New owner defends plan to demolish Phil Collins’ Miami Beach home to keep family safe
Billionaire Orlando Bravo told a Miami Beach board Tuesday that he has no choice but to demolish music legend Phil Collins’ former home.
“For us this is not a project, this is not an investment, this is a family home that we want to live in for a long time,” Bravo, co-founder and managing partner of the Thoma Bravo equity and capital firm, said to members of the Design and Review Board. “We want a safe and resilient house. The old structure accomplishes none of that.”
Bravo, who attended the meeting in person to defend his plan to demolish the former Collins’ residence at 5800 North Bay Road, said he explored all options to save and adapt the two-story house, built in 1929, without success.
Bravo bought the mansion in January for nearly $40 million. Thoma Bravo announced the next month that it would expand to Miami, opening its third U.S. office at 830 Brickell. He brought 50 employees and their families to join him in Miami from his existing San Francisco and Chicago offices.
The new planned modern 2-story residence would include five bedrooms, five bathrooms, a dining room, family room, living room, playroom, cinema and bar, according to the plans. A detached two-story garage would have staff quarters, and a separate two-story building would house two guest suites and two home offices.
Design and Review Board members failed to come to a decision on whether to approve the demolition and new design and will take up the matter again at their Oct. 20 meeting.
One board member, Sam Sheldon, voiced his approval, saying, “The board does not have the power to deny the demolition of this home. I intend to vote in favor of this project.”
Another, Jason Hagopian, said, “It’s looking fascinating and that intrigues me, so I’m happy about that.”
Some neighbors also showed their support. In addition to Bravo’s team presenting nine signatures of support, three neighbors called into the meeting to express their approval for the design.
“This house is not a beautiful old Miami Beach home,” Christopher Hanson said of the former Collins’ residence. “This is a dark, dreary home that I see get renovated each time. I’m in favor of what’s being proposed by the new owner.”
A handful of residents opposed Bravo’s plans.
“I’m tired of people coming to our city and tearing down perfectly fine homes to build these ugly houses,” said Julie Isaacson, who called into the meeting. “We have to stop demolishing our historically significant houses. We have to do a better job so that people don’t have to go through this process. I feel they are destroying the character of Miami Beach with these ugly box homes.”
Jack Finglass, the chair of the Miami Beach historic preservation board, attended the meeting in person to express his opposition to the project. Waving a stack of paper, Finglass said he has the support and signatures of over dozens of people opposed to it.
An approval of the new design and demolition of the home, Finglass said, would lead to “dumping our history down the trash chute.”
This story was originally published October 5, 2021 at 8:49 PM.
