Aria on the Bay, an upcoming luxury tower from the Melo Group, was recently approved for construction by the FAA.
The 53-story tower had planned to build up to 535 feet, but the FAA suggested to downtown Miami developers in January that they should limit the height of new projects east of Miami International Airport to less than 475 feet.
Swire Properties, Florida East Coast Realty, MDM Development and Melo Group received letters from the agency suggesting that they should limit the size of their upcoming towers — all of which exceeded the proposed 475-foot maximum.
Now that the project has been approved, Melo Group has begun converting reservations to contracts and is expecting to break ground soon, a publication reported.
Of the four towers cited by the FAA, two have already been approved, including 545-foot-tall Met Square, and a third ruling is expected to come soon, The Next Miami reported.
The four proposed Miami-Dade County projects, which also include Swire Properties’ 1,049-foot-tall tower at Brickell City Centre and Florida East Coast Realty’s 1,010-foot-skyscraper, had received interim advisories from the FAA, entitled “Notice of Presumed Hazard.” The letters stated that initial findings showed that the structures “exceed obstruction standards” and/or would create a problem for air navigation. The FAA had said that if the towers were reduced to 463 feet above ground level they would be allowed. The FAA further had said the notices showed that an initial study had been completed and were an interim step in the process, geared to notify developers and begin negotiations on possible mitigations.
Aria on the Bay sold $200 million of its 647 units in December. Construction of the site at 1770 North Bayshore Drive is slated to finish in 2017. The tower will have 1,035 parking spaces and 40,000 square feet of commercial space. [The Next Miami] — Sean Stewart-Muniz