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Proposed Miami Beach Convention Center Hotel Design Towers Over All of South Beach

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Portman Holdings, the only team bidding for the Miami Beach Convention Center Hotel RFP, has unveiled their proposed design for the hotel. Located between the convention center and the Fillmore Jackie Gleason Theater, the structure is designed as a single curved slab shaped like the Fontainebleau Hotel that hold 800 guest rooms. In the center is an elevated pool and amenity deck, 80 feet above ground level, with a smaller pool deck overlooking the street and City Hall to the west. Both will have a landscape design by West 8.

The hotel will have almost 100,000 square feet of meeting space, a spa, fitness center, 320 parking spaces, and five restaurants, bars, and lounges. The long curved tower is pushed south toward 17th Street and west toward Convention Center Drive, potentially blocking sunlight from the larger pool area for entire chunks of the day. This is why the second pool area exists. Intended to be a "gateway to the convention center district" according to the press release, the tower's 300 foot height is emphasized by how close it is to the street, soaring way above (or looming over, depending on your point of view) everything else in sight, including every building on Lincoln Road, City Hall, etc. It's basically taller than every other building in South Beach (except for the Setai, maybe). City officials are currently evaluating the proposal before it goes before voters on the ballot this November.

· Miami Beach Convention Center Hotel coverage [Curbed Miami]
· 300-foot-tall Convention Center Hotel proposed for Miami Beach [Real Deal]

Miami Beach Convention Center

1901 Convention Center Dr., Miami Beach, FL 33139