MIAMI CITY COMMISSION
Grove high-rise project brings two views
Visitors to Miami's landmark Vizcaya Museum would see high-rise condos mixed in with their view of the famous home's gardens if Miami commissioners approve a development.
BY MICHAEL VASQUEZ
[email protected]
The view south from Vizcaya's terrace: fountains, elegant gardens and -- someday soon, perhaps -- three condo towers rising as high as 410 feet.
That last part may come as a surprise. But if Miami city commissioners approve a controversial development plan, the wedding parties, quinceañera photo shoots and hordes of casual visitors who have flocked to Vizcaya for years may notice the National Historic Landmark's view has gone a bit more condo.
A proposed 300-unit luxury condo complex on nearby Mercy Hospital land has steadily moved forward at City Hall.
Which makes some historians and Vizcaya lovers furious.
In dueling artists' renderings, museum backers and the condo developer offer competing visions of the future Vizcaya view. In both drawings, the condo towers are visible, but in the museum's version, the towers appear much larger.
' `Yikes' is my only reaction,'' local historian Paul George said of the museum version. ``Absolutely yikes. . . . Your whole sense of Vizcaya is altered because you've got that thing in your face.''
Vizcaya was the winter residence of American industrialist James Deering from Christmas 1916 until his death in 1925. The home's design mimics that of a centuries-old Italian estate -- 34 decorated rooms of 15th through 19th century antique furnishings combined with expansive gardens that mix both Renaissance Italian and French designs.
Boca Raton-based Ocean Land Investments is partnering with developer Jorge Perez's Related Group to build the nearby condos, which would rise on 6.7 acres of prime waterfront land that has been part of the Mercy Hospital medical campus.
The condos, to be sold at prices ranging from $3 million to $15 million, were controversial even before Vizcaya's recent entry into the debate -- some Coconut Grove residents complain the buildings will dwarf their once-bohemian neighborhood.
DOWNSIZED PLAN
Related Group executive Bill Thompson counters that the project has been downsized to appease the community -- from 1,000 units to 300. Two of the three towers have been reduced in height, with only one still the original 410 feet. Thompson says Vizcaya won't suffer at the hands of his project, and calls the museum's architectural drawing grossly inaccurate.
''Vizcaya is in an urban area,'' Thompson said, like New York's Central Park. The fact that part of a high-rise would be visible from a dip in Vizcaya's tree line wouldn't ruin the experience, he said.
As a neighborly gesture, the company promises to add trees to the museum land that would screen some -- but not all -- of its project, known as 300 Grove Bay Residences.
JUST LIKE BRICKELL
North of Vizcaya, Thompson notes, are the towers of Brickell -- modern buildings, visible from a portion of the museum site, that haven't kept visitors from coming.
Condo opponents call the Brickell comparison irrelevant, saying those towers are farther away. What's at stake now, they say, is one of Vizcaya's signature views -- that overlooking its famed gardens.
The City Commission voted 3-2 last month to tentatively approve a key rezoning sought by the developers.
Before the vote, a Vizcaya trustee had told commissioners that the condos would spell ''disaster'' for the museum -- though there were no architectural drawings available at the time. Trustee Max Blumberg spoke on his own behalf; the Vizcaya board still has not formally decided whether to fight the condos.
MORE SCRUTINY
A final commission vote on the rezoning is scheduled for later this month, although additional city approvals are necessary before shovels can hit the ground.
Since last month's vote, the museum has stepped up its scrutiny considerably. So, too, has Miami-Dade County, the museum's owner.
At the request of County Commissioner Carlos Gimenez, the county attorney's office and planning department are reviewing the condo proposal.
''I just consider it my duty to make sure we protect what I consider the crown jewel of the park system of Miami-Dade County,'' Gimenez said. ``Something that should be preserved for generations.''
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