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#1078 Hotel Lindbergh/Deco Plaza 1984 CITY OF MIAMI BEACH PROJECT PROFILE November, 1 984 DECO PLAZA REHABILITATION Project Description: This is a private rehabilitation project taking place in the South Pointe redevelopment area. Using federal housing and Community Development Block Grant funds, the firm of Mount Rushmore Associates is rebuilding the former MacArthur Hotel, and transforming the structure into a low-to-moderate income apartment building. Plans call for one and two bedroom apartments and efficiencies renting for between $275 and $375 per month. After gutting the structure to install new electrical, air conditioning and plumbing systems, the facade will be renovated to its original Art Deco motif. Existing retail space o"n the first floor has been allocated for 14 stores which owners hope will be rented by young professionals and service-oriented businesses such as restaurants, a corner market, bookstore, or ice cream par lor. A. Cost and Funding The $1.75 million project is being funded by low interest and subsidized loans. The city's Community Development Multi-Housing Rehabilitation Program is providing Mount Rushmore Associates a $403,843 interest rate subsidy on the $1 million private sector loan. The U .5. Department of Housing and Urban Development is providing a $650,000 loan at an interest rate of 5%. Mount Rushmore Associates will spend approximately $100,000. B. Timetable The project should be completed by the end of November, 1984. C. Principals Owners are Neil Berman and Martin Ergas, general partners in the firm of Mount Rushmore Associates. J: J: J: ,c, ~... x .c C; 0 ~ c ..... ch n:s 0 -c e.o C c I- I- U.en :> CD ..... C () ~ 0 i ~ ~ (.) CD 0 - ::J ......- CD ~ -eO. iE · i: ..c ..... (.) e ..:.s ~ C ~ .~ ~ s: 0 Ui "C G) Co... .... E en · co 0 .... c::: ~MmG):oc~~~~~G)~t~2E~ Z E CD (.) 0 CD .- ca .a:; c. c. '+- <2: "-c en ~ ~ ca e :: ~ a; :E ..Q co eo. .~ 0 0. co ~w~coO~en~ Co G) uvm ~~<(,~U~~ICDi>c_~~~s ~~ ~<(_:>ca~~......cC~cacaCDo ca!o... <( 2 -=:: CDC CD ~ ..... 0 c · (j .....x -c _. _ -C · en. .s ~ c ~..... 0 0 -c CD 0 CD~ CD ,~ a: ca "- (.) CD ..... C en ..... CD ~ C C en ~CDcoCD~ccafcECDn oOCD..c W 3: ... CO .c C I- 0 .c 0..'- E tn.~. .c g :> W WI- -:S ~ c:: ~"+:i CO 0 -S .2 ~ .!!o. ~oo EO ~ ~22 ~~~~~~~"Cu -5E~ c z - .c "- -c CD CD CD ..... S S -c ~ c..... ~ CD > O~.....o=~~ o~ ~vOcaOCD~ <2: <2: Q. ~ ~ E B ~ .s 0 J: ~ a ~ .~ ~ (J .c 8 ~ ..., .. " r-"I ,...-, ,......... Separa ted by an alleyway, yet connected by a br idge, two vintage three story structures had been serving a decay~ng neighborhood area as a hotel until 1983, when fire gutted one of the wings. After opening in 1930, the hotel operated with 48 hotel rooms situated on two lots. By 1936, the area's relative Depression era prosperity caused the owner to add a second, nearly identical, wing, with another 48 rooms on an adjacent two lots. In 1983 two you~g lawyers" sensing that the area may "have "bottomed out"'~ purchased the age~, condemned structure for $487 ,000 -- a little more than fair market value of the l'and "alone. Their goal was to convert the hotel into 44 modern apartments, and to preserve, or enhance, the exterior art deco features, and to attract the young urban professonal away from the sprawling "ice cube tray" design of the apartments increasingly scattered the downtown business district. If this could be done in New York's SoHo, or the upper West Side, they reasoned, it could be successfully done elsewhere. ~ r-' .-., rl ,......, The Department of Community Affairs saw the old 42,000 square foot hotel, located on a wide and landscaped street, as a ca~alyst for change. The Department, through its Interest Subsidy Rehabilitation program, disbursing Community Development Block Grant funds and administering H.U.D.'S S 312 program, worked with the develof>ers to provide financing for the hotel's rehabilitation. A :pl,OOO,OOO fixed rate 10 year balloon (25 year amortization) conventional first mortgage (with 14.25% annualized interest rate subsidized by the City to an effective 6%) was obtained through a local savings and loan association. HUn's S 312 program provided a second mortgage of $650,000 while the developers invested another $300,000 to provide the difference in rehabilitation costs. ~ ,.