On April 29, 2015, the Washington Avenue Blue Ribbon Panel presented various recommendations to the Mayor and City Commission regarding proposed enhancements to the entertainment district. One recommendation was to remove the existing on-street parking on Washington Avenue and expand the number of parking garages in the area as replacement parking to allow for more efficient and viable transportation options. As a result, the Mayor and City Commission gave direction to the Administration to explore any and all possibilities to develop parking garages in the vicinity of Washington Avenue. Several alternatives were explored as outlined below.
1. RFP No. 2016-009-ME for the Development of Public Parking Garages.
The City issued RFP No. 2016-009-ME on October 20, 2015. The RFP provided for a two-step, phased evaluation process. The Phase I selection process related to the qualifications and experience of the proposing team; the number of public parking spaces generated by the project; and if the project is within the high demand areas. The Phase II selection process focused on the technical and price proposals. Two proposals were received, one of which was on Washington Avenue proposing the following:
Washington Properties, LLC and RF 930 Washington, LLC (the “Developer”), proposed a joint development of Municipal Parking Lot No. P12, containing 24 parking spaces at 900 Washington Avenue, and the adjacent property, located at 930 Washington Avenue, currently a bank with a drive-thru teller facility and small parking lot. The Developer proposed a 145 room hotel that would serve as a liner building to a 247 space parking garage. Of the 247 spaces, 145 were proposed to be “City” owned public parking spaces, increasing parking availability by 121 spaces. The proposed project was consistent with the recommendations from the Washington Avenue Blue Ribbon Panel, by providing new development in the form of a hotel as well as increased parking availability to the corridor.
The City held a negotiation meeting with Washington Avenue Properties, LLC regarding their proposal on November 16, 2016, and a second meeting was scheduled for January 6, 2017. Subsequently, the developer declined to attend the second meeting. After various attempts to contact the developer, on February 16, 2017, the City received a response from their counsel, indicating that for reasons beyond direct discussions with the City, the developer had elected not to proceed with pursuing this project at this time. Various factors may change their view in the future. However, for now, the Developer terminated negotiations with the City.
2. Other City Sites Explored for Garage Expansion for Washington Avenue
The Office of Capital Improvement Projects (CIP) and Parking Department investigated the feasibility of constructing parking garage buildings at two municipal parking lots, as well as expansion of the existing garage located adjacent to the Police Department. The following is the status of each project:
Municipal Parking Lot No. P13 (P13) located in the northwest corner of the intersection of 10th Street and Washington Avenue and currently holds 37 spaces:
A feasibility study determined that a garage could be constructed on this site and as such, the City engaged the services of DESMAN, Inc. (DESMAN) on November 17, 2016, to prepare a Design Criteria Package (DCP) for the proposed parking garage.
Following discussions with the Planning Department the following criteria was considered: 65’ maximum height, activation of Washington Avenue and 10th Street frontages, reduction of side setback on 10th Street, and placement of exterior architectural/landscape screening. As such, variances would be required for height and setbacks.
On November 21, 2016, the consultant presented a conceptual garage layout that accommodated 105 parking spaces on a five level structure. The proposed garage could not accommodate future housing due to sloped parking/circulation design to maximize parking. The estimated construction cost was approximately $8,190,000 (approximately $78,000 per space.)
On January 4, 2017, further development of this garage was placed on hold by the City’s Administration pending exploration of potential alternative sites with lower cost.
The appropriated funding for this project is $8,575,000.
Expansion of Municipal Parking Garage No. 2 (G2), located adjacent to the Miami Beach Police Department on Washington Avenue and 12th Street:
G2 is a multi-level parking garage that serves the police headquarters and its visitors. The parking structure is divided into two areas, the police headquarters’ parking and the visitors’ parking. These two parking sections are not connected.
The police headquarters’ parking is five stories and most of the floors in this portion of the garage have been subdivided into two levels. The garage encompasses most of the western quadrant of the building and the parking garage has approximately 420 vehicular parking spaces and seven motorcycle spaces as per plans. This component of the garage is not accessible to the public. The visitors’ parking garage is located along the north end of the property. It is four stories in height and it accommodates 134 vehicular parking spaces. This garage does not have any motorcycle spaces. The planned improvement to add two additional levels and reconfigure the existing layout of the parking garage would yield an increase of 125 spaces at an estimated construction cost of $11,321,000 (approximately $91,000 per space).
On June 29, 2016, LTC No. 280-2016, informed the Mayor and City Commission that the expansion of the existing garage was not deemed feasible based on the anticipated construction costs as described in the feasibility study prepared by Thornton Tomasetti, Inc.
Municipal Parking Lot No. P16 (P16), located at southwest corner of the intersection of 13th Street and Collins Avenue, opposite of Municipal Parking Garage No. 3 (G3) and currently holds 53 parking spaces:
On November 17, 2016, the City engaged the services of DESMAN, to prepare a DCP for the proposed parking garage. Following discussions with the Planning Department the following criteria was considered: 65’ maximum height, reduction of setbacks and activation of frontages along Collins Avenue and 13th Street. The increase in height and reduction in setbacks will require variances.
