Brickell residents opposing a planned 80-story condo tower behind the First Miami Presbyterian Church lost their fight.
On Thursday, Miami commissioners voted 4-0 against opponents’ appeal, led by the the condo association for IconBrickell Tower II, to allow them to intervene in the city’s decision for the historic declassification of a portion of the site.
Arnaid Karsenti’s 13th Floor Investments and the Ardid family’s Key International want to build the condo tower on a site consisting of the parking lot and school building immediately east of First Miami Presbyterian at 609 Brickell Avenue. The church will remain intact.
In December, the Miami Historic and Environmental Preservation Board granted the developers’ request to lift the historic designation from the school building. This essentially gives 13th Floor and Key International a bigger development site, allowing them to build a larger project, opponents say.
13th Floor and Key International, both based in Miami, are expected to purchase the development site from the church for $240 million.
Opponents’ concerns include an increase in traffic, with many arguing that residents at the planned condo will have no choice but to turn north on Brickell Avenue, further clogging the already bottlenecked road. Other issues include the loss of open space. Aside from IconBrickell unit owners, residents at nearby towers and business owners also have concerns, said George Simon, of IconBrickell Tower II.
The historic declassification of the school building, which is home to Key Point Christian Academy, and the project have been less than unifying in Brickell. Opponents are pitted against both the developers and the church.
“We have many deeper questions regarding the impact of an 80-story building without significant improvement to the infrastructure,” one Brickell resident said. “However, our bigger question is why is it so difficult to share our perspective? All we ask is an opportunity to be heard.”
“The church followed all the rules, attended all public meetings, shared their vision with the congregation and the public and most importantly made a clear commitment to protect that which is truly historic in the church,” a supporter of First Miami Presbyterian said.
Commissioners based their vote on a technicality, deciding that opponents don’t have standing to appeal and intervene. IconBrickell Tower II’s association has to show it is an adjoining property and also demonstrate special injury, or harm that it would suffer beyond what residents in Brickell at large would experience, Miami City Attorney John Greco said.
IconBrickell Tower II and the site are separated by a city-owned park that the condo tower association maintains.
“We certainly have a special injury because we are an adjoining owner,” said Lawrence Silverman, IconBrickell Tower II’s attorney. “It is a matter of public record that we are within 75 feet of the line.”
First Miami Presbyterian Church, designed in the Mediterranean Revival style by Lester Geisler, was completed in 1949. A one-story school annex was added in 1953, and its second story was completed in the early 1960s, according to city records. The city designated the entire property as historic in 2003.
“The church school annex in question, which was a later addition to the historic church, lacks architectural or historical significance,” 13th Floor said in a statement previously provided to The Real Deal. “It is disappointing to see a small group of neighbors attempting a last-minute effort to use the historic review process as a pretext to delay a carefully planned project.”
Opponents have argued they have been consistently silenced over the past month. A Change.org petition that garnered about 1,400 signatures was flagged and taken down. First Miami’s Rev. Dr. Christopher Benek conceded that he was the one who flagged the Change.org petition, arguing it had a lot of inaccuracies.
Some opponents who also are current or former congregation members have alleged the proceeds may have influenced church authorities that oversee First Miami Presbyterian to sell the site. They question whether the funds will stay with the Brickell church or go toward the Presbytery. First Miami’s Rev. Dr. Christopher Benek has said the funds will stay with the Brickell church, with some of it going toward preservation of First Miami.
“The thing that people don’t seem to understand is money is ministry,” he said. “It helps to move ministry forward.
