Sun Post
November 20th, 2003
Real Estate

A Ten for this Party
Real estate isn't all about partying, although sometimes it just seems that way.
Coming up on Saturday, November 29 is an exclusive, invitation only party from 8 p.m. to 1 a.m. at Bicentennial Park. The occasion: Legendary nightlife promoter, Michael Capponi is celebrating his groundbreaking real estate partnership with Ten Museum Park developers Armin Mattli, owner of Clinique La Prairie, architect Chad Oppenheim and developer Gregg Covin.
For his biggest party of the year, Capponi, teamed with Ocean Drive magazine, will bring together hundreds of his closest friends, and several A list celebrities flying in from Hollywood, New York and Europe to toast his newest venture. The guests will be entertained by AntiGravity, the gymnastics troupe known for amazing audiences at the MTV Video Music Awards, the Olympic Games, and the Grammy Awards.

City of Miami Mayor Manny Diaz and city officials will be on hand to herald the announcement of The (unique La Prairie Residences at Ten Museum Park, a mixed use real estate development at the forefront of the Biscayne Boulevard revitalization initiative. The loft style interiors with lo foot feature a (unique La Prairie influenced personal spa environment, and European style gourmet kitchens. Penthouse units have 20foot ceilings and private rooftop pools. Estimated prices will range from the 3oo,ooos to more than $4 million.

"Bicentennial Park has been neglected for too many years and we are attempting to bring it back to life." Robert Weinreb, project manager for
the City of Miami

The SunPost Metro Edition, 10 Museum Park and Gordon Reyes & Company teamed to present a community discussion on the issues associated with the development of the new city of Miami emerging along Biscayne Bay as a public service, on November 4 at Bongos inside the American Airlines Arena.
The discussion, which was moderated by Seth Gordon of Gordon Reyes & Company and chairman of the City of Miami Arts and Entertainment Council, focused primarily on the proposed transformation of Bicentennial Park into Miami Museum Park, which is expected to cost 20 25 million in capital expenditures. A panel of cultural, civic, business and community leaders took questions from the moderator and addressed their perspectives on the plan in front of some 1.50 interested residents. This was the first in what we see as a series of on going public forums to address issues vital to the new City of Miami,' said SunPost Publisher Andrew Stark. "The idea is to provide a public forum where issues of planning and development can be illustrated and discussed with information subsequently disseminated in the community.' Gordon began the discussion with a brief overview. "Only in the last couple of years has there been this synergy between development and arts interests,' he said.. "People want to be where there is vitality, an urban sense, and this is recognized by local government and developers.'

Robert Weinreb, City of Miami's project manager for Museum Park, then outlined where the process stands, and what lies ahead. "Bicentennial Park has been neglected for too many years and we are attemping to bring it back to life, said Weinreb. "We received a grant of 8oo,ooo to replace the seawall, expect to issue an RFP (Request for Proposals) [in November] and have the work completed by the end of 2004. We can really do nothing until the seawall is replaced."

Weinreb said that 1.7 million in grant money was alsoawarded from the Florida Department of Transportation to help with planning and expenses related to the proposed bay walk, streetscaping and the open park space components.

Next would come a final open process for a master plan for Bicentennial Park to be developed. "After the master plan is accepted, we can proceed with the rest,' said Weinreb. "Hopefully the RFP will be out early next year to have the master plan completed by the end of 2004.
Weinreb added that the project currently is short in some funding, but expects the City of Miami commitment to the project would result in action. 'Miami is the poorest city in the United States, so it's hard to take tax dollars and put into this, he said. "But I thin with the support of [Miami Mayor] Manny Diaz and [Miami Commissioner] Johnny Winton it will happen. It will take the cooperation of many people, including the mayor and commission for this to happen.'

