Javier Baños
Baños is the Editor of Gables Insider
The Almeria Project, located at 130 Almeria Avenue, is set to take center stage at the upcoming City Commission meeting on August 27, 2024. This project, which has undergone several revisions to address community concerns, presents a complex dilemma for Coral Gables. While the project offers certain benefits, it also raises significant questions about the future of the city and the impact of state laws like the Live Local Act on local governance.
The Project’s Context and Evolution
Situated just a block away from the expansive Plaza/Agave development in the downtown area, the Almeria Project has been debated by local residents for several months. Initially proposed as two 97-foot buildings along Ponce de Leon Boulevard and Almeria Avenue, with a four-story mixed-use building along Galiano Street, the project has since been scaled down after significant engagement with local residents and the city. The current proposal focuses on a single 141-foot building with 122 residential units. This reduction in height, along with the preservation of the historic Amtrust Building on Ponce de Leon Blvd and the creation of a 12,500 square-foot public park, reflects an attempt by the builder to balance development pressures with community concerns.
One of the key aspects of the project’s design is the preservation of the Amtrust Building, a historic structure that holds significant architectural value for Coral Gables. By choosing to preserve this building, the builder was able to transfer much of the potential height that could have been imposed on Ponce de Leon Boulevard to the larger tower on Almeria Avenue. This approach allows the new development to maintain the character and scale of the historic building while still accommodating the additional height in a way that minimizes its impact on the more architecturally sensitive areas of the city.
The Project’s Approach: Balancing Growth and Preservation
The decision to reduce the height of the building and preserve significant portions of the site for public use demonstrates a commitment to integrating new development with the city’s existing fabric. The design of the building has also been refined, with improved ground-level features that enhance its compatibility with the surrounding area, matching the architecture of the Plaza.
What’s particularly noteworthy is that these changes were made in the face of the Live Local Act, a state law that allows developers to bypass local zoning regulations if they provide affordable housing. Under this act, the developer could have pursued a more aggressive plan, including a 190-foot building with 92 units and 30,000 square feet of office space. Such a development would have offered minimal open space and fewer benefits to the city. Instead, the current proposal represents a more measured approach that aligns with the city’s broader goals.
However, the proximity to the larger Plaza/Agave project, where heights are already pushing the limits of what many residents find acceptable, complicates the conversation. While the height of the Almeria Project is not without precedent, it still challenges the traditional scale of buildings in the area, prompting questions about the long-term impact on Coral Gables’ architectural and cultural identity.
The Live Local Act: A Double-Edged Sword
At the heart of the debate is the Live Local Act, a state law designed to address Florida’s housing crisis by allowing developers to bypass local zoning regulations if they include affordable housing in their projects. On the surface, the act appears to be a necessary tool for addressing the state’s severe housing shortage. However, its implications for cities like Coral Gables are far-reaching and potentially problematic.
The Live Local Act would have allowed the developer of the Almeria Project to pursue a much more aggressive plan, with over four stories of additional height, and commercial office space, almost matching the Agave/Plaza project in density. Such a development could have been approved administratively, with minimal input from the community or the City Commission. This prospect raises concerns about the erosion of local control over development and the potential for overdevelopment in areas that have traditionally maintained lower densities and strict architectural standards.
The Debate: Weighing the Pros and Cons
As the City Commission prepares to consider three key items related to the Almeria Project—a land use amendment, a zoning district boundary change, and a resolution approving the mixed-use site plan—the decision will not be easy.
Supporters of the Project Argue:
- Historic Preservation and Public Benefits: The project preserves the Amtrust Building, a significant piece of Coral Gables’ architectural heritage, and creates a new public park, offering tangible benefits to the community.
- Controlled Development: The developer’s decision to reduce the building’s height and focus on a single structure represents a measured approach that avoids the more intense development allowed under the Live Local Act.
- Aesthetic Alignment: The residential design similar to the Plaza, with its refined ground-level features, complements the city’s aesthetic standards, ensuring that the new development integrates smoothly with its surroundings.
