Condos vs. historic preservation in Miami (Miami Beach, Coral Gables: 2013, luxury, centers)

[hurricaneMan1992]

First it is announced a month or so ago that the historic Scientology reading room on Biscayne Blvd. will have a luxury condo build right on top of it. This week, it is the Miami-Dade Cultural Center that is under the gun. I mean, seriously--when there are blocks of old dilapidated parking garages just a block to the west? And it seems like they intend to demolish most if not all of the Center, not just build on top of it. I mean, sure, it is not the best area now, but you have to imagine that with the current pace of downtown area development, especially after All Aboard Florida opens and 10-20 years of gentrification, things will be entirely different in that part of downtown. And like I said, there are old parking structures a block to the west which have zero historic preservation value.

One would think you'd replace those old garages with a shared parking arrangement in turn giving the developer an incentive to build there, but instead, what we would end up with is yet another massive parking structure at street level which will effectively replace one of the last remaining historic outdoor "public square" spaces in DWTN.

At least the Miami Circle has been preserved, and the archaeological Tequesta burial ground on the other side of the Miami River has "kind of" been preserved (although with mega development above and surrounding it....).

No wonder one of the Miami Beach mayoral candidates is running on a platform of Coral Gables-esq historic preservation. Perhaps Miami needs to learn a thing or two. Great world class cities are not just made of luxury high rise condos and retail centers.

[tallrick]

The only industry Miami has is money laundering. They will do anything to create more debt regardless of how it fails. Remember the Miami Arena? The White Elephant is the path to wealth for the well connected. Most of those condos will be abandoned and neglected once the current QE fueled economy fails. Historic preservation does not create money for the establishment, and most of Miami's history is gone anyway. That "cultural center" is a failure and disgusting compared to the main library it replaced. Might as well let the developers totally trash Miami as they have pretty much done it already. A hurricane will press the reset button for your descendants.