1675-4 New Hotels 15 of 54, 12 Terms
mh94 HOTEL OR CONDOS? 06/29/1994
THE MIAMI HERALD
Copyright (c) 1994, The Miami Herald
DATE: Wednesday, June 29, 1994 EDITION: FINAL
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: 1B LENGTH: 60 lines
ILLUSTRATION: graphic: A Tower Reconsidered
SOURCE/CREDIT LINE: PETER WHORISKEY Herald Architecture Writer
HOTEL OR CONDOS?
BEACH TO REASSESS
KRAMER PROJECT
The building would rise about 20 stories, it would sit on the beach in
South Pointe, and city reviewers approved its design earlier this month.
That much is sure.
But exactly what will occupy the complex at 101 Ocean Dr. has been called
into question, and the ensuing dispute could end up quashing the big and
controversial project. In an unusual move, City Manager Roger Carlton has
asked the City Commission to reconsider the approval.
The essence of the dispute:
The developers, a group led by investor Thomas Kramer, call the project a
hotel. Others are not so sure, and the distinction involves more than mere
semantics.
Under city zoning regulations, the hotel designation permits the
developers to build 40 percent more building on the site. Moreover, it reduces
the amount of parking required by about a third.
"By calling it a hotel, it allows him to build a much larger, bulkier,
more massive project," said Ilona Wiss, a member of South Pointe Citizens
Coalition, which has fought the proposal. "It allows him to dwarf the
neighborhood."
The plans submitted for the building, reviewed by the Design Review Board
earlier this month, have left some residents and city officials questioning
what is intended for the site.
The average unit in the hotel is immense: about 2,000 square feet, or
about as big as a three-bedroom, two-bath condo. A typical hotel room is about
450 square feet.
Moreover, as Carlton has written, "There is no indication on the plans of
normal hotel-related facilities such as housekeeping, front desk and meeting
rooms. "
Concerns about the true identity of the building arose at a meeting of
the Design Review Board earlier this month. But after Lucia Dougherty, an
attorney for the project, agreed to file a covenant promising it would be run
ds a hotel, the board approved the project.
But Carlton said this week that the promises don't go far enough.
"I do not believe these conditions, although well intended, provide
adequate protection to ensure that the project will be operated as a bona fide
hotel," Carlton wrote in requesting the City Commission review. "If the
project does not succeed as a hotel (or does not operate as a hotel) and is
forced to cease operation, then what happens to the building?"
Additionally, the city manager expressed concern that the project had
been altered too much from the original submission.
Dougherty objected to opening the issue again.
"This was the most thorough review that the Design Review Board has ever
done, " she said Tuesday. "It was not arbitrary and capricious."
Residents of South Pointe, however, long dismayed by city approval for
towering projects, applauded the appeal.
"I never thought we'd be saying this, but Mr. Carlton has been a real
peach -- on this issue, " said David Colby, an owner of the nearby Century
Hotel. "I just regret that we have to spend almost $100,000 in legal fees to
teach the city to obey the rules."
TAG: 9402140748