Holy war: Brickell residents crusade against 13th Floor and Key’s planned 80-story tower behind Presbyterian church 

For some Brickell residents, a planned 80-story condo tower behind First Miami Presbyterian Church is far from a blessing. 

Since at least 2021, Arnaud Karsenti’s 13th Floor Investments and the Ardid family’s Key International have wanted to develop the project on a site immediately east of the church at 609 Brickell Avenue. The site now consists of a parking lot and a school building. The church would remain intact. 

But condo owners at IconBrickell Tower II and other nearby condo buildings have decried the potential for additional strain on already congested roads and the loss of open space. They say they are not opposed to development, but the planned project is “irresponsible” in the densely built out neighborhood. And they also take issue with the plan to include the school building in the development site, arguing that it allows the developers to build a bigger tower with more units than if they were only building on the parking lot. 

On Thursday, city commissioners will consider opponents’ appeal to reverse the Miami Historic and Environmental Preservation Board’s decision in December to strip the school building from its historic designation. If commissioners overturn the board’s decision, they also will consider opponents’ request for intervenor status in any new hearing in front of the historic board.

“The developer wanted more property. So [the church] petitioned to have the back side of the church be declassified [from its historic designation] to have more space for this 80-story monstrosity,” said George Simon, an IconBrickell Tower II unit owner.

The Brickell Homeowners Association is among the project’s opponents. Many office tenants in the financial district and condo associations in Brickell and Brickell Key also oppose it, Simon said. 

The dispute has pitted 13th Floor, Key International and the church against the opponents. 

In a statement, 13th Floor said the deal would help the church “secure long term financial viability,” and that it has worked closely with the community on its plans. The project will include an installation of a new seawall and an expansion of the public bayfront walkway. 

“The church school annex in question, which was a later addition to the historic church, lacks architectural or historical significance,” 13th Floor said. “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.”

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. 

Some former and current members of the congregation take issue with how the pastor shepherded church members’ votes to approve the land deal. The vote was held in 2021 over Zoom, when the church still was closed amid the pandemic, disenfranchising members who didn’t have access to Zoom and in possible violation of Florida law on nonprofits, said church member Cary Tolley. 

Tolley lost his fight against the land deal waged through the Presbyterian legal system. In his view, potential funds from the deal “influenced … improper decisions all the way up the line in the church,” Tolley said, referring to Presbyterian authorities. 

As of 2022, First Miami Presbyterian Church’s sale of the development site was expected for $240 million. The Presbytery of Tropical Florida, the body that oversees Southeast Florida churches, had signed off on the land sale. 

The pastor “politicked,” calling some members to urge them to vote in favor, Simon said, adding that he thinks most of the sale proceeds won’t stay with the Brickell church, but will go toward the Presbytery. 

Simon also alleges that opponents are being silenced. A Change.org petition that garnered about 1,400 signatures since it was posted in late March was taken down after someone flagged it, Simon said. 

First Miami Presbyterian Church Rev. Dr. Christopher Benek said he asked Change.org to take down opponents’ petition, arguing it had a lot of inaccuracies. Change.org is “very, very careful about what they have taken down,” Benek said.  

Sale proceeds will stay with the Miami church, with some to be used for the preservation of the sanctuary, he said. “We see this not as the fruit of this deal. We see this as the seed that will allow us to grow in Miami,” Benek said.

Benek didn’t deny that he reached out to members regarding the sale. “I urge them to vote their conscience,” he said. 

Traffic will be alleviated because Key Point Christian Academy, which now operates at the school building, will move to Miami’s Omni neighborhood, he added.

At its December meeting, Miami’s historic board turned down opponents’ request to intervene in the declassification of the school building. 

“The spirit of the law is fairly clear,” Simon said. “The point here is for citizens to make their points of view known. … Let us have our day in court.”