Rezoning process begins for Mira Mar Plaza

An effort to preserve the century-old Mira Mar Plaza and redevelop a portion of the site to pay for it had its initial submission before the city’s Development Review Committee on Dec. 18. 

Prior to site plan submission, Seaward Development is seeking a rezoning of the property from Downtown Core to Downtown Bayfront, which would allow it to build two 18-story towers between the Mira Mar, which fronts South Palm Avenue, and Mira Mar Court where both intersect at McAnsh Square at the south end of the block.

The Downtown Core zone permits only 10 stories in height, the site immediately next to the recently completed 18-story DeMarcay and virtually surrounded by Downtown Bayfront zoning. Seward plans to build 70 condominiums in the mixed-use development that will provide the revenue needed to rehabilitate the Mira Mar building, whose demolition permit was previously rejected by the city’s Historic Preservation Board.

“We're requesting a rezoning from the Downtown Core to Downtown Bayfront, and our plan is to come in with a site plan at a later date that will provide for two towers and 70 residential units,” attorney Brenda Patten told the DRC members. “But the real motivation for this application is to save the Mira Mar. 

“In order to generate the $25 million it will take to restore the Mira Mar, we're proposing the rezoning so that we can go higher and keep the ground level open like it was In 1926. We’re trying to replicate the appearance and the ambience of the 1926 development.”

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Seaward held a pre-application conference with the DRC on Nov. 6 when it officially introduced its concept to restore the structurally at-risk Mira Mar to its original form, removing architectural features and additions from the 1980s that deter from its historical significance. More than just preserving the facade, the developer plans to restore the entire structure while bringing it up to code. 

The Mira Mar Plaza was constructed as a two-story apartment building in 60 days in 1922, and a hotel behind the building was finished in time for the 1923–24 winter season. The hotel was razed in 1982, but the original apartment building along South Palm Avenue remains, now filled with restaurants, shops and offices.

Since acquiring the property from commercial developer Mark Kauffman for $17 million in May 2023, Seaward has brought on board expertise in historic preservation and compatible development design to lend an architecturally cohesive project. 

“That two-story, wood framed entire structure all along Palm Avenue will remain. When we're done with our historical specialists, we aim to apply for historical significance,” Patten said. “The structure will be simple rehabilitation, adding nothing to it. The two towers are going to be behind the historic building, and they're going to be designed to replicate the architecture of the historic portion. They’re going to be architecturally very consistent.”

Seaward’s original plan was to raze the Mira Mar and replace it with a two-story retail building of similar architecture with the condo towers behind. Amid public outcry, in June 2022, its demolition was denied by the Historic Preservation Board. 

As reported by sister publication Business Observer, at that time, Seaward was under contract to purchase the building from Kauffman, whose engineering consultant reported the building to be badly damaged, including undersized foundations, corroded structural wood wall studs, extensive insect damage and wood rot with no lateral resistance to wind loads.

The demolition denial sent Seaward back to the drawing board to hatch its current plan to preserve the Mira Mar and redevelop the rest of the site, the concept generally well received by a capacity audience of more than 100 during a September 2024 community workshop. 

There, Seaward Managing Partner Patrick DiPinto introduced a collaboration with East Coast architects Rick Gonzalez and Igor Reyes along with the plan to restore the Mira Mar to its origins and pay the bill with the 18-story residential towers behind it. Gonzalez, of REG Architects 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.

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Seaward has received a partial sign-off from the DRC, at this stage only for the rezoning, with full sign-off anticipated soon. The rezoning request will then need approval of an amendment to the city’s Comprehensive Plan, which requires a 4-1 supermajority of the City Commission first to transmit the change to Tallahassee for comment and, if cleared, another supermajority for approval. 

That will be followed by a rezoning hearing before a site plan submittal to the DRC. As a development in a downtown zone district, the project will need only administrative approval absent any code adjustments that would require an appearance before the Planning Board.