--, -, The idea was to convert the 96 hotel rooms into 44 apartments on the top two floors, and 12,000 square feet of commercial/retail space on the ground floor. In all, there are 34 .~'one bedroom, 6 two bedroom, and 4 studio units. The mix was not so much a reaction to demand -- the market seems to prefer two' bedrooms in a greater ratio than the building offers -- but · a product of some of the necessi ties of design around old building columns, installation of elevators where none had existed, etc. Revenue, too, was not an insignificant factor. Ttie uni ts are r ela ti vely compact:.' one bedrooms aver ~ge 495- square feet while the two bedroom Ulli ts are 675 square feet." studios are 445 square feet. Opened after a year of construction in January, 1985, the residential units are nearly rented out. Because of parking shortages, which the developers believe will be solved by the end of summer, only half of the cOffilnercial space has been committed, although expressed ,-, ~ ~"1 1"1 .., interest for it is high. None of the commercial space is yet occupied, but tenants are expected to move in during summer 1985, and will include a real estate broker I s offices, law offices and a fitness center. .--, This project has constituted the first major investment and the first new housing provided in this area after many years. It is a perfect example of a working effort and blending uses of public and private money. .-, ...-. Design Quality ,..--, When first seeing the burnt-out building, the challenge to the designer was overwhelming. The question to be answered was, "How could this building become the symbol of the renaissance of a decaying area?". Its loca tion places it one block away from a nationally registered architectural district. Therefore, this building would act as the transition from one district to the other. In designing the exterior, he took into account that the building would have to be a striking example of restoration with embellished Art Deco details. ,......, ,.-.., The beginning process was one of research into the original architectural merit of the building, using the existing details and applying new motifs to the structure. While analyzing the old drawings and surveying the structure, he had found the or iginal configuration of the upper story window design. The designer and his client agreed that these details should be added. In addi tion, on the store level of the building, still in place, were wonderful horizontal fr iezes, pi laster s, bases and capi tols along wi th beau tifully detailed wood storefronts and transoms. The client, wanting to carry out quality restoration of the existing architectural features, had them removed and sent to a mill worker to be fabricated in the exact profile of the original. When installed, the mullion design mirrored the rhythm of the windows on the apartment floors, thereby adding a cohesive design interaction. The color philosophy had to take into consideration that the building would be the symbol at the gateway to the National Registered District. The designer felt that the building needed to have a visual impact on this decaying area in order to stimulate further rehabilitation. To accomplish this goal, he established several color schemes of highly contrasting but sophisticated colors, and worked out the proportions and placement of these colors. The design philosophy for painting this building, "Volumetric Painting", enabled each architectural form to be enhanced by painting it a different color. This enchances the visual perception of the building. r-"' .---, ..-. ~ The horizontal friezes that have been added to the -2- r~ ----, "\ . r-'I ,...., building on the upper floors were done because of a philosophy in the Deco period which determined that banding should occur in the "established threes". Due to possible underfinancing in the '30s, these details were not included at the time. Finding a craftsman capable of producing the molds in the quanti ties and quality necessary and at a feasible cost was difficult, but ultimately successful. Tiles were removed and brought to the craftsman's studio where he created plaster reliefs with even more definition and accuracy than the original. To the tiles of these finished friezes, he applied four contrasting colors. ~ihen these were installed, they added greatly to the architectural merit of the building. ., .--, ,...