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There has been a lot of attention paid this election season in Coral Gables to resident anger about over-development in the City Beautiful. Residents have given elected officials and candidates an earful as they have lashed out against the out-of-scale Agave development on Ponce de Leon, complained bitterly about the hated zero lot line Aloft hotel, vehemently opposed upzoning on Miracle Mile, and railed against the the 6-pump WAWA gas station being put across the street from G.W. Carver elementary in the McFarlane Historic District
The Miami Community Newspaper’s March 2021 Coral Gables edition outlined Allen Morris’ proposed Ponce Park Residences project at 3000 Ponce de Leon Blvd. This project is a distillation of everything Gables residents are currently upset about.
It is hard to decide what the worst part of this project is. How inconsistent it is with the surrounding neighborhood? The paltry “public benefits” that benefit no one other than the developer?
Perhaps the brazen request by the developer that the City to turn over our public streets and alleyways takes the cake. The developer is asking for over 13,000 square feet of University Drive and 3,000 square feet of public alleyways. Of course, this begs the question why we would even consider giving away a portion of University Drive. The answer is that this allows the developer a bigger footprint so that he can build higher… and put more traffic on our already overburdened roads.
But the development also doesn’t fit into the neighborhood. The article falsely states that this is a “luxury” project, when in fact it is another massive rental building with a ROSS DRESS FOR LESS at ground level.
As for the paltry public benefits, the “pocket park” being proposed is to be built on University Drive, a public street owned by all of us. How is taking away a public street in order to allow the developer to build a 17-story building where a 7-story building is currently allowed a public benefit?
The good news is that this project has been withdrawn by the developer in light of the universal condemnation from residents. Let’s hope it stays that way and Mr. Morris builds a project that improves the Gables, rather than makes it worse.
David Winker, Esq. on behalf of Ponce Neighbors, a neighborhood group of residents south of the Gables Central Business District
