-of-ways, to the intersections.

I've got the response for you. So the city previously, right, an applicant had to submit a traffic methodology and quite possibly a full traffic study, right? The city changed the law. recently, I would say like a year ago or two, that requires the city, the applicants to pick their traffic engineer from a pool of applicants, right? They've recognized what you just said, right? That there's a backup, that the traffic studies are not being done on a timely basis or at this stage, at this preliminary stage. So they're working on actually amending what they just recently amended. the fix. But right now, the city's process is that you submit the methodology, and they pick from the pool, and that consultant completes the traffic study, and it has to be completed by building permits. So we have no control over it. We have submitted everything. I understand the process.

Rob, I agree with you. My question is, if this traffic study says At the time of permit, that there need to be improvements made to the streets, to the right-of-ways, to the intersections, to the signalization. Who pays for that at that point in time? That's the question I'm asking.

The developer.

The developer will. The developer, because the permit will not be approved. Okay.

Yeah, if there's certain traffic improvements that are identified in there, you know, as pursuant to the traffic study, then, yeah, public works will make you do those improvements. Okay. Just like we'll have to improve half the alley, improve the street in front of us, the right-of-ways and the sidewalks.

Okay. I just want to make sure that the traffic study is completed. Yes. And when it's completed, that the work that it recommends be done be completed and who is paying for it. Yes, sir. Correct. We pay for it. Thank you. Because that was one of the concerns that was expressed. And I live in the city of South Miami, and our problem is we're close to UM. So you can imagine the rentals that we get with regards to university students is not a fun process. No, we pay for it. Thank you very much.

I have one more question. Is there a rendering of the front entrance, let's say, looking like the approach to this front entrance? Because you mentioned there's storefront wrapping around, but is it just storefront wrapping around, or there's some type of special entrance to the building?

So if you see, this is the convergence of all the streets is that main entrance, is where it was placed.

Correct, exactly.

On the north side or on the west side? Because you have two entrances. There's two, correct. That was Mike's question.

Well, we... One's at ADA entrance.

And is this, because I heard two things, is this a hotel or is this residence?

It's a hotel. It's a hotel. And the entrance is right here. You see right here the staircase on fourth? You come in.

So you get dropped off. You have a valet on the north side to receive baggage, bags, and whatnot. Otherwise, they're directed to the second floor. You got it.

And this is the amenities, and this is the lobby right here.

Is there a ramp at the stairs or next to the stairs? I haven't had a chance to really detail it.

Right. So we have a staircase and we have the handicap ramp right here. Yes, sir.

The eyebrow that you have on the corner that wraps around, this is an eyebrow that is featuring the main entrance, the lobby, right?

Correct.

It encompasses both the retail side on the east side as well as the lobby?

Correct.

Okay.

And based on these comments, I agreed also to have it extend all the way around. And I took the comments from Mr. Permui and Gallardo as well as here to look at how we can create more horizontal gesture on the screening of the garage. We'll keep the same detail, the quality, and make it more horizontal.

I think the scale... Maybe it's the vertical fins just seem to be very thin. Yes. Which in its massing just makes it look monolithic. And I would also comment the same. I think the materials that you've selected are perfect. Lovely. The stone that you picked on the south side also seems just very monolithic and very massive. I think just bringing it down a little bit, whether it's reveals and details, absolutely helpful. And considering having that, you know, park open to the public might be a nice gesture to the neighbors. But again, that's also... No, it would be a nice gesture.

It would be a nice gesture, absolutely.

I don't have anything else to add today.

Thank you. What is the... I see the bottom storefront, sir. Kobe? Yeah. And then there's another glass strip?

Yes. What happens is it's a double height, and then on the second level, we have amenities. And so they look back into the green space into the street.

So it's amenities. There's another floor then.

Uh-huh.

Yes. I don't know if somehow it could be kind of blended so there's not so much breaks. Yeah. And make it more like... Like a hierarchy, I guess.

Yeah, exactly. More important. Exactly. That's my suggestion. Yeah, we're going to study that, absolutely.

We don't have any other comments.

I have a question. Sure. And a comment. What percent of your parking spaces are double stacked? How many stacked spaces do you have? How do you expect hotel people to use stacked spaces?

Yeah, it's going to be operated by the valet.

