Historic Huntington Building in downtown Miami shut down over ‘life safety’ issue
The historic Huntington Building in downtown Miami has been evacuated due to illegal remodeling that created a life safety issue, according to city officials.
The 13-story building, built in 1925 at 168 SE First St., was occupied by several businesses. The building was evacuated March 16.
Commissioner Manolo Reyes, who also serves as chairman of the tax-funded Downtown Development Authority, told the Miami Herald that the fire department told him that fire escapes on multiple floors were closed off by interior walls that were installed without permits.
The building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1989. It is also designated historic under city regulations that require certain changes to the building to be approved by the city’s Historic and Environmental Preservation Board (HEPB).
“I don’t know how they did renovations like that without going to the HEPB board,” Reyes said.
One business owner renting space on the building’s fourth floor was skeptical of the city’s reaction. Diliana Alexander, executive director of nonprofit FilmGate, called the shutdown “draconian.” She was at the music and film festival South by Southwest in Austin, Texas, on March 16 when her staff called to tell her that a squad of Miami firefighters and police officers hurriedly rushed around their floor telling people they needed to leave.
Alexander criticized the city for evacuating the whole tower over problems that she said are not life-threatening. She said she could access the fire escape from her floor.
“The structure is safe. This is not Surfside,” she said, referencing the collapse of the Champlain Towers South condominium in June 2021, which killed 98 people.
Alexander’s mother owns the fourth floor, a purchase made after FilmGate Miami was priced out of Wynwood in recent years. Alexander is among several tenants who work in filmmaking, photography and media production on the floor who have had to rapidly relocate, losing days of business in the process.
“We don’t know how long we are going to be out,” Alexander said.
The city of Miami released a statement Thursday afternoon that said the “evacuation of a building is not a decision taken lightly.”
“This situation creates a life safety issue not only to the tenants, but to visitors and the entire surrounding area,” the statement reads. “As of today, the building management is working with city of Miami officials to assist tenants in removal of necessary office equipment.”
The tower’s units are organized as condominiums. More than two dozen businesses operating in the building have been displaced, according to a source familiar with the matter.
Officials said they are assessing the scope of repairs that are necessary to reopen the building.
The Huntington Building was built by developer Frederick Rand and designed by architect Louis Kamper. The tower has sculptures resembling knights along the building’s roofline.
This story was originally published March 23, 2023 at 3:26 PM.
