1212 Lincoln breezes through Design Review Board vote

1212 Lincoln rendering (inset: Jose Gelabert-Navia)
1212 Lincoln rendering (inset: Jose Gelabert-Navia)

The Miami Beach Design Review Board unanimously approved Crescent Heights’ plan to build a “transparent” five-story retail complex on the corner of South Beach’s Alton and Lincoln roads.

Tuesday’s decision enables Crescent to proceed with the demolition of four retail buildings between 1608 and 1624 Alton Road within the next 18 months and replace them with the first phase of 1212 Lincoln Road, a complex designed by the Coral Gables office of Perkins + Will. The buildings, which were constructed during the 1920s and 1930s, are now home to several businesses such as Gun Depot, Mattress City, furniture store Spiaggia and Taco Rico. Companies tied to Crescent bought the buildings for $19.3 million between August 2013 and June 2014.

Within six months of receiving a temporary certificate of occupancy for the first phase, the developer will commence the second phase of 1212 Lincoln by knocking down a two-story Wells Fargo bank branch just north of the retail buildings at 1630 Alton Road. The Wells Fargo-owned building was constructed in 1940 and features a mosaic mural created by prominent local artist Enzo Gallo in 1971.

Jose Gelabert-Navia, a principal at Perkins + Will and the project’s lead architect, said the old bank building, which once housed a high-end men’s clothing store and a savings & loan, will hardly be missed.

“It’s not a very notable building,” he said.

The project is designed to mesh with the Bernard Zyscovich-designed Regal Cinemas and Robert Wennett’s Herzog & de Meuron-designed 1111 Lincoln Road building across the street on the east side of Alton Road, Gelabert-Navia said.

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“The [1212 Lincoln Road] building is going to be very, very transparent,” Gelabert-Navia said. “It’s going to be two stories of retail and it’s going to be high-end stores, thus continuing the high-end stores that are on Lincoln Road.”

High-end stores pay as much as $300 per square foot for the right to operate on Lincoln Road. But other than Wells Fargo, which will move into 1212 Lincoln Road as soon as the first phase is complete, there aren’t any confirmed tenants for the complex, according to Gelabert-Navia.

Once complete, 1212 Lincoln Road will include 83,484 square feet of commercial space and 297 parking spaces.

The board also unanimously approved real estate investor Michael Simkins’ request to replicate a two-story, 1925-era single family home at 5869 Pinetree Drive. The home, which included additions designed by architect Russell Pancoast in 1935, was deemed structurally unsound.

Developer Todd Glaser also got the board’s approval to build five new homes in the city. One of the homes, at 5010 Lakeview Court, will be constructed for art collector Jason Rubell and his wife Michelle, who is Simkins’ sister.