On February 9, 2015, consultant James Corner Field Operations (JCFO), commenced work on the development of the “Lincoln Road District Master Plan,” to serve as the basis for future improvements on Lincoln Road, from Lincoln Lane North to Lincoln Lane South, and from West Avenue to Collins Avenue, as well as the connecting side streets. This master plan is also geared towards developing a vision for its future, boosting its status as a world class public space, and pedestrian destination that embodies the unique style and culture that defines Miami Beach.  

The Master Plan provides a conceptual land use plan, design guidelines, and illustrative details that incorporate key elements and features. This includes refurbishments and enhancements to lighting, pedestrian surfaces, street furnishings, healthy tree fertilization systems, and crosswalks. A few recommendations were made by the consultant, including operational changes to loading times, sidewalk café ordinance, and trash collection.

City staff has worked extensively with the various Lincoln Road stakeholders, including property owners, retail tenants, restaurant operators, and neighborhood residents. In addition, there were two public workshops held on June 24 and September 30, 2015. This combined feedback was provided to JCFO for further consideration.

On September 8, 2015, the Lincoln Road District Master Plan was presented to the Historic Preservation Board Comments from the Board were favorable and incorporated into the final design.  On October 14, 2015, the Mayor and City Commission approved, in concept, the Master Plan for the Lincoln Road District.

On March 9, 2016, the City Commission adopted Resolution No.2016-29319, awarding the contract for Architectural and Engineering Design Services for Lincoln Road District to JCFO. The award was based on the Lincoln Road Master Plan approved by the City Commission in October 2015. The resolution accepted the recommendation of the City Manager to retain the top ranking firm pursuant to RFQ No. 2015-245-KB.

On June 8, 2016, City Commission, pursuant to RFQ 2016-073-KB, adopted Resolution 2016-29447 awarding a Construction Manager At Risk (CMAR) contract for pre-construction services, to Burkhardt Construction, Inc.  Responsibilities under this contract include, but are not limited to, design review for constructability, cost estimates, project scheduling, logistics analysis, product submittals and bid preparation and analysis. Burkhardt Construction will prepare a Guaranteed Maximum Price proposal for consideration by the City, upon completion of the final bid process.  If approved, the CMAR contract will be amended to include Construction Phase Services.

On October 28, 2016, following the completion of the Schematic Design Phase and Value Engineering efforts, the project team presented the design and estimated costs to the Finance and Citywide Projects Committee, who gave direction to the project team to forgo the value engineering options and design to the Master Plan recommendations.

Since that time, the City, JCFO and Burkhardt Construction have had multiple design meetings with the different departments and the stakeholders. The design has advanced through 90% Construction Documents.  Throughout the process, at each design completion milestone, except the 90% construction documents, JCFO and Burkhardt Construction prepared independent cost estimates.

The overall project cost for the improvements proposed, as prepared by Burkhardt Construction at 50% Construction Document submittal include, without limitation, costs of construction, labor, materials and contractor fee and contingency.  City staff has included in the total project cost, the cost of plans, specifications and surveys, architecture and engineering, legal expenses, permit and City fees and Owner’s Contingency. The total project cost is projected to be approximately $77.4 million for the Lincoln Road District Improvement Project, including Lincoln Road from Lenox Avenue to Washington Avenue, Lincoln Road from Washington Avenue to Collins Avenue, Meridian Avenue from Lincoln Road to 17^th Street, Pennsylvania Avenue from Lincoln Road to Lincoln Lane North, and Drexel Avenue from 16^th Street to Lincoln Lane North.

a) Physical Improvements

The types of improvements being proposed within the Lincoln Road District include enhancement of pedestrian walkways and café zones, modifications to the existing planters and water features, new landscape and irrigation, needed cosmetic repairs to historic Lapidus structures, drainage improvements, new lighting and signalization/wayfinding, performance/multipurpose areas in the 500 and 600 Blocks, outdoor furnishings at selected locations, gateway trellis at the 400 Block, replacement of underground infrastructure, crosswalk enhancements, and milling and resurfacing of asphalt paving.

b) Available Budget

Total available budget for this project is $50.36M.  The total funding for this project was specifically allocated to revitalize the following components within the Lincoln Road District:

·         Lincoln Road Pedestrian Mall                                             $40 million

·         Convention Center/Lincoln Road Connectors:                $10 million

·         17^th Street from Pennsylvania to Washington Ave:         $2 million

          This portion of the project was later removed, as it is being performed under                a future project to improve 17^th Street

·         Infrastructure (Design Only)                                               $361,000

       This was funded by a separate Public Works project, outside the Lincoln Road          Improvement project budget

c) Lincoln Road District Master Plan Capital Improvement Cost

d) Special Assessment Opportunities

One way to bridge the funding gap is to impose a special assessment on the properties receiving a benefit from the Project. There is ample precedent for this approach.   