Okay, and where is that, where that occurs?

On the second floor, inside the garage.

So one arrives, when one person arrives, a guest arrives, has to go to the second floor?

No, the guest gets dropped off here, goes inside the lobby, and then goes into the suite.

And the car is picked up at that point?

The cars would get picked up and go into the valet. And what we are doing today with the technology, when you come and arrive at a hotel, we let you know that you can drive into the garage and into the first level, and that's where the valet is.

Okay, but does the traffic study take into account the queuing time?

Yes, of course. And what does it say? It says that we have too much time. Yeah, I see.

The traffic engineer will respond.

Yes, the queuing was part of the valley analysis, and it showed that we had adequate stacking. I think it was like 600 or 800 feet between the second level and the right-of-way. So it's all contained on site.

Yes.

And that was reviewed by your consultant. Correct.

By the city consultant. Is the traffic study complete? I heard that it was not complete.

No, the preliminary. It's called a traffic statement. And now your consultant will perform an independent traffic impact study.

Correct. Including the queuing times and all this? Yes. Okay. What's your opinion, that it will meet that requirement or not?

Yes, absolutely. That's why we do a preliminary queuing and valet analysis to make sure that if there's any design changes, that they are done at this stage. Likewise with the auto turn, to make sure all the vehicles can turn adequately, if there's a column in the way or something like that, so that they have to make the changes early on.

Last question, I promise you. There were some comments about drainage in the area. Is there any plans or anything to improve drainage in the area?

All the drainage stays on the site. That's what's required.

Is there any civil drawings that show storm drainage management?

Oh, yes. All the plans for permit are already in the city.

Can you tell us in a very brief manner what you're going to do?

What we're going to do is we're going to take all the water that runs off, and that's part of what the park is, and underneath is all the drainage area, and then we have below-grade tanks that support all the holding of all the water.

Good afternoon, Mr. Johnson. Carlos Diaz with offices at 333 Southeast 2nd Avenue. So as part of this project, obviously all the drainage has to be held on site, but also these portage edge waters, it's fairly old. So we've had to actually already paid over $800,000 to water and sewer for sewer infrastructure improvements that benefit the entire neighborhood. As you can imagine, when you come in with the project, you have to look at the existing infrastructure and make sure that it's going to serve your building properly. So that's one of the things that we're doing. So in terms of drainage improvements as you know public works and Require you to spend up to 10% of your project cost in infrastructure improvements and that includes drainage obviously all around the site Thank you So I Before we get started.

I want to clarify again What our role is? when reviewing these projects. Our purview, again, is limited to the design aspects of the proposal. And what's before us is a project that's been designed by rights. So our authority doesn't extend beyond denying a project a right as long as it complies. So I think we've heard a lot of the comments. Sounds like you've addressed some of them.

So that's correct. So it's a by right project. So many of the specific elements of the design in terms of setbacks, height, density, those kind of things is by right. And zoning colleagues are reviewing that in detail to make sure it does go by right. that your purview allows you to comment on the design aspects of it, including making recommendations in relation to Article 4, Table 12, which is the urban design review criteria. I'm not suggesting it does or doesn't meet that standard, but you have the opportunity to make recommendations. Everything you do on the board is a recommendation that staff take seriously and work with the applicant to see how that can be implemented. So you have the freedom and purview to do that.

So with that said, I think we've had a couple of comments that I think would be an improvement if taken into consideration. So if someone would like to make a motion.

I'd like to make a motion as a proof with certain conditions, suggestions. The first one is to add landscape at the ground level to cover the 10 feet wall with lush landscape in the 4th Avenue and Northeast 4th. Are they both Northeast 4th? That's very confusing.

North and West.

Yes. Sorry. It's shown Northeast in both. They're both northeast. Great. At all the northeast.

Confirmed.

Add landscape as shown, I mean, the palms as shown in your elevation, and study the possibility of a drop-off at the one of the north fourth avenue, if it's possible, and it benefits your project.

Yep. We accept the conditions. Thank you.

Any other conditions that we'd like to add?

I'd like to add that traffic calming devices are implemented as allowed by the public works.

Yes, sir.

We also accept that condition. Confirmed.

Anyone else?

Sorry, can you repeat what we have up to now, the conditions or recommendations?

