Archive for the 'Carnival Center' Category

A big day for the City of Miami

Published
by
Andrew Davis
on December 13, 2007
in CRA, Carnival Center, MLS, Marlins Stadium, Miami, Museum Park, Port Tunnel and Streetcar
. 4 Comments

An ambitious plan from City of Miami Mayor Manny Diaz . What answer will the commission deliver?

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Financing plan would bypass voters

By LARRY LEBOWITZ AND MICHAEL VASQUEZ
Miami city and county leaders have forged a multibillion-dollar public-works bonanza that could alter the face of the downtown core — affecting everything from a baseball stadium to a port tunnel to museums.

The plan, coming together with rare speed in the world of governmental red tape, envisions a holiday bounty of projects aimed at garnering support from constituencies ranging from sports fans to arts patrons.

Announced late Wednesday by Miami Mayor Manny Diaz, the deal would cover everything from a $914 million tunnel leading to the Port of Miami to finally transforming fallow Bicentennial Park into a waterfront jewel with new art and science museums.

By also shoring up the shaky finances at the fledgling Carnival Center for the Performing Arts, the plan’s framework would free up additional tax monies that could be used to build a $525 million retractable-roof ballpark for the Florida Marlins.

”This is a great opportunity for all of us — all of us — to create an incredible legacy for the urban core,” Diaz said following a long day of negotiating the multi-party pact — and then selling it to individual commissioners.

While Diaz and others in the city embraced the so-called ”global” agreement with the county, many questions remain.

One is whether a deal this complex can actually come to fruition. With so many parts forming the larger whole, it’s possible that criticism of one piece of the blueprint could derail others.

Secondly, the intricate financing has been crafted in a way to sidestep a potential voter referendum — which could embolden critics.

COMMISSIONS TO VOTE

Selling it is key, and the first test comes Thursday when Miami commissioners decide whether to move the multilayered plan forward.

County commissioners would then begin their review of key pieces of the ballpark financing and redevelopment plans Dec. 18.

The framework — hashed out over several weeks of behind-the-scenes talks with city and county managers — centers on expanding the Omni Community Redevelopment Agency to include Bicentennial Park and Watson Island.

CRAs are federally mandated special taxing districts that generate extra cash for areas targeted for revitalization. By aiming to expand the key Omni district, Miami leaders envision new infusions of money that would be doled out for multiple big-ticket projects.

The biggest beneficiaries of this new Omni CRA would be the Carnival Center for the Performing Arts and a proposed new ballpark for the Marlins at the soon-to-be-demolished Orange Bowl.

Diaz said the county would essentially receive up to $400 million in CRA revenue over the next 30 years to cover debt service on the arts center.

This will free up somewhere between $160 million and $200 million in tourist taxes from the PAC — that the county and city could then use for the ballpark in Little Havana.

PARKING GARAGE

Less certain: whether the will, and the money, exist to build a 6,000-space parking garage and one of Diaz’s personal projects — a 25,000-seat soccer stadium also proposed for the 40-acre Orange Bowl site.

By expanding the CRA boundaries over the MacArthur Causeway to Watson Island, the city believes it can also use $50 million in CRA money to pay its share of the $914 million Port of Miami Tunnel over the next 35 years.

Florida transportation officials had vowed to move their $457 million share of the tunnel deal to other parts of the state if the city didn’t put up its $50 million piece by Monday.

”I can finally see the light at the end of the tunnel, no pun intended,” said City Commissioner Joe Sanchez, who represents the Orange Bowl area.

Miami property owners would also benefit from the expanded Omni CRA, city leaders say.

Diaz said the city would pay off its outstanding debt on the troubled Jungle Island construction loans from the expanded CRA instead of general revenues.

By expanding the boundaries into Bicentennial Park, the city would also use $68 million in new CRA revenue for the development of Museum Park — including a planned underground parking garage. The CRA money would not be used to build the museums.

OVERTOWN IMPACT

Another question mark: whether city officials will be legally permitted to spin another $2 million a year out of the CRA to pay for ongoing capital improvements inside the park.

