Ariel Fernandez
Founder & Editor
[email protected]
The City of Coral Gables’ Development Review Committee will be holding a meeting on May 28th at 9:30AM to discuss three new development projects in the City of Coral Gables.
The Committee, made up strictly of members of City staff from the Planning and Zoning, Building, Fire, Police, Public Services, Historical Resources, Parking, Public Works, “and other departments as determined by the City Manager.”
The meeting was excluded from the City’s eNews and link information was not readily available on the City’s website. It can only be found on the actual meeting agenda.
The three projects being discussed are Alexan Crafts, Gables Village and a theater and arts addition at the University of Miami’s Pentland House.
Alexan Crafts
Alexan Crafts is a planned mixed-use project on the west side of Salzedo Street between Catalonia Avenue and Malaga Avenue. It is the first planned project in the newly upzoned Crafts Section and counts on the use of 13 single family residential lots. The proposed project will be “a 6 to 7 story mixed use building containing a total of 22 live work units at the ground level and 263 multifamily residential units on the upper levels.”
Click here to view the documentation presented on this project.
Gables Village
Gables Village is a planned 54 unit multi-family development in the Biltmore Section off of Segovia on Malaga and Santander. The lots currently hold single family residential as well as small scale multi-family buildings.
Click here to view the documentation on this project.
University of Miami Pentland House Theater Arts Addition
Click here to view the documentation on this project.
Public Participation
The City’s website states that, “although the Committee meetings are open to the public, no decision is made at the meeting and public comment is not intended to be solicited.”
The virtual meeting will be held on the Zoom. Members of the public may join the meeting via Zoom at https://zoom.us/j/91042401311.
I voting against everyone of the incumbents. They all say they are against big development, well someone voted to approve it. Out with all of them!
I’m on Malaga directly across from the Alexan Crafts 263 unit site plan proposal, according to one of the neighbors here each of these 13 lots were offered $2M & are getting taken to the cleaners by developer if this price is true the 2 corner lots on Malaga, Catalonia & Santander abutting Lejeune were left out according to P & Z due to some ancient 100′ from Lejeune ordinance restricting height to 3 stories these corner lots are also worth +50-75% more than $3M interior lots. Originally all 3 blocks were supposedly included & treated same way for upzoning as the 13 lots but did not happen. This was known long ago by P & Z that would not happen since the 20’s apartment building was long ago there on Santander & Lejeune upzoning continued early on in order to get majority neighbor (professional lie & con). Development is a right some may not like to hear, keeps property taxes down & catapults the city into the 21st century. There going to be many 4-1 commission votes on development next 2 yrs. Anyone given this opportunity to sell @ $3M an interior residential lot would take it in a heartbeat so i dont blame anyone doing it.
We have lived here 31 years and I never dreamed this City would turn into the massive high rise, congested mess that it is. Our City has been sold out and it is time to put on the brakes. Past Administrations have destroyed the beauty of parts of this City and the residents showed you what we thought with our voting results. If the City officials and employees do not listen to us, we will be forced to take stronger actions. You have a fiduciary responsibility to us. We put in new leaders to support what WE want and if Anderson, Lago and Menendez do not vote against more construction, we will push you out too. We trusted you and we thought you listened. What’s funny is that we were told more residents would bring more business to the Mile but it has done the opposite. We were sold a bad bill of goods. It has chased everyone away due to parking and congestion. I personally have not been on the Mile in over 20 years. Merrick Park has great parking, stores and restaurants, why fight downtown Coral Gables? Nothing will change with new construction so why not better what we have? LISTEN to us or we will start fighting you back.
I don’t understand why land that already have single family homes on it is going to be torn down to create higher density housing. Our city is already suffering from over-crowding. As a CG single family home owner on the western border of CG, I’m starting to feel threatened that one day a developer is going to want to use my home’s land to create a building (there are already large commercial buildings across me). This is really disturbing to me. I hope Anderson and Lago vote no to all three proposals.
The lack of convenient parking in downtown Coral Gables is a problem and the City would be wise to listen to resident complaints about same. When the library moved to its temporary location on Miracle Mile, I switched from picking up books at the Coral Gables Library to the one in West Miami. West Miami, like the original Gables library location under renovation, has convenient parking. Going to Miracle Mile and downtown Coral Gables for quick daily life activities is a chore I won’t suffer, so I switched. I bet a lot of other people are switching their behaviors too. Listen up folks. You’re pissing off the residents.
They really pulled a fast one here. There is no way these plans could have been developed in the short time since the zoning change was approved. This is a classic “Give them an inch and they will take a mile!” I was OK with a reasonable increase in density in this section but nothing like proposed.
It is not really the lack of parking that keeps me away from downtown Gables. It is the hideous traffic caused by all this overdevelopment. So all you small business owners who are hurting and paying ridiculous rents because of the high taxes, we are on a downward spiral, and the more giant developments that are built, the worse it will be. Just like Brickell- another place I will not go.
Coral Gales was designed as an upscale residential area to complement business in downtown Miami.
In the late 1940’s Miracle Mile was made to give local people small shops away rom the national biggies on Flagler.
Originally there was a 3 story limit on buildings. That went away when the David William arose.
When the Gables had its own tax office the millage for a home began to decrease after a few years to encourage needed repairs and modifications.
All of this and more has gone away in the name of “Progress” – WHY ?? ? ?
It seems that most of the inhabitants of City Hall each wants to make a name for them self. Again WHY ? ? ?
George Merrick was a man with a dream. Many of todays “changers” have absolutely no knowledge of the man or much of anything about him. But they want their own name on something so bit by bit they destroy something very precious to those of us who have been here and seen the mess they’ve made.
Read a hard copy of “George Merrick – Son of the South Wind” by Arva Parks and learn about it. .
Agree with above NO Construction comment!!!!
Evidently, our CM continues his inexorable push to make government transparency more opaque. In his opinion, the bureaucrats know better than the vastly experienced Gables residents and we are to be kept out of the decision making process. Only lobbyists and developers need peek!
Jose, people wont frequent shops without parking and there is a shortage of that in our downtown area. Don’t believe them if they tell you otherwise. If I can’t find parking I’ll go someplace else and it happens all the time and SoMi becomes a go-to for a quiet dinner. I don’t care if technically there’s a private/public lot 5 blocks away and I can take the freeB and then a scooter and a bike. Please.
Kirk Menendez will not likely vote no if he in fact owns two homes within this project. And another across the street (questioned before his election) — guess there are more proposals in the works?
Hungry for money but not the residents welbeing
Sad news for Coral Gables. Hope it doesn’t happen
Lago and Anderson should be opposed, but if you voted for Menendez you should have known what to expect, specially when he owns several parcels in the area of the Alexan Crafts… if you think he is going to vote against him, I have some land in the Everglades that I would like to sell you…
This area needs a project like this. It’s appropriate in scale and size. As a small business owner in the area we need ppl to frequent our empty shops.
Reelection unlikely if you vote yes.
The Gables is being ruined and turned into Brickell.
Ok Lago, Anderson and Menendez, show us why we voted you in. Vote for any construction on this scale and you are one term politicians. Developer loving Mena will be gone anyway for his underhandness. The citizens have said no more construction and we mean it. You work for us so no further massive construction. And UM has shown their colors with the removal of Merricks name from a building and the removal of the loved head of the law department. They deserve nothing as the are moving towards the far left.