Critics of the Project Counter:
- Increased Density and Height: Despite the concessions, the project still introduces significant density and height to the area, potentially straining local infrastructure and altering the neighborhood’s character.
- Precedent for Future Developments: Approving this project could set a precedent for similar developments, leading to further increases in building heights and densities in other parts of Coral Gables.
- Erosion of Local Control: The very fact that the Live Local Act could have enabled a more intense development with less community oversight underscores the need to challenge such state mandates that undermine local governance.
The Live Local Act: A Call to Action
The Live Local Act, while well-intentioned in its goal to address the housing crisis, poses a significant challenge to cities like Coral Gables that have a vested interest in preserving their unique character. The law’s broad reach could lead to a wave of high-density developments that, while addressing housing needs, may do so at the expense of local identity and community values.
The City of Doral has already taken steps to challenge the Live Local Act, and it may be time for Coral Gables to consider joining this effort. By challenging the law in court, Coral Gables can assert its right to maintain control over its zoning and development decisions, ensuring that future growth aligns with the city’s long-term vision rather than being dictated by state mandates.
A Balanced Path Forward
The Almeria Project represents a tough question for the Coral Gables Commission—a moment where the city must carefully weigh the benefits of development against the potential risks of overdevelopment and the erosion of local control. While the current proposal is a significant improvement over what could have been developed under the Live Local Act, it is not without its challenges. The City Commission’s decision will set a precedent for how Coral Gables navigates the complexities of modern urban development in the face of state mandates.
As the City Commission considers these issues, it is crucial to engage in a broader conversation about the future of Coral Gables. The Almeria Project, with its mix of benefits and challenges, offers a glimpse into the city’s future—a future where growth and preservation must be carefully balanced to maintain the qualities that make Coral Gables a desirable place to live.
The Almeria Project is not perfect, but it represents a compromise that balances the needs of the community with the realities of state law. However, the broader implications of the Live Local Act cannot be ignored. The City Commission should consider supporting legal action to challenge the act, joining other municipalities in asserting the importance of local control over zoning and development.
Where is the Fire Department’s letter to oppose this project?? This will add many more residents, much more than Little Gables, at a time when they don’t have enough firefighters to fight fires. Their faux outrage is disturbing and we should cast a light on the them and their motivation to write the letter opposing annexation of Little Gables. If what they wrote was true, then the City should implement a moratorium on all new buildings.
Too late to think Coral Gables is not ” Miami” Coral Gables is worse than Miami. Elected officials have destroyed a once quiet, Classy city. BTW why wouldn’t you all want the Live Local Act in the Gables. Wouldn’t that be considered RACIST.
FYI, the lovely Amtrust Bank Building was built in 1984. It was lauded for being built in a style compatible with Coral Gables’ historic architecture, but is not technically a historic building.
It’s sad to see how Coral Gables has lost its way. The monstrosity that the Plaza/Agave project turned out to be is a precedent that will continue to have far-reaching repercussions about the destruction of residential neighborhoods for years to come. And now this! The Live Local Act MUST be challenged. Failure to do so will spell doom for CG. But that said, present and future Commissions MUST also be wary of these massive developments, which will continue to come and will continue to exert massive pressure on politicians. The old adage that money talks and BS walks is undeniable. Growth should be okay, but growth which is destructive to residential neighborhoods must be curbed. And sadly this is not what is happening.
Dear City Officials , please fight against the LiveLocal Act!
Affordable rental apartments will not bring benefits to the city . We will see increase in traffic driven by volume developers can build, decrease in public Green spaces, budgets going to increase in police service . These rentals will not bring unding property taxes .
I am very concerned about this project going up. The life of tranquility of Coral Gables will be gone . Furthermore, The Congestion the traffic will create will take away the quality of life long time Gables residents Deserve.
