Some Outraged Downtown Residents Have Made A Move Against The City of Miami For Ultra & Formula 1 Proposal

Not everyone can always be happy, no sooner then Miami had made strides on the world stage to host the Formula 1 Miami Grand Prix in the streets of Downtown Miami, had a group of 11 residents moved against the city. Some Downtown Miami residents have teamed up and sought legal council combatting the city hosting Ultra Music Festival in Downtown's Bayfront Park and the city's bid to bring a Formula 1 race to the streets of Downtown and PortMiami as early as October 2019. The residents, who live in 50 Biscayne and Epic, have sent a Cease and Desist letter to the city. The proposed 2.57-mile course would run through Downtown Miami's Biscayne Boulevard, American Airlines Arena and PortMiami. The letter alleges that both the Formula 1 Miami Grand Prix and "mega events" such as Ultra Music Festival and Rolling Loud Festival, all violate the City of Miami's noise ordinance, which in turn negatively affects the health of nearby residents and their property values. 

Ultra Music Festival has garnered much attention for the city of Miami, helping aid to boost property values and tourism. If looking at cities such as Monaco, property values on the race course have been boosted by popularity and a condo-hotel such as Epic benefits greatly from major events in near proximity. The noise ordinance clause has been used against other Downtown venues including the nightclubs behind Marquis Residences, Ten Museum, One Thousand Musuem, 900 Biscayne and Marina Blue. The difference between the two cases is one targets events which bring millions of dollars of benefit to the city and its taxpayers, typically operating during the day, while the clubs in question operate at late night hours with resident complaints coming between the hours of 2 am and 6 am with private prosperity. 

Ultra Music Festival was sold out in 2018 with a record-breaking attendance of 165,000 and over 30 million online streams. Ultra Music Festival is renegotiating their lease for hosting the festival in Bayfront Park, with Miami commissioners asking for rent to rise to $2 million. Ultra Music Festival currently pays around $1 million annually to host the festival at the site. Formula 1 does not yet have a deal in place, although city commissioners approved the race in a unanimous 5-0 vote in May 2018. Formula One has 500 million global fans and currently hosts 21 races across five continents which are broadcast to over 1.8 billion viewers. Hosting a Formula 1 Grand Prix's economic impact on Montreal is around $65 million and Formula 1 claims the Formula 1 Miami Grand Prix could produce over $700 million annually for the city. Set-up time could take up to 3 months while clean up would take 2-3 weeks. The city expects to be sued over the matter. 

Demolition Now Underway On Site Of Future Allan Shulman-Designed Hotel Tower in Downtown Miami

Demolition is now underway at 511 NE 15th Street where Mandala Holdings is planning to build a 40-story hotel tower designed by Allan Shulman. In May the developers received a demolition permit for the 4,457 SF of existing buildings on the 11,700 SF site, although a construction permit to proceed with the new tower has not yet been applied for. The new tower will rise 580' and feature 270 hotel rooms, a rooftop bar, office space and retail.  The tower's design will feature a unique curtain wall system of colored glass. The property, which is adjacent to the future site of Resorts World Miami, is located the main artery leading onto the Venetian Causeway and at the base of the Adrienne Arsht Center Metromover. Mandala Holdings purchased the lot for $8 million in 2016. PROFILEmiami previously reported that The Courtyard by Marriott would be the operating entity and that the project was expected to be completed by 2020.

Adler Group Reveals Updated Plans For City of Miami's Riverside Center Designed By NBWW

Adler Group has revealed updated plans for the City of Miami's Riverside Center designed by Nichols Brosch Wurst Wolfe & Associates (NBWW). The project is located at 444 SW 2nd Ave. in Downtown Miami. The proposal features 4 towers, three of which would be mixed-use with residential, hotel and retail components while the fourth would feature office space. Adler currently owns a portion of the lot and a vote in November would allow the developer to relocate city staff and gain control of the riverfront city-owned building. The Urban Infill and Greenways Subcommittee of the Miami River Commission has backed the proposal. 

