- September 28, 2024
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Historic preservation isn’t for the feint of heart, especially for those paying for it.
Having been denied permission to demolish the Mira Mar building at 49 S. Palm Ave. in 2022, Seaward Development still purchased the century-old building in 2023 as it set about an 18-month effort to determine how it could save the Mira Mar and still redevelop the property.
That endeavor led to partnering with East Coast architects Rick Gonzalez and Igor Reyes to devise a plan to restore the Mira Mar to its 1923 origins and pay the bill by building two 18-story residential towers behind it. Gonzalez, of REG Archuitects of West Palm Beach, has 40 years of expertise in historic building restoration. Reyes, of Nichols Architects of Coral Gables, specializes in designing projects that help monetize such efforts.
The cost to restore the Mira Mar is estimated at $29 million. The money to cover that would come from a portion of the proceeds of sales from 70 condominiums to be built between the rear of the historic building and Mira Mar Court. It’s a proposal for a mixed-use development that will require a rezoning from Downtown Bayfront to Downtown Core, effectively returning the site to its pre-2005 zoning, preceded by a Comprehensive Plan change of the site’s future land use category.
That would permit Seaward to build the variable-height towers rather than the 10 stories the current zoning allows, but with 1 million fewer cubic feet than is currently permitted there by right.
A Sept. 17 community workshop hosted by Seaward Development introduced the concept to the public in preparation for a forthcoming rezoning application for the site. Rather than an 18-story flat wall, the design of the towers peaks at 18 stories in the center, terracing down to 17 then 15 stories toward the edges.
Seaward Development owner Patrick DiPinto told the community workshop audience the demolition denial by the city’s Historic Preservation Board was the start of an education in preservation.
“Looking back, I think we made a mistake,” DiPinto said of Seaward’s original plan. “We probably moved a little too quick. We made some quick decisions, and after the education that we received over the last year and a half, I think at this point that's a good thing.”
Mira Mar presents the rare restoration challenge. It’s a long, 400-foot span along Palm Avenue was built of wood on a non-compressed beach. What opened as an apartment building after two months of construction floats on the ground, neither stabilized on concrete piers nor strapped from the roof to the ground. A significant part of the restoration cost lies in that work alone.
The building has shown signs of structural weakness. Although maintained by Seaward, which has office space in Mira Mar, portions of the building are not safely accessible. Additions and modifications over the decades are planned to be removed and the original appearance restored. The second-floor, glass-enclosed pedestrian connector between the buildings will be removed and the open vista restored toward a center courtyard between the residential towers.
“The building has had significant changes, and we're like surgeons,” Gonzalez said. “First, we're detectives. We come in, we measure everything, we look at the (historical) photographs and then we're going to work like surgeons. We're going to remove portions that are not appropriate, that are not original, and then we're going to reconstruct it to match the historic 1923 look. That's what the $29 million budget gives us, and that's what we're going to do as we move forward with the project.”
None of that happens without the revenue generated by the new residential construction and the comparatively minimal design of separate, tiered condominium towers. Otherwise, without the rezoning, the next best option to foot the bill is a 10-story, lot line to lot line concrete and glass rectangle with 270 rental apartments.
The residential buildings plan includes:
“The towers are what is going to help pay for the $29 million it's going to take to restore this project,” Gonzalez said. “If you can't get the towers built, then there's not an economic engine to save the structures. The structures are in very, very, very bad shape. The Mira Mar is under threat.”
That threat will not end soon. Seaward now must pursue a Comprehensive Plan amendment to change the future land use classification of the property, followed by a rezoning. A Comprehensive Plan amendment must be approved by a supermajority of the City Commission and endorsed by the state before rezoning can occur.
