Lodging, condo hotel due in trio of West Brickell towers

Plans for the third in a trio of mid-rise residential buildings planned for a site in West Brickell have been filed with the City of Miami.

Owner-developer Smart Corner LLC plans a 23-story mixed-use residential building, Smart Brickell Luxe, at 885 SW Third Ave.

The new building will become home to 74 lodging units and 53 residential and condo hotel units.

The city’s Urban Development Review Board recommended approval, with conditions.

Ben Fernandez, an attorney representing the developer, said the new building will include food and beverage space, a gym, an outdoor garden lounge, a business center and a swimming pool.

The property is about 0.46 acres on the northeast corner of Southwest Third Avenue and Southwest Ninth Street.

The property abuts a Transit-Oriented Development area and is near the Brickell Metrorail and Metromover stations, he said.

The new building will have a floor area of 192,808 square feet, including 1,825 square feet of commercial space in front of the lobby areas at the corner, as well as an additional 949 square feet of commercial space along Southwest Ninth Street.

In a letter Mr. Fernandez wrote, “The amenity level at the top of the podium also provides an additional commercial space of approximately 2,364 square feet, and there is a small commercial area on the ninth floor that will serve as an amenity to the gym. The remainder of the floor area is dedicated to the residential and lodging uses.”

He said the new building will provide an eight-story podium with a mezzanine, and the podium is lined with habitable units along the Third Avenue frontage.

The neighboring two mid-rise buildings share the podium levels in design.

Within the third building, the hotel units are on the lower levels, and the condo hotel and residential units are in the tower area above the gym on the ninth floor.

The developer is requesting waivers to the zoning code that would allow:

■A decrease in the required parking by 30%, within a half-mile radius of a transit corridor. The parking podium provides 74 spaces.

■Substitution of a commercial loading berth with two residential berths.

■Reduction of driveway width by 10% from 23 feet to 21.

■Access from a principal frontage.

Ginard Studio is project architect.

“You have a beautiful building,” said Board Chair Ignacio Permuy.

Board member Anthony Tzamtzis said, “It’s a lot of building for a very small site.”

Board member Gia Zapattini said, “There is a missed opportunity to do something special in the corner. It looks strange … it’s not the same language, seems out of place.”

Mr. Fernandez said the third building and podium were designed differently on purpose, to make a distinction from the first two buildings.

He told the board, “We tried to get away from the West Brickell stucco look … it is different. That was done to be different. We were attempting for it to be an improvement.”

Board member Agustin Barrera said, “I like the vocabulary of the new tower but it is so drastic (a change), it kind of clashes. I would like to see it not be such a stark contrast.”

He acknowledged it is a very challenging site due to space limitations.

The first motion to recommend approval failed on a 3-3 tie vote, which usually requires the developer to return in the following month.

But a motion to rescind the first vote passed, and a new motion to recommend approval, with conditions, passed on a vote of 4-2.

The conditions are that the developer consider redesigning the new podium to be more harmonious with the look of the third building, and to break up the overall massing.