Coral Gables takes a step forward with developer’s hotel plans on the Mile
The developer behind a proposed hotel on Miracle Mile took another stride forward with its plans.
The City of Coral Gables commission approved the Transfer of Development Rights (TDRs) in early October, which allows the real estate developer and commercial property team Terranova to apply its floor area ratio (FAR) of 7,509 square feet at 348 Miracle Mile to the proposed hotel at 220 Miracle Mile. FAR is the ratio of a building’s total gross area to the size of the piece of land on which it was built.
Mayor Mayor Raúl Valdés-Fauli, commissioners Michael Mena and Patricia Keon approved the TDR. But Vice Mayor Vince Lago and commissioner Jorge Fors voted against it.
“As part of our TDR decision, we need to take a step further and consider the site approval. A vote ‘no’ was an indication that we needed to study it more carefully before making a decision,” said Fors.
Those who voted ‘yes’ focused on solely the TDR approval, but Fors and Lago took a broader view. They weighed the proposal of a seven-story hotel designed by Arquitectonica encompass eight lots on less than an acre. Within 23,940 square feet of space, the hotel would have 120 hotel rooms above 11,000 square feet of ground floor commercial space.
No commissioner agreed with the current parking solution: There would be no on-site parking and Terranova planned to count on two parking garages within 1,000-foot radius of the hotel to source 83 parking spots.
“The number of spaces they proposed was not enough,” said Mena.
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It planned to use the alleyway behind 220 Miracle Mile for valet services to pick up and drop off hotel guests.
“I don’t think that’s acceptable,” said Mena.
Commissioners fear the existing plan would generate congestion. “The cars may back up on Ponce de Leon,” said Fors.
Staff recommended approval of the hotel with the following five conditions:
▪ Terranova must provide 120 parking spaces per hotel room;
▪ Certify that the number of valet attendants corresponds to the submitted valet plan;
▪ Restrict valet service to hotel guests;
▪ Write a remote parking agreement to last five to 10 years with room thereafter to modify;
▪ Study the possibility of making the alley a one-way direction for the segment of the project.
The developer has not submitted modifications to its existing plans since the meeting, said Maria Rosa Higgins Fallon, spokesperson for the City of Coral Gables, over email.
That’s because Terranova is banking on the Planning and Zoning Board reviewing the city’s parking codes in November.
“In its code review, the city is going to modernize parking space utilization,” said Terranova Founder and Chairman Stephen Bittel.
He supported his decision to resist making any changes to existing plans by relying on statistics. According to data provided by Arquitectonica, said Bittel, only 3% of hotel guests in urban hotels in the City of Miami Beach and 6% of hotel guests in the City of Miami need a parking spot. And he said the 6,175 parking spaces within 1,000-foot radius of the hotel should suffice the hotel’s needs.
“Our site plan approval would be contingent on that change,” said Bittel.
If the code changes and the result favors Bittel’s plans, the site plan approval should occur in December, he said.
Besides the parking concerns, Fors and Mena said the hotel plans sound good to them. The $20 million streetscape makeover has not drawn enough foot traffic to the Mile since it was completed last year, said Mena. The hotel might do the trick.
“We’ve invested a lot of money in our streetscape project, but storefronts still sit empty,” said Mena. “If he can figure out the parking, then I think it can be a positive.”
Business travelers in particular, said Fors, who are visiting some of the companies headquartered in the City Beautiful may be enticed to stay on the Mile.
He said, “It would be a great economic driver for downtown.”
This story was originally published November 4, 2019 at 4:30 AM.
