1663-19 Art Deco/Preservation THU FEB 03 1994 ED: FINAL
SECTION: NEIGHBORS CT PAGE: 4 LENGTH: 15 .23" MEDIUM
ILLUST: photo: Historic Bancroft Hotel (n) ; map: Jefferson
Bancroft.
SOURCE: RAFAEL LORENTE Herald Staff Writer
DATELINE:
MEMO:
COCOWALK' S DEVELOPER BUYS
BANCROFT HOTEL SITE IN BEACH
The developers of the ever-busy Cocowalk in Coconut Grove made a splash
in Miami Beach last week, paying $6 . 3 million for the
former*Jefferson/Bancroft*hotel site at the north end of Ocean Drive.
The 2 .4-acre parcel is just south of the proposed site for an 800-room
hotel to serve the Miami Beach Convention Center.
Constructa plans a $40 million development that would include more than
100 condominiums, 40, 000 to 70, 000 feet of retail space and parking.
"The property caught our attention because it ' s strategically located, "
said Jay Miller, vice president of Constructa. "We really see the site as a
crossroads between the already strong activity on Ocean Drive and what we
expect will develop to the north of us on Lincoln Road. "
If successful, Constructa' s project and the city' s efforts to attract a
hotel could dramatically change the landscape between the beach and Collins
Avenue in the small stretch from 15th Street to Lincoln Road.
Miami Beach already approved the $10 million purchase of the former
Sands/New Yorker hotel site at 16th Street and Collins Avenue, and the $1 . 85
million purchase of the former Poinciana Hotel at 1555 Collins Ave. The city
has put $5 million in escrow to file a quick-take claim for the St. Moritz
property, 1565 Collins Ave.
The land is intended as an incentive to get a developer to build a
convention center hotel.
Miller said his company is not looking to build another large retail
complex like Cocowalk, which drew three million visitors and had more than $57
million in sales in 1992 .
"What we intend to do on Miami Beach is to do something that is uniquely
responsive to the needs of the Deco district, " Miller said.
Preliminary plans call for incorporating the lobby and facade of the
historic Bancroft Hotel, which pleases preservationists to some degree.
"That' s a step in the right direction, " said Randall Robinson of the
Miami Design Preservation League. "Our greatest desire is to see the entire
building be retained, but in lieu of that, the lobby and facade will do. "
Constructa always assumed that any development would have to incorporate
the lobby and facade of the Bancroft, Miller said. "We recognize the value of
the architecture in the neighborhood, " he said.
Constructa had been negotiating for the*Jefferson/Bancroft* property for
more than 1 1/2 years, but completed the purchase from Miami businessman Roy
Cooper Jan. 24 . The Bancroft Hotel has been abandoned for years; the Jefferson
burned down in 1991 . The property was last sold in 1989 for $4 .25 million for
a failed hotel development.
ADDED TERMS :
END OF DOCUMENT.