Fire rescue practice at the Sheraton Bal Harbour

By Helen Hill

There’s something symbolic about Biscayne Landing in North Miami becoming a model “green community.” The new master-planned, mixed-use community, under construction on a site that wasn’t always pristine, is one of a few projects nationwide selected for the focus group of a major pilot program to rate new “enviro-neighborhoods,” according to the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design system. Created by the nonprofit U.S. Green Building Council in Washington, D.C., the LEED for Neighborhood Development Rating System, known as LEED-ND, integrates the principles of smart growth, urbanism and green building into the first national standard for neighborhood design.

Boca Developers, based in Deerfield Beach, is developing 200 acres on a former landfill that borders Biscayne Bay and features a mangrove preserve. The community will be considered “walkable” because its residents will be able to walk or bike to work, shops, restaurants, fitness centers and an art cinema. With a total of 6,000 units planned, Biscayne Landing will feature a dynamic town center designed by Arquitectonica, where 12 buildings will house 1,684 dwellings, 180,000 square feet of office space, a hotel with 200 guest rooms and nearly 300,000 square feet of retail. This prestigious national program includes the town center and 167 acres of the site. (Two completed towers on the site are not part of the pilot.)

Many of the new buildings also will be certified “green,” with such features as solar panels, irrigation from captured rainwater, shading systems, tinted and insulated glass, and “gray water systems” that reuse water. Insulated glazing, an unusual feature in South Florida, will reduce unneeded solar heat while increasing the views and daylight for office tenants. Energy-efficient lighting, mechanical equipment, appliances, elevators and low-water-use plumbing fixtures also are part of the design.

Arquitectonica GEO has designed innovative landscape architecture featuring drought-tolerant xeriscape and native-compatible plantings for the town center. Contributing to the environmental pilot effort, the landscaping concept dramatically reduces the need for irrigation and recycles captured rainwater.

 

Be Prepared

That’s the mantra of emergency rescue teams as they recall that dreadful September day six years ago.

Locally, the vacant Sheraton Bal Harbour hotel (courtesy of Starwood Hotels) recently provided Miami-Dade Fire Rescue with a site where they could simulate a high-rise building emergency. Experienced and new recruits spent three days training and conducting real-time drills. Miami-Dade Fire Rescue teams destroyed part of the building and started a mock fire to practice rescuing “trapped” people in authentic conditions.

The old hotel will be imploded in October to make way for the glossy new St. Regis Resort & Residences, Bal Harbour. Construction of three all-glass towers will begin by the end of this year. The ultra-luxurious St. Regis enclave, spanning 10 oceanfront acres, should be completed in 2010.

 

Old is New Again in the Grove

One Miami-Dade project is among five finalists for the Urban Land Institute Southeast Florida/Caribbean 2007 Project of the Year Award.

In designing Grove Garden — multifamily condominiums with a commercial component on Main Highway in Coconut Grove — Zyscovich Inc. created a private enclave in a public setting that relates to and enhances its neighborhood, while integrating the development into its urban context. The site originally housed a teahouse (created by the daughter of Grove pioneer Commodore Ralph Munroe), which evolved into The Taurus, once a favorite local watering hole.

Grove Garden includes townhouses, private gardens, a pool, office space, an open public patio, retail space and two levels of underground parking. To provide public space and reveal the historic teahouse, the architecture is stepped back toward the adjacent low-scale residential neighborhood and is highest where it frames the mixed-use areas along the main street. Sheet metal roofs, exposed beams, indented porches (rather than balconies) and latticed walls evoke the original, tropical “Old Grove” style.

The contest winner will be announced at the ULI Southeast Florida/Caribbean 2007 Vision Awards at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel, Hollywood, on Thursday, Sept. 20, 5:30 to 8.30 p.m. It promises “cocktails, dinner and conversation with the region’s premier real estate leaders.” ULI members $100, nonmembers $125, students $60. For information, call 954-783-9504 or visit www.SEFlorida.uli.org.

 

Move quickly

Speaking of awards, there’s just one day left to enter The American Institute of Architects Miami 53rd annual awards program: All entry forms, fees and classifications must be submitted to the AIA office by Friday, Sept. 14. There are eight categories: Excellence in Architecture, Excellence in Interior Design, Excellence in Landscape Architecture, Unbuilt Design (projects not completed), Test of Time, Student Design and Firm Award — and this year, for the first time, the Green Building Awards.         

The honors will be presented during the AIA Miami Celebrate Design Party at the Sky Lobby of the Bank of America Tower Saturday, Nov. 17, in downtown Miami. Images and winning projects will be exhibited at the Design Awards events and at the AIA Miami office in Coral Gables. They will also be on view on the AIA Miami Web site for the next year. AIA Miami works with other like organizations, including the American Society of Interior Designers, the International Interior Design Association and the American Society of Landscape Architects in the awards competition. For more information, visit or www.aiamiami.com or contact Executive Director Mike Brazlavsky at 305-448-7488 or Award Coordinator Bernard Horovitz at bhorovitz@bermelloajamil.com.

 

Doom & Gloom

By now it’s common knowledge that the current real estate situation is pretty hairy. Mike Morgan, of Morgan Florida Real Estate, posted at blog entry at  www.realestateandhousing2.blogspot.com that starts by quoting Steven Pearlstein in the Washington Post: “What we have on our hands here, folks, is a full-blown, global financial crisis comparable to the junk bond collapse of 1987, the S&L crisis of 1990 or the Asian financial crisis of the late '90s.”

Morgan added his own comment: “Market Conditions – one word … dead. And it is not just Florida. I am hearing the same thing from California, Nevada, Arizona, Virginia, North Carolina, New Jersey, etc. Sales are simply not there. Despite Ara Hovnanian’s rah-rah about traffic, sales have fallen off the cliff. In fact, in several markets, builders are now seeing negative sales, as cancellations outpace new sales. When I spoke about this two years ago, folks rolled their eyes. On one conference call with a dozen financial wizards from one of the world’s top 10 financial institutions, I was actually openly laughed at and the butt of a few jokes. That institution is now headline news on a regular basis. And that would be negative news.”

 

Meaty Question for Real Estate Agents

After all the serious stuff, it’s time for the “Quirk of the Week.” Browsing the real estate professionals’ blog community www.activerain.com/bloghome, I stumbled on an interesting posting from a Broward agent asking the essential question: “Are you a Burger Deluxe or a Plain Ol' Wiener?”

I quote: “Burgers and hotdogs, America's all-American fast food. Seems like we can't go too long without them. Same goes with home buyers and sellers. They try to go without the services of a Realtor, but just can't seem to go too long without one. Question is: Do they prefer a Burger Deluxe or a Plain Wiener?” 

Helen Hill is a freelance writer specializing in real estate and lifestyle topics.

Please send news items on Miami-Dade real estate to hhill@miamisunpost.com.