Adam Neumann’s controversial move to tear down a shuttered 1950s church building in Miami’s El Portal almost had a different outcome that may have staved off fierce opposition against his greater plan.
The site will be home to a campus for SOLFL, a new school founded by the ex-WeWork head’s wife, Rebekah.
Permitting records and renderings show Neumann and his team initially planned to renovate the Rader Memorial United Methodist Church at 205 Northeast 87th Street. Instead, the developer demolished the building, which led to widespread criticism from El Portal residents who alleged Neumann was bullying his school project into existence.
Attempts to renovate and retrofit the church “were not possible, as the building was dilapidated and obsolete when we took over from the prior owner, who had already obtained a demo permit,” a SOLFL spokesperson said in a statement.
Neumann and his team have faced intense objections to the SOLFL plan from El Portal residents at two village council meetings and a pair of town halls last month.
SOLFL, a Jewish private school with an expected enrollment of 350 students, is seeking village council approval for a site plan, an amendment to El Portal’s comprehensive master plan and a special exception for 2.1 acres that includes the church property and a neighboring single family house and vacant lot.
Objections grew louder a few days before the first town hall on Feb. 12 when SOLFL began tearing down the Rader church, which was reduced to a pile of rubble in recent weeks.
But SOLFL representatives insist a less vocal majority of residents back the project.
About a dozen supporters recently spoke to The Real Deal, all of whom pointed out that a previous plan for the church was for Cristo Rey, a Catholic private school that the village council approved in 2020. The school owners did not move forward with that development, and a year later sold the property to an affiliate of Miami-based Elm Springs, which sold the property to a SOLFL-related entity for $13.7 million last year.
The SOLFL backers said Neumann and his team are offering more incentives to the village than Cristo Rey operators. For instance, SOLFL has agreed to pay the village $100,000 annually for as long as SOLFL exists to help offset the loss of property tax revenue due to non-profit schools not having to pay taxes. Cristo Rey offered El Portal between $17,000 to $41,500, village records show.
In addition to building a new sewer hook-up for Northeast Second Avenue, covering the salaries for two new police officers and purchasing a dilapidated home to convert into a pocket park, Neumann and SOLFL will agree to prohibit a Live Local project from being built on the site should SOLFL close down.
Neumann, who now leads Miami-based multifamily development firm Flow, could build a Live Local workforce housing project spanning over 200,000 square feet without village council authorization, a spokesperson previously told TRD.
Joanie Hector, a homeowner who’s lived next door to the former church property since 1984, said the SOLFL campus is “much more desirable” than a commercial development.
“Things aren’t going to stay stagnant,” Hector said. “The school is the best option for me as the homeowner right next door.”
Another SOLFL neighbor, Erin Marra said she came around to favoring the school project because of the incentives offered to the village.
“We could hold our breath in the hopes that this old, abandoned, falling apart church was going to be converted into cute shops and restaurants,” Marra said.
But Live Local creates an opportunity for developers to build a megaproject, she said.
Plans for SOLFL got underway in April when its ownership entity (which includes the Neumanns) obtained a master permit to remodel and improve the 1950s building, which had been gutted by the previous owner, Elm Springs. Renderings of the converted church show floor plans for elementary, middle and high school classrooms.
A site plan shows entries, office space, parking, a security wall and gate, drop-off area, obstacle course, outdoor education zones, a “forest experience,” outdoor seating and gathering areas that included tiki and Tulum huts.
Other sets of drawings showed how SOLFL would operate during the build-out, with construction zones clearly marked and temporary bathrooms and outdoor classrooms arranged around a “Magic Meadow” and central village space.
By August, SOLFL shifted to building a new school, applying for a demolition permit that was approved in November.