1,000-square-foot pedestrian bridge to link Morningside buildings

A pedestrian bridge totaling 1,000 square feet has been approved to rise over Northeast 55th Street off Biscayne Boulevard in Miami’s Morningside neighborhood to facilitate a two-building, mixed-use development.

The Miami City Commission passed two resolutions related to Morningside Place, a planned retail and residential project comprised of two three-story buildings on adjacent vacant lots at 5445 and 5501 Biscayne Blvd. The resolutions authorized the city manager to execute an aerial easement with the developer, Rosa 55 Morningside LLC, and approved amendments to the restrictive land covenant.

Per a 1991 ordinance, vehicular access to certain streets in the Morningside neighborhood, inclusive of Northeast 55th Street, was permanently prohibited. The developers of Morningside Place, Rosa 55 Morningside LLC, which is led by Sady Chocron and Roberto Cohen, sought a special permit to construct the pedestrian bridge to connect the project’s two buildings.

The commission approved the bridge encroachment, which will run about 1,000 square feet over Northeast 55th Street. As part of the deal, a one-time fee of $92,570 must be paid to the city. The fee is based on the value of the land, which was appraised by Slack, Johnston & Magenheimer Inc. at $92.57 per square foot for a total of $4.75 million for the total building area of 51,311 square feet.

Morningside Place has been in the works since 2012, when the city’s Historic and Environmental Preservation Board approved a Special Certificate of Appropriateness for the construction of two commercial buildings at the vacant lots.

In 2014, the Miami City Commission rezoned the property from T4-L General Urban Transect Zone – Limited to T4-O General Urban Transect Zone – Open. Per the city’s zoning code, T4 zones allow for a transition of building massing between single-family and multifamily housing. It also allows for the option to add some neighborhood businesses, offices, mom-and-pop corner stores and for small business owners to live near their establishments.

The switch to T4-O permits more lodging and entertainment establishments than T4-L, which allows for residential units with limited commercial, office lodging and community centers.

Several Morningside residents have opposed the project. A July 2023 letter from Maji Ramos to commissioners noted that the special exemption given to the developers in 2014 had long since expired and said it should be reconsidered.

“The exemptions seem to benefit the developers and do not appear to be in any way beneficial to residents of the neighborhood. The world and the neighborhood have changed since 2014. Exemptions should not be reinstated without careful review and consideration, and input from the surrounding neighborhood,” Ms. Ramos said.

“The request for a rooftop music venue would loom over the homes on the 400 block of 55th Terrace and 55th Street. The venue proposal is advocating commercial use until midnight and then resident use after midnight. This is not appropriate for a property adjacent to a residential neighborhood,” her email continued.

While the commission greenlit the project, it also approved an amendment to the restrictive covenant that runs with the land that attempts to limit the development’s impact on the surrounding residential neighborhood.

Per the legislation, the new covenant as requested by the applicant has these restrictions:

■The only T4-L/General Urban Zone uses shall be residential.

■No vehicular ingress from or egress to the area to the north and the east from the properties.

■No access to the roof of any bulding on the property after midnight.

■No commercial use and no kitchen facilities on the roof level of any building on the property.

■Only ambient level music on the roof level of any building on the property and no music whatsoever after 11 p.m.

■All trash shall be maintained in conditioned fully enclosed structures.

■A minimum 20-foot setback from the east and north property lines.

Additionally, no employees or staff of any business on the property are allowed to park in the Morningside residential area and a solid 8-foot-high privacy wall, subject to city approval, is to be installed before construction begins.

Once built, Morningside Place is to feature two Miami Modern/MiMo-styled, three-story buildings with 24 residential units on the second and third floors as well as a rooftop deck, fitness area and conference room.

The total project cost is estimated at $10 million with the developer spending $4.4 million for the land at 5501 and 5445 Biscayne Blvd.