Certainly. So the first condition is to add landscape at the ground floor level. to conceal the bolts at the north and west. Study drop-off area at the north. Is there anything more? Yeah. And finally, to identify appropriate opportunities for traffic climbing on the project periphery.

And the palms. I think you could add that to condition one.

Yep. I would like to add the study of the facade from the tower down to the lower levels.

Okay, confirmed. So that was just referencing your previous conversation to explore breaking up the verticalness of the podium screening with horizontal gestures? Yep. Is that a fair reflection?

Not any specific, just for him to come up with something. Sure, to explore those things. Thank you.

Any other comments? And do we have a second?

Second.

Roll call on item number 17993. Members Amstis?

Yes.

Member Perez-Azura? Yes. Member Zappatini?

Yes.

Member Pamoui? Yes. Vice Chair Barrera?

Yes.

Member Gallardo? Yes. And Chair Labrador?

Yes.

Recommended approval passes six to one.

Thank you very much, Board.

Thank you for your time, ladies and gentlemen.

We appreciate it. Much appreciated. Thank you so much. Congratulations.

That's not our purview.

You need to go to the city commission and have them change the zoning so that they can propose these buildings. If this is being done by right, we can't deny it. It's being done by right. They're allowed to build this building with this many units. They're allowed. If you want to change the zoning and you want to make it lower and you want to make it lower density, you need to go to the commission and tell the commission they need to change the zoning.

It's 60 feet by code.

But there's nothing in the code that violates proximity between buildings.

Guys, this is a public meeting. Thank you very much.

Thank you.

Well, thank you.

Member Pamui has left for today. Do we need a break?

I think we can keep going.

Thank you.

We have two more items, just one project, and then this is just a calendar for a third item.

UDRB item number two, minute strike 18053, PZ25-19035. There are multiple addresses for this project, starting at 1415 Northwest 13th Terrace, 1433 Northwest 13th Terrace, 1435 Northwest 13th Terrace, 1453 Northwest 13th Terrace, and 1469 Northwest 13th Terrace. Project name, Anatomia Live Local Act. Location, Alapata. Transit zone, T6120. Square footage. 610,784 square feet, stories 30. Residential units, 499. Commercial space, 178,225 square feet. Parking spaces, 498. Application type ASPR UDRB requirement pursuant to Article 7, Section 7.1.1.2.10. The project exceeds 200,000 square feet. Thank you.

Chairwoman, are we ready?

We're ready, yes.

Thank you. Good afternoon, board. Brian Nombrowski and Carlos Lago on behalf of the applicant. presenting this project at 1415 Northwest 13th Terrace. As you can see on the context map here to my right, this project is sitting at the edge of the CIHD, which is the city's hospital district. This also serves as one of the city's largest employment centers. Just to our south, we have the River Landing SAP, just to give you some context on where this site is located. We're also a uniquely shaped site. We've got five streets that come together at this intersection. which creates a unique shape for the site, which our architect had to work through. As Ricky presented, this is an ASPR, which means that we are advancing with no waivers, no warrants, no exceptions, or no other deviations from the city code. This is a live local project. As you know, the live local's goal is to introduce affordable housing projects into areas of the city. This is a perfect area for it, right next to the health district. We're bringing some much needed housing to this area. The Live Local Act requires 40% of the units to be affordable housing units. We are proposing 42%, which is 210 of our 499 units. Although we have no parking requirement here, we are providing one space per unit. And one of the other items that we're really excited about, and I know that I've worked with Sam and Graham on the podium legislation, which was just recently adopted by the city with an emphasis on lining parking garages. We are fully lined. We have no garage screening. We are fully wrapped with units. And we just thought that this was a great opportunity to blend affordability with a very unique design. With that said, I'm gonna turn it over to Albert to walk you through. We're available for questions.