-, The building not only .has been restored to the original, but enhanced to its full potential. The colors chosen interact wi th each other to crea te a subtle vibra tion. 'rhe finished product has accomplished its goals to become a catalyst for other rehabilitation and revitalization in the district. 2988A ,--, ,--, ,...-, ........, -3- r"\ ~ r..... . '0J0. fJ1./lTi;;.. Woody Kepner Associates, Inc. Public Relations \J\!J~ Dadeland Towers, Suite 300 - 9200 S.Dadeland Blvd.- Miami, Fla 33156 · (305) 666-7110 HISTORY OF THE HOTEL LINDBERGH The Hotel Lindbergh, later to be the MacArthur Hotel, was ready for occupancy in the fall of 1930. The Miami Beach land boom had reached its zenith and declined, the hurricane of 1926 had brought its devastation, and the whole nation had been hard hit by the Great Depression. Many would have said it was a bad time to open a tourist hotel, yet some Miami Beach businessmen believed that America's hard-working middle class needed a vacation spot it could afford. The lots on which the Lindbergh was to stand were purchased by Wade H. Harley in 1922 from Wells A. Hutchins. (It The four adjacent. lots within Block 57 of the Ocean Beach subdivision had been part of the Lummus brothers' original holding. (2) They remained in Mr. Harley's ownership well into the '40s. (3) Since the lots had been part of the Lummus holdings, they were not subject to the restrictive covenants, whose strictures excluded Jewish residents from the hotels north of 14th Street. (4) The Lummus brothers' upbringing in a small southern town left them, thankfully, free of anti-semitism. (5) Their lack of prejudice augured well for the future development of South Beach, as it made possible the cultural blending which gave the area its distinctive and vital neighborhood spirit. (more) -2- For a greater part of the '30s and '40s, the lots were under lease to Dr. Maurice Sturm, (6) either in his own name, or through his company, Masturm Realty Inc. Records indicate that it was Dr. Sturm who gave the assignment to design the Lindbergh to Miami Art Deco architect T. Hunt~r Henderson in 1930. It was certainly Dr. Sturm who later commissioned Henderson to design an addition to the hotel in 1936. (7) Henderson, a graduate of Georgia Tech, came to Miami in 1925 as an early protege of Carl Fisher. (8) While he was less famous than such Art Deco luminaries as Russell Pancoast and Henry Hohauser, he maintained a steady business designing small hotels and apartment buildings on Miami Beach in the '30s and '40s. Many of his designs attracted favorable notice in Florida Architecture Magazine, notably the Hotel Astor and the Sun apartment building, completed in 1937, the Monroe Towers Hotel of 1940, and the Atlantic Towers Hotel in 1941. (9) Adjusting his business to the economic climate, as well as to his own inclination, Henderson opted to bid for the moderate- sized jobs, and thus avoid the risk and irritations of maintaining a large staff. (10) The original design for the Hotel Lindbergh provided for 96 hotel rooms on the second and third stories, and six retail shops on the ground level. One may infer that the hotel was successful, as Dr. Sturm commissioned an addition in 1936 which increased the number of rooms by 50 percent, while doubling the number of retail shops. (11) The date of the hotel's construction suggests a special reason for the owner's choice of name. Charles Lindbergh had been a hero (more) -3- to all the nation since his solo transatlantic flight in 1927, but in 1930 he was a special Miami hero as well. In that year, Col. Lindbergh was flying a Sikorsky for Pan American Airways out ,. (12).. of the seaplane base at Coconut Grove s Dlnner Key. Mlamlans were very conscious of the honor of having a national hero based in their young city. Lindbergh was not the first famous man to have visited that recently developed Miami area. Part of Carl Fisher's success on Miami Beach stemmed from his genius in attracting famous people to his booming resort in the '20s. As celebrities flocked to Fisher's palatial hotels north of 14th Street, the nouveaux riches followed suit. Miami Beach was riding high in the '20s, but after the crash of '29, the area's business people had to meet the needs of a more modest clientele. The small residential hotels on Fifth Street were the response to the new economic reality. The synthesis of what the