COMMERCIAL OBSERVER – HOW MIAMI BEACH’S CAR-FREE PEDESTRIAN MALL SURVIVES AND THRIVES EVEN AS OTHER EXPANSES SHUTTER – September 16, 2022
In the 1960s and 1970s, shiny new shopping malls sprang up in suburbs everywhere, and urban planners grew desperate to save downtowns from being hollowed.
Their solution: Transform commercial strips into car-free pedestrian malls. The strategy largely flopped. Most cities that experimented with pedestrian-only high streets admitted defeat and abandoned the projects long ago.
But Miami Beach’s
Lincoln Road, which closed to vehicles in the early 1960s, remains among the minority of pedestrian malls still blocked to cars.
“People ask why. The ‘why’ is that the most-visited destination in Florida is the beach,” said
Stephen Bittel, head of
Terranova Corporation and a major property owner on Lincoln Road. The eastern end of Miami Beach’s pedestrian mall is just a couple blocks from the ocean.
“That’s the starting magic,” Bittel said. “The beach is what draws people to Miami, and when they’re not at the beach, they’re at Lincoln Road.”
Stephan Schmidt, an associate professor of city and regional planning at Cornell University, agrees. For an article published last year in the
Journal of Urbanism, Schmidt analyzed more than 120 pedestrian malls and found barely 40 still existed decades after the pedestrian mall fad. The rest – including pedestrian malls in Chicago, Galveston, Texas, Yuma, Ariz., and Fayetteville, N.C. – long ago reopened to vehicle traffic.
Among the survivors are pedestrian malls in college towns such as Boulder, Colo., and Charlottesville, Va., and near major tourist attractions in Boston and New Orleans.
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The Secret to Lincoln Road’s Success
/in General, In the newsIn the 1960s and 1970s, shiny new shopping malls sprang up in suburbs everywhere, and urban planners grew desperate to save downtowns from being hollowed.
Their solution: Transform commercial strips into car-free pedestrian malls. The strategy largely flopped. Most cities that experimented with pedestrian-only high streets admitted defeat and abandoned the projects long ago.
But Miami Beach’s Lincoln Road, which closed to vehicles in the early 1960s, remains among the minority of pedestrian malls still blocked to cars.
“People ask why. The ‘why’ is that the most-visited destination in Florida is the beach,” said Stephen Bittel, head of Terranova Corporation and a major property owner on Lincoln Road. The eastern end of Miami Beach’s pedestrian mall is just a couple blocks from the ocean.
“That’s the starting magic,” Bittel said. “The beach is what draws people to Miami, and when they’re not at the beach, they’re at Lincoln Road.”
Stephan Schmidt, an associate professor of city and regional planning at Cornell University, agrees. For an article published last year in the Journal of Urbanism, Schmidt analyzed more than 120 pedestrian malls and found barely 40 still existed decades after the pedestrian mall fad. The rest – including pedestrian malls in Chicago, Galveston, Texas, Yuma, Ariz., and Fayetteville, N.C. – long ago reopened to vehicle traffic.
Among the survivors are pedestrian malls in college towns such as Boulder, Colo., and Charlottesville, Va., and near major tourist attractions in Boston and New Orleans.
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Miami’s First-Ever Carbon-Neutral Building Announced, with Glass that Generates Electricity
/in In the news, Redevelopment Construction ManagmentThe electricity-generating glass will combine with other features will help to make it the first carbon-neutral building in Florida, developer Terranova Corporation says.
In addition to generating power, the high-performance glass will insulate the building, said Arquitectonica founder Bernardo Fort-Brescia, who is designing the building.
A high-tech battery system is planned to collect and store the solar energy, and will be used to operate systems including elevators.
There will also be new air conditioner technology installed that needs just 30% of the energy compared to conventional A/C systems.
The building will be known as 93 Miracle Mile.
“93 Miracle Mile will be a revolutionary project,” said Stephen Bittel, the founder and chairman of Terranova.
Bittel said he expects the building to be a blueprint for other developers and city planners.
The four-story building will have 36,482 square feet of space. There will be restaurant on the ground floor, retail on the second and third levels, and office space on the fourth level. A rooftop terrace will be covered with a trellis.
The building would be the first to be built under Coral Gables’ new Miracle Mile Overlay code, and fully complies with zoning rules. The design includes stone cladding and a rooftop suspended orchid garden.
Construction is expected to begin as soon as city approvals and permits are obtained, with delivery one year later.
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Carbon-neutral office/retail building could rise on Miracle Mile
/in In the news, Redevelopment Construction ManagmentTerranova Corp. plans to build what could be South Florida’s first carbon-neutral mixed-use building along the popular Miracle Mile strip of Coral Gables.
The Miami Beach-based developer said the office/retail building would produce all the energy needed to operate it on site. This would be accomplished with photovoltaic glass to collect solar energy and battery systems to store it, as well as energy-efficient systems for AC and elevators.
The 4-story building would total 36,482 square feet at 93 Miracle Mile. It would have 26,167 square feet of retail and restaurant space, with the rest of the space for office. There would also be a rooftop terrace.
“93 Miracle Mile will be a revolutionary project, not only as a platform to champion Coral Gable’s dignitaries as forward-thinking leaders in sustainable development but also a blueprint for other developers and city planners as we face a climate crisis around the world,” Terranova Chairman Stephen Bittel stated. “The modern proposed structure respects the scale of Miracle Mile, and uses traditional stone materials on the exterior, while also incorporating the best environmental options for the future.”
The developer, through affiliate purchased the 10,164-square-foot site for $6.8 million in 2021. It currently has a 9,097-square-foot retail building, which would be demolished.
Miami-based Arqutiectonica designed the project, which is pending city approval. Spain-based Onyx Solar was tapped to provide the photovoltaic glass.
“The design uses a traditional material, stone in an abstract composition of solid and glass,” said Bernardo Fort-Brescia, principal of Arquitectonica. “The high-performance glass is not only insulating but also a solar energy generator. The roof top is an extension of the facades, creating a trellis to support a suspended orchid garden.”
More companies are pursuing carbon-neutral projects to save on energy costs and negate their impact on global warming. A commercial building with these environmentally friendly features could appeal to like-minded tenants.
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