A contiguous bay walk from the Bicentennial Park site to the Miami River and its greenways will accomplish a great deal toward a quality of life issue embraced by the City of Miami. 'This will bring people back to the waterfront," Weinreb said. Numerous other panelists explained their excitement about, and support for Museum Park. We're all lucky to be working together on something with this kind of potential impact," said Suzanne Delehanty, director of Miami Art Museum, which along with the Miami Museum of Science and Space Transit Planetarium are the two museums committed to the project. "This would be one of the largest museum combinations in a park in the world. This combines two terrific elements museums and a great park, and in a beautiful waterfront setting. When visitors come to Miami, it is one of the only major cities in the country without a major art museum." Delehanty said she envisions a new, expanded Miami Art Museum with a 'very big front door." "We want to be a place where people can come together," she added. "I don't know exactly what [the new museum] would look like just yet, but I think it would be beautiful."
"This is a moment in time for the City of Miami," said Michael Hardy, president and CEO of the Performing Arts Center Trust. "We've had the Children's Museum open, the Performing Arts Center (PAC) is about 40 percent of the way through, the Lincoln Theatre is being expanded, and the Gusman renovations are soon underway. That is an extraordinary amount of infrastructure to have underway for one city."
Other great cities considered cultural capitals underwent similar tremendous growth but much longer ago. Hardy said that their studies indicate that some billion in investment has been made in the area around the PAC.

"This is an extraordinary time for Miami," said Hardy. "Institutions like these form synergies between them that's what we're looking at here. The entertainment industry is definitely the catalyst."
Hardy later added that often times, with this sort of development, problems emerge after the construction process is complete with upkeep and ongoing support. Several panel members echoed those sentiments that while getting the project off the ground is the first and most important step, long term considerations have to always remain in consideration. “All of these efforts have to be coordinated”, Hardy said. Communicating the park plan and its benefits to the public is also an important component of seeing the project to fruition.

"I think we need to get the message out to the people, offered panelist Giora Israel of Carnival Cruise Line. "We would like to offer our services to help. We need to get others that may be impacted by [Museum Park] to get involved. If we work together, then it can happen.'
“We need to make sure the public knows that Museum Park is part of the bond issue," added Gregg Covin, developer of Ten Museum Park.

In November 2ool, Miami voters passed the 255 million. Homeland Defense/Neighborhood Improvement Bond Issue. The proceeds include io for Bicentennial Park less than half the anticipated construction cost.
'Museums need a lot of money and need the help of a broad base to raise the money they need, said Covin. "Many developers are making millions and millions of dollars in the area and we need to ask for their support."

Paul Murphy of Hyperion Development Company, creators of Blue in the Miami Design District and the upcoming Mist near Bicentennial Park, agreed. Within the last 60 days, all the properties across from Museum Park and the American Airlines Arena have had contracts taken out for them," Murphy said. 'If you look at that six blocks alone, it's generating 25 million a year. There has to be an opportunity to take a small slice of that to provide for the museums in the future although someone from the city might want to kill me for suggesting that."

Murphy added that he doesn't understand the grounding of 1 395. "I know the idea is a bit of a sacred cow and people want to push it but I would rather see the money spent creating and supporting the museums in Museum Park," he said.

The businessmen included on the panel were encouraging while offering various perspectives on the proposed project. 'My job with Carnival Cruise Lines is international development,' said Israel.
“One thing that has become clear to me as I have traveled the world is that a good, well positioned art museum works very well.” Israel said CCL did not expect destination excursions to art museums to strike a chord with Carnival passengers but they did. "Every port we go to, there are excursions to museums and I think we're the number one provider of visitors to the museum in San Juan. We believe museums can be a great asset to a city and I believe we can all work together toward that goal."
Miami has never had an opportunity quite like this before, said Covin. 'One thing that makes a city turn around is synergy of development and that is what is happening in Miami. Now is a once in a lifetime opportunity. Ten years from now, Miami's downtown will look completely different that it does today."
"I truly believe Miami is embarking into a whole new era," said Dana Nottingham, executive director of the Downtown Development Authority (DDA). "It's very exciting to see a group of people talking about the broader stretch of downtown. Imagine Biscayne Boulevard from the PAC to Museum Park, American Airlines Arena, Bayside, Watson Island, Bayfront Park, etc. With that lineup, people could package a family vacation which is something many people don't think of us as."
Nottingham went on to advocate discussions on cross marketing with support from several other panel members. In conclusion, Gordon said that obviously money is crucial. "There are other things that need to happen but that's the key," he said. Following the evening's panel discussion, panel members and guests mingled into the evening."I feel like there was a lot of positive energy generated from this discussion and we hope to continue it with future forums of this type," said Stark. "We had a terrific turnout and as we continue open discussions on these major issues in Miami, we hope to provide valuable information and access to Miami residents." The recently launched SunPost Metro edition newspaper is the third weekly edition of the Miami Beach long time institution. Miami Beach's "newspaper of record' expanded first to an Aventura/Sunny Isles Beach edition last year, and subsequently unveiled SunPost Metro, dedicated to covering the eastern corridor of Miami Dade County from Brickell/downtown through the Upper East Side.