Tour Melo Group's Newly Delivered, Arquitectonica-Designed Aria On The Bay

Melo Group's Aria on the Bay is now open for business, after launching sales and construction in 2015. The 53-story, Arquitectonica-designed waterfront tower, located at 1770 N. Bayshore Drive along Biscayne Bay, has become the latest condominium to deliver in Downtown’s growing Arts & Entertainment District. The building is currently closing and delivering units to pre-construction buyers at a rate of over 20 closings per day and the building is over 90% sold. 

Units at Aria on the Bay range from 1 to 4 bedrooms and $400K to $6 million and sold around $550 per square foot. Residences feature floor-to-ceiling glass, expansive wrap-around terraces, private elevator access, open-plan living areas, designer finishes and fixtures, European-style kitchens, and modern custom-designed cabinetry. Amenities include a 14th floor resort amenity deck with 2 sunrise/sunset swimming pools, a jacuzzi, custom-seated fire pits, barbecue grills and outdoor summer kitchens, a private spa with massage treatment facilities, a state-of-the-art fitness center, yoga studio, entertainment lounge, and a screening room.

“When we broke ground on Aria on the Bay three years ago, we envisioned a tower that not only offered first-rate amenities in an ideal location but one whose design would convey elegance and sophistication. We are confident that Aria will take its place among Miami’s most iconic landmarks,” said Carlos Melo, principal of the Melo Group.

Baseball superstar Giancarlo Stanton of the New York Yankee purchased one of Aria on the Bay’s triplex penthouses in 2017 and Grammy Award-winning record producer and rapper Timbaland also purchased two units at the building. Remaining units currently available for sale include a range of one- to four-bedroom condos priced from the $400,000's up to $1.8 million with sales being exclusively overseen by Cervera Real Estate.

Tour the amenities below:

Photos via Cervera Real Estate

Check out our PROFILE Exclusive Interview with Carlos and Martin Melo of Melo Group 

Check out PROFILEmiami's August 2016 Construction Update of Aria on the Bay

New Renderings Revealed of Miami Worldcenter

New renderings have been revealed of Miami Worldcenter where the site maps now show a 24-story, 250-key hotel on the 7th Street Promenade. The hotel would be one block from the 1,700-key Marriott Marquis Hotel & Convention Center, which is also coming to Miami Worldcenter. Zom will also break ground in the next few months on Luma Miami Worldcenter, a 44-story, 434-unit residential tower. Zom has proposed $3.2 million to rebuild the Freedom Tower Metromover Station due to needing a utilities and pedestrian easement through the property to move ahead with Luma Miami Worldcenter. The station would be designed to integrate with Miami Worldcenter aesthetically and would give the public direct access to the district. 

Miami Worldcenter is a $2 billion mixed-use mega-project coming to Downtown Miami led by Art Falcone, Nitin Motwani. The total retail component will features 360,000 SF of high-street retail which Miami Worldcenter Associates, Taubman Centers and The Forbes Company are currently leasing. Miami Worldcenter is being developed by Miami Worldcenter Associates, Taubman Centers, The Forbes Company, and MDM Group with the master plan designed by Elkus Manfredi Architects. The project includes the PARAMOUNT Miami Worldcenter condo tower being developed by Paramount Ventures led by Dan Kodsi, in addition to a 1,700-key Marriott Marquis Miami Worldcenter Hotel & Expo as well as a 45-story office tower being developed by Hines.  

Check out the construction timeline for Miami Worldcenter

Watch the Full Panel From PROFILEmiami's Exploration into Miami's Art In Public Places Initiative

Real estate news platform PROFILEmiami hosted a thought-provoking symposium about Miami’s Art in Public Places program. Hosted on March 28, 2018, the special panel event, which took place in downtown Miami’s Arts + Entertainment District in the CANVAS condominium tower being developed NR Investments, put a spotlight on future development in the city and explored best practices for the ongoing incorporation of works of art in real estate projects. 

