MIAMI | Development Thread

[SkyscrapersOfNewYork]

Miami reminds me of a mini Guangzhou or Hong Kong, if only it had some height.

[jamesinclair]

Originally Posted by bobdreamz

^ It's not a park, those are private lots that are scheduled to be developed into the Brickell CitiCentre project to be built by Swire Properties of Hong Kong pictured below:
that is why the lots are fenced off.

It absolutely is a park, and it's gross incompetence that it's fenced off.

Fence it the day of construction, not the years beforehand.

[bobdreamz]

^ james what are you talking about? The city doesn't sell public parks to developers! I think the site is part of the Brickell Tennis Club which is private! How is this a park?

[robhut]

^^^It is not a park at all. It looks like one because it is very lush and all that. I think that is where they were suppose to build the premier towers but then the bubble burst and they never happened. I might be wrong though.

[robhut]

^^^ Skyscrapersofnewyork. I also wish we had some more height in Miami. Unfortunately, Miami has a height restriction since downtown is in the middle of the landing and take-off path of Miami International airport. If that wasn't the case we might had taller buildings. Overall, I think the skyline is pretty nice, I specially like the latest additions of Marina Blue and the Marquis, both very close to each other on Biscayne Blvd.

[pj3000]

^ I like the Marquis from the east, but from the west it looks just like an overgrown condo/hotel tower from Myrtle Beach or some place. The western "face" of the building is just awful with those lighted exterior corridors... like an ultra-tall Holiday Inn.

As for Miami skyline height, there is more at play than just the FAA regulations. FAA height restrictions have been negotiated in other cities in the past. It's a factor, but not an overwhelming one. The fact that Miami has never had (and still doesn't) a large corporate presence has as much to do with it as anything. While Miami has become a center for banking in Latin America, it still does not have a top 50 US financial institution hq'd in the city. This is to say nothing of a diverse array of large corporations which would cause demand for such an amount of office space... and I think we've seen enough residential high-rises for awhile now.

[giantSwan]

It appears the city has rapidly expanded it's skyline in recent years, is the city also becoming more urban/walkable (think NYC)? Or are all of these massive skyscrapers just individual silos (think LA)?

A dynamic, walkable, warm, urban place with all of these beautiful new towers would seem to be an appealing place to many northeasterners.

I'd love to hear from the locals if walkability/urbanitity has been improved with all of this new development?

[Illithid Dude]

Originally Posted by giantSwan

It appears the city has rapidly expanded it's skyline in recent years, is the city also becoming more urban/walkable (think NYC)? Or are all of these massive skyscrapers just individual silos (think LA)?

A dynamic, walkable, warm, urban place with all of these beautiful new towers would seem to be an appealing place to many northeasterners.

I'd love to hear from the locals if walkability/urbanitity has been improved with all of this new development?

South Beach and Miami Beach are very, very walkable, and dense too. The epitome of urbanity. Downtown Miami, not so much. I saw a lot of narrow sidewalks and blank walls, though I did see some small signs of progress along the beach area.

And hey! Don't hate on L.A. Many parts of Los Angeles are quite walkable, including the skyscraper land of downtown. Just sayin'.

[pj3000]

Originally Posted by giantSwan

It appears the city has rapidly expanded it's skyline in recent years, is the city also becoming more urban/walkable (think NYC)? Or are all of these massive skyscrapers just individual silos (think LA)?

A dynamic, walkable, warm, urban place with all of these beautiful new towers would seem to be an appealing place to many northeasterners.

I'd love to hear from the locals if walkability/urbanitity has been improved with all of this new development?

Most of the additions to the skyline sit on top of massive parking garages... if that tells you anything about walkability

[brickell]

Yes, it still sucks, but it's light years better than it was when they were all parking lots or dusty fields. Retail is lagging, but coming on board as more and more condos get filled. It will never be the old school urbanity of NY, Philadelphia or Chicago, but they're making progress.

PJ is right though, the condos are too big and still too parking dependent... Most have retail built into them, but the backs and sides of some of these buildings are just horrendous. There will be pockets of urbanity in places, but we're a long way from making downtown a complete urban neighborhood.

[pj3000]

^ Right. Good summation, brickell. Miami has definitely improved its downtown environment and once all the condos actually get filled with residents, there will obviously be increased demand for more street-level retail stores, restaurants, etc. Progress is being made... and made rapidly, when we consider what it was like just ten years ago.

[bic]

Casino Company Buys Herald Land for $236 Million

[QuantumX]

Originally Posted by pj3000

^ I like the Marquis from the east, but from the west it looks just like an overgrown condo/hotel tower from Myrtle Beach or some place. The western "face" of the building is just awful with those lighted exterior corridors... like an ultra-tall Holiday Inn.