A second, more hard-pressed, special tax district would also benefit under the city-county pact.

The Southeast Overtown/Park West CRA, which generates considerably less revenue than the Omni, would be extended to year 2030 and its boundaries expanded to 20th Street on the north and Northwest Seventh Avenue on the west.

The city would spend up to $80 million for affordable housing, infrastructure, parks and job programs in the economically depressed Overtown neighborhood, and it would set aside $35 million for the city’s struggling streetcar plan.

Diaz said Miami planned to adopt a pay-as-you-go approach when spending the CRA money on these big-ticket items over the next 30 years, rather than floating bonds to bankroll the projects.

The unstated reason: The projects wouldn’t have to face voter approval.

In previous years, the city had contemplated issuing CRA bonds that could net perhaps hundreds of millions of dollars up front, to be used on large public-works projects.

But the Florida Supreme Court ruled in September that any bond issue local governments do with CRA money needs voter approval. Miami responded by abandoning its bond-issue plans.

This plan would sidestep those concerns.

DETAILS

As in every public project, the key is in the details, and literally hundreds of them still need to be hashed out.

First: Does Diaz have the three commission votes to pass the plan when the body meets this morning?

”God willing, [Thursday] we will approve possibly the most exciting — largest, certainly — package of projects in city history,” Diaz said late Wednesday.

Commissioner Sanchez said of the ”global” agreement: “So far, it looks good. . . . It’s a win-win situation for everybody.”

Herald staff writers Charles Rabin, Andres Viglucci and Matthew I. Pinzur contributed to this report.

Monday Morning News Flash

Published
by
Gabriel Lopez-Bernal
on April 16, 2007
in Businessweek, Carnival Center, Developers, Development, Jersey City, LRT, Miami, Open Road Tolling, Shaya Boymelgreen, Streetcar, Transit and Transportation
. 0 Comments
  • The Developer Billionaire partnership Leviev Boymelgreen composed by Lev Leviev and Shaya Boymelgreen, known in Miami for Marquis and Vitri, have decided to split their partnership, citing a difference of opinions towards future development. Boymelgreen sees a formidable future in the Miami market, opted to stay with the Miami land holdings concentrated around the Carnival center, while Leviev maintained ownership of the NYC properties. Besides the developers’ optimistic stance on Miami’s market, it interesting to note that he is considering developing rental units or workforce housing in the CBD, a stance we have long advocated to help alleviate Miami’s recent housing shortages…
  • Miami is ranked 63 in the top 100 most liveable cities by Business Week, down a notch from last year. In browsing through the list I was compelled to notice that all but one of the top 15 cities have Streetcars, Trams, or LRT running through the city streets. Coincidence? I think not…(Via: Spacing Wire)
  • Open Road tolling is coming to a highway near you…
  • Jersey City is quickly becoming the model of the urban future according to this article in today’s USA Today. I should note, on top of existing transit, the city recently completed a light rail transit line to continue to facilitate transit use for the more than 40% of its residents who ride regularly…
  • Blog Update: I’ve somehow neglected to add a link to Cyburbia to the website. Cyburbia was founded in 1994, and is the Internet’s oldest continuously operating planning-related Web site; it functions today as a portal and busy social networking site for planners and others interested in the built environment. Check it out…

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Travels Through Europe, The Conclusion

Published
by
Gabriel Lopez-Bernal
on April 5, 2007
in Art, Carnival Center, Miami, Museum Park, Opera, Parking, Parks, Urban Planning and Vienna
. 4 Comments
Vienna is a grand city, far more grandiose than most European Capitals due to its’ rich history with the Babenburg and then the Hapsburg family dynasties. Just walking around, the city exudes wealth, through its opulent architecture, gold-leafed trimming, and excessive sculpture. The Hapsburgs were rather generous with the citizens they presided over, as far as royalty goes, anyhow. Toward the end of their reign, they opened several parks for public use, constructed two massive museums, and dotted the city with various other cultural institutions. Seeing that Miami has recently concluded the construction of our opera house and is set to begin construction on two bayside museums, I believe we can and should look for the guidance of cities such as Vienna when establishing our new cultural havens. Noting that Miami completely lacks the history and wealth of the Austrian Capital, I think there are some interesting aspects which will broaden our horizons before we plan and design…

