Design District City View Garage to open in March

Giving a futuristic vibe, a series of wavy, gold, titanium-coated, stainless steel panels surround the western exterior of the Design District’s second garage, set to open in March.

City View Garage, visible from I-195, is a collaboration between award-winning design firms Leong Leong and Iwamoto Scott that will add 559 parking spaces to Miami’s Design District — an area formerly dependent on street and valet parking.

Craig Robins, president and CEO of Dacra, which is spearheading the transformation of the Design District, said that since Palm Court opened during Art Basel, a new store is opening every week. Tiffany is celebrating its opening this weekend.

“People are starting to discover [the Palm Court garage],” he told The Real Deal. “The dependence on the Design District grows every week. As more stores open, lots of people are coming to look at it and walk around. [The area] is one of those places you just have to go see.”

Palm Court’s garage, with an entrance on Northeast 38th Street between Northeast First Court and Northeast Second Avenue, was the first garage to open, and has 303 parking spaces. SB Architects designed the garage and RSM Design created the interior signage. The pedestrian exit is a spiral staircase from the underground garage out into a reproduction of R. Buckminster Fuller’s Fly’s Eye Dome, which is centered in Palm Court’s plaza.

City View Garage, at 3800 Northeast First Avenue, will feature two public art pieces by John Baldessari on the exterior: Fun Part 1 and Fun Part 2. Leong Leong designed the west facade with its shimmering panels and Iwamoto Scott designed the southeastern facade, which forms a tessellated mural that conceals parking slabs and allows for natural ventilation.

“Everybody is getting a lot of opportunity to express themselves,” Robins told TRD.

Five food and beverage operations will open in the next six months, according to Robins. Although he wouldn’t disclose which, he did say there will be two full-service restaurants, a cafe, espresso bar and art gallery and a pop-up restaurant.