8-story sister Wynwood office buildings get OK

As the popular Wynwood Arts District evolves it is enjoying a boom in new office space, including a large mixed-use project that will bring a working campus of two 8-story sister buildings at Northwest Fifth Avenue and 27th Street.

WYN ON 5TH NORTH, at 2701 NW Fifth Ave., and WYN ON 5TH SOUTH, at 2661 NW Fifth Ave., are proposing together nearly 250,000 square feet of offices.

Developer-applicant RAL Tricap Wynwood LLC presented the project March 16 to the City of Miami’s Urban Development Review Board, which recommended approval.

The northern building is to offer 106,414 square feet of offices and 6,961 square feet of commercial-retail use, along with 268 parking spaces and 33 bike spaces. The southern building is designed with 139,254 square feet of offices, 15,999 square feet of commercial-retail use, along with parking for 377 vehicles and 36 bike spaces.

The buildings will total 578,325 square feet of floor area.

Attorney Steve Wernick, representing the developer, wrote: “Together, the buildings create a landmark arrival and visual gateway into the Wynwood Arts District from NW 5th Avenue, and significant public realm improvements that will enhance the connectivity and pedestrian experience of Wynwood – extending 24/7 activity to the Fifth Avenue corridor.”

He said the project “will serve as a catalyst for Fifth Avenue’s revitalization as an emerging office hub for creative giants, tech, and the new Miami,” delivering seven stories of class A offices, plus ground floor retail wrapping Northwest Fifth Avenue from 26th to 28th streets.

Each building will have an enclosed garage and an activated roof deck.

“The location and existing conditions of the property are a reminder of Wynwood as a former industrial warehouse district, and that large swaths of Wynwood are still awaiting reinvestment and redevelopment into the mixed-use neighborhood envisioned through the stakeholder-led Wynwood

Neighborhood Revitalization District,” Mr. Wernick wrote.

The project’s theme is “where work comes to play.” It is envisioned as a working campus to meet the demand for creative office space for local and national companies seeking to relocate their workforce to Wynwood and be part of Miami’s emergence as a tech hub and global city for the creative class, he said.

The project, designed by Arquitectónica, will offer large-scale floor plates for flexible, creative work environments in a well-amenitized building for a variety of users desiring to be in the dynamic and culturally significant Wynwood neighborhood, he said.

The developer seeks several waivers:

■Increase maximum lot coverage to 35,254 square feet, or 88.6%, where up to 80% is permitted.

■A less than 30% reduction in total required parking spaces for a project within a transit corridor area.

■Above-ground parking on a secondary frontage to extend into the second layer beyond 50% of the length of the frontage.

■Parking contained within a mezzanine space.

■Extensions above the maximum height for stair, elevator, mechanical enclosures, habitable space, or non-habitable rooms.
Board member Ligia Ines Labrada said, “It will be a great addition to Wynwood.”

 

Board member Fidel Perez told the developer’s team, “I feel you’ve done a great job.”

Chairman Ignacio Permuy said, “These two buildings are basically boxes. They’re decorated boxes … I think the massing could be broken up.”

The board voted to recommend approval with a recommendation to study alignment of the entrances at street level, and a condition to study the proposed artwork on the façade at street level to have it be more Wynwood-like.