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LTC 124-2009 Proposed historic designation of 1600 Lenox Avenue, as an individual local historic sitem MIAMIBEACH OFFICE OF THE CITY MANAGER NO. LTC # /Z~f - Z©~9 LETTER TO CC~~~~~b~+M 5~ 28 CITY CLE'~et`S 0 ~ IE.E TO: Mayor Matti Herrera Bower and Members of the City Commission FROM: City Manager Jorge M. Gonzale -~ar DATE: May 12, 2009 SUBJECT: Proposed historic designation of 1600 Lenox Avenue, as an individual local historic site. On May 12, 2009, at the request of the owner, 1600 Lenox Ave, LLC, the Historic Preservation Board held a meeting to consider a Preliminary Evaluation and Recommendation Report relative to the proposed historic designation of 1600 Lenox Avenue, as an individual local historic site. At this meeting the Board directed the Planning Department to prepare a formal Historic Designation Report for the proposed designation of 1600 Lenox Avenue, as an individual local historic site. Pursuant to Section 118-591 of the City Code, when the Historic Preservation Board directs staff to prepare a designation report for a proposed new historic district or site, the Mayor and City Commission shall be notified of the board's decision and the initial boundaries proposed for designation. Within 60 days of the vote of the Historic Preservation Board to direct the Planning Department to prepare a designation report, the City Commission may, by afive-sevenths vote, deny or modify the proposed request for designation, as well as establish specific timeframes for the completion of the evaluation and recommendation and/or designation report. Within this 60 day period the City Commission may also, by a five-sevenths vote, deny or modify the proposed designation boundaries. The only regularly scheduled City Commission meetings within this 60 day timeframe are on May 13, 2009 and June 3, 2009. Attached, please find a copy of the Preliminary Evaluation and Recommendation Report, prepared by the Planning Department, which outlines the initial evaluation of the proposed local historic site located at 1600 Lenox Avenue. Please advise if you would like this matter scheduled for discussion at the June 3, 2009 City Commission meeting. Attachment (1) JMG:TH:JGG:TRM C: Tim Hemstreet, Assistant City Manager Robert Parcher, City Clerk Jorge G. Gomez, Planning Director Gary Held, First Assistant City Attorney F:\cmgr\$ALL\LTC-09\Proposed historic designation of 1600 Lenox.doc m MIAMIBEACH HISTORIC PRESERVATION BOARD PRELIMINARY EVALUATION AND RECOMMENDATION REPORT TO: HISTORIC PRESERVATION BOARD FROM: Jorge G. Gomez, Director Planning Department `~G~ii- J`6~ DATE: May 12, 2009 Meeting RE: HPB File No. 6435. Proposed historic designation of 1600 Lenox Avenue, as an individual local historic site. BACKGROUND On April 14, 2009, the City of Miami Beach Historic Preservation Board discussed the proposed designation of 1600 Lenox Avenue as an individual local historic site. At this meeting, the Board directed staff to prepare a preliminary evaluation and recommendation report for the structure located at 1600 Lenox Avenue. DESCRIPTION OF BOUNDARIES 1600 Lenox Avenue is located at the southwestern corner of Lenox Avenue and. 16~' Street intersection. Lesaal Description Lot 1, in Block 46, of "Commercial Subdivision" according to the Plat thereof, as recorded in Plat Book 6, at Page 5, of the Public Records of Miami-Dade County, Florida. EVALUATION Historic Significance The structure located at 1600 Lenox Avenue is of historical significance in that its location and building form represents a period of time, series of events, and design style which shaped the surrounding Flamingo Park Neighborhood and the corresponding local historic district designated in 1986. The development of Miami Beach as an urban environment began in July of 1912 with the first platting of land by the Ocean Beach Realty Company. This company, operated by brothers J.E. Lummus and J.N. Lummus purchased 605 acres of swamp land south of present day Lincoln Road from the Lum Plantation for a cost ranging from $150 to $12,500 per acre. Both Lummus brothers came to Miami with contracts from Henry Flagler to establish commissaries for the workers of the Florida East Coast Railroad. J.N. Lummus, who had the primary responsibility of running the Ocean Beach Realty Company, became Miami Beach's first Mayor in 1915. Page 2 of 3 HPB File No. 6435 Meeting Date: May 12, 2009 Ocean Beach's first plat (1912) included the area south of 5th Street; Second addition (1913) included the area east of Washington Avenue between 6th Street and 7~' Streets; Third addition (1914) included the area south of 14th Street, east of Alton Road. To finance development of this land, the Lummus Brothers borrowed $150,000 from Carl Fisher. In addition to an 8% interest fee on the loan the Lummus Brothers gave Fisher 105 acres of land from present day Lincoln Road south to 1511' Street. This property, with additional land to 23~d Street, ocean to bay, was platted by Fisher's Alton Beach Realty Company in 1914. Between 1912 and 1918 the land from and infrastructure of Miami Beach was created. With the infrastructure completed, the jubilance created by the end of World War I and the completion of the County Causeway brought the initial land boom of Miami Beach in 1919. The permanent population of Miami Beach grew from 644 persons in 1920 to 15,000 persons in 1925. Although