Guess what King Jorge is doing with this site? Jorge Perez's Related Group is embarking on a massive new 700 unit, 55 story, two tower condo colony in Edgewater, called 'Element' and designed by his "court architects" Arquitectonica. The project was revealed by exMiami. Thumbs up, of course, for development in Edgewater, but thumbs down for just about everything else.
The ginormous new, 55 story project, is doing what Related is in the midst of doing at Icon Bay only a few blocks south: taking over a public street in exchange for giving the city a public park, and again severing the close connection between Biscayne Boulevard and Biscayne Bay that do beautifully defines Edgewater. The street will be privatized and built over with a multi-floor parking garage and amenity deck. No longer will you be able to see the bay from Biscayne Boulevard on 31st street. Thankfully, however, the buildings are to be built to either side of the street, thereby not depriving it of sunshine. But at least we get a park out of it. As exMiami says: "To soften the loss, Related will build a small pocket park along the bay, but visitors to the park will need to detour to northeast 32nd street or a public alley.'
Then there's the architecture, which, as exMiami says, "features mediocre architecture and ugly blank exterior walls." Furthermore "Blueprints further reveal that the western facade of each tower will feature a huge, mostly blank wall of stucco rising 55 floors. Large portions of the parking garage are also stucco-clad. Arquitectonica has been heavily criticized for designing towers with similar blank facades throughout Miami." Goody, goody.
· Revealed: Related and Arquitectonica plot Edgewater takeover [exMiami]
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