Panelists Featured:
- Jeremy Calleros Gauger, Deputy Director of the Planning Department for the City of Miami
- Steven Gretenstein, Dacra COO
- David Polinsky, Fortis Design + Build Principal
- Gary Ressler, TILIA Companies Principal  
- Nir Shoshani, NR Investments Principal and A+E Co-Founder
- Moderated by: Demetri Demascus, PROFILEmiami Publisher

Guests, who were treated to cocktails and hors d'oeuvres by PROFILEmiami, additionally had a question-and-answer session with the panelists, getting the opportunity to delve into important topics and gain insights regarding unique initiatives unfolding within the city.  Before the panel began, CANVAS and NR Investments also hosted hardhat tours of the property, showcasing several of the condominium building’s 170-foot interior wall murals – all of which are being painted by urban contemporary artists from around the world.

Watch above or: https://youtu.be/pU2om2b0wpw

Check out the full gallery and inside scoop from PROFILEmiami Present's Miami's Art in Public Places Initiative Panel Hosted With CANVAS

CANVAS Reveals New Renderings Of Lifestyle Amenities & 1st Mural By Daniel "Krave" Fila

NR Investments, the developers of CANVAS, the flagship condominium of downtown Miami’s Arts + Entertainment District, have released new renderings of the property’s ninth-floor amenity deck as well as an image of one of the Daniel "Krave" Fila commissioned murals. Newly revealed renderings show the 100' long, enclosed dog run overlooking downtown Miami, and a glass-enclosed racquetball court built to professional specifications. Other amenities at CANVAS include an outdoor yoga garden, state-of-the-art fitness center, movie screening room, kids play room, and three outdoor pools. 

CANVAS will deliver this summer, bringing 513 new studio, one- and two-bedroom residences to Miami’s downtown urban core. Residences are attainably priced between $386,200 and $630,000. The project is 85% sold and is Fannie Mae-approved, making it possible for qualified buyers to get financing up to 97% on units. Earlier this year, NR Investments announced that Graspa Group, the Miami restaurant operator behind the Segafredo, would team up with award-winning international bartender Daniele Dalla Pola to launch a new craft cocktail establishment to anchor the ground-floor retail component at CANVAS. The new restaurant/bar, “Esotico Miami,” will open in Fall 2018.

“CANVAS is more than a condo – it’s a vertical village. So we’ve placed a lot of emphasis on communal spaces and amenities that residents want today – amenities more typically found in high-end luxury condominiums,” said Nir Shoshani, principal, NR Investments. 
In addition to the lifestyle amenities, CANVAS is the only condominium to feature 27 floors of large-scale murals and original artwork by urban artists. The CANVAS Collection, commissioned by NR Investments and curated by Miami urban artist Daniel “Krave” Fila, brought together over 20 artists from Miami and other parts of the world to create over 200 original works of art for the property’s residential corridors.

“We took the idea of a ‘canvas’ to its most literal extreme and gave all of these artists free reign to express themselves on our walls,” said Shoshani. “It’s an unprecedented collaboration, and we took a huge risk doing this, but we wanted to stay true to our vision of creating a residential community that reflects the creativity and culture of Miami.” 

Miami Worldcenter Unveils Construction Timeline for the Mixed-Use Development

Miami Worldcenter is currently the second largest urban development underway in the United States and occupies 27 acres in the heart of downtown Miami. The ten-block project is expected to account for $2 billion in new investment in downtown Miami and will include world-class retail, hospitality, commercial and residential uses. 

The project, whose “master plan has been in the making for more than a decade” is running on all cylinders with more than 800 workers active on site each day as the project prepares to open its first residential phase as early as this year. To date, 4,000 workers have been hired, and approximately 75 percent of those live in Miami-Dade County. A Class AA office tower of this size and scale hasn’t been built in Miami in a decade and its construction coincides with the launch of Brightline’s rail service into Downtown Miami, which will bring Miami commuters to Fort Lauderdale and West Palm Beach starting Saturday, May 19th.

