Miami Board Votes To Protect Ancient Site Where Related Group Plans Residential Towers

Miami’s historic preservation board on Tuesday approved temporary protection for a portion of a Related Group redevelopment site along the Miami River where the remains of a millenia-old settlement were discovered.

The decision halts the issuance of any major building permits at the property for at least six months and sets the stage for a clash over the potential preservation of part of the site.  

The city’s Historic and Environmental Preservation Board unanimously approved the preliminary designation of a portion of the property at 444 Brickell Ave. as a protected archaeological site. The vote, at the board's meeting Tuesday, effectively halts any development on the parcel while the preservation office prepares a detailed study on the property and decides if it should receive final designation as a legally protected archeological site.

If the site is protected, the HEPB would have significant say over any plans Related Group might have for the site, the Miami Herald reports. It would be able to impose requirements for preserving portions of the site, require the public exhibition of archaeological findings there or block development entirely. Related Group would have the option of appealing any decisions from the preservation board to the Miami City Commission. 

A dozen members of the public spoke in favor of the designation Tuesday, including members of Native American groups. Ernesto Cuesta, president of the Brickell Homeowners Association, told the board “that site should be preserved for future generations of Miamians,” according to the Herald. No one spoke in opposition.

Related Group, founded by billionaire Jorge Perez and run by his son, Jon Paul Perez, is planning to build three residential towers on the property, which includes an office building that the developer plans to demolish to make way for the new construction. 

Archaeologists have been digging at the waterfront site for the past two years and have found the remains of an extensive Tequesta Indian village that once stretched along both banks of the Miami River. Partial human remains along with hundreds of thousands of artifacts have been unearthed at the site as well as postholes that archeologists say formed the foundation for structures at the 2,500-year-old village. Some artifacts were dated as far back as 7,000 years ago, the Herald reported.

The preservation board’s decision doesn't cover the entire site and Related Group has already begun foundation work on an apartment tower on Southeast Fifth Street. The developer has also been advertising a planned luxury condo next door called Baccarat Residences, according to the Herald. 

Related acquired the sites for $104M in 2013 and secured a $164M construction loan in January from Truist Financial Corp. to build the apartment tower, a 44-story building with 506 units called 444 Brickell Tower II. 

The developer got the go-ahead to build the apartment tower in April, after Related Group and the preservation board struck a deal to avoid the entire property being designated as an archeological site. 

As part of the deal, the developer agreed to display some of the artifacts found at the site and to construct a walkway under the Brickell Avenue bridge. Related will have six months after the ongoing excavation is complete to release its plans, Related Group's attorney, Iris Escarra from Greenberg Traurig, told the board. 

At the April board meeting, Related executives said they had spent $20M on the site’s excavation. Escarra told the preservation board Tuesday that the process wouldn’t be completed for several more months. 

Related’s plan to demolish the office building at the site could also face preservation headwinds. Under city law, the developer will be required to conduct an archaeological excavation once the building is torn down. 

The city archaeologist said in a preliminary report that the office building likely sits on top of a part of the Tequesta village that is currently being excavated. 

A significant discovery on the office site could lead to another preservation fight. Escarra said at Tuesday’s meeting that the city’s options for preservation at the office property site would depend in large part on what was discovered there, the Herald reported.