Loading...
20160509 Minutes Mayor’s Ad Hoc Blue Ribbon Steering Committee on the Convention Center Hotel 5/10/16 Meeting Minutes Page 1 of 5 Mayor’s Ad Hoc Blue Ribbon Steering Committee on the Convention Center Hotel 6:00 p.m., Monday, May 9, 2016 Miami Beach Regional Library 227 22nd Street, Miami Beach MINUTES In attendance: Commissioner Ricky Arriola, Chair Commissioner Kristen Rosen Gonzalez, Vice Chair Member Jorge Exposito Member Paul Freedman Member Saul Gross Jeff Oris, Administration Liaison Rafael Paz, First Assistant City Attorney Maria Hernandez, Convention Center District Project Director Also in attendance: Commissioner Joy Malakoff Commissioner John Aleman Ricky Arriola opened the meeting at 6:08 p.m. and welcomed all in attendance. 1. ROLL CALL Chair Ricky Arriola introduced the remaining members of the committee: Commissioner Kristen Rosen Gonzalez, Commissioner Saul Gross, Commissioner Jorge Exposito, and Paul Freeman. Debra Leibowitz and Leslie Tobin were unable to attend. The Chair recognized the presence of Commissioner Joy Malakoff and Commissioner John Aleman. 2. INTRODUCTIONS Commissioner Kirsten Rosen Gonzalez introduced herself for the record and stated her initial view of opposition for the Convention Center Hotel, but stated that she is committed to listen, figuring out the traffic, figuring out the right scale, protecting historic resources, making sure the right things are done and coming together with something that could possibly pass with the supermajority referendum. Mayor’s Ad Hoc Blue Ribbon Steering Committee on the Convention Center Hotel 5/10/16 Meeting Minutes Page 2 of 5 3. MISSION OF THE COMMITTEE Chair Arriola stated that he wants the Convention Center Hotel to help drive our local economy. The last hotel proposal got 54% of the vote so there is still a ways to go to get to 60. He further stated the only way to get to 60% is collectively by working together with the community and hearing the input of the folks that weren’t supportive of it last time and trying to get a deal that will get to the 60%. OVERVIEW OF STATE AND LOCAL SUNSHINE AND ETHICS LAWS AND REGULATIONS – Rafael Paz, First Assistant City Attorney, City Attorney’s Office There was no overview of State and local sunshine and Ethics Laws and Regulations at this time. Attorney Paz noted that most of the members had served on the Commission or on other boards of the City. Arrangements would be made for those not in attendance to be given the regulatory information necessary. 4. DISCUSSION - ISSUES RELATED TO A CONVENTION CENTER HOTEL Member Saul Gross indicated that he voted against the Convention Center Hotel. The two issues at hand were the scale (height) and traffic. He pondered how can the scale could be reduced and wondered what will the traffic be. Saul suggested creating a process that enlists people who were not in support of the plan to participate and develop some ideas that will address the concerns that they had. Chair Ricky Arriola stated in regards to the issue about scale (height) of the Convention Center Hotel, the City Commission is working on putting a panel together with FIU in order to do a formal public survey to get feedback from the public about what were the issues for the people that supported it and what were the issues for the people who didn’t support it. He also noted the Convention and Visitor’s Bureau is also doing a survey; the feedback from that survey will be used as well. Chair Arriola further contemplated what options might be available given that only certain land can be used for this project. Maria Hernandez, Convention Center District Project Director, addressed three options that were presented to the City Commission by the City Manager. All options were reviewed keeping when they would go to referendum in mind. If a November referendum were desire, the only real option is to renegotiate with Portman due to the time constraints. The second option was to undertake the hotel ourselves which would not require a referendum, however this options was not recommended by the City Manager. The third option was to send out a new RFQ which would require an extended period of time to execute. In terms of the site, we now have the 2 ½ acre site behind the Fillmore Theater and the 6 acre site in front of the Convention Center. She stated that you don’t really get a lot out of the 6 acre lot once you create buffers for the residential properties and the Holocaust Memorial. There has been talk to someday have a hotel at the 17th Street Garage site, but that is a much longer-term solution that would entail demolition of the existing structure. Mayor’s Ad Hoc Blue Ribbon Steering Committee on the Convention Center Hotel 5/10/16 Meeting Minutes Page 3 of 5 Member Saul Gross recalled that based on the last meeting, we can possibly expand building the hotel on the Jackie Gleason side because the site that was chosen is too small. Commissioner Joy Malakoff indicated that the Jackie Gleason is not historic as far its architecture, but Miami Beach needs a theater. The acoustics in the Gleason aren’t really good. Thus an option would be to tear down the Fillmore and create a new theater within the new hotel with good acoustics. Commissioner Kirsten Rosen referenced Tischman vs. Portman (2013) controversy regarding tearing down the Fillmore and indicated if we touch the Fillmore we may never get the super majority that we need. Member Paul Freedman stated based in the last meeting, people want transparency. People did not believe the parameters of the traffic study and would want to know: what is the traffic going to be when the hotel isn’t occupied? When you have a convention or trade show, will you have less traffic? Chair Arriola indicated that to go on the November ballot, the only option would be to renegotiate a new deal with Portman that will take into account – height and traffic. The Chair indicated he had a conversation with Mr. Portman who is willing to do a smaller hotel at 600-650 rooms in order to reduce the amount of floors. Fewer rooms will help alleviate traffic concerns. If we go down the route of tearing down the Gleason, we may have a tougher time of obtaining the 60%. Chair Arriola stated if we had 54% of the vote last time, an additional 6% with quantifiable changes to the project that would allow us to continue to work with Portman would be easier then starting from scratch. Member Saul Gross stated we need to engineer the project to include what we can do from the beginning to reduce the amount