1663-17 Art Deco/Preservation THU MAR 19 1987 ED: FINAL
SECTION: NEIGHBORS MB PAGE: 2 LENGTH: 12 .51" MEDIUM
ILLUST: photo: worker removes the debris of the Biscaya Hotel
(DEMOLITION *)
SOURCE: CHRISTOPHER WELLISZ Herald Staff Writer
DATELINE:
MEMO:
BISCAYA OWNER: I 'LL
ENTERTAIN ANY OFFER
Miami Beach doesn' t have the dilapidated Biscaya Hotel to kick around
anymore, but its leaders have plenty of suggestions about what should replace
it.
There is talk of a hotel. A marina. An office building.
Owner Harvey Goodman won't say what his preference is. His priority is
making some money.
"I 'm going to entertain whatever is laid on the table for me, " said
Goodman, who opposed the demolition. One option, he said, is to leave the lot
empty until the development climate improves.
"A very attractive piece of land has been made available after seven
years of waiting, " said Norman Frank, president of the Miami Beach Chamber of
Commerce. "Now we have to wait and see what evolves from that. "
Goodman said he is considering a suit for damages against Miami Beach.
The city demolished the Biscaya Sunday morning after having it declared a
hazard. It will take six to eight weeks to cart off its remains .
For years, city planners have discussed the possibility of joining the
Biscaya property, 540 West Ave. , with a larger lot across the street
controlled by the owners of the Potamkin car dealership.
The Biscaya lot is a long, narrow strip of three-quarters of an acre
along Biscayne Bay. It would be difficult to develop because of city
requirements for parking and open spaces, said Beach Planning Director Jud
Kurlancheek.
But if it were joined with the 2 . 3-acre Potamkin site, the property
could accommodate a development of about 330, 000 square feet, twice the size
of the old 10-story, 242-room hotel, Kurlancheek said.
That would require the city to abandon the portion of West Avenue that
separates the two properties.
"If a viable developer comes along and needs to have the street closed,
it would be incumbent on the city to support them, " said City Commissioner
Stanley Arkin.
In the past, development proposals proved unworkable because of
Goodman' s attempts to save the building. With the Biscaya finally gone, city
administrators say they see a new opportunity.
"The demolition of the Biscaya makes it easier to put this deal
together, " Kurlancheek said.
Developer John Forte, owner of the Forte Towers apartment building on
West Avenue, said he has long wanted to join the Biscaya site and several
other bay-front parcels to build a hotel and marina.
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