the building activity between 1922 and 1924 was unprecedented in South Florida, it is generally agreed that 1924 began the height of the "boom years." There are generally three reasons given for the end of the great land boom. One reason was the high level of speculation. Speculation took land prices continuously higher and transactions were conducted largely on credit.' Stories of fraud and empty promises of South Florida developments were being circulated by 1926. Another reason was the blockage of building materials needed to continue the boom. During the years of 1925 through 1926, railroad lines as far north as Mobile, Alabama jammed with freight cars bringing material to South Florida. The Florida East Coast Railway declared an embargo on shipments to Miami after 2200 cars accumulated unloaded in their yards.2 The most frequently noted. reason for the bust, however, was the hurricane of September 1926. Following the bust of 1926 and the depression of 1929, Miami Beach entered what would become the most profitable building period. Between 1930 and 1940, the permanent population of Miami Beach nearly doubled to 28,000 with 75,000 visitors annually. The characteristics of the visitors shifted from the privileged to the middle-class or simply, "those who could afford to travel." By 1940, there were 239 hotels and 706 apartments buildings located on Miami Beach.3 Goods and services were needed in order to support the large increase in number of residents and visitors. On February 2, 1920, Carl Fisher's Afton Beach Realty Company platted the first subdivision solely for commercial uses which was called the Commercial Subdivision. The Commercial Subdivision stretched from 14th Street to the south up to 17t" Street to the north along Alton Road and the west side of Lenox Avenue. The 1600 Lenox Avenue building was constructed in 1937, as a commercial building with nine store spaces. The large corner store has a long history as a grocery, listed in the City's Directories as Schiff's Kosher Market in 1941 and SchifPs Market in 1955 and became Maxwell's Food Market in 19894. The store space at 111516'" Street has had a long #radition as a bar, known as the Knotty Pine Bar from 1941 till 1955 and is currently the Abbey Brewing Company. Other storefronts were occupied in the past by realtors, plumbers, contractors and a beauty salon. A telephone answering service once occupied the tiny space at 1602 Lenox Avenue. 1 Redford, Billion-Dollar Sandbar: A Biography of Miami Beach, p. 145 2 Ibid, p. 163 3 Redford, p. 204 4 City of Miami Beach Planning Department Records Page 3 of 3 HPB File No. 6435 Meeting Date: May 12, 2009 Architectural Sianificance The structure located at 1600 Lenox Avenue designed by architect William H. Merriam, is a good example of the Streamline Moderne style of architecture, which is well represented within the local Flamingo Park Historic District as well as the Miami Beach National Register Architectural District. The continuous eyebrow, large original transom windows, faux keystone window surrounds and keystone veneer, curved southeast corner, and original knee walls are distinctive characteristics of this style. The architect, William H. Merriam, had an office in Cora! Gables5, but his name is not often seen in Miami Beach. He is perhaps best known for his design for the Coral Gables Woman's Club, built in 1936 as part of the WPA in collaboration with George Fink. While some alterations have been made over time, the building retains many original significant architectural elements. Streamline Moderne (circa 1930s to 1940s) As Art Deco evolved in Miami Beach in the 1930s, modern transportation and industrial design began to have an even greater impact upon new construction. The "streamlined" character of automobiles, airplanes, trains, buses, ocean liners, and even home appliances inspired powerful horizontal design compositions, accentuated by striking vertical features and punctuated by icons of the technological era. Continuous eyebrows, racing stripe banding, radio tower-like spires, portholes, and deck railings like those found on grand ocean liners, were among the unique features to set this architecture apart from anything before it. The creative incorporation of nautical themes showed this advancing form of Art Deco to be true to its origins in Miami Beach. Smooth, rounded comers often replaced sharp ones on Streamline Moderne buildings, especially on comer lots. Eyebrows swept around the corners as did other details. Street comers became inviting architectural focal points, whether the special treatment employed was based upon curves or angles. Like earlier Art Deco buildings, the Streamline Moderne style incorporated smooth and articulated stucco, architectural glass block, keystone, and a variety of metals used in detailing. Predominating surfaces became smooth, planar, and aerodynamic in character. The designation of the commercial building located at 1600 Lenox Avenue will, in effect, expand the area of designation protection afforded by the adjacent Flamingo Park Local Historic District to which this property is contiguous. RECOMMENDATION Staff recommends that the Board direct staff to prepare a Designation Report for the possible designation of 1600 Lenox Avenue, as a local historic site. This designation will further benefit the purpose of historic preservation in Miami Beach. 5 Polk's City Directory, 1939.