There isn’t much I can say about the Carnival Center, seeing that it is already built. I’ve walked through the area a couple of times and although the plaza and structure are pleasant, the surroundings are rather inhospitable; hopefully with some time the area might mature a little. The Vienna Opera House is situated at the end of the premier pedestrian thoroughfare in Vienna, which links it and the ring, with the center of Vienna and the Hofburg Imperial Palace. When walking by the Vienna State Opera House for the final time on our last night, I noticed an interesting element which caught my eye:

See it? I hope you do. Someone had the sense to retrofit the structure (built in the 1860’s) with parking. Genius. This brought about a small bout of laughter, as you would imagine, when I conjured images of the Carnival Center debacle I would be returning to the very next day. The interesting thing I later noted is that this was perhaps the only parking garage I saw anywhere near the city center. We seem to have done the opposite…

When approaching the Museums Quarter (Museumsquartier) I couldn’t help but think of endless possibilities for Bicentennial Park. Now, I know I am not an architecture critic, nor do I try to be, but the idea of a classical structure dotting our shoreline as either of the two Museum Park buildings bodes very well for me. I said it once to an art student, whose look should have silenced my architecture thoughts for eternity, but I actually think a modern Art structure juxtapositioned with a classical Museum of Science would add a great deal of depth to Miami’s architecture.

Back to my point. Standing between these hulking museums was impressive. I mean, here I was standing in awe of a couple of landlocked museums, just hoping that our new museums with the beautiful bay and beach backdrop could be just even one fifth as stimulating. Is it too much to ask for? We have the opportunity to showcase our architectural cultural talent to the world, quite literally, seeing that these museums will serve as the focal point of nearly every cruise passenger which departs from our harbor. And think, Miami, not Miami Beach, could perhaps for once be hailed for its beautiful waterfront architecture, luring boarding cruise passengers to extend their stay. We severely dropped the ball with the MCM, opting instead for a geometric display of retardation on Watson Island. Between the two museums stood a massive statue dedicated to Maria Theresia, it’s a rarity in Miami to find any recollection of our local history, let alone national history. Perhaps a statue of FDR would be fitting, considering he was nearly assassinated in nearby Bayfront Park…Just a thought…

Throughout all of my travels, I have always taken the time to compare the city I am visiting with my home town. I often think that Miami would be a much better city if we would just stop, think, and look around before coming up with decisions which will forever alter our urban landscape. We’ve had plenty of opportunities pass us by with failed or improperly managed projects: Metrorail, Miami Arena, Miami Marine Stadium, Miami Seaquarium, Orange Bowl, MIA, CCPA, etc. Plenty of chances to make our city just as marvelous to visit as say Paris, Chicago, or even Vienna… We’re number one right now in hotel occupancy and hotel rates nationally, but imagine how much more we can do to attract visitors to sites other than our shore…

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The Miami-Dade County Planning Department Conundrum

Published
by
Gabriel Lopez-Bernal
on December 22, 2006
in Carnival Center, Miami, Parking and Urban Planning
. 0 Comments

While the commissioners bicker like a group of school girls over an impending public vote to boost the power of the mayor, the ineptitude of their previous decisions is shining brighter than ever this holiday season.

After severely fumbling with cost over-runs and years of delays at the Carnival Center, the County is still rushing to put together a plan to create parking for the new center (you know, before the land becomes expensive…whoops…) Even I, the biggest advocate of public transit, believe that the center should have contained a small percentage of parking spaces, preferably underground, similar to the American Airlines Arena (or Lincoln Center, or the Walt Disney Concert Hall in L.A., or any other city with logical people in charge.) Now, it seems like we’re looking to add enough parking for every visitor in array of equally hideous parking garages surrounding the venue. I am befuddled that an unsightly parking garage is favored alongside the Carnival Center rather than some illuminated billboards, but that’s beside the point. So what’s one of the County’s solutions to get some parking? They plan on trading the downtown bus terminal for another “more suitable” piece of land. That’s right, sacrificing our already less than stellar public transit for more space to park your vehicle. Who is making these decisions? How is this remotely in our best interests? Read the article, I got lost somewhere in the 1,600, 700, or 1,000 parking space number garages any of which will have some spaces available for PAC use.