The developers, Miami Worldcenter Associates, provided PROFILE with this construction timeline:

• CAOBA apartments will welcome renters to its 444 units who are seeking a well-connected location adjacent to multiple transportation hubs in the fourth quarter of this year. 
• PARAMOUNT Miami Worldcenter, a 569-unit luxury condominium tower is slated for completion during the first quarter of 2019. 
• The open-air retail, dining and entertainment component, developed in collaboration with The Forbes Company and Taubman, is underway with more than 140,000 square feet of space in construction and another 160,000 square feet forthcoming in phase one. Delivery is expected to begin in the fourth quarter of 2019.
• MDM Group expects to begin construction of its 1,700 room Marriot Marquis, complete with 500,000 square feet of meeting, exposition and event space, in the fourth quarter of 2018.
• LUMA, a 434-unit luxury apartment tower to be developed by ZOM, will break ground later this year with completion anticipated in 2020.
• A new Class AA office-led mixed-use tower developed by Hines will begin rising out of the ground next year in advance of opening to tenants in 2021.

“Today’s consumers are looking for convenience and connectivity, and Miami Worldcenter delivers on both,” said Nathan Forbes, Managing Partner of The Forbes Company. “We see strong demand for a pedestrian-friendly shopping, dining and entertainment district that will be home to premier brands and inviting public spaces flowing seamlessly with surrounding streets and nearby transit options. Once complete, Miami Worldcenter will become the perfect confluence of arts, culture, entertainment and transportation.” 

Article by Katya Demina

Formula One Is Coming To Downtown Miami In 2019 After City Commissioners Vote Unanimously

Last week the Miami City Commission voted 5-0 to bring a Formula One Grand Prix to Downtown Miami. Set to be part of Formula One's 2019 schedule, most likely in October, and will give the circuit a second event in the United States. The vote approved Resolution No. 22, which approves bringing a Formula One race to the city, Formula 1 Miami Grand Prix, from 2019 through 2028. The 2.57-mile course will run through Downtown Miami's Biscayne Boulevard, American Airlines Arena and PortMiami; although 4-time World Champion Lewis Hamilton, who is ecstatic about the race coming to Miami, has said that he would like to see changes to the proposed track. Promotions will be handled by Related Companies' and Miami Dolphins' owner Stephen M. Ross via his Ross Initiative in Sports for Equality (RISE). 

The approval of Formula One to come to Miami will bring a major, positive economic impact to the city. Formula One has 500 million global fans and currently hosts 21 races across five continents which are broadcast to over 1.8 billion viewers. The U.S. Grand Prix, which takes place in Austin, has attracted over 200,000 visitors to the city during race weekends. Adding races in the United States has been a goal of Liberty Media Corp. who acquired Formula One in 2016 for $1.1 billion in cash, 138 million Liberty Media shares and $351 million worth of an exchangeable debt instrument, issued by Formula One, which can be exchanged for shares of Liberty Media. Liberty Media also assumed $4.1 billion in Formula One's current debt. Liberty Media is also aiming to host races in the Las Vegas and New York markets which should further bolster the sports' fast growing popularity in the U.S. 

Brightline to Kick Off Service To Miami Via MiamiCentral Station May 19

Brightline will officially begin passenger service from Fort Lauderdale to Miami on May 19. Tickets are now on sale for the rail service connecting West Palm Beach to Downtown Miami, priced from $10 for Smart Service which offers 19' seats; and $15 for select service, which features 21' seats, more leg room, complimentary snacks and beverages as well as access to premium select lounge. West Palm Beach to Miami is available from $15 for smart service and $25 for select service. A grand opening weekend is already nearly sold out with tickets priced from $3 to $5. Brightline MiamiCentral Station is located at 600 NW 1st Avenue and features CentralFare, a 50,000 SF food hall slated to open fall 2018 complete with Einstein's Bros. Bagels, Joe & The Juice and Starbucks. 

Brightline is setting the new benchmark for travel by train in America with express inter-city passenger rail service connecting Miami, Fort Lauderdale and West Palm Beach, with future service to Orlando. Providing a travel option that lives at the intersection of transportation and hospitality, the service is expected to reduce traffic and provide South Floridians with a simple and intuitive experience from door to destination, and foster new opportunities to explore more of Southeast Florida. Brightline will be the only privately owned, operated and maintained passenger rail system in the United States.