area had to offer, and what the new group of winter visitors was able to bring, created a distinctive and vital subculture. of South Beach. As one prominent historian of Miami has written, "Rather than the waterfront Mediterranean mansions and the luxury hotels of the Fisher days, smaller hotels and apartments buildings characterize the thirties decade.,,(13) The City of Miami Beach was apparently willing to cooperate with local businessmen in promoting the new tourism on South Beach. Minutes of a City Council meeting held on April 2, 1936, indicate that city fathers voted to grant Dr. Sturm a special building (more) -4- permit to construct a second story bridge connecting the new addition to the original structure of the Lindbergh. One councilman remarked that it was the first such permit ever granted. New times demanded new measures. (14) In studying the clientele who came to the Fifth Street hotels in the 1930s and '40s, the social historian has a rich resource of oral tradition upon which to draw. The sources used by this researcher in evolving a picture of life on South Beach are listed in the footnotes. The clientele who patronized the Lindbergh before the war were mainly young and middle-aged people from New York or Chicago. Some came down for a few weeks' holiday, (15)others were able to , (16) stay south for the entire three-month season. In the '30s, the season generally began around January 15th, rather than in November, as in later years. Visitors to the Lindbergh and similar hotels often bought a hot plate, or rented a room with a primitive kitchenette, and prepared to enjoy life on South Beach. Local residents recall that hotel guests in the area were a mixture of Christians and Jews in those years, but the end of the winter season was firmly punctuated by the departure of the young Jews who returned north to spend Passover with their families. (17) Many of the northerners staying at the Lindbergh in the '30s were on a limited budget, and yet the immediate South Beach neighborhood offered a wide variety of affordable day and night entertainment. Visitors walked along the beach, and sometimes stopped for a swim at Smith's Casino, a popular recreational bathing spa. Some fished from the wooden fishing pier on South Beach, and if they (more) -5- were unable to catch their own, went on to Joe's, later Joe's Stone Crab, and bought a fresh fish lunch. Founded in 1913 as Miami Beach's first restaurant, Joe's was well on its way to becoming an institution by the '305. Then, as now, Joe's was operated by its founders, the Weiss and Sawitz families. (18) In the evenings, winter visitors and year-round residents alike attended the Miami Beach Kennel Club in great numbers. One long-time resident recalls that the club was a focal point a~ night, and had more impact on the community than any other . 1 .. h. (19) recreatlona actlvlty at t at tlrne. \ The Kennel Club was founded in 1929 by such notables as Tex Rickard, George R. K. Carter, and o. P. Smith. (20) When the track was opened in 1929, all forms of gambling were illegal, although gambling in many different forms had been a mainstay of the Beach economy for years. In 1931, the Florida State Senate legalized pari-mutuel wagering, managing to override the governor's veto to pass the measure. (21) The new law ensured the Kennel Club's success, and an evening at the track remained an important part of South Beach life until the dissolution of the the club in 1980. Another important feature of South Beach neighborhood life was the all-night drugstore just across from the Hotel Lindbergh, at the corner of Fifth Street and Washington. Residents recall that the establishment was really like an old-fashioned country store in a city setting, and guests were attracted across the road from the Hotel Lindbergh to make a wide selection of purchases. Since it was the only all-night establishment in the area, the drugstore served as an unofficial clubhouse for winter visitors (more) -6- and local residents alike. The owner, Mr. Al Galbut, was a popular and public-spirited man, generally referred to by his neighbors as "the mayor of Fifth Street.,,(22) Mr. Galbut offered a wide range of services to his community. He sold his neighbors cold beer and sandwiches after the greyhound racing, or coffee and Danish after an all-night party. He operated an auto tag agency