Thank you, Brian. Good afternoon, Madam Chair, members of the board, Albert Cordobes with Corwell Architects at 4210 Laguna Street, Coral Gables, Florida. First and foremost, as always, thank you for your time in reviewing our application this afternoon. We're extremely excited to be here. As Brian mentioned, this is a live work project, but more specifically, we're excited for that 40% affordable workforce housing component that takes precedence and part of a project like this from When we started designing the project with our client, the program, it was really no expense spared in providing a project with a true luxury aspect that both, not only the condominium residents, but also the 40% workforce housing component can enjoy. So we started essentially obviously massing this site and quickly found out that it's less than an acre, but The corner here becomes extremely challenged, right, because of the shape. And I think that the way we generated the upper floors and this, it became an advantage to the project. This is a very prominent corner that essentially intersects Northwest 14th and 13th Terrace. And what we did is we anchored the main corner with the main retail component of the project, which is approximately 5,300 square feet, and actually anchored it sort of with a flat iron effect for the podium levels on that particular corner. Then we followed through and we kind of centralized the main lobby, access to the building, and then support spaces with access to the main core of the building. We also felt it was really important on this particular project with the magnitude of 500 units, 499, to come in and have a real pedestrian passage, vehicular passage for the project where people can get dropped off at any point in time in a covered manner. Followed by that and flying to the west, another retail component over 6,000 square feet generating some retail further back to further activate the passage of pedestrian and vehicles on this island. All in all, I think we count with, except for the minute 16 feet pump room, which has to be accessible from the street by code, we count with 100% ground floor active spaces for this project. Another thing that we found excellent to the advantage of the service component of the project was the existing alley on the north part of the project. We intentionally provided a service-only loop, a one-way service loop, which has ample access and maneuverability to a totally internalized zone, which is the loading zone and with access to all the back of house equipment and obviously to one of the main course as well. We think the ground floor works really well, especially because of the separation of the service and the beauty and pedestrians and vehicular drives for drop off areas. So when we came up to the second floor following the same concept, it's anchoring the corner with extensive amount of units here in terms of the flat iron look and effect, and we provided the parking circulation where we were able to simplify it and working very well in a counterclockwise direction. We purposely moved the parking all the way to the north property line to facilitate us providing liner units, as Brian mentioned, for 100% of the coverage, 100% of the linear frontage of the property. Again, parking access to both cores and providing about 21 units per floor on this typical level, which essentially is third through eighth, with minor adjustments for the articulation of the exterior of the building. Then we get to what truly makes this project very unique, in my opinion. is the program, the wellness, the amenity program, the fitness program at level 8, level 9, I'm sorry, where essentially you have an acre, which is 80% of the acre, almost 35,000 square feet for amenities. We have 18,000 square feet of enclosed amenities with this particular level and the mezzanine floor above this. We also thought it was an incredible feature to provide exterior amenity deck areas throughout, an exterior elevated pool deck with maximizing the views and maximizing the sun to it, in addition to a complete walking and running track around the entire podium. We felt that the uniqueness of this is that taking that wellness factor to the next level was appropriate to generate this amount of amenity and fitness spaces for the project. Above that is where we start our tower. There's a difference in levels 11 through 13 and levels 14 through 30, essentially generating about 15 to 20, 15, 21 to 17 units per floor. And since the upper levels have larger units than the lower levels, It's a small footprint. We generated essentially 15,000 square feet, which is the maximum permitted by code, and also the maximum permitted by code, which is 180 feet in its maximum length. Sorry.

Too much weight.

Culminating at the very top level, the 31st level, with another amenitized space, about 2,500 square feet residence lounge, providing exterior terraces and culminating the rooftop of the building, as you will see in some of our elevation designs. So once we concluded what we felt was a very well-thought internal massing of the project, culminating all the providing for all the programs, we felt compelled, based on the based on the level of fitness and amenity and wellness of this particular project, to really, in the name of the project, Anatomia, right? Anatomy. We felt compelled to demonstrate that in our exterior elevations. And doing that, of course, we proposed the exoskeleton on the outside, mimicking the human anatomy, the veins, the arteries, the muscular definitions and the linear muscles of the body. It's what we're trying to do with this, right? The spacing of the exoskeleton was carefully analyzed to minimize, if at all, the fenestrations on the units, and you'll see from the floor plans, it really interferes almost at any point with the fenestrations of the proposed units. Another important factor of this particular element was the fact that we wanted to unify, if possible, the podium, the tower, and the rooftop with one single element that would tie everything together as one sculpture. And finally, we are proposing a linear diffuse lighting system throughout these ribs, which I think would be spectacular at night to soft light the building and truly be an iconic potential design for that particular area. All in all, I think we're extremely happy with what we have accomplished so far. And as always, we welcome your comments. We love coming to this board and any questions that you might have as well. Thank you very much.

