One Bayfront Plaza spices up Miami

 

Friday, June 08, 2007

By Kelly Matlock

 

Miami, FL, US (NCS) - A hallmark building designed to ascend 1,049 feet, 1,180 feet to the top of its spire, is planned for Miami that would raise the city?s skyline. The 70-story mixed-use tower may become the tallest building in Miami. One Bayfront Plaza will be more than 260 taller than current leader, the Four Seasons Hotel.

 

Once completed, it will also be the first hotel to be built north of the Miami River in 25 years, and become Miami?s largest office tower.

 

One Bayfront Plaza, designed by Miami-based TERRA ARCHITECTURE, will be located at 100 South Biscayne Boulevard at the south end of the widest section of Miami?s main thoroughfare, overlooking Biscayne Bay and Bayfront Park.

 

The building will contain two million square feet of rentable office space in addition to 112,000 square feet of retail space and 850 hotel rooms.

 

Each floor of the office building will be 35,000 square feet and more than 13 feet high, two feet higher than the highest office ceilings in Miami now. Likely renters will be large banks, financial institutions and large law firms.

 

The hotel operator is not known yet, but the hotel will be at least a four-star and will include 120,000 square feet of exhibition and banquet facilities.

 

Tibor Hollo, president of Miami-based Florida East Coast Realty Inc., is the developer of the iconic $1.8 billion building. In Miami, Hollo is a man who is known to have grand visions for even the most blighted corridors of town, and even grander ones for sites that scream eye candy.

 

?Tibor Hollo remains one of the last great pillars of the entrepreneurial real estate community,? said Carol Greenberg Brooks, president of Continental Real Estate Companies in Coconut Grove.

Hollo came to the U.S. from his native Hungary 58 years ago and fell in love with Miami. After being a contractor and getting burnt out on being forced to move wherever the work was available, he decided to get into development because ?when you?re a developer, you pick your own menu,? he said.

 

Hollo has developed dozens of properties in Miami, more recently the Opera Tower, Bay Parc Plaza, and Villa Magna. FECR has developed more than 55 million square feet of residential, industrial, governmental and commercial space in Miami.

 

?Miami has lots of beautiful buildings,? said Hollo. ?But none of them is a signature building. Many people can identify Miami by this building because of its extraordinary design that today is nonexistent in our city. The elegant curvature of this building is not a part of any building today in Miami. The very size of it and the various components?all of these contribute to the signature part of the project.?

 

While many Miami residents and city officials alike are anticipatory of the new building that will likely become a city icon, the only question now is: will it be approved by the city commission? The answer is expected sometime in June.

 

Hollo will also find out in June or July how high he can build. The current height allowed by the Miami Dade Aviation Department is 1,010 feet, a variance to allow the building to be built at 1,049 is being sought.

 

A major special use permit for the planned tower was approved by Miami?s Planning Advisory Board in May, but the approval did not come without some concerns by the planning board members. Above all, traffic and parking were the biggest issues discussed.

 

?Staging will all be done on our property,? Hollo told the planning advisory board members who asked what effect the building will have on traffic.

 

Board members also expressed worries that the building would discourage residents to take advantage of walking and public transit, and would encourage them to drive.

Hollo had proposed 2,560 parking spaces. They suggested that Hollo take advantage of the 10 percent reduction in parking allowed since the site is within 600 feet of the Metromover station. They also recommended that he incorporate street-side cafes on the ground floor facing Biscayne to encourage pedestrian traffic.

 

The board was also against the construction of a pedestrian bridge that would connect the building to the Metromover station. ?The bridge I would like to put in, but I?m willing to do either a bridge or a beautified pedestrian crossing with all the ornaments,? Hollo said.

 

In spite of select apprehensions, the board gave the proposed project a positive reception. ?We want this to be a world-class city, and this is a world-class office space,? board member Donna Elizabeth Milo said.

 

If and when One Bayfront Plaza is approved by the city commission, there is still significant work to be done before construction can begin. Taking into consideration the entire design process, construction planning and permitting process, Hollo predicts that he will break ground in 2011 and plans to have the tower completed in 2.5 years.

 

 

Copyright ? 2006 - 2007 NewcitySkyline, Inc.