“If the northside deal goes through, Mr. Carlton said, the bus terminal would be moved to the MetroMover’s western station.”

Out of sight, out of mind…

Oh, and I forgot to mention, the county is so inept that one of the “solutions” for the cost over-runs over on the airport’s north terminal involves canceling the project. I can see the signs: “Welcome to MIA, please pardon our dust as we never complete anything we begin.” I hate to ask, but, then how much longer will we be paying for that train we’re “exercising” in Japan which was supposed to travel throughout the terminal?

Perhaps we would be able to afford some of these cost over-runs if we weren’t paying 50% of the tuition costs of an untold number of County employees annually ($2.6 Million Last Year.) Apparently, we’re funding the educations of Acupuncturists, Doctors, Lawyers, etc., even students abroad! Anyone majoring in Urban Planning or Economics? No, that would be too practical…

The Pesky Pedestrian Issue

Published
by
Gabriel Lopez-Bernal
on November 28, 2006
in Carnival Center, Miami and Pedestrian
. 0 Comments
A few months ago, while covering the opening of the Carnival Center, Alesh of Critical Miami led me to an interesting article on the concept of second generation traffic calming. The basic concept behind second generation traffic calming is that alternative traffic calming devices are implemented within a given street years after it was originally built. Such alternatives include the adaptation of a pedestrian zone along the street (as Alesh pointed out on Biscayne Boulevard), removing the strict order of the lanes which separate traffic, lax traffic laws, etc.

Reversing decades of conventional wisdom on traffic engineering, Hamilton-Baillie argues that the key to improving both safety and vehicular capacity is to remove traffic lights and other controls, such as stop signs and the white and yellow lines dividing streets into lanes. Without any clear right-of-way, he says, motorists are forced to slow down to safer speeds, make eye contact with pedestrians, cyclists and other drivers, and decide among themselves when it is safe to proceed.

The article cites several cities where the traffic rules are: “There are no rules.” Drivers, cyclists, and pedestrians are essentially free to do as they please along some of the most congested cities of the world. It forces drivers to be more aware of their surroundings rather than on an autopilot mode, attempting to stay between the guidelines. It’s definitely an interesting concept and is apparently pretty effective in cities where such practice is considered the norm. In fact, many of these cities have lower pedestrian fatality rates than cities with extremely rigid streets and driving laws. Now, I’m not advocating switching Miami streets into this wild free-for-all (although at times I feel like we already have), but, I do believe we must begin to look at new concepts to minimize the almost daily pedestrian fatalities which appear in the news headlines nightly.

I came across the above video to demonstrate how traffic flows when there aren’t stringent traffic laws, signals, or markings along the street. It’s extremely chaotic, but, notice how seamlessly traffic flows through the intersection in India…

LCDs, Billboards, and Lights! Oh My!

Published
by
Gabriel Lopez-Bernal
on July 27, 2006
in Carnival Center, Miami, Museum Park, Omni and Parking
. 0 Comments
There has been a recent big stink made over the plans of a developer to build a new mega-mall on the site of the abandoned Omni plaza and former Herald parking lots. It appears that the new mall will include “Times Square-like” elements such as massive LCD billboards, bright lights, and plenty of advertising space. Nice upgrade. Well that is unless you ask certain activists who are saying that the new lighting next door will visually detract from the Performing Arts Center (and bring traffic too! Oh no what will we do???) Well, good point, it will, but, isn’t that somewhat of a good thing, considering that the PAC isn’t all that visually stimulating to begin with (Excellent points by Verticus)? I find it pretty backwards to worry about the view to and from the PAC and the bay after the damned thing was built 3 blocks away from the shoreline. If we had wanted a new PAC, with unobstructed views of the water and a radical design that would forever impact our skyline, then why did we build it 3 blocks away from the shore where any 4 story run-of-the-mill parking garage could cover it up easily? On that note, nobody is complaining about how hideous a parking garage will look behind the PAC, assuming that one gets built sometime this century.