We'll get started to my right, Mr. Gallardo.

Yes, I have a few questions. Can you show us where the ramp entrance is to the parking? The ramp, yes.

Right.

So we have accommodated the ramp internal with access from the paseo. It works counterclockwise. We wanted to start it here so that when we get here, we have a full advantage of height. We have 25 feet of height in here. Research the truck unloading over the top so we can internalize the access to the trash pickup interior. And it's 21 and a half feet to 22 feet. So we have more than ample for systems and providing that maneuverability inside as well.

The horizontal is the commercial areas of the building. You have a tower and then you have the base. Right. Is that the commercial aspect of the building?

This one down here?

Yes.

Yeah, this is essentially all commercial.

The rest is what, parking then? These are all.

This is apartments throughout, liner units, and this is apartments throughout.

Do you have a rendering of the middle entrance area? A section? Or like a rendering of how it looks or how it could be inside this open area in the middle?

I don't believe we have a rendering of that.

Yeah.

Okay.

I'd like to commend you on how you wrapped the whole building together. I'd like to commend you that you did something different from these buildings that all look the same. I like how you wrapped the corner. I like how you basically dissected all these spaces to make it more... I guess livable or practical, I guess. So that's the only comments I have.

Thank you.

Overall, I like the project. I find the exoskeleton to be very interesting. What material is that exoskeleton going to be? The exoskeleton?

Yeah. We've looked at a different set of options, and truly, based on the fact that we've anchored each and every one to the slab, I think we should proceed as a concrete element cast in place. Yes. It'll be the most defined element in the building, and I think it needs to be perfect, right? And what color were you seeing that being? We're proposing a light color, white. I think it'll go well with the lighting system potentially at night. You still might see it.

For now, I mean, if... Yeah, no, I mean, the challenges we know with concrete and stucco, especially white, is over time it's just going to... Mildew up, get dirty. It'll take away from the elegance of the building. That would be my only concern. I would have loved to have heard metal, but I know that's more expensive, but that would have been a very nice detail. And maybe even have it introduced some lighting as part of it. I like the scale of the ground floor. I think it brings it down and clearly defines the area where people are walking in and the way you've lined the parking. And I love the internal drive. I think I wish we had more projects that could accommodate that as a way of servicing and accessing the building. So overall, I'm in support of the project. Thank you. Thank you.

Mr. Yep.

So, I, you know, great, interesting site plan, right? So, yeah, I definitely appreciate how you've resolved, you know, how you addressed the shape of the site plan. I think you've done that very well. I, you know, and just how you've managed the internal, internalized the traffic, both service and for the residential. I think that's actually very good. And, you know, the liner units, again, a big plus. You know, and, you know, other than that, really, I know that you're trying to do something with, you know, I do appreciate the concept of the exoskeleton, but, you know. I feel like that's not adding, the way you're doing it is not adding anything to that facade. You know, I do, you know, I guess, I can't say they're not unique, but it's just, they seem very random. They are, to me, they don't have anything to do with the building. You know, you have one building, and then you've got this exoskeleton, like, randomly running around it, I don't really see how it adds a lot to it. And I know you've put a lot of thought into it. I'm here from my point of view. It just looks very disorganized, very arbitrary, and I just don't see how... And then you've got these other smaller elements that look... By the way, you need to show us more detail. You know, you have a lot of detail in there, and we're not really seeing how those are. Maybe it's through some vignettes, you know, how those are attached or not attached. Are they indented into the... It looks like you've got some horizontal elements in there in each floor, and I'm not really sure if those are cantilever, the floor is cantilever or they're balconies. It's very hard for me to understand how that exoskeleton interacts with the building that's behind it. So, you know, I'm just very confused about that. And also, although the circulation, I love how, again, the internalized traffic, you know, just, it doesn't, you know, I can't tell where that's an egress, right, from the elevation. It's the same. There's no difference in height. There's no way to celebrate the entrance of the building. When I look at that elevation, I don't really see, you know, I don't know where you access the building. It's hard to tell. So, yeah, those are my comments. You know, and again, you know, that's kind of, you know, the way I'm seeing it.

Mr. Patini? Thank you.

