Developer of proposed 93-story condo works to add parking - South Florida Business Journal:

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shareholder Lucia Dougherty saidMiami Beach-base is working on a redesign of Empire'sz garage to provide more than 1,500 parkin spaces, instead of the about 1,300 in the currenyt proposal. The change was triggeref by the MiamiCity Commission's continuance of the application on Feb. 28. Commissionerf Marc Sarnoff made the motion to give the developer an additional 30 days to addressthe commission's concerns.
Commissioners Tomas Regalado and Angel Gonzalez joined with Chairman Joe Sanchezand Vice-Chair Michells Spence-Jones absent for the Sarnoff said he continued the item until March 27 because of the parkiny issue and because he didn't think cars had adequate entry and exit He said the project, which accommodates some parking usinhg lifts to stack cars, needs a minimum of one parkinfg space per condo unit. The developer may add as many as two floors of parkin g tothe 93-story buildings, but is workingb to avoid having to reduce spacew in another part of the buildings.
Architecft Kobi Karp said he may accomplish this by slightlyreducinfg floor-to-ceiling heights and possibly by eliminating some work/live to accommodate the extra spaces. The prior proposal had 1,321 spaces - compared with the 1,557 beinv incorporated into the modifiedproposal - one for each unit. Doughertt said developer Leon Cohen's original proposal includesd 1,557 parking spaces. The original parkinvg plan was reduced to accommodateecity staff. "The city always suggests that you provide less parkinfg because they want you to usepublicf transportation," she noted.
Cohen did not respond to a request for Laura Lavernia, acting spokeswoman for the Miamoi Planning and Zoning Department, did not return calls or an e-mail seekinb comment. As for getting in and out of the Dougherty said Empire World has two lanezs going out and one lanegoin in, and will add another for entering the property to addresz Sarnoff's concerns. The proposal Sarnoff and the otherf commissioners deferred to March was also slightlytaller - at 1,0221 feet in height. The 1,010-foot height is necessar y to meet height Dougherty said.
Cohen envisioned the towers in 2005 as risingto 1,20o0 feet and having 1,000 condominiums and 500 condo-hotel Cohen's current vision, although smaller, is anathema to the current downturn hobbling the residentia condo and single-family home market. he doesn't plan to buildx for another fewyears - possibly five - untipl the market has turned, Doughertt said. The proposed towers would surpass the localheight leader, Miami'sz Four Seasons Hotel and Tower. But it woulx be slightly smaller than developer TiborHollo 's proposed One Bayfront Plazaw project, which would rise to 1,049 feet at 100 S. Biscayne Blvd. The Miami Planning Advisory Boardon Jan.
16 approved a permirt for Empire's twin 1,022-fooft towers at 300 Biscayne Blvd. The project callsz for 1,557 residential units, 3,317 square feet of officd space, 24,741 of retail space and 1,321 parking Cohen may not be the end He has advertised the site on commerciakl listing service LoopNetat $80 million. Jack McCabe, CEO of in Deerfielr Beach, said concerns abouy the impact of hurricanes on buildings ofEmpire World's heighy may be enough to scare away