Thor and Related’s Wynwood residential and retail projects clear development review hurdle

Two major Wynwood mixed-use projects got the green light from Miami’s Urban Development Review Board on Wednesday.

Thor Equities’ Wynwood Plant and the Related Group-led Wynwood 29 both received approval recommendations for a series of zoning waivers to make the residential and retail projects feasible for development.

Wynwood Plant and Wynwood 29 are among a slew of upcoming projects designed under the guidelines set forth by the Wynwood Neighborhood Revitalization District zoning overlay.

New York-based Thor, led by Joe Sitt, is seeking city approval for a 10 percent increase in lot coverage, addition of service entries, a cross-block pedestrian paseo and a floorplate increase for a 12-story building that would house 306 residential units, nearly 67,000 square feet of retail space and 673 parking spaces.

Rendering of Thor Equities’ Wynwood Plant

Members of the review board praised architectural firm Touzet Studio for creating a building design that incorporates Wynwood’s industrial history and its current artistic aesthetics.

“This project addresses the texture, the history, the industrial area of Wynwood,” said board member Willy Bermello. “It feels like it belongs in Wynwood.”

Located on two acres off Northwest Second Avenue between 28th and 29th streets, the site currently houses vacant warehouses. Thor paid $29 million for nearly the entire block last year.

Earlier in the meeting, the board voted 3-1 to recommend approval of additional lot coverage, extending the parking structure, a 10 percent increase in the maximum lot area, and decreasing the parking by 300 percent for Wynwood 29, a 12-story residential, retail and office building. The project is being built by Related and Tony Cho’s Metro 1 Development, which owns the 1.215-acre site at 2828 Northwest First Avenue.

Designed by Arquitectonica, the project has four stories and 26,600 square feet of office space, 11 floors and 182 units of residential, nearly 20,000 square feet of retail space and a five-story parking garage.

Both projects will offer studio and one-bedroom apartments targeted to millennial renters.

Correction: A previous version of this story incorrectly stated Wynwood 29 would be a rental project. The development is actually a condo project.