Lincoln Road Capital Improvements District (1994)

On May 18, 1994, the City Commission adopted Resolution No. 94-21165, creating a special assessment district to be known as the Lincoln Road Capital Improvements District No.1; providing for the levying of special assessments; indicating the location, nature and estimated cost of the improvements to be partially defrayed by the special assessments.

The Lincoln Road Task Force, established in order to work with the City of Miami Beach in developing an overall comprehensive plan for the redevelopment and revitalization of Lincoln Road, was composed of Lincoln Road property owners, merchants, the Miami Beach Development Corporation, and the City Manager.

Under the authority provided by Chapter 170.01, Florida Statutes, as amended, The City levied and collected a special assessment against those properties benefited by the public improvements. The 1994 assessments defrayed approximately half, or 50%, of the estimated project costs directly related to “Mall enhancements.”

The agreed upon equitable assessment formula, reached by consensus with the Lincoln Road Task Force, was a blended one. The assessment formula charged, for linear front footage, linear side footage, and a rate per square foot for the space above ground level.  

City of Coral Gables Streetscape Project (2014)

On June 10, 2014, the City of Coral Gables Commission adopted resolution No. 2014-114, the Initial Assessment Resolution for Miracle Mile Improvement Project and No. 2014-115, the Initial Assessment Resolution for Giralda Avenue Improvement Project. The resolutions described the methods of assessing the cost of the design, acquisition, construction and installation of the improvement project against the real property that will be specially benefited thereby, as well as, collection of the assessments and repayment amounts.

On October 14, 2014, the City of Coral Gables passed and adopted Resolution No. 2014-223 authorizing the negation of a loan in an amount not to exceed $25,000,000 from the Sunshine State Governmental Financing Commission to finance certain Capital Improvements within the City of Coral Gables. The debt service on the Capital Improvement Revenue Bonds (“Bonds”) would be paid in part by the City of Coral Gables (50%) and in part by the special assessments (50%) imposed on the properties receiving special benefit from the Project.

Lincoln Road Business Improvement District (2019)

On April 15, 2015, the Mayor and City Commission of the City of Miami Beach adopted Resolution No. 2015-28992, creating a special assessment district to be known as the Lincoln Road Business Improvement District (LRBID). City staff has met with representatives of the LRBID on multiple occasions, throughout the design phase, in order to provide updates and receive feedback.  On January 8, 2019, the City Commission hosted a Lincoln Road Workshop to review the design, cost and budget for the project, as well as potential scope reductions. The LRBID, through several Executive Committee and Board of Directors meetings, expressed interest in contributing towards programming for activation of Lincoln Road as opposed to capital funding for the physical improvements. 

On July 3, 2019, the Board of Directors of the Lincoln Road Business Improvement District adopted Resolution 18-19-11 (Attachment A), in support of the full implementation of Phase I of the Lincoln Road District Master Plan, and further expressing support for the creation of an expanded Business Improvement District. The Lincoln Road Business Improvement District Board of Directors further expresses its desire to (a) expand the term of the LRBID for an additional five years; (ii) increase the area covered by the LRBID to include, at a minimum, Lincoln Road from Collins Ave. to West Ave. and to include the side streets; and (iii) increase the assessments to current LRBID members by approximately twenty-five percent (25%) and to consider alternative methods of assessment. These modifications to the term, boundaries, and assessment methodology of the LRBID would generate approximately $16,500,000 of additional revenue over the next ten (10) years, which funds will be used for arts, culture, and performance programs.

The Mayor and Commission through resolution would need to review and consider allowing for an “expanded Business Improvement District” and authorize a special election of the affected property owners for the creation of this new Lincoln Road Business Improvement District.

e) Potential Project Scope Cost Reduction Strategy And Potential Additional Funding Sources

(i)            Scope Reduction and Augmented Budget (Option A)

In order to further alleviate the financial impact for the construction of the project, City staff, the design consultant, the construction manager and various Lincoln Road stakeholders have worked together to examine potential scope reductions, thereby reducing project cost.

