The developer planning a 633-foot observation tower equipped with electronic murals is moving his plans forward even as the mayor of Miami talks of slowing him down.
Michael Simkins’ Innovate Development Group applied this week to Miami’s building department for a permit to erect five large electronic signs embedded within the skin of the tower’s twisting facade and mounted along its pedestal. The signs, which would flash advertisements as well as public art and messages, are as large as 30,000 square feet and would be visible from Interstates 395 and 95.
The high-tech tower is envisioned as the centerpiece of a 10-acre technology district around 10th Street and Northwest First Avenue. Simkins expects to go before the city’s Southeast Overtown Park West Community Redevelopment Agency on June 29 to finalize a crucial community benefits agreement that, when last made public, included $5 million in upfront payments to the redevelopment agency and at least $1 million every year after it opens.
“The CRA board has to accept the benefits [for the project to move forward], but we submitted our permit because we are looking at a bigger picture,” said Simkins. “We’re looking at an innovation district as a whole, with 7.4 million square feet and 13,000 high-paying jobs to downtown Miami. And we’re hoping to start phase one in June” of 2016.
Simkins stressed that he’s followed the “letter of the law,” in part because critics have accused him and the Overtown CRA of quietly negotiating his project for months without involving the public.
When city commissioners considered his project in April in their capacity as CRA board members, they decided that they didn’t need to vote on the tower’s signage and then deferred a vote on the community benefits agreement. Audience members weren’t allowed to speak, and left the meeting wondering if they’d lost their only chance to comment on the project before it was approved.
That would seem a moot point now, with Simkins going back to the CRA board for another hearing. County ethics commissioners began poking around after receiving complaints but decided they had no reason to pursue the issue further.
Still, Mayor Tomás Regalado says he doesn’t believe the CRA should be given the power to approve a billboard tower. Previously, a similar project in the Omni area went before the Miami City Commission. But under Miami law, the executive director of the Overtown redevelopment agency is tasked with reviewing and approving a “media tower” in the redevelopment area, and its correlating public benefits.
This week, at Regalado’s behest, Miami’s legal staff released two pieces of legislation that would repeal the laws that place the authority with the redevelopment agency, and replace it with a new zoning code that requires city commission approval.
“I think it’s unfair for the residents, that they won’t be able to participate in public hearings,” said Regalado, who was accused of fast-tracking the proposed billboard tower in the Omni several years ago.
At first glance, though, activists who hailed Regalado in April for his position on the Innovation Tower are cringing at the legislation. Peter Ehrlich, a member of anti-billboard group Scenic Miami, said Wednesday after reading Regalado’s legislation that he worries it would actually allow for more billboard towers with less scrutiny.
“This legislation is horrible,” he said.
Simkins’ attorneys don’t believe the proposed legislation would even apply to the project should it be approved, since Simkins has submitted his plans to the city and the CRA.
City Attorney Victoria Méndez couldn’t say Wednesday whether she agrees. But in late April, her office issued a legal opinion stating that Simkins must still receive administrative approvals for his project, including the approval of a warrant, which can be appealed.
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Miami Innovation Tower is officially on life support.
Late Thursday, the Miami City Commission ratified an initial June vote adopting an ordinance that eliminates so-called “media towers” on the site proposed for the 633-foot high-rise featuring five large LED signs. The measure, championed by Miami Mayor Tomas Regalado, deletes the term “media towers” from the city’s zoning code known as Miami 21.
However, an attorney for Michael Simkins, the Miami Beach-based developer of the innovation tower, told commissioners that his client plans to move forward with pending permit applications to build the project.
“We will continue to implement this development irrespective of what is done today,” said Tony Recio, a partner with Weiss Serota Helfman Cole & Bierman. “We look forward to having the permits fairly reviewed and evaluated.”
In a statement to The Real Deal, Simkins said he does not believe the new ordinance can be applied to his project.
“We are disappointed by the commission’s action,” Simkins said. “But we expect the city to comply with the law and respect our rights by honoring the sign permit applications and media tower approval by the CRA, and processing the sign applications in good faith.”
City commissioners Frank Carrollo, Willy Gort and Marc Sarnoff again voted in favor of the ordinance despite an impassioned plea from Commissioner Keon Hardemon, who was the innovation tower’s main supporter because he believes the project will generate jobs and millions of dollars in revenue for Overtown.
“That one time things are moving forward in a community that has been stagnant for such a long time, we make sure we put the roadblock right in the middle of it,” Hardemon said. “This is a slap in the face of the Overtown community.”
Simkins has touted the tower as the anchor to a 10-acre technology district that will help revitalize one of the city’s poorest neighborhoods. Hardemon, who represents the district and who is chairman of the Southeast Overtown/Park West Community Development Agency, backs the project because Simkins has agreed to pay the semi-autonomous city agency $5 million prior to construction, and $1 million, or 3 percent of gross sales generated by the project every year after completion.
Recio also said Simkins has committed to giving local preference to Overtown residents on construction jobs and for the operation of the innovation tower.
In June, prior to the city commission’s first vote, Simkins’ company Innovate applied for permits to embed the LED signs within the skin of the proposed tower’s twisting façade and along its pedestal.