A new multi-use residential project, The Aurea, is planned for a site near the Dolphin Expressway and Miami’s Health District.
Owner-developer HPM Lot 5 LLC is proposing the 29-story building at 1321 NW Ninth Ave., to be home to 332 multi-family residential units, amenities, and some ground floor retail.
In application documents, the project is also called Highland Park Lot 5. The property is north of Northwest 13th Street and south of the freeway.
The city’s Urban Development Review Board has unanimously recommended approval, with several conditions:
■Add glazing to the southwest corner of the building on the ground floor to enhance the pedestrian experience.
■Ensure trees in the pocket park are mature to provide more shade coverage and organized in a row to provide an axial design to the greenspace.
■Add architectural treatment or articulation to all building elevations to provide an architectural transition and to make the podium more cohesive with the tower.
■Ensure the parking garage screening material on the west, south and east elevations is durable and conceals the internal elements of the garage.
■Substitute for the burnt orange color proposed on all building elevations with a bronze color to create a more complementary and cohesive architectural composition.
■Redesign the balcony proportions on all elevations to create a pattern more intrinsic to the building design and respectful of the neighborhood context.
■Add grand balconies to the smaller, end dwelling units to enhance the building’s functions and architectural design.
Attorney Javier E. Fernández, representing the developer, said in a letter that the project intends to use development bonuses in a state law, the Live Local Act, in order to incorporate additional height and density beyond what the underlying zoning district permits.
Under the act, a qualifying project is in a mixed-use, commercial, or industrial zoning district and commits to restricting at least 40% of its units to serve residents earning up to 120% of the Area Median Income for 30 years.
Mr. Fernández also noted waivers to the Miami 21 zoning code that the developer is requesting, which would allow:
■Parking along a primary frontage that extends into the second layer above the first story, with an art or glass treatment of design.
■Parking to extend into the second layer beyond 50% of the length of the pedestal above the first story at the secondary frontage, if an art or glass treatment provided is approved by the planning director.
■Vehicular entry width in excess of 30 feet.
The project is designed by architectural firm Arquitectonica, which offered details of the design elements it employed in a companion letter to the city.
It reads: “Aurea is located on a vacant lot at the northern border of the Spring Garden neighborhood with the 836 Expressway to the north and the Culmer Station Metrorail station to the south.
“Directly to the north side of the 836 Expressway is the Miami Medical District with several midrise towers as well as the Jackson Health Metrorail Station. Additionally, the project is just east of the large interchange of I-95 and I-395.
“The project draws inspiration from its transit-oriented surroundings by translating that movement directly into the geometries of the façades of the project. These façades are divided into three zones vertically – the podium, the tower, and the rooftop amenities where each zone displays a distinct yet cohesive language.
“The podium combines a dark-colored metallic screening with bronze-colored large-scale curvilinear geometries that sweep the full height of the parking levels to highlight the ground floor lobby and retail spaces. The retail is placed at the corner of the lot to bring activation to the street environment.
“Above the podium are the residential tower levels which utilize shifting windows, similar to vehicles changing lanes, set along a neutral colored façade and curved balconies in plan.
“At the top of the building, the bronze linear geometries are reenvisioned as a surface that envelops the amenities and outdoor pool deck. This feature also provides a skyline effect to the projects’ overall massing. Exterior lighting is planned to highlight the building’s features to create a dramatic nighttime experience,” Arquitectonica wrote.
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