Why are we so concerned with these issues now and why weren’t they raised earlier? If we desired to have a new cutting edge building that would forever change our skyline (Like this, or this, or this, or this) then why wasn’t it thought of before someone proposed to build a large mall next door? I’m all for the Times Square-Like development (minus the thousands of parking spaces that comes with it) but seriously hope that they find better tenants than Target and Best Buy to fill the space. Otherwise, this will turn out to be another misguided attempt to re-urbanize Miami, just like the PAC…

I find it interesting pathetic that we built this on our prime waterfront land…and this on the landlocked real-estate which is destined to be surrounded by a concrete jungle…Must have been on account of the “traffic” problems it would have caused…This is the poor planning I always tend to speak of…

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Odds and Ends

Published
by
Gabriel Lopez-Bernal
on July 20, 2006
in Airport, Carlos Giminez, Carnival Center, Miami, North Terminal, Parking, Transit and Transportation
. 1 Comment
  • Well it’s official, when visiting the Carnival Center for the performing arts this upcoming season you won’t have to leave the Benz at home with the Nanny and the kids. The Miami Parking Authority struck a deal with the Miami-Dade school board to manage all 770 parking spaces in 4 lots from 6 pm to 6 am weekdays and all day on weekends. One would think it wouldn’t be all that difficult for two different branches of government (Parking and Educational) to come to this agreement much sooner. Is there really that much bureaucratic red tape?

  • As is typical with any county run operation, the Airport North Terminal has finally run into the “Let’s make it look shitty to save money” stage of the project. Due to cost over-runs and a 2+ year delay on the project, our marvelous commissioners are endorsing a plan to “scale down” some of the terminal’s original features. This is why County projects never appear quite as nice as the renderings first depict; if only someone hadn’t squandered our money somewhere along the way county projects wouldn’t look so bad. Excellent quote from the article:

    “I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again: We need to look to keep the expenses of the terminal project down,” Mr. Gimenez said after the meeting.

    Well, I said it too, but that was before you guys had the opportunity to screw up. I think we should require our commissioners to take some time and money management classes along with the ethics classes I recommended a while ago before they are eligible for election. One would think that these important management decisions would be left up to a qualified erudite professional with a proficiency in Construction Engineering or Urban Planning, rather than Gimenez’s unsuitable BA in Public Administration. Yes, I know he was consulted by professionals on his decisions, but, the elected officials have the final word, so… this mess ultimately falls on their shoulders. Re-election anyone?

You can read all about Gimenez’s Extensive list of Transportation related experience here, on the county commission website. Look at all those committees…Whoa…

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Planning? Who needs that?

Published
by
Gabriel Lopez-Bernal
on June 21, 2006
in Carnival Center, Congestion, I-95, Miami 21, Omni, Parking and Traffic
. 0 Comments


I’ve seen some unsettling things lately about the current and upcoming developments in the city of Miami. I was first set off by an article which appeared in the Herald back in February; it was titled: “Stage is set for theater with no parking.” I thought to myself, wasn’t the whole point of building this thing downtown to create an urban center which is easily accessible by ulterior forms of transportation in what will soon become our most densely populated area? Now, everyone is suddenly whining about a lack of parking, the type of parking you would find if it was built out in suburbia “Centrally Located” as they like to call it nowadays. The new performing arts center is rising within a short walking distance of the current metromover and the upcoming Miami Streetcar, plenty of reason, in my opinion to cut back on those 1,500 parking spaces the venue is seeking to find. Here is a notable quote from that same article; I think it personifies the Miami ideology very well:

”Who’s going to walk for blocks in the rain and the heat and the dark and the mosquitoes, especially in that neighborhood?”
–Taffy Gould

Well, if it hot, it’s not dark, so there goes your first worry. That neighborhood is the Wynwood/PAC district and it probably has more pigeons and seagulls than mosquitoes, those are found out in suburbia, where you likely live.

