A developer in the Wynwood Arts District has planned a trio of steel and glass mixed-use residential towers with a cherry on top – literally.
Owner-developer 2400-2500 N Miami LLC has submitted plans for property at 2400, 2412, and 2418 N Miami Ave.
The overall project, LIVWRK Wynwood, is to bring more than 1.9 million square feet of uses in three 45-story towers, home to 1,363 residential units, 25,000 square feet of commercial-retail uses, and a garage for 950 vehicles.
An entire city block at 2400 N Miami Ave. will be devoted to the development.
Miami’s Urban Development Review Board unanimously recommended approval, with one condition: Consider changing the arched design proposed on all building elevations to a shape or design that better reflects the context of the surrounding neighborhood.
In June, the Wynwood Design Review Committee recommended approval, with one condition: Incorporate more local art at the street level to further enhance the existing Wynwood streetscape.
Attorney Carli Koshal, representing the developer, said the property is just over 2 acres on North Miami Avenue, spanning from Northwest 24th to 25th streets and comprising the easternmost portion of a long east-to-west block in Wynwood.
She said the applicant is proposing a mixed-use residential building with ground floor commercial uses, with about 1,966,834 square feet of floor area.
In a letter to the city Ms. Koshal wrote: “The project brings needed residential units to the city’s urban core in the fast-changing Wynwood neighborhood.
“The ground floor commercial space will help activate N. Miami Avenue as well as the easternmost stretch of NW 24th Street, which currently lacks sidewalks and features older structures with blank walls,” she wrote.
The developer is promising affordable housing, via the state’s Live Local Act, in order to incorporate additional height and density beyond what is permissible in the underlying zoning.
Under the Live Local Act, a qualifying project must be in a mixed-use, commercial, or industrial zoning district and commit to restricting a minimum of 40% of its units to serve residents earning up to 120% Area Median Income (AMI) for 30 years.
Of the 1,363 residential units proposed, about 546 are to be income restricted.
Ms. Koshal wrote: “By breaking up the mass and providing separate elevator and circulation cores, the project fulfills the overarching design intent of Miami 21 (zoning code) – to permit the circulation of light and air above the podium level. This gap in the upper-level massing prevents a canyon effect on adjacent streets. The massing is broken vertically and creates visual interest by incorporating amenities not only on top of the podium but also on the 29th and 30th floors.”
The developer is requesting waivers to the Miami 21 code that would allow:
■Up to 50% reduction in the parking ratio for residential uses in the T6-8-O Transect Zone with payment to the Wynwood Parking Trust Fund, and up to a 50% reduction for residential uses in the T5-O Transect Zone with payment to the fund.
■Up to 50% reduction in the parking ratio for commercial uses in the T6-8-O Transect Zone with payment to the Wynwood Parking Trust Fund, and up to a 50% reduction in the parking ratio for commercial uses in the T5-O Transect Zone with payment to the fund.
■Increased lot coverage up to 88%.
■A cross-block pedestrian passage in lieu of a required cross-block pedestrian paseo, with limited vehicular access for ingress and egress.
The development was designed by architectural firm MKDA.
Board member Anthony Tzamtzis said, “First of all, it’s a very, very large project, and I congratulate you on your thinking process and the explanation of how you reached for a final solution.
“I really like the ground level and the way it’s penetrated and the way the pedestrian experience is enhanced.
“I personally have a problem with the arches. I think the arches as an element repeated also at the upper levels, where you have double heights … I just cannot see them. They seem to me that they belong to another project or something, to another building.
“I like very much the landscaping. There’s a tremendous richness of materials, the landscaping that goes up … you have an abundance of materials, an abundance of vocabularies, that are all over the place.
“It’s a very interesting project, I just having some issues with the detailing,” said Mr. Tzamtzis.
Board member Robert Behar said, “I want to commend you on the project. I think urbanistically there is a lot of great, positive elements that you have done.
“I do like the paseos. You’ve employed that into the ground floor to activate all the space, retail internally … there are a few things that are uncertain, I’m not sure … There’s a contradiction there. I agree with my colleague on the architecture. The architectural vocabulary between your base and your tower with the introduction of the arches, I just think it’s not helping at all.
“I like the tower; I just don’t think the arches are appropriate for that vocabulary. I would prefer the vocabulary on the tower rather than the arches,” Mr. Behar said.
Board member Gia Zapattini said, “I love the arches, and the cherry on top. Honestly, to me it’s a beautiful project because it’s a very large development and you did something very fresh and very unique … with this project we’ve never seen one like this. It’s very fresh, very new, very cool – it even has a cherry on top. I think it’s amazing.”
The design plans show architectural structures resembling a bundle of cherries on a rooftop.
Ms. Zapattini said she loves the articulation at the pedestrian level.
“That’s really what we want to see, to bring people walking in the neighborhood. We want to create those types of places rather than a huge tower that’s not very pedestrian friendly, but this for me is great for people.
“The artwork is super creative and I really love it … I hope you build more. I would say it has a lot of expensive detailing but I hope it makes it to your final project and not not get done. It’s really beautiful,” she said.
Acting Board Chairman Agustin Barrera said, “I appreciate how you broke it up … I love the articulation. I love the arches on the ground floor (but) I think they detract on the upper floors, so I think it kind of clashes with the architecture of the tower.
“The tower is a tower and the podium is a podium. If you differentiate that on the tower it would be better.
Mr. Barrera added, “The ground floor plane is fantastic. I really see the excitement between the buildings in the pedestrian mall you have there. I’m in support of the project.”
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