County’s Rapid Transit Zoning Further Expanded Countywide, Includes Citadel Brickell Property

Miami-Dade’s Rapid Transit Zone is being expanded.

The Rapid Transit Zone bypasses city zoning rules to allow higher intensity development near mass transit.

Two properties reportedly acquired by hedge fund Citadel in Brickell are already included in the RTZ, a map released by the county shows.

The two properties in the RTZ are the vacant waterfront lot at 1201 Brickell Bay Drive, and an office building at 1221 Brickell.

An international design competition conducted by Citadel is said to be underway, with plans for an iconic headquarters.

Commissioners voted last week to also add 143 Southwest 9th Street to the RTZ. A Mexican developer is said to be planning a 350-unit apartment building on that property.

Other Brickell properties already in the RTZ include the 888 Brickell supertall site, the PMG/Sentral site, the Gazit site at 90 SW 8th Street, and One Southside Park.

A second item heard by commissioners last week could have even bigger implictions countywide.

Commissioners voted on expanding the RTZ to allow intense development around all Metrorail corridors not already included, the Palmetto Metrorail Station, the Miami Intermodal Center, the South Dade Transitway, all planned SMART Plan Corridors, and various other properties.

 

 

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Anonymous
6 months ago

Even though the original scope of the item was scaled back considerably (leaving out single family neighborhoods), this is still HUGE in terms of lowering housing costs, increasing transit ridership, and greatly improving the quality of life in Miami-dade!

Anon
6 months ago

Can Someone explain what this is saying in a way a 5th grader would understand? I am admittedly too lazy to read the attachments.

Anonymous
6 months ago

Designated RTZ zoning within a half mile radius of the metro-rail and future smart corridors (expect for areas zoned single family) to allow for much greater density and a better pedestrian experience

anonymous
6 months ago

Pretty much every metrorail area will now allow for more density and units to be built. Looks to also include any new stops when they do the SMRT corridor going up to Aventura area

Overall this is good as the county needs to build for more density due to scarcity of land

AnonAnon
6 months ago

And it overrules restrictive local zoning that local cities like South Miami, Pinecrest..etc have in place around metrorail stations. This is the best part and probably the part that makes it most controversial.

Anonymoose
6 months ago

Expect sunset place to become mixed use condos now

Joe
6 months ago

I believe the legislation excludes the Aventura SMART corridor unfortunately, if I read it properly

Vince
6 months ago

Miami 21 Zoning is horrible and is limited to the City of Miami. Developers (architects) want freedom beyond Miami 21 and Miami Dade County’s RTZ overrides the oppressive City of Miami zoning. All you have to do is make sure your property is near mass transit, and voila! You are free to build more dense and creative buildings.

Anonymous
6 months ago

So, does that mean they will be expanding MetroMover eastward? It was built to go further and is just waiting for a visionary or two to build it over Brickell to the bayfront.

Melo is sigma and Chad
6 months ago

it needs to be extended to the bay and it needs to be renovated to handle two cars on the Brickell loop.

Anonymous
6 months ago

Um, it needs a complete rebuild for more than two car, and larger ones, if you want it expanded.

Anonymous
6 months ago

Maybe. But we need to do a study first! Even though, one was already done a few years ago.

Anonymous
6 months ago

It needs more than a visionary, it needs expansion funding $$$

Anonymous
6 months ago

Come on, anyone can walk a city block!

Vince
6 months ago

Not anyone. I’ve read posts here from people who say walking in Brickell is “impossible”.

Anonymous
6 months ago

Heck, not only do they say in Brickell…

Anonymous
6 months ago

I believe you mean MetroRAIL, with the east-west platform at Government Center Station. MetroMOVER was built to serve Greater Downtown Miami, and that’s all.

Anonymous
6 months ago

The Metromover will serve whatever area it’s extended to.

Anonymous
6 months ago

doesn’t mean it will serve those distant areas well.

Anonymous
6 months ago

^
It doesn’t mean all those areas you call “distant” need to be serviced by the Metromover either.

Zonked
6 months ago

People like Metromover more because it’s free and autonomous which means less delays and quicker service. I’ll gladly take a smaller rail cart if it’s free and quick.

Anonymous
6 months ago

Just to add on to what you said, people also like the Metromover because its air-conditioned, convenient (and becoming more convenient), and if it cost once again to ride, its doubtful that it’ll that much. Plus, who wants to be in something like it that’s fast but could be deadly in an accident?.. especially if you have a four year old child with you.

Muhammad
6 months ago

METRO-FAIL because it fails to go where people need to get 2.

Anonymous
6 months ago

Soo, what about actually expanding the Metrorail to make these RTZs more attractive? From Miami Airport to Douglas Road Station is a start. A man can dream, but there’s also east-west to Miami Beach and Doral and FIU…

calivalle
6 months ago

Miami really needs a metro rail going down on Kendall SW 88 Y Calle 8

Not Anonymous
6 months ago

I wonder what the final design for the Citadel building will be. I hope it looks like the early renders of the proposed Santander building. That would truly be iconic.

Anonymous
6 months ago

Its definitely going to be a different massing.

Catherine J.
6 months ago

Dense housing plans and zero attention to MD County public transportation crisis. Taxpayers have paid for years to expand light rail like any other major metropolitan area—and corrupt commissioners siphoned the $ for metrorail to the ineffective busway. Busway *must* be transformed to metrorail—we are growing rapidly and it will soon be impossible to navigate our streets.

Anonymous
6 months ago

The half cent sales tax would’ve had to have been a 1.5 cent increase to fund full Metrorail expansion. Officials weren’t upfront with the public about the true costs, they knew there was no hope expanding Metrorail beyond the Airport extension, and they blew the rest on unrelated projects. Also, the public would likely not have have voted on the kind of tax increase required for a full Metrorail extension and they knew this as well.

Also, Dade is losing population–it’s not growing rapidly at all, and hasn’t been for a good two decades. Broward’s growth has stagnated as well. The region’s traffic shouldn’t materially worsen unless that changes–and that will only change if the incomes to cost or living ratio returns to sanity, which is unlikely.

Anonymous
6 months ago

A system at ground level will be slow. Above ground level it will be prohibitively expensive. Below grade neither of these.

sewing dem wilde oats
6 months ago

streetcars with dedicated lanes actually move quite well….and much much cheaper to build than above or below ground…think of how bad u.s.1 traffic can be down south but the busway buses just fly from stop to stop…

Not Anonymous
6 months ago

The Busway lanes are also mostly empty and are space wasted that could’ve been used for a green space or a faster form of transportation.

Southwest Til' I die!
6 months ago

Hopefully if a building gets built at such a key site it gets creative with a stone facade or something. Too much glass.

Anonymous
6 months ago

Ya more stone facing the bay would be ideal…says nobody!

anonymous
6 months ago

This is an usurping of City planning and zoning by the County

Anonymous
6 months ago

Shut up Joe Carollo. Nobody likes you.

anonymous
6 months ago

if you think the 13 county commissioners will be better

Anonymous
6 months ago

They’ve been doing a hell of a lot better so far. Joe Corollo and most of the other city of Miami commissioners are against anything that doesn’t line their own pockets or allow them to find parking easier

BDub
6 months ago

Yes, that is exactly what is happening.

Zonked
6 months ago

Well someone has to do the city’s job

Anonymous
6 months ago

Good, Miami21 sucks.