Architects say controversial mixed-use project in Coral Gables can move forward
A proposed nine-story mixed-use development in Coral Gables is one step closer to breaking ground on the site of the Garden of Our Lord, despite a local activist’s campaign to save the garden and a live oak tree said to be up to 200 years old.
At a special master hearing Tuesday, a panel of three independent architects unanimously upheld the Coral Gables Board of Architects’ October 2023 decision to approve the project’s architectural plan. Bonnie Bolton, a Gables resident and activist who has been at odds with developers over the future of the land for years, had appealed the board’s original decision.
The Board of Architects reviews upcoming developments to ensure that structures comply with city design requirements. The proposed project, on a site at 110 Phoenetia Ave., went before the board five times before it was approved.
Tuesday’s hearing was run similar to a court hearing, with Bolton and others testifying under oath. Architects Mitch Alvarez, Willy Bermello and Javier Font, who presided over the hearing, were like judges. The decision of the special masters is final and can only be overturned or changed by the City Commission.
It was standing-room only at the beginning of Tuesday’s hearing, and public comment ran for around an hour. The hearing was one of Bolton’s final opportunities to change the fate of the Garden of Our Lord and its tree.
But even after Tuesday’s decision to uphold the Board of Architects’ initial approval, Bolton and her attorney, David Winker, aren’t giving up. Winker said they’re planning to appeal the decision before the City Commission.
‘Journey is not over’
Bermello, who chaired Tuesday’s panel, said that even though he and the other two architects voted to uphold the board’s previous decision, the residents who oppose the project may get “another bite at the apple.”
The developer still has to get the city’s approval to change the site’s zoning. The lot — which currently houses a school for kids with autism, a since-closed Lutheran church, the Garden of Our Lord and a playground with a tree that Bolton says is older than city itself — is not currently zoned for the proposed mixed-use project.
The late developer Sergio Pino’s company Century Homebuilders bought the swath of land that the Garden of Our Lord and the tree are a part of in 2021 for $9.8 million. Fifield Companies, a Chicago-based developer, is under contract to buy the project from Century if the zoning changes are approved.
“We’re excited to be one step closer to building the project,” Sarina Sorrentino, Fifield’s vice president for development, said after the hearing.
The proposed Mediterranean-inspired development would have 200 apartments and 301 parking spaces. It would also include space for Crystal Academy, the school for children with autism currently on the site.
Several parents of Crystal Academy students spoke in favor of the development Tuesday. After the hearing, the school’s founder, Mary Palacio, told the Herald she’s glad Crystal Academy has remained “top of mind” for both developers and residents.
Activists try to save garden, centennial tree
Some residents have argued that the development’s density, height, style and other factors don’t match the neighborhood it would be a part of. During her presentation at Tuesday’s hearing, Bolton said the project “grotesquely violates” Coral Gables’ building code and is “incompatible” with the surrounding area, which is part of the North Ponce Neighborhood Conservation District and is home to numerous historic single-family homes and garden apartments.
Many said the project doesn’t have enough green space and are asking the city to protect the garden and the large and old trees in the area, including the one in Crystal Academy’s playground that may be up to 200 years old.
Some have suggested relocating the live oak. But two arborists presented differing opinions at Tuesday’s hearing about whether moving the tree would be feasible. Mike McCoy, who estimates the tree is less than 100 years old, said he thinks it’s possible. He’s also supportive of the developer’s plan to replant the tree at 110 Phoenetia after construction is completed.
But Stephen Pearson, who believes the tree is closer to 200 years old, wasn’t so optimistic the tree could survive what he called a “life-threatening surgery.”
“It’s not easy, and maybe impossible, to move an old tree like this successfully,” Pearson said.
The proposed project would have green space within the walls of the building that the public could access through an open passageway. Winker called it a “clever approach” for getting around city green space requirements.
Bolton, the daughter of the late feminist and civil rights activist Roxcy Bolton, describes the garden as a sacred and historic site worth protecting. It was created in 1951 by architect Robert F. Smith, the same architect behind some structures at Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden and the Doc Thomas House. Many of its trees and shrubs were grown from seeds brought back from the Garden of Gethsemane in Jerusalem in the early 1950s by University of Miami professor and Coral Gables resident Hazel Westby.
But Bolton’s previous attempts to preserve the site, including a proposed land swap and efforts to deem the 75-year-old garden historic, have been unsuccessful. After the garden was denied historic status, Bolton wanted to designate just the tree as historic, but Winker said she was not allowed to proceed with her application. He said he’s filed a lawsuit alleging she was improperly denied.
This story was originally published January 14, 2026 at 5:00 AM.
