A Miami board voted to grant preliminary archeological designation to part of Related Group’s development site on Brickell Avenue, with an unclear effect on the project’s future.
The Miami Historic & Environmental Preservation Board, which unanimously approved the resolution at a meeting on Tuesday, is expected to vote on the final designation in November. The developer’s attorney, Iris Escarra of Greenberg Traurig, said that Related does not object to the initial designation of the site at 444 Brickell Avenue.
Miami-based Related, led by Jorge Pérez and his sons, Jon Paul and Nick, plans a 75-story luxury condo tower branded by Baccarat on the adjacent site at 77 Southeast Fifth Street, as well as an apartment building. A third tower has been planned for the property at 444 Brickell Avenue, currently home to an office building with restaurants.
With the vote, the city did not make a decision about the future of Related’s planned project, what it can build or how it will be required to display some of the artifacts that have been uncovered.
The archeological designation of the site has become a major point of contention among preservationists. Artifacts and human and animal remains dating 7,000 years have been discovered during the excavation of the property over the past two-plus years. The discoveries are likely among the most archaeologically significant findings near the mouth of the Miami River in more than two decades.
The delays and uncertainty surrounding the final archaeological designation are costly for Related, which is pre-selling Baccarat Residences condos. In January, Related secured a $164 million construction loan from Truist Bank for apartment project, a 44-story, 506-unit rental tower.
In April, Escarra told the board that an additional delay associated with that site would have caused “extreme hardship and hundreds of millions of dollars in damage.”
On Tuesday, Escarra sought and received a carveout in the resolution that allows Related and its tenants to complete interior renovations and repairs to the existing building that do not require digging, including those related to the property’s 40-year recertification.
Members of the public spoke in favor of the archeological designation, some urging the city to force the property owner not to develop a new tower on the site and have it be a green space. A former city of Miami archeologist said that the city’s historic sites are “not valued enough.”
“There really is a rush to destroy this site and further degrade the history and culture we have in the city of Miami,” said Gloria Jones, a Fort Lauderdale resident.
In April, the same board withdrew its proposed archeological destination of the adjacent site at 77 Southeast Fifth Street.
On Tuesday, in an update on the findings for that property, South Florida archaeologist Bob Carr called it “an important site” where “really incredible” objects and artifacts have been found that have never been seen before.
That excavation will likely be completed in a few months, according to the meeting.
Correction: An earlier version of this story incorrectly stated where Baccarat Residences is expected to be built.
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