Miami board approves Russian billionaire’s Brickell condo tower, Lennar’s Wynwood project & more

UPDATED, Sept. 9, 7:30 p.m.: Russian billionaire Vladislav Doronin is moving forward with development of a new waterfront luxury tower in Miami’s Brickell neighborhood, and Lennar won the go-ahead for its plans to build a mixed-use multifamily project in Wynwood.

The Miami Urban Design Review Board on Thursday approved Doronin’s Una Residences, a sleek 48-story condominium designed by Adrian Smith and Gordon Gill Architecture and Revuelta Architecture.

Doronin’s Miami Waterfront Ventures is planning 137 units with a mix of two, three, four and five bedrooms. Condos will range in size from 1,098 square feet to 4,796 square feet and will start at $942,000. The most expensive units will go for $6.6 million. The review board granted a waiver request by the developer to allow vehicle entries, loading docks and a service area in the proposed building’s primary frontage. The project will also feature an underground parking garage and a public baywalk that connects to a nearby pocket park.

The design review board then took up Wynwood Green, a mixed-use apartment building proposed by Lennar Multifamily Communities, a division of the Miami-based home building giant Lennar Corp. The project is an 11-story, 189-unit apartment rental building with nearly 17,000 square feet of commercial/retail space and 324 parking spots.

Board members signed off on the company’s waiver requests to increase the lot coverage and the building’s maximum floor plate length by 10 percent. Lennar also won approvals to have vehicle access in the primary frontage, a pedestrian passage instead of a paseo and to allow parking along the primary frontage that will be concealed artistic and glass elements.

Wynwood Green would be built on properties on Northwest 29th Street between Northwest First Avenue and North Miami Avenue that are currently home to Wynwood Yard and O Cinema Wynwood, two popular venues that have contributed to the neighborhood’s evolution from an artist mecca to a trendy hipster destination. Wynwood Yard is a culinary incubator and outdoor entertainment space and O Cinema is a non-profit independent movie theater in a converted warehouse.

Both venues are expected to shut down in early 2019 when Lennar plans to close on its offer to buy the redevelopment site consisting of eight parcels on 1.26 acres. The properties are currently owned by David Lombardi, principal of Lombardi Properties and one of Wynwood’s pioneering land owners. Terms of the deal have not been disclosed.

The review board also approved a mixed-use apartment building proposed by Austrian builder Premium Development in Miami’s Little Havana neighborhood. Company affiliate Premium First LLC acquired nine lots totaling 1.45 acres last year on Southwest First Street and Seventh Avenue. Premium intends to build an eight-story structure and a two-story structure with a total of 196 one-and-two-bedroom units. The eight-story building would also have 7,000 square feet of commercial space at the ground level. Plans also call for a pool area on the west side of the property and a narrow parking garage on the east side.

The design review board approved a waiver of a 30 percent parking requirement reduction, a 10 percent reduction in the driveway width and substituting one commercial loading berth for two residential loading berths.

An earlier version of this story identified the incorrect developer of Una Residences.