from the same premises, and provided a large bulletin board for the convenience of local residents. So much was this store at the very center of community life that at one time the Mayor of Miami Beach had an office over the store. .Yet the drugstore was more than just a neighborhood social club. It was also known as a "Celebrity Corner." Popular performers, many of whom sometimes stayed at hearby Fifth Street hotels, including Hotel Lindbergh, made a habit of stopping by the store for a late night snack after the last curtain. Their presence added a little extra glamor to the neighborhood. Long-time residents proudly recall that Ted Lewis, Henry Richard, Sophie Tucker and the Ritz Brothers were frequent visitors to the drugstore and the neighborhood. (23) South Beach may have been "small town" in the thirties, but thanks to the seasonal influx of urban northerners and to the bona fide celebrities, the area never felt itself to be at all "backwoods." Testimony confirms that South Beach felt good about itself in the '30s. One visitor remembers that the ability to afford a Miami Beach visit was in itself a sign of prestige in those Depression days. (24) Those who managed a stay even in a fairly modest Fifth Street hotel had accomplished a feat millions in the country could only dream of. (more) -7- Winter and full-time residents concur that there was an electric feeling to South Beach in those days. There was an eagerness for pleasure and excitement which could not be dampened by hard times or limited means. People could and did walk the beach at three or four in the morning with no fear of crime. (25) The excitement of the place was such that during the season, few wanted to spend much of the night in sleep. With the onset of World War II, South Beach had another influx of people. Twenty thousand recruits in the Army Air Corps were billeted on the Beach. The Army Air Corps was headquartered at the big hotels like the Roney Plaza, but the small hotels on Fifth Street were also" called into the war effort. (26) zoning records indicate that the Hotel Lindbergh, soon to be called the MacArthur "Hotel, was taken b h A. .. (27) h o. 1 hOt t over y t e Army lr Tralnlng Corps. T e orlglna arc 1 ec of .the Lindbergh, T. Hunter Henderson, was called in to supervise the conversion of the hotel to military needs. The massive military infusion was accepted with empathy and good humor by the community in South Beach, perhaps in part because the young airmen were about to play a role in what was considered to be a justifiable war. In addition to arousing patriotic sentiments, the military presence made it possible for hotels on the Beach to remain open year round. Before the war, the hotels had to make their yearly income during a rather short season, and would close entirely in the summer. Residents recall watching sympathetically as the young men marched up and down Fifth street in the hot afternoon sun. Mr. Galbut at the drugstore found he could sell 1,000 pints of milk (more) -8- a day to the thirsty trainees. In the ground floor of the Lindbergh, a new ice cream freezer was installed. When curfews could be eluded, many trainees joined local residents in seeking entertainment and refreshment in nearby establishments. Some recruits attracted particular interest. Well-known volunteers like Clark Gable and Keenan Wynn marched by in front of the MacArthur, their every move eagerly watched by residents as well as being approached by persistent journalists staying .at the hotel. CONCLUSION Miami Beach, bouyed up in part by its resilient and adaptable tourist industry, weathered the Depression years with a good deal of elan. The area emerged from the Depression earlier than the rest of the country. Money spent on new hotel construction rose from four million dollars in 1939, when the Lindbergh was built, to three times that by 1936. (28) According to a prominent historian, "Most of this development was taking place on the south end of Miami Beach.,,(29) By concentrating on the urban middle classes. the South Beach hotel owners developed a clientele less fickle than the celebrities and magnates who came to the Beach with Fisher's boom in the '20s. This urban, largely Jewish clientele remained faithful to the South Beach area well into the 1960s, until the changing age structure of this group began to dictate a change in spending