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A few projects were actually killed by FAA height restrictions because developers couldn't get the bang for their buck they were looking for. For instance, Platinum on the Bay at NE 29th Street in Edgewater was originally planned ,at the beginning of the boom, to be our new tallest at 805 feet, but the FAA said "No way" because it's right in line with a runway, and you can actually see that runway in the pic I posted on page 12. The developer asked at what height could they build it, and they were told they had to bring the building down to 600 feet. So they went back to the drawing board and reconfigured the project so that it was 590 feet tall, but in the time that took, market parameters had changed such that they deemed the project no longer feasible. Pilots were calling all the new development along Biscayne Bay: "The Great Wall of Miami!"
There is also a runway that runs diagonal to that east-west runway from southeast to northwest where planes cross the southern end of the Brickell Financial District. One pic I posted from a jet plane is actually using that approach (page 9), so there is a triangle between these crisscrossing runways where we can have 1,000 feet tall buildings near Biscayne Bay, but not west of Miami Avenue.
Empire World Towers and One Bayfront Plaza were originally planned at 1,200 feet and 1,180 feet tall respectively, but again, the FAA said "No way!" So the City of Miami and developers got their own experts and challenged MIA and the FAA height restrictions as being outmoded, outdated and too restrictive. After a two-year fight, the agreement was 1,010 feet in the Central Business District and the Brickell Financial District east of Miami Avenue and 649 feet in the Edgewater Arts District. Empire World Towers was brought down to 1,022 feet and One Bayfront Plaza approved by the city at 1,049 feet. We are still waiting to see if the FAA is going to let us have those heights being just over the new restricitions. TheFour Seasons was originally planned to be over 900 feet tall, but was brought down to 789 feet by the FAA. Now with the new restrictions, it could have been built where it is now at over 900 feet tall, but no use crying over spilled milk.
Last edited by NewAtlantisMiami; 06-17-2008 at 09:27 PM..
^ That REALLY sucks about Height Restrictions in Miami. Especially on Bayfront plaza because i really love the design. EWT is nice too. Lets hope they at least get built!
^ That REALLY sucks about Height Restrictions in Miami. Especially on Bayfront plaza because i really love the design. EWT is nice too. Lets hope they at least get built!
The developer of One Bayfront Plaza, Tibor Hollo (and his sons), seems quite serious about making One Bayfront Plaza the signature building of Miami as his legacy to the city. I believe if it doesn't happen before he dies, since he is in his 80s after all, his sons will get it done. He was behind Villa Magna, a 574 feet tall twin luxury condominium project that was going to go up on the remaining piece of bayfront property in the Brickell Financial District. He kept announcing imminent ground-breaking when he sold the project. Some of the younger forumers said it was because of the market, but Tibor had just recently maintained that the high-end market was still strong here in Miami. I think someone made him an offer he couldn't refuse that ensured the future of One Bayfront Plaza. We dont know what's going to happen to the Villa Magna site being a piece of prime real estate as the last bayfront property in Brickell, but it's a great site for a supertall. Tibor also built the Opera Tower as well as the old Omni Mall here. The reason I say I believe somebody made him an offer he couldn't refuse is because he is a well-respected developer of many years here in Miami and can essentially do whatever he wants.
The developer of Empire World Towers says that he will build it in the next five years, if the market wants it. Now I've been told in a private message by a Miami forumer in the know, that a developer, that all you Chicago guys know (see page 10), has become interested in the project. The hold-up in the approval process is the orientation of the buildings as they are currently planned. One faces Everglades on the Bay broadside (page 14), and he doesn't like that. He does not want his tenants looking directly into another building. So they are working on changing the plans around there. And I have also heard that a lot of projects that many Miami forumers think are dead are actually not really dead. There are developers who are simply waiting to make their move, and until they do, it's nobody's business but theirs.
Last edited by NewAtlantisMiami; 06-17-2008 at 10:33 PM..
Thanks NewAtlantis,you have really opened up my eyes to Miami, maybe one day we will be able to come here and say Miami and Chicago are the top 2 skylines in the USA!!!!
This is the reason myself and a few other Miami forumers spend so much time and energy on other threads talking about Miami and posting pics, even though I know it gets annoying to some people who have seen the same pics over and over on different threads. If we can openmore people's eyes and bring more attention to what's happening here in Miami, we can generate more excitement and interest whereby we might see more interesting projects make it out of the ground, rather than all the white condos that JMT mentioned earlier that don't look very interesting because of those developers who just want to make a buck, so there is definitely method to my madness.
Also, if Miami does resemble Chicago more in the future, there is a very specific reason for it. I'm not sure if I've mentioned on this thread already (excuse me if I have), but our mayor looks to Chicago as a model to structure Miami's growth. This was even in the Miami Herald a few months ago.
New Atlantis is what I had planned to name a real estate company at one point because I tie it all into the myth of Atlantis and Edgar Cayce's prediction that it would one day rise again near Bimini. Since Miami's building boom begin at the beginning of the new millennium, the 21st century where everything was supposed to be more advanced, I tie it all into the rebirth of an advanced civilization and a progressive superculture to generate more excitement and interest as if the "dawning of a new age" is happening here. I know we have a long way to go, believe me! I see it every time I drive to my aunt's house.
I also tie it into 9/11 when asked what brought this all about and where the demand came from. It is more complex than this, but essentially the war on terrorism and the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq produced a weak dollar against a strong Euro, lower interest rates, and American property became a bargain for European investors. This applys to what is happening in Chicago as well. It is cause and effect. An incredibly constructive force was born out of the destructive power of war and terrorism.
Here is a new pic hot off the press! It was taken by a Miami forumer and it is Icon Brickell as seen from the top of the Wachovia building (showcased as "Our Finest Chicago Connection" in post #93 on page 10. The pic of Trump International, in post #91 on page 10, kind of reminds of me of Empire World Towers. I wonder.)
This photo serves to illustrate how much construction we had going on at once here in Miami, but it's only a piece of the skyline. At the height of the "boom", we had more construction going on in Miami than anywhere else in the world except Dubai. With the office "boom" that followed the condo "boom," the construction boom remains continuous. There are several towers not yet visible simply because they haven't gone vertical. The market has cooled, but now the skyline itself has become its own advertisement.
Great photos of Miami! As always NewAtlantisMiami, you've done a great job representing Miami on this thread, great job! The future for high-rise construction is bright. There's still more coming...
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The FAA and the Miami Skyline
The New Atlantis / The Chicago of the South!