of traffic within the immediate environment and design the project based on that feedback rather than the other way around. He further indicated some items that could be reviewed such as parking on-site, re-opening 18th Street, and other items that would change traffic patterns and alleviate what people are objecting to. Commissioner John Aleman indicated her concern that if the project scope was significantly changed and we continue to pursue a deal with Portman, that Portman would require a public subsidy to construct the hotel. She further indicating that it is rare to have a project like this without a subsidy and asked Chair Arriola if this was discussed in their discussion. Chair Arriola noted that Portman has not asked for public subsidy and there was a belief he won’t necessarily do so if the scope of the project changed. The Chair further indicated he felt it would be beneficial having the Convention Center Hotel on the upcoming November ballot because it is an election year, there will be a lot of voters and this would be a good representation of how the City feels. Commissioner Rosen Gonzalez indicated she is fine if this project is not rushed to be on the November ballot if it means getting it right. She further indicated she thought the Mayor’s Ad Hoc Blue Ribbon Steering Committee on the Convention Center Hotel 5/10/16 Meeting Minutes Page 4 of 5 100,000 square feet of meeting room space in the hotel was unnecessary and it should be removed to reduce the project height. Member Jorge Exposito expressed that he does not believe they should push the building of the Convention Center hotel to the November ballot. We need to be more transparent with the information being given out to the public about traffic, revenue and other relevant items. In the past, the issue with the Jackie Gleason Theater was that Portman wanted to tear it down and build something smaller. We need a venue like the Jackie Gleason Theater and we should incorporate it into the Miami Beach Convention Center Hotel. You will get the state of the art facility and it would pay homage to Jackie Gleason. We need to take our time and wait until next year to add the Convention Center hotel to the ballot so there is time to address all issues. Member Paul Freedman felt it would be an injustice to get the issue on the November ballot. He further indicated there should be appropriate traffic studies and Portman’s designers should design a new project to see if it is feasible and could be done. He also believed the Commission should provide some direction as to whether they want to continue with Portman. Chair Arriola said to make the November ballot we would need to renegotiate with Portman. If this does not make it on the November ballot, this will become an election issue in the next Mayor and Commission election next year. Member Saul Gross stated if there was a recognized Architect involved to design the building, this would help sell it to a portion of the community who was against the height and design. The original design was not special enough for Miami Beach. This statement initiated a discussion with the public related to the need for a good design. Chair Arriola stated another option that would sell would be a much smaller hotel of about 400 rooms. Sometime in the future, when the 17th street garage is redone there can be another 400 room hotel on top of the garage. The Jackie Gleason wouldn’t be touched. Chair Arriola indicated that because the existing lot site is too small, the building is too tall. We need more land. The P lot doesn’t give us enough land mass to avoid going vertical. The place where you get a lot of land is if you take down the Jackie Glea son you can build sufficient number of rooms to meet convention center needs and not have a very high structure. Or two small structures, one on 17th street garage, and one on the current P lot site. Maria Hernandez indicated two things to take into consideration when discussing the P lot: the residential neighborhood to the west and a building facing it, as well as the Holocaust Memorial to the north which would need 2 acres as a public park to act as a buffer. That would only leave 3 acres for a hotel. The issue is space is needed for a loading dock and service access. The previously designed hotel included a bridge that would connect the hotel to the convention center. If the hotel were built on the P-lot there Mayor’s Ad Hoc Blue Ribbon Steering Committee on the Convention Center Hotel 5/10/16 Meeting Minutes Page 5 of 5 would be no bridge to the convention center, which would increase pedestrian traffic on Convention Center Drive therefore hampering vehicular traffic. Commissioner Ricky Arriola indicated we need 800 rooms to meet the stated needs of the convention center. Whether based on one hotel or two separate 400 room structures based on the last vote, a very tall structure cannot be built anywhere near the convention center so a shorter structure must be built, therefore we need more land. Commissioner Joy Malakoff referenced the issue with the garage is that over 1200 cars parking there every day. She expressed concern at where all those cars park if that building is demolished and replaced with the Convention Center Hotel? There will have to be two garages built on the lots north of Lincoln Road. This can take a lot of time. A resident suggested an underground tunnel leading from the hotel to the convention center. The hotel needs to be connected to the convention center. 5. DISCUSSION AND POSSIBLE ACTION: QUESTIONS FOR A SURVEY OF THE PUBLIC Commissioner Ricky Arriola stated that by the next meeting (June 6th) Jeff Oris will have some survey questions prepared, that way they can do a formal survey and get the results by this summer. 6. GENERAL DISCUSSION Additional discussion ensued reiterating previously stated points. Member Gross specifically requested copies of AECOM’s traffic study that was prepared for the previously proposed hotel. Chair Arriola asked Jeff Oris to make sure that was provided to the members. Addition conversation ensued regarding needs for a theater if the Gleason were to be replaced. Mr. Oris commented that any member of the public that wanted to receive regular emails on this topic and meeting notices for the Committee only need to send their email to Hotel@miamibeachfl.gov to be placed on the email list. 7. ADOURN The meeting was adjourned at 7:28 pm. Minutes Approved at ________________ Meeting ________________________________________ Ricky Arriola, Chair Date