All of the good will and visions of urban renewal related to the proposed revitalization of Bicentennial Park would not much matter if the pro posed Museum Park doesn't have strong museum components.

Fortunately, in August 2000, administrators for the Miami Museum of Science and Miami Art Museum signed a joint resolution to work together as a team to relocate and become the anchors of the 29 acre park site. Today, both museums are in the midst of quiet preparation for what is expected to be a seminal moment in the history of the esteemed institutions.

"We're in the quiet phase of our campaign," said Miami Art Museum (MAM) Director Suzanne Delehanty. "We're focusing on a leadership fund initiative to raise the kind of money needed to get the project going."
Delehanty said MAM has set a campaign goal of $10.5 million, and that in terms of money in the bank, one third of it has been raised. "In terms of pledges, we're almost there, Delehanty said. "1 feel confident that in the next 18 months we'll finish the campaign. The city is pledging a 1:3 match, so for every dollar we raise the city provides 33 cents for planning. Both Miami and MAM would benefit from the development of Museum Park, Delehanty said. 'This is the only major city in the United States does not have a great downtown art museum and central arts science museum and major park," she said. 'This poises us to become a great American city.' MAM needs room to expand. "We are so out of space,' Delehanty said. "Sometimes it's like that circus car with all of the people going in and out." Miami Art Museum was created in 1996, guided by community wide planning input as an evolution of the Center for the Fine Arts which opened in 1984 as a space solely for temporary exhibitions. In just seven years in its current location at the Miami Dade Cultural Center, MAM has become an institution in the local community. MAM's ample permanent collection focuses on art of the Western Hemisphere from 1940 to the present. Delehanty said there is more to be done before MAM could begin the process of designing their proposed new site. "The city is committed to finding a world class master planner, which is a big step," said Detehanty. "The master planner will design the site and provide design guidelines [for the museum]. This will be the largest museum project I am aware of in the world." the Planetarium opened in 1966. In 1978, the Wildlife Center and environmental programs were added.

Margaret Pulles, Museum vice president for strategic development and communications said they also have a quiet capital campaign phase underway. "After 3 years in Miami and with a strong legacy of serving the community, we believe its best for us to continue growing and expanding our wildlife component, exhibition space and the Planetarium," said Pulles. According to statistics provided by the Museum of Science, 75 percent of Miami Dade County voters have visited the Museum of Science. A proposed 250,000 square foot museum space would generate about 1.3 billion economic impact and create about 1,150 full time positions in the community by the end of the first decade. "We have really outgrown our space," said Pulles. "It is outdated and we can not even retro fit it. We don't have room for labs or classroom space and the demand is there for it."

Situated on property that is part of historically preserved Vizcaya, the Museum of Science is unable to expand. Tentative plans call for the new Museum of Science to house a state of the art exhibition floor, Planetarium, environmental center, administrative offices and an outdoor science park all integrated to provide a combination of natural history, cultural heritage and science center. Pulles said the Museum is working with Miami Dade County on a public information campaign, while members are informed of and included in meetings on the future of the Museum.

"For us, that's an important component letting our members know what's going on, because we have many supportive members," said Pulles. So far, Delehanty said community response to MAM's campaign has been very good. "People love Miami," she said. "There is this whole generation of people in their 20s and 30s who grew up here and care about the city. They want their city to be a major city. This is the kind of project that could define us as a global capital and there is a lot of interest in seeing that happen."