I agree with my colleague. I think the project is very elegant, and you did a wonderful job planning it. However, I'm not sold on the thickness of the lines or the lines. If they were in metal and they were much thinner, I think it would be... lighter and less heavy, or even removing them completely. If you feel very strongly that they add to the project, I would encourage you to think about reducing the thickness and the scale, so it's just a more elegant and finer proportion. In general, I agree with everything except the lines, which might be a lot since it's the whole facade, but other than that, I think it's great.

Thank you.

Thank you for your presentation. I I'm sort of in between these comments. I have some issues. I like the way that you sort of integrated the two volumes of the building, the vertical with the horizontal with these lines in a way. There is an arbitrariness about the lines. They could mean more. Perhaps the fact that you don't bring them to the ground they're kind of floating, you know, perhaps that is, that element is missing, you know, like the grounding of that line going up. But in general, it's a, it's a, it's a very elegant building and I'm, I'm, I like, I like the way that the ground floor has that pedestrian passage stuff that in, I think it's an interesting building. Thank you.

Thank you. I agree with your circulation. I think it was spot on. It's going to be a nice addition to the neighborhood. Whether or not I'm agreement with the bandings i think maybe refining the width of the bandings might might add to it but i think the way you've tied everything together is very successful my only comment would be i notice you have palm trees around the perimeter i think this is a project that's going to you know bring more pedestrian activity on the ground floor and you're going to start to activate this neighborhood um you know we need shade trees so my my condition would be to replace these palm trees that you're proposing to shade trees.

And we definitely agree with that as well. No issue with shade trees.

That would be all for my comments. We don't have any further comments. Someone like to make a motion?

I agree with your comment about the palm trees. My experience is these palm trees, they're just very erratic. They kind of bend. They fall off. They die. So I think the shade trees, maybe like a little corrugated kind of stuff would be the best. We completely agree with that.

Low-level trees, you know, nothing big. All right.

We have a motion.

I can make a motion to approve with the condition that you study reducing the thickness of the banding element, potentially doing them, if it's possible, in metal. So you could do it very thin. And that's in the trees, switching the trees from palms to deciduous trees.

I second.

Roll call on item Number two, minute track number 1-8-0-5-3. Mover, member Zamstis. Second, member, excuse me, mover, member Zapatini. Seconder, member Zamstis. Member Gallardo?

Yes.

Member Perez-Azura?

No.

Member Zamstis?

Yes.

Member Zapatini?

Yes.

Vice Chair Barrera?

Yes.

Chair Labrada?

Yes.

Recommend an approval with conditions passed five to one. Thank you.

Thank you, Board.

Thank you for your time. Thank you very much, Board.

We have our last item.

Our last item is Item number three, Minutrike 17959, which is to vote on next year's calendar. Did you get a chance to take a look at next year's calendar? The date will still be the same, and so will the time. So as we meet right now at 2 p.m., supposed to like the third Wednesday of the month. Sometimes it'll be the second, but most of the time it's the third Wednesday of the month at 2 p.m. in the chambers. I'll let you guys discuss that.

Do we have any questions, any comments? We're good for make a motion.

Move to approve the calendar. Second.

All right.

Guys are faster than me. We'll call on voting of the calendar, minute track 17959. Member Gallardo?

Yes, sir.

Member Zamstis?

Yes.

Member Perez-Azul? Yes. Member Zappatini? Yes. Vice Chair Barrera? Yes. And Chair Labrada?

Yes.

Thank you all. Calendar is passed. See you next month.

Thank you.

People panic, they get out of the car in the middle. Tell us what they should do. If you get into a crash on I-95, for example, express lanes, which you can't go to the right hand side because you have four general purpose lanes and you may have a emergency shoulder. Turn on your blinkers or your hazard lights as soon as possible and get on the phone with 911. Let them know that you've been involved in a crash. Your vehicle is disabled or is able to move off the road and try to move off the road. Oftentimes, people think that when the police officer gets on scene, they need to see how the cars ended up. That is completely false. We can reconstruction that crash scene all over again. And based on the lane that you tell us and the damage on the vehicle, we can tell what occurred. So please move your vehicles off the road. Stay belted. A lot of people take off their seat belts and then they stay in their car. If you get rear-ended a second time by a second crash, You might get injured now because of the first crash but because of the second and that's oftentimes what happens We get into a wreck and it's a regular