The single item with greatest impact on cost was identified to be the gateway trellis located at the Washington Avenue entrance to Lincoln Road.  Additionally, it has been noted that the project could omit the Washington to Collins (Lincoln Road 200-300 Blocks) scope, as this area may be impacted by the planned Washington Avenue improvements in the future, and may be included as part of that project.  The Resolution, recently adopted by the LRBID, would generate additional revenue to be used for Arts, Culture and Performance programming, as well as the necessary promotional, marketing and advertising campaigns.  Additionally, in the event that the expansion of the LRBID is not successful, the LRBID has suggested that the City could establish a special assessment district.  The impact of these scope reductions and the inclusion of additional funding sources is depicted in the chart below:

The Administration could utilize AIPP funding made available by the Convention Center Headquarter Hotel project, to fund an art piece to serve as the gateway feature, replacing the trellis. The Administration further proposes creating a Lincoln Road Arts and Culture Committee which would be tasked with the selection of art pieces to be displayed along Lincoln Road.

The resulting project budget for this reduced scope and augmented funding would be broken down as follows:

*This item accounts for funding which has already been spent during the design phase of the project.

(ii)           Scope Reduction with the Inclusion of Drexel Avenue (Option B)

Alternatively, the project team has explored the possibility of value engineering the project such that it would utilize the allocated funding of $50 million.  This would involve revising, deferring or eliminating scope elements of the plan such as new pedestrian paving, pedestrian lighting, replacement of underground water lines along Lincoln Road, camera and security infrastructure, landscaping the Washington to Collins portion, fountains and follies.  Throughout the discussions regarding potential scope reductions, it became evident that the improvements to Drexel Avenue, from 16^th Street to Lincoln Lane North, were highly desirable and constituted a necessary improvement.  As such, the Administration would recommend that additional funding of approximately $4.3M be provided to complete the pedestrianization of Drexel Avenue at Lincoln Road. 

The resulting project budget for this option would equate to the currently available budget with an added amount, in order to be able to include the pedestrianization of Drexel and can be broken down as follows:

f) Construction Phasing and Impact on Businesses  

Strategic construction phasing is crucial to minimizing the impact on the businesses on

Lincoln Road, visitors and residents. As directed by Commission on previous occasions, the project team has proceeded with planning which would limit construction activities to one block at a time, resulting in a duration of approximately 6-9 months per block (Option A), for a total project duration between 42 and 63 months. 

Should the project proceed with the further reduced scope, matching the currently available budget, the construction timeline would be reduced to a duration of 3-4 months per block (Option B), for a total project duration between 21 and 28 months.

The “Lincoln Road District Master Plan” design aims to become a catalyst for economic development. Inviting spaces that will engage the community, attract residents, visitors, and resonate as a world-class destination.

The owners and stakeholders of Lincoln Road recognize this moment as the time to carry out the vision of the “Lincoln Road District Master Plan” to completion. The City of Miami Beach has agreed to contribute $50 million to provide the necessary infrastructure, and a portion of the aesthetic design. This leaves a funding gap of nearly $27 million for the full JCFO design.

The potential options are as follows:

It is the Administration’s recommendation that the project proceed with Option A, provided the LRBID is successful in the implementation of its expansion and extension, thereby generating funding for Arts, Culture and Performance programming, as well as the necessary promotional, marketing and advertising campaigns.  In the event the LRBID is not successful in obtaining the approval of the property owners to expand and extend, then the Administration would recommend that the project be re-designed to reduce scope, such as Option B, with the goal of limiting City investment to the funding already allocated, or some lesser cost.  The Administration is not comfortable at this point recommending creating a special assessment district in lieu of expanding and extending the LRBID.

Additionally, upon successful expansion of the LRBID, the Administration recommends exploring the establishment of a Lincoln Road Arts Committee, composed of representatives from some of the area’s arts and culture institutions.  The committee would make recommendations regarding permanent and transient art installations and special performances. 

The benefits anticipated to be received by the properties under either approach include, but are not limited to, increase in market value at a faster rate, lower insurance cost, and substantial growth in the amount of tourist and local visitors. The improvement of utility services, safety, overall aesthetics, storm water drainage, additional landscape, and urban design are directly correlated with commercial attractiveness that lead to economic growth.