As for Miami skyline height, there is more at play than just the FAA regulations. FAA height restrictions have been negotiated in other cities in the past. It's a factor, but not an overwhelming one. The fact that Miami has never had (and still doesn't) a large corporate presence has as much to do with it as anything. While Miami has become a center for banking in Latin America, it still does not have a top 50 US financial institution hq'd in the city. This is to say nothing of a diverse array of large corporations which would cause demand for such an amount of office space... and I think we've seen enough residential high-rises for awhile now.

What city with taller buildings has an airport practically in the middle of the city such as what we have here in Miami? The Four Seasons was orignally planned to be over 900 feet, but got chopped down because of MIA and the FAA. Developers and the City of Miami had to have a knock-down, drag-out fight with MIA and the FAA just to get the 1,010 feet height limit in Downtown and in Brickell east of Miami Avenue. I like the Marquis from behind, btw.

[bic]

Originally Posted by QuantumX

What city with taller buildings has an airport practically in the middle of the city such as what we have here in Miami?

Chicago had Meigs Field, Hong Kong had Kai Tak and LGA is about the same distance from Midtown as MIA is from Downtown.

[dave8721]

Plans for the 6-tower, nearly 5 million square foot Brickell CitiCentre. The tallest building will be a 620-foot office tower. It will have below ground connections between the properties as well as elevated walkways above the streets.

Renderings on page 45, cool pictures start around page 66.
http://egov.ci.miami.fl.us/Legistarweb/Attachments/63417.pdf

[pj3000]

Originally Posted by QuantumX

What city with taller buildings has an airport practically in the middle of the city such as what we have here in Miami? The Four Seasons was orignally planned to be over 900 feet, but got chopped down because of MIA and the FAA. Developers and the City of Miami had to have a knock-down, drag-out fight with MIA and the FAA just to get the 1,010 feet height limit in Downtown and in Brickell east of Miami Avenue. I like the Marquis from behind, btw.

Chicago, Dallas, NYC... to name a few.

[QuantumX]

Originally Posted by bic

Chicago had Meigs Field, Hong Kong had Kai Tak and LGA is about the same distance from Midtown as MIA is from Downtown.

Originally Posted by pj3000

Chicago, Dallas, NYC... to name a few.

To name a few? I only see Hong Kong as being the closest example. The American mentioned cities don't have the flight paths that Miami has with the seabreezes from east to west strictly dictating landings and takeoffs, and La Guardia and Dallas-Fort Worth aren't as centrally located in the middle of the city as MIA. So the FAA and MIA were making a big stink about nothing here Miami? The City of Miami and powerful developers, who wanted more bang for their buck, went at it with the FAA and MIA in the last decade and all we could get was 1,010 feet in a relatively narrow patch in the CBD and in the Brickell Financial District that is between the cross hairs of two runways. That is all we could get with today's technology. So I don't see the situation here in Miami as being the same as in the other American cities that the two of you mentioned.

[pj3000]

Originally Posted by QuantumX

The American mentioned cities don't have the flight paths that Miami has with the seabreezes from east to west strictly dictating landings and takeoffs, and La Guardia and Dallas-Fort Worth aren't as centrally located in the middle of the city as MIA.... So I don't see the situation here in Miami as being the same as in the other American cities that the two of you mentioned.

LaGuardia is in NYC... any part of NYC could be considered "more centrally located" than any part of Miami.

No one is talking about DFW. I mentioned Dallas for Love Field, which is only 5 miles away from downtown Dallas (which has buildings taller than Miami's) and a flight path which heads right towards downtown.

No, the situation is not the same. But, that doesn't mean that Miami's lack of very tall office buildings is solely due to FAA regulations. Miami's lack of major corporate presence over its short business history is the primary reason.

Oh yeah... Newark is another one, by the way.

[QuantumX]

Originally Posted by pj3000

LaGuardia is in NYC... any part of NYC could be considered "more centrally located" than any part of Miami.

Wow! This speaks volumes about where you are really coming from right here!

Originally Posted by pj3000

No, the situation is not the same. But, that doesn't mean that Miami's lack of very tall office buildings is solely due to FAA regulations. Miami's lack of major corporate presence over its short business history is the primary reason.

So we haven't had enough interest from powerful enough corporations to give those corporations enough incentive to duke it out with MIA and the FAA to get less stringent height restrictions? Taller hotels and condos were certainly planned. Developers develop based on whatever demand is there whether it be office towers, high-rise condos, hotels, or mixed-use structures.

As I said earlier, the Four Seasons (a mixed-use hotel, condo, office combination) was originally planned to be over 900 feet tall . If enough demand had been there at the time to make a fight with MIA and the FAA worthwhile (which did happen in the early 21st century), we could have just as easily had supertall hotel/condos rather than office towers without a corporate presence.

[Dariusb]

Originally Posted by bobdreamz

A rare veiw of the skyline from the west. I believe it's from Coral Way:



The lush tree canopy of Coral Way looking west:




pics by MiamiHighRise

I love that picture!