Miami Presbyterian church gets blessing to sell Brickell land for potential $240M windfall
Miami’s oldest Presbyterian church got the final blessing to move toward closing a $240 million land deal that would enable developers to transform a rare vacant slice of Brickell’s waterfront on the church’s property into condominiums.
It’s been almost a year since First Miami Presbyterian Church declared its intention and a single member of the congregation sought to block the land sale and proposed 80-story condo tower on 2.2 acres at 609 Brickell Ave., filing a formal complaint with church leadership.
Church leaders and the opposing member Cary Tolley met in Louisville and then this week a church governing body sided with the church. Church leaders on Tuesday told the Miami Herald they are finalizing a sale contract with developers that would ultimately lead to construction of the condo building on one of the last remaining waterfront sites in Miami’s prime financial district.
Developers 13th Floor Investments and Key International are working with the church to reach a deal to buy the two-acre tract, said Rev. Dr. Christopher Benek, of First Miami Presbyterian. The original plan called for the 80-story high-rise that would replace the church’s school and parking lot, but the 1948 church would remain on the property. The developers have hired Sieger Suarez — the same architect behind the luxury condos Porsche Design Tower in Sunny Isles Beach and Portofino Tower in South Beach — to design the development.
“This iconic project will provide our congregation with state of the art facilities and the resources to serve the Brickell community in perpetuity,” Benek said in a statement. “We look forward to continuing to work with our partners and the entire Brickell community as we finalize the project.”
Officials at 13th Floor Investments and Key International declined to comment when contacted Tuesday by the Herald, citing final negotiations with the church to acquire the sought-after land.
A church spokesperson said leaders will reach out to the community to share details of the development plan once it’s finalized. Although the church has the right to sell part of its land and have it redeveloped, it might face more backlash. Several parents tied to the church’s school Key Point Christian Academy and some nearby Brickell residents said earlier they opposed building the condo tower. Also, city of Miami officials would have to sign off on any development plan for the site before construction could begin.
“I’m disappointed,” Tolley told the Herald in an interview this week. “I feel like the judicial process of the church has let down the members of First Miami.”
Church members were divided last year on the matter, with 52 of them voting in favor of the land sale and 31 opposing it. In November 2021, Tolley asked the Permanent Judicial Commission of the Synod of South Atlantic — the Presbyterian church’s governing board — to annul the decision. After losing, he appealed to the religious institution’s largest overseeing body, the Permanent Judicial Commission of the General Assembly Permanent Judicial Commission. This week that commission rendered a decision, siding with church leaders and a majority of its members.
Tolley said the decision ignores several concerns about how First Presbyterian leaders conducted last year’s vote online, including that some may have faced technical challenges to even log on and participate.
Presbytery of Tropical Florida controls the Miami church, after it was led for years by its own membership. The presbytery stepped in after the church faced a $7 million property tax lien. The tax bill got slashed to $807,000 last summer.
Tolley said he has zero regrets, and that his opposition push set a precedent for his religious institution. Any church member can now use Tolley’s filing as proof to file a formal complaint against the church, whether it is self-governed or run by the presbytery.
This story was originally published September 14, 2022 at 11:42 AM.
