Preservation board to decide on historic designation of the Miami Herald building (condo, buy)

[SunnyBDale]

The owners are against preservation because they plan to develop the site. The preservation board will be breaking state and national law if they decide to preserve the building.

[Coconut1]

Originally Posted by miamiATR

I'm against the full casino proposal

Why?

[xS☺B☺s]

Originally Posted by Coconut1

Sobe- glad you didn't fall, you look pretty close to the edge there! LOL!

Thanks Coco - me too! I was rather nuts back then - being merely 20. I was working day labor on the roof - and the ledge there is about 2.5 feet wide. When I was standing up there, the boss kept saying, you should get down from there - you could fall. At that age like most kids with no sense or mortality, I was pretty fearless. And since the ledge was 2.5 ft wide, I could not see how it was possible to fall. At the time, I thought it was akin to just arbitrarily falling down for no reason while walking down the sidewalk. It just doesn't happen, especially to me, being one of cat-like balance (at the time anyways).

I'd never do such a thing again. Nowadays, I get dizzy just thinking about that!

[FlyMIA]

Originally Posted by SunnyBDale

The owners are against preservation because they plan to develop the site. The preservation board will be breaking state and national law if they decide to preserve the building.

Exactly. If they do decide to preserve it then what ever government board decides it city or county I have no idea how it works will owe Genting 220 Million Dollars or allow them to destroy the ugly building.

[miamiATR]

Originally Posted by Coconut1

Why?

Because a massive resort development isn't what we need to help foster a successful downtown area... too many of these developments (ie, condo towers) are designed to be insular and that's what's keeping our city from true urban vibrancy

[Coconut1]

Originally Posted by miamiATR

Because a massive resort development isn't what we need to help foster a successful downtown area... too many of these developments (ie, condo towers) are designed to be insular and that's what's keeping our city from true urban vibrancy

I disagree. A lot of condo buildings do have street level commercial spaces. The issue is cleaning up the streets Downtown to make it more appealing for pedestrians.

Look at how successful Mary Brickell Village has been, and the new buildings in Brickell overall compared to the new buildings in Downtown. Most buildings in Brickell have their spaces filled and even if you look at the past 3-4 years when we've been in a recession, Brickell has continued to grow, add more businesses and increase foot traffic.

If anything, adding the resort would help foster a successful Downtown (provided it is developed right) because it will be bringing in an influx of people to help support Downtown businesses.

[xS☺B☺s]

Originally Posted by Coconut1

I disagree. A lot of condo buildings do have street level commercial spaces. The issue is cleaning up the streets Downtown to make it more appealing for pedestrians.

Look at how successful Mary Brickell Village has been, and the new buildings in Brickell overall compared to the new buildings in Downtown. Most buildings in Brickell have their spaces filled and even if you look at the past 3-4 years when we've been in a recession, Brickell has continued to grow, add more businesses and increase foot traffic.

If anything, adding the resort would help foster a successful Downtown (provided it is developed right) because it will be bringing in an influx of people to help support Downtown businesses.

And besides that, there is no development that is too big for Miami. Miami is a big place. That development no matter how massive, will be just another nook in a huge urban area full of places one can choose from.

I am very preservationist, but as PPs say, that building lacks esthetic value.

[Coconut1]

Originally Posted by xS☺Be

And besides that, there is no development that is too big for Miami. Miami is a big place. That development no matter how massive, will be just another nook in a huge urban area full of places one can choose from.

Yep. There is still TONS of space in both Brickell, Downtown and especially Midtown that needs to be redeveloped. The Genting site really is a drop in the bucket.

[canefandynasty]

Yes. Miami needs to expand. They need to have an even bigger building boom than the last one, to show America that they have arrived. Why is FAA restricting Miami? Why is Tallahassee and other Miami guys like Micky Arison bullying Genting? Micky's my man, and I know he lost billions of dollars last year, but it wasn't b/c of Genting. Just you saw Genting as a potential threat, doesn't mean you should hate. They should just demolish the building. Honestly, there isn't any historical significance in it. Just demolish it and let Genting do his thing. Building Resorts World would galvanize competition in South Florida, and take Miami to the next level. We need a casino to attract outside tourists. We need a complete 180. I'm tired of other cities making fun of us and our economy. We need to show them that we deserve respect.

[miamiATR]

While some condos in Brickell have ground-level retail or other commercial uses, the majority are designed as luxury suburbs in the sky with little regard for the urban fabric. Hopefully you're right that the casino will ultimately be only a minor part of the downtown cityscape, but my fear is that a large, insular development like a resort will stunt the future development in an area that is very much in its infancy in terms of urban vibrancy