A city of Miami board will determine whether a portion of the Related Group’s riverfront Brickell property should be designated as an archaeological site, a decision that would affect the project’s design and its future.
Artifacts and human remains dating back thousands of years have been discovered during the excavation of the property.
On Tuesday, the Miami Historic & Environmental Preservation Board will vote on the archeological designation of 444 Brickell Avenue, where Coconut Grove-based Related plans a Baccarat-branded luxury condo tower. The city’s preservation office recommended the designation and will present the proposal at Tuesday’s meeting.
In a statement, Related said the company has been working with the city on the archeological designation.
The board’s decision could allow Related to build its project, while incorporating a public space to display artifacts. The development firm, led by founder and CEO Jorge Pérez and his sons Jon Paul and Nick, plans to build at least two residential towers, including the Baccarat condo building and a separate luxury apartment tower.
The planned vote comes about three months after the same board withdrew its proposed archeological destination of the adjacent site at 77 Southeast Fifth Street — a huge relief for Related, which had spent more than $20 million on the archeological dig, Jorge Pérez said in April.
At the April meeting, preservationists urged the city to designate the site as an archeological site and not allow Related to build its project, referring to the property as a burial ground.
Those against the archeological designation and in support of Related included a group of top developers and brokers, such as Fortune International Group owner Edgardo Defortuna, 13th Floor Investments’ Arnaud Karsenti, Integra Investments’ Nelson Stabile, Douglas Elliman Florida CEO Jay Parker, ISG/Related ISG’s Craig Studnicky, Torose Equities’ Scott Sherman, 13th Floor Investments’ principal Rey Melendi, and former Related Group executive Oscar Rodriguez, now a principal at ROVR Development. All have worked for or currently work with Related.
Related paid $104 million for the two lots in 2013, knowing it was in an archeological zone and it would be responsible for paying for the excavation. But the extent of what lies underground was not known until archaeologists discovered artifacts and human and animal remains dating back 7,000 years. They are possibly considered the most archaeologically significant findings near the mouth of the river in the past 25 years, the Miami Herald previously reported.
In January, Related secured a $164 million construction loan from Truist Bank for the first building, a 44-story, 506-unit rental tower planned for the 77 Southeast Fifth Street site.
Next, Related plans to build the 75-story Baccarat-branded condo tower that it has been pre-selling.
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The 444 Brickell site is currently home to a 13-story office building with restaurant space leased to Capital Grille.
The historic preservation board will also receive an update on the excavation of the contiguous land at 77 Southeast Fifth Street. Related said in its statement that after the dig is completed, an action plan for the preservation of the archeological findings will be presented.