These thoughts of the PAC parking situation were spurred as I recently scanned through the development page of the upcoming City Square project, across the street from the PAC. I came across another upsetting passage, it reads:

“Located next to Interstate 95 and 395 off ramps, over 150,000 vehicles will pass city square every day. Shoppers can access City Square from the Venetian Causeway or Biscayne Boulevard (US1), located one block east of this impressive site.”

Yeah, that’s right, absolutely no mention whatsoever of the free metromover train that will be stopping right outside its door with plenty of customers, residents, and tourists (correction: it’s mentioned on a later page, but, it still seems like an afterthought as the above quote appears on several pages.) Even scarier, perhaps, the development will contain 3,401 parking spaces (750 of which will belong to the PAC), effectively using up a space nearly equal to the retail space just for parking (now that’s what I call efficient.)

I also came across this article, which proudly announces the upcoming construction of a 400 space parking garage in the design district. Isn’t this the very same area that will be serviced by a streetcar around the same time the garage opens?

The point I’m trying to make is that with all of these new developments we are going to get massive hideous parking structures, filled with cars which will further clog our streets. The city and the county haven’t placed adequate pressure on developers and citizens to use and emphasize the existing and upcoming transit services in these areas. Why can’t we learn from our mistakes and those of other cities and plan actually ahead, intelligently? Miami 21 seeks to correct these flaws, but that plan has yet to be enacted as these developments continue to rise atop of massive parking structures. When the PAC opens, I’ll be riding past the traffic on US-1 on metrorail and then walk the rest of the way past the idle cars waiting to pay big bucks for parking…

Gridlock!

Published
by
Gabriel Lopez-Bernal
on April 18, 2006
in Biscayne Boulevard, Carnival Center, Congestion, Metrorail, Miami, Parking and Traffic
. 0 Comments

Miami was the scene of Snicker’s newest citywide ad campaign yesterday because nobody was going anywhere, for awhile (pardon the pun, it was just too easy.) In any case, the closing of Biscayne Boulevard for the past day has provided a great insight as to how fragile Miami’s Transportation infrastructure really is. Downtown streets were clogged as the flow of people and goods came to a virtual standstill. The best part, there is no solution in sight and the problem is only bound to get worse. As the city grows and hopes to create a more urban lifestyle, little is being done to address transportation in downtown. Sure buses are being added daily, but this is Miami, people here have yet to warm up to an $800 Million Train dubbed “the White Elephant.” Also notice that every new building is rising upon some sort of hideous parking garage pedestal, so with every new downtown resident comes another vehicle and another headache for transportation planners. We are being counter-productive by not changing parking requirements for buildings that are already accessible by Metrorail and Metro Mover in downtown. Downtown residents should warm up to the idea of walking a few blocks to buy groceries, catch Metro Mover or the upcoming Streetcar, or to get to work. A recent Herald article cites a lack of parking at the Miami Performing Arts Center, but hey, wasn’t that the point of building it downtown; to establish an urban center to our city where we don’t need to rely on our automobiles to get everywhere. Ex: American Airlines Arena, the majority of the fans who take Metrorail to and from the game have a much shorter (and cheaper) commute than the many that paid $25 for a parking spot across the street. Even Lincoln Center in NYC was built with only a few “designated” and handicapped parking spaces, albeit NYC has a very modern transit network, but the Center was built in the 1960s at the height of the suburbanization of American Culture.

Traffic like today’s makes us wish we had never removed the Trolley cars which roamed the streets of Miami and Miami Beach in the 1930’s and 1940’s (see picture above.)

Food for thought:
The Typical highway can handle approximately 2,300 cars/lane/hour vs. a heavy rail train which can handle approximately 75,000 people/lane/hour…