Archives

  • www.xinsurance.com
Advertisement
The Newspaper for the Future of Miami
Connect with us:
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Instagram
  • Linkedin
Front Page » Top Stories » Design District Should Soon Get Large Parking Garage

Design District Should Soon Get Large Parking Garage

Written by on March 15, 2012
  • www.miamitodayepaper.com
Advertisement

By Patricia Hoyos
Sale negotiations are almost complete for a Miami Parking Authority-owned lot in the Design District that is slated to become a garage with retail space.

The authority’s board last week approved a number of minor changes, mainly relating to clarifying language in the agreement to sell the property at 3800 NE First Ave. to Trigram LLC for $3.5 million. The changes will also allow the buyer to execute the contract under a sister corporation.

"The [changes] are not major by any means," said Art Noriega, parking authority CEO. "The intent is to get this finalized so we can move to a closing."

Under the agreement, the buyer will have to develop a garage with 404 parking spaces and about 15,600 square feet of ground retail in accordance with a previous design by Tim Haahs Engineers & Architects.

Increasing popularity of the Design District has created demand for a major parking garage.

Permits for the garage must be filed no later than six months from the date of closing, contraction should begin no later than a year from the closing and the garage should be completed in no more than 30 months from the closing date.

Should the buyer fail to meet the construction timelines in the agreement, the land would revert to the Miami Parking Authority.

The authority’s board decided to sell the land last October following years of back-and-forth discussions with Dacra Development.

The authority bought the 31,251-square-foot property for $1.4 million in 2004 with the intent to create a garage. That same year, it requested proposals to develop a public garage on the land. The project was awarded to Dacra but remained on hold.

In an attempt to kick-start the project again, in 2010 Dacra offered to buy the site for $1 million with intentions to still build the garage. Instead, the authority decided to draft another agreement with Dacra outlining a development timeline. Under the agreement, if the timeline wasn’t followed the authority was obligated to sell the property.

Disagreements over how the contract was being followed resulted in talks of arbitration last year, leading to the authority’s decision to sell the property.

  • www.miamitodayepaper.com
Advertisement