 

 

http://www.newcityskyline.com/OneBayfrontP...cesupMiami.html

 

 

 

Take that Ft. Lauderdale. :mischief

Why, is Fort Lauderdale working on a skyscraper as well?

Why, is Fort Lauderdale working on a skyscraper as well?

 

No. But it feeds FTL's inferiority complex.

 

Miami's little brother. :lol

That just doesent say Miami. It says Chicago maybe, but just not Miami.

How does that not say Miami?

 

Modern, sleek, have you seen the Conrad building in Brickell?

 

I think this is an awesome idea, I hope it gets done.

That is one magnificent looking structure. Kudos to the architect.

And what's this about some inferiority complex?

I'm a resident of Broward, and I take pride in the good that happens in all of South Florida, and share in the bad. Maybe I'm wrong, but I think most residents of both counties feel the same.

I love big crowded skylines in big cities for some reason. I can't wait to see the Miami skyline will look like in a few years.

 

I don't see how FTL has an inferiority complex though, since FTL is generally viewed as a US city.

Well, will it be designed to withstand Category 5 winds?

 

Also, I actually kinda like that they're going vertical. It stems the sprawl a bit.

Why, is Fort Lauderdale working on a skyscraper as well?

 

No. But it feeds FTL's inferiority complex.

 

Miami's little brother. :lol

 

Silly kid.

I love big crowded skylines in big cities for some reason. I can't wait to see the Miami skyline will look like in a few years.

 

I don't see how FTL has an inferiority complex though, since FTL is generally viewed as a US city.

 

 

Exactly. It's nice not being viewed by the rest of the nation as a third world country.

I love big crowded skylines in big cities for some reason. I can't wait to see the Miami skyline will look like in a few years.

 

I don't see how FTL has an inferiority complex though, since FTL is generally viewed as a US city.

 

 

Exactly. It's nice not being viewed by the rest of the nation as a third world country.

 

No, that's just the ignorant redneck hood-wearing population that sees us as a third world country.

I love big crowded skylines in big cities for some reason. I can't wait to see the Miami skyline will look like in a few years.

 

I don't see how FTL has an inferiority complex though, since FTL is generally viewed as a US city.

 

 

Exactly. It's nice not being viewed by the rest of the nation as a third world country.

 

No, that's just the ignorant redneck hood-wearing population that sees us as a third world country.

 

 

I don't see many rednecks in Broward, and I wouldn't call Tom Tancredo a "hood wearing redneck" either.

I love big crowded skylines in big cities for some reason. I can't wait to see the Miami skyline will look like in a few years.

 

I don't see how FTL has an inferiority complex though, since FTL is generally viewed as a US city.

 

 

Exactly. It's nice not being viewed by the rest of the nation as a third world country.

 

No, that's just the ignorant redneck hood-wearing population that sees us as a third world country.

 

 

I don't see many rednecks in Broward, and I wouldn't call Tom Tancredo a "hood wearing redneck" either.

 

I wouldn't call Tancredo sane either.

I love big crowded skylines in big cities for some reason. I can't wait to see the Miami skyline will look like in a few years.

 

I don't see how FTL has an inferiority complex though, since FTL is generally viewed as a US city.

 

 

Exactly. It's nice not being viewed by the rest of the nation as a third world country.

 

No, that's just the ignorant redneck hood-wearing population that sees us as a third world country.

I love you Festa, but you're wrong. Anyone who you tell that you are from Miami will look at you strangely, like your from a foreign nation.

 

 

Just from my own experience, and I've met plenty of people. :mischief

Is it just me or does that building look like a giant drill bit?

I agree with the whole Miami is another country thing. Any time you go north of Florida people are going to give you strange looks.

I like it. Looks cool, modern. It looks taller than 1,000 ft. in that picture.

Is it just me or does that building look like a giant drill bit?

 

Not just you- I thought that also.

 

And I was also wondering about the Hurricane thing. Forget about Cat 5, what about the Cat 3 that took out most of the Broward County Public Schools building in Broward? It doesn't have to be a Cat 5 to do serious damage.

It does look like a giant drill bit, and that is what makes it freakin awesome.

I heard about this a while back methinks.

 

Have they made it official?

never mind, saw that the article is from June. But yeah, this thing looks awesome, definitely hope it gets approved and built, would fit right in I think.