On November 21, 2016, the consultant presented a conceptual garage layout that accommodated 207 parking spaces on a six level structure. In order to maximize the number of parking spaces, the structure would not be able to accommodate future housing due to the sloped parking/circulation design. The estimated construction cost of this garage is $11,680,000 (approximately $57,000 per space.)
On January 4, 2017, the City’s Administration directed CIP to proceed with the development of the DCP for this garage and to pursue required variances through City Commission at their next meeting. In addition, the height of the structure was to be increased to a maximum height of 75’, architectural screening was to be provided on the North, East, and South facades only, and setbacks and active frontages were to remain as stipulated in the latest conceptual design.
On February 8, 2017, the required waivers of development were presented to the City Commission. The City Commission did not take action on the waivers. They requested that the following be evaluated: proposed parking garage maximum height should be 55’, possible workforce housing on the top two levels, a pool and courtyard at the rooftop level, an active ground level liner, and parking on the remaining available levels. The City Commission requested that the revised layout be presented at either the April or May 2017 Commission Meeting.
P16 is located within the MXE (Mixed Use Entertainment District). Contributing buildings are located to the immediate north (Alamac Apartments, with a height of approximately 75’), immediate west (commercial building, with a height of approximately 50’) and to the south (hotel, with a height of approximately 35’). To the east is a non-contributing apartment building with an approximate height of 100’. The properties to the north, east and south are also zoned as MXE. To the immediate west the zoning district is designated as CD-2 (Commercial Medium Intensity).
The Planning Department recommends, at this particular location, a height limit of 50’ works best, although 60’ would not be detrimental. There needs to be active uses at the first floor facing Collins and 13th Street. The building should align with, or be slightly setback from the hotel to the immediate south.
The appropriated funding for this project is $8,098,000.
3. Garage Development of 1234/1260 Washington Avenue
The Administration was recently approached by the property owners of 1234/1260 Washington Avenue who reopened a dialogue to develop a parking garage on their combined parcels. This site was initially identified in the Washington Avenue Masterplan as a suitable location for a garage development. At that time, the Administration held a discussion with the property owners and it was not deemed as a viable project from a financial perspective. Most recently, the property owners proffered a potential land sale for an estimated $20 Million.
1234 Washington Avenue is classified as ‘Non-Contributing’; however, this classification, from 1989, was based solely on the year of construction. It is likely that the Historic Preservation Board would consider re-classifying the building to ‘contributing’ as it would meet the requirements. 1260 Washington Avenue is classified as ‘Contributing’.
Contributing buildings are located to the immediate north (Post Office), immediate east (commercial building), immediate south (commercial building) and to the west (residential buildings).
The site, as well as the properties to the north, east and south are zoned CD-2 and to the immediate west the zoning district is designated RO (Residential Office). The Planning Department recommends, at this particular location, a height limit of 55’ works best, particularly given the close proximity of very low scale, historic residential buildings to the immediate west (across Drexel Avenue). Ideally, a step back along the west side of the building, from Drexel Avenue, should be explored. There needs to be active uses at the first floor facing Washington and 13th Street. The existing building at 1234 Washington Avenue should be retained, preserved and restored. However, depending what historic research uncovers, the façade of 1260 Washington Avenue (which is the only significant part of the building) may be able to be modified.
The impacts of removing the 1234 building may be a legal non-conforming FAR (Floor Area Ratio). Approval from the Historic Preservation Board is required for any demolition.
Cost Impacts
The attached chart reflects the comparisons of various scenarios for the Municipal Parking Lot No. P16 (P16), located at the southwest corner of the intersection of 13th Street and Collins Avenue, opposite of Municipal Parking Garage No. 3 (G3) as well as the development of a garage at 1234/1260 Washington Avenue. The cost comparisons are summarized as follows:
• For the Collins Avenue site, there is minimal parking gained at significant cost per space if the project incorporates ground floor retail, two floors of workforce housing and a pool deck.
• The cost per space for the “construction only costs” of a garage only on the site is similar for both the Collins Avenue and the Washington Avenue sites (just over $50,000 per space), if the 1234 Building is maintained for the Collins site. However, once the land acquisition costs are factored in to the total cost per space, the Washington Avenue alternatives become more than double the cost of the Collins Avenue alternatives.
• With retail and two top floors of workforce housing, construction cost only for the Washington Avenue site is less per space than the Collins Avenue site (approximately $70,000 versus $156,000) due to the number of spaces that can be achieved, but the total cost is significantly higher for the Washington Avenue site once land acquisition costs are taken into account
It should be noted that the estimated cost of the workforce housing options range between $8.4 million and $21.6 million, depending on the option selected. No funding is currently programmed for this. If the desire is to move forward with this project inclusive of workforce housing, it would need to be developed as a Public Private Partnership (P3) project.
The attached table (Exhibit A) summarizes the options explored for both the P16 Garage and 1234/1260 Washington Avenue.