patterns. The. Hotel Lindbergh typified the small South Beach hotels whose modest aspirations enabled them to weather the lean times of the Depression era. Part of the Lindbergh's historical (more) -9- significance lies in the very fact that it was typical of its era and its location. It represents a special section of Miami Beach's past. The overriding significance of the Lindbergh lay, however, in its impact on the whole South Beach community. The Hotel Lindbergh, later the MacArthur, was part of a neighborhood and part of a subculture in the '30s and '40s. Some of the values and spirit of that subculture are worth honoring and rehabilitating today. Some of the big hotels farther up the beach mai have had a larger share of celebrities in their guest registers, but the active and positive people who stayed at the modest Fifth Street hotels had an historical significance in their own right. They represented the resilient spirit of the American middle class, which could not be totally crushed by the gloom" of those Depression years. And they represented a winter visitor population which merged easily wi th the year-round resid'ents and, wi th them, contributed to the spunk and gaiety that characterized South Beach even in the darkest times. The late '70s and early '80s again brought dark times to South Beach, and to the MacArthur Hotel, but things are beginning to turn around. The government of Miami Beach has shown its commitment to South Beach in various ways. The area has just been renamed South pointe, as part of an attempt to raise local morale. Citizens of Miami Beach showed their dedication to upgrading the community by passing a bond issue to improve and update various city services. (more) . -10- Investors like Cheezem Associates-are putting up hotels and enter- tainment facilities where the old Kennel Club used to stand. The proprietors of Joe's Stone Crab are improving and extending their facilities. In sympathy with this drive, Mount Rushmore Associates are rehabilitating the Lindbergh/MacArthur, converting it to apartments, and renaming the project "Deco Plaza." Like the Lindbergh in the '30s, Deco Plaza will provide the community both "additional accommodation and retail stores. Like the Lindbergh, Deco Plaza will help create a lively, progressive neighborhood. Not just buildings may be rehabilited by projects like Deco Plaza. Whole neighborhoods can be revived and, with them, the cheerful and cooperative spirit that once animated those neighbor- hoods. That spirit, research with oral sources has revealed, is not dead. It still lives on in the memory of older residents. Recognition of the former Hotel Lindbergh as an historical site indicates cognizance of the importance of an era and a particular subculture. This acceptance can reinforce and signal the neighborhood revival presently under way at South pointe. -11- FOOTNOTES 1. Microfilm records of the Ocean Beach subdivision Office of Mortgages and Deeds Dade County Courthouse, Miami 2: Ivan A. Rodriguez, et ale From Wilderness to Metropolis, The History and Architecture of Dade County (1825-1940), published by the Office of Community and Economic Development, Historic Preservation Division, 1982. 3. Microfilm records of Ocean Beach Subdivion, as above. 4. Interview with Mr. Paul Galbut. 5. Mr. Galbut 6. Microfilm records of Ocean Beach Subdivision. 7. Building card. Obtained through the files of the Zoning Board, Miami Beach City Hall,~ courtesy of Mr. Phil Novick. 8. Interview with Mr. T. Hunter Henderson III. 9. Florida Architecture Magazine, 1937, 1940, 1941. Florida Collection, Miami Downtown Library. 10. Interview with T. Hunter Henderson III. 11. Building card, Miami Beach Zoning Board records. 12. Interview with T. Hunter Henderson III. 13. Rodriguez, From Wilderness to Metropolis, as above. 14. Minutes of the City Council Meeting, April 2, 1936. Office of the City Clerk, Miami Beach City Hall. 15. Interview with Mr. Hal Hertz. 16. Interview with Mr. Paul Galbut. 17. Interview, Paul Galbut. 18. Interview with Raymond, Luncheon Maitre d', Joe's Stone Crab. 19. Interview with Mr. Hal Hertz. 20. Interview with Mr. Johnson at The Greyhound Racing Record. 21. Ibid. 22. Mr. Sturm 23. Mr. Paul Galbut ~ ~ "' '"' -. -12- 24. Mr. Paul Galbut. 25. Mr. Paul Galbut. 26. Mro Hal Hertz. 27. 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