Bal Harbour Shops has purchased the Church by the Sea’s lot for $30 million, marking another step forward for Whitman Family Development’s expansion plans for the upscale shopping center.
Miami-Dade County records show the now torn down church, formerly the oldest in Bal Harbour, sold last week to Bal Harbour Shops LLLP. The 27,000-square-foot property was part of a contentious battle between the Miami-Dade County’s historic preservation board and the church, the latter of which agreed to sell to the Whitman family. The board voted against protecting the church from demolition in November. It was torn down in December.
The church has been a key part of the neighboring mall’s renovation and expansion. The $400 million project will include a new entrance, wider sidewalks, a new canopy, landscaping and some new exterior walls. The upgrades will also include the addition of Barneys New York, expansions of existing Neiman Marcus and Saks Fifth Avenue stores, and new luxury boutiques. Bernard Zyscovich of Zyscovich Architects is the lead designer on the project.
Whitman has also agreed to build a new home for the congregational church.
Last year, Whitman president and CEO Matthew Whitman Lazenby said that “without exaggeration the last 40 years have been spent trying to negotiate a deal with the congregational church,” and that Whitman’s plans ensure “that the Village of Bal Harbour remains the center for luxury living.”
Moishe Mana hopes to lure a slew of innovative companies and trade groups to his 30-acre campus in the Wynwood neighborhood with a major rezoning proposal he filed with the city of Miami.
Only months after a new zoning code was approved for Wynwood, the New York-based developer is asking for a “special area plan” for his property that would increase its possible density further. Buildings could rise up to 24 stories along Interstate 95 and the total square footage, including parking decks, would be around 9 million square feet, said Bernard Zyscovich, whose Zyscovich Architects is the master planner for the project.
For comparison, the first phase of the Brickell City Centre project now under construction totals 5.4 million square feet, but on a much tighter site of seven acres.
Mana Wynwood runs from Northwest 22nd Street to Northwest 24th Street between Interstate 95 and Northwest 2nd Ave. This former free trade zone is in the middle of a neighborhood that’s been transformed from a manufacturing hub to a destination for art, restaurants and shopping. Mana has added entertainment to the mix by converting a warehouse into a convention center.
That’s only the beginning of his plans.
“The intent and goal of the plan is to develop a unique area on the southern end of Wynwood with cultural infrastructure with an area of trade on western edge, to facilitate increase trade between South America and Asia,” Zyscovich said. “The eastern edges would fulfill the Moishe Mana vision of the cultural component into the Wynwood area in the form of art and culture mixed with significant job creation, trade and other flexible uses.”
Mana saw that it’s difficult for Latin American people in the trade business to connect to SUPPLIERS in China because they’re so far apart, so he believes Mana Wynwood could create an environment for them to interact, Zyscovich said.
Zyscovich said Mana Wynwood would create a campus environment in a creative setting, making it one of the few places in Miami that could land a cutting edge company like Google.