@Nicola, you make Hammurabi look like a reasonable person. I hope you also voted YES to annexation of Little Gables, so you can personally run all those poor people out of the trailer park. What great fun. So tall buildings are for the socialist poor. Ok. Have you seen NYC? Those ‘tall’ (9-12 story) buildings are full of very wealthy people..some who also drive pickup trucks..gasp! Please put your pinch fork and torch back in the trunk of your Tesla. There is no need for that kind of thought process in our City.
ELIMINATE the Mediterranean Bonuses from our Code, NOW! Declare more buildings as contributing/ Historic, NOW! Let’s stop dilly dallying! Go to Tallahassee and get them to exempt ALL Historic buildings from Live Local. Putting Gables buildings on the National Historic Registry may help? We may have to litigate in the future. Valdés Fauli won the pickup truck ban in court, but the whimpy newer politicos are pro working class, or like the macho image of the truck, and permit them overnight, in plain view. We’ve lost our way. Corrigan & Valdes better mayors? Tall apartment buildings are for the poor everywhere in the socialist world. Pickup trucks should be garaged in fancy neighborhoods. Maybe too many blue collar folk have moved to the Gables, and store too much junk in their garages?
Our City needs to join with other cities and Florida League of Cities to extinguish the Live Local Act!
Legislature can demand that each municipality prepare a 5-year plan to provide workforce housing as well as measure how each is doing on these plans! Great work can be rewarded with extra funds and poor performance could result in municipalities receiving less funds. Of course, there would have to be exceptions, like Indian Creek Village, a municipality that will never have workforce housing!
The Legislature has no business overriding cities regulations that were voted by local officials which were elected on the votes of local citizens!
Same issue is occurring in Tallahassee interfering with local School Boards plus the recent fiasco with State Parks! Current supermajority legislature is governing in certain areas like an autocracy, NOT a democracy.
November’s elections will give the citizenry an opportunity to change who serves you in Tallahassee and whether they respect local school districts and municipalities – make sure you vote!
Correction: Let’s also take a moment to mention the design of the The PALACE, with it’s clunky foam profiles that are turning black. The building has aged poorly and not a contributing to the history of the City.
Let’s get one thing straight. The Plaza is NOT a well designed building within the context of Coral Gables. It is a cross between Las Vegas and a fever dream where one flies through Rome and ends up at IKEA. The clash between styles is jarring and unsettling, not to mention how it looms over the residential homes and made a mess of the street grid..no turn left, only right, no turn at circle. No one here like Chad Oppenheim’s design for the building across the street, and forced the owners to hire a different architect to regurgitate a Plaza clone. Sad. Let’s also take a moment to mention the design of the The Plaza, with it’s clunky foam profiles that are turning black. The building has aged poorly and not a contributing to the history of the City. The project that should have been was Old Spanish Village. That was a good design. Look it up. I don’t know much about the Live Local Act, but Kandace sounds like an elitest!
Fight the Live Local Act! Coral Gables is not Miami!
That building is so iconic my late father former mayor George Corrigan was President of what was the Bank of Coral Gables it is such a beautiful building inside and out. It should be preserved. We have enough big buildings going up please re think the live local act.
Cities must unite and fight back. The legislature has unconstitutionally attempted to overrule the sovereign property and regulatory rights of local governments. As a former President of the Miami Dade League of Cities, I will be urging them and the Florida League of cities to challenge the constitutionality of The Live Local Act. Thank you for this great analysis.
The live local act courtesy of Gov Desantis may work in poorer areas but not here in CG or any other wealthy area, there are many abusive zoning & city land concessions already given to developers, investors here but 190’ height approval would have been tied up in court for years had it been granted administratively.
Thank you for the update. I am in complete agreement that the live local act should be challenged by the city. While I believe in the need for more affordable housing through the state and its various local jurisdictions, the individual jurisdictions should be given the opportunity to address this need before the imposition of state requirements. Would a state law requiring cities to develop a plan for housing be a better solution
Our city commissioners need to unite and fight the live local act in order to preserve the character of our city. Follow the lead of the city of Doral.
Use diplomacy, strength, strategize, plan and work to defend our rights! Everything is possible when there is a will.
The commission must unite in order to be effective!