Imagine a world where developers would be allowed to bulldoze historic Miami Beach buildings designed by famous architects such as Morris Lapidus, Lawrence Murray Dixon and Henry Hohauser.
That’s the alarm Miami Beach elected officials are sounding if changes to Florida’s Live Local Act don’t include protections for historic Art Deco, Miami Modern (MiMo), and Mediterranean Revival buildings in the city.
“Once we lose our historic fabric, we won’t get it back,” Miami Beach Mayor Steven Meiner said in a statement. “We must protect what makes Miami Beach iconic — and that starts with saving our historic districts.”
At a press conference on Tuesday, Meiner and city commissioners will join music producer Emilio Estefan at his Cardozo Hotel at 1300 Ocean Drive in Miami Beach to raise objections about a state Senate bill amending the Live Local Act, sponsored by state Sen. Alexis Calatayud, whose district includes portions of Miami Beach.
“Miami Beach’s Art Deco architecture tells the story of who we are,” Estefan said in a statement. “Our Art Deco buildings, like the Cardozo, define Miami Beach and set us apart from every other city in the world.”
While a state House version of the bill includes protections for more than 2,600 historic buildings in Miami Beach, Calatayud’s bill does not, state legislative records show. If the Florida Legislature passes Calatayud’s version, the city would be prohibited from stopping developers from redeveloping the properties into high-rise projects, erasing decades of historic preservation efforts, a Miami Beach spokesperson said.
A Calatayud spokesperson did not respond to a request for comment.
The nearly two-year-old Live Local Act provides developers with incentives, such as increased density, increased height, parking reductions, tax rebates and other sweeteners for developing mixed-use projects that set aside 40 percent of apartments for people earning up to 120 percent of an area median income, or AMI. In Miami-Dade County, the AMI is $79,400.
The law forces local governments to administratively approve projects that comply with the Live Local Act, bypassing public hearings and municipal and county zoning regulations. Across South Florida, Live Local Act projects are popping up.
As written, the Senate’s version of the bill amending the Live Local Act would allow developers to demolish and redevelop properties in commercially zoned districts without requiring local approval, the Miami Beach spokesperson said. In the city, many two-story and three-story buildings built before the 1970s would be at risk for developers seeking to build high-rises, the spokesperson added.
