Update on the Mercy Hospital site
The City Zoning Board turned down the zoning change request for the Mercy Hospital-Related Group project, but It turns out that the Related Group will not give up on their plan to annoy the neighbors and ruin the quality of life for people living in the area.The Related Group now wants to cut a new road from the Mercy site into the little neighborhood next door, making East Glencoe a major entry.
Right now East Glencoe and West Glencoe are quiet little streets. The neighborhood is a cul de sac and people purchased on those streets for that very reason.
There is a petition going around against this intrusion and it would be a good idea for all who are against this nonsense to sign it.
One local magazine publisher is for the project because of the money involved. She stands to make a lot on the new project's advertising campaign, she readily admitted this to a neighbor. Another one is a dock builder who feels that if he gives up part of his property through eminent domain for the new access road, he will be allowed to build docks in the area.
One person fighting for the project, conveniently took his "for sale" sign down. How can someone be allowed to make decisions when they are eager to sell and get out leaving the mess behind for their neighbors who remain living here.
Disgusting. They are selfish people, who don't care about quality of life or their neighbors.
Right now East Glencoe and West Glencoe are quiet little streets. The neighborhood is a cul de sac and people purchased on those streets for that very reason.
There is a petition going around against this intrusion and it would be a good idea for all who are against this nonsense to sign it.
One local magazine publisher is for the project because of the money involved. She stands to make a lot on the new project's advertising campaign, she readily admitted this to a neighbor. Another one is a dock builder who feels that if he gives up part of his property through eminent domain for the new access road, he will be allowed to build docks in the area.
One person fighting for the project, conveniently took his "for sale" sign down. How can someone be allowed to make decisions when they are eager to sell and get out leaving the mess behind for their neighbors who remain living here.
Disgusting. They are selfish people, who don't care about quality of life or their neighbors.
posted by Tom Falco at 8:27 AM
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21 Comments:
Mercy Hospital Incompetence Must Not Be Rewarded
Mercy Hospital is using the justification for selling their property to a developer because they say they need the money for improvement.
If Mercy is not already self sufficient after all these years in business as a not-for-profit without paying taxes, what makes them think that a few million bucks will make a difference. Eventually they will spend that money as well and have to sell more property.
Mercy Hospital must not be permitted to impose upon the neighborhoods quality of life just to help them raise funds since they are unable to properly manage their own business and budget for improvement.
Incompetence must not be rewarded, especially at our expense.
I have been reminded that Mercy does not need justification to sell their property - they own it and do not need to ask anyone's permission to sell it. That Mercy is smart to use this $96 million dollars to improve their facilities so that they do not have to pay a massive amount of interest on construction loan. That many of the surrounding neighbors want this project built.
So, why are we not heading the advice of the Planning and Zoning Boards that are against this project?
I suspect the Grove Village Council and many others including me are also not in favor of this project.
Miami has a glut of new condos (more then Manhattan) and it will take many years to absorbed them all.
This glut is going to affect all of our property values, traffic, sewage and quality of life.
I don’t think we need to build any more units for a long time, which will just continue to contribute to the glut.
I heard that the Mercy project developers are compensating some of the neighborhood groups with funds for the inconvenience that they will be going through.
That sounds a little like a pay-off.
Our community does not need any more condos. We don’t want to reward Mercy Hospital for its poor management and greed. What we want are three of the five Miami City Commissioners to step up to the plate and vote down this Mercy project. We need our commissioners to fight for the rights of its citizens and quality of life.
Harry Emilio Gottlieb
Coconut Grove
The Related Group does not seem to relate to neighborhood comprehensive plans. Their tarnished history includes raiding the Affordable Housing Trust of the City of Miami, not being in compliance with the use of the funds and using as an excuse before the County Commission that "affordable housing is what anyone can afford to pay". Admitting to the misuse of the funds which has attributed to the affordable housing crisis and seeking the County to transfer funds to the City of Miami to cover their "mistake", really tells whose phones are connected. Mercy Hospital is part of a neighborhood comprehensive plan infrastructure which was to feed into neighborhood clinics in the neighborhoods. Millions of Dollars are available for services to the underserved and for rehabilitation through Catholic Charities. Revitalizing the site is warranted with upgrades, but redeveloping the site does not speak to a neighborhood impact study which is required on these types of projects. Firstly, the neighborhood impact study would reveal that the Evaluation and Appraisal Report for the City of Miami is not uptodate, since the glut of condos came on line, and the LOS (level of service) for transportation and service vehicles clearly would "trash" the quality of life for existing Grove residents. This project should be voted down and Related Group should head over to Liberty City and/or one of the target areas missing thousands of affordable housing units and create a true neighborhood impact to those residents left behind, with their funding going towards higher priced housing. Mercy Hospital should also know that the Department of Community Affairs clearly has warned Miami-Dade and the City of Miami of concurrency issues, particularly water and transportation.
Mr. Gottlieb is absolutely correct that Mercy Hospital should "fess up" to its poor management and not look to Related to be engaged in "illegal contract zoning" which translates to bartering away the assets of the taxpayers.
Best wishes Grove friends,
Doris Hall
If any rich person needs a home they have an abundant supply to choose from. They can bid on homes from as far north as Shorescrest and Davis Harbour and as far south as Coral Gables and Cutler Bay. We have 30,000 condos under construction in the City of Miami alone. There are tens of thousands available downtown, along Brickell and along Biscayne Blvd. No rich person will go unsheltered. Their 2nd and 3rd home needs can easily be met. Please encourage all the Commissioners to vote No to Related's scheme for the Mercy site. Protect our single family neighborhoods. Protect our way of life.
I'M NOT FOLLOWING THE LOGIC OF THE ACCESS ROAD CHANGE. HOW IS IT BETTER FOR ANYONE TO USE THAT OTHER NEIGHBORHOOD EXIT RATHER THAN THE CURRENT ACCESS ROAD, LINED WITH THE BACK YARDS OF HOUSES ON ONE SIDE, AND WITH (DUMPY LOOKING) MERCY RELATED FACILITIES ON THE OTHER SIDE? IT LOOKS TO ME LIKE THE PURCHASE AND DEMOLITION OF THOSE SMALL CONDO/APARTMENTS ADJACENT TO THE ROAD, ON THE BAY, MAY BE A WAY TO "PAY OFF" ANY OPPOSITION FROM THAT END. ALTHOUGH THAT FLIES IN THE FACE OF WHAT I'VE HEARD ABOUT THOSE CONDO OWNERS, WHO HAVE TURNED DOWN MULTIPLE OFFERS IN THE PAST.
ANYWAY, TO ME IT MAKES NO DIFFERENCE IF THE ENTRY/EXIT IS FROM ONE STREET TO ANOTHER, (ALTHOUGH I'M SURE IT MATTERS TO THAT NEIGHBORHOOD), BUT WHAT CONCERNED ME WAS THAT I HEARD THEY WANTED TO 4 LANE S. BAYSHORE DRIVE (I GUESS WEST OF 17 AVE), WHICH WOULD BE A CRIME. ISN'T THAT A PROTECTED HISTORIC ROAD ANYWAY??
JORGE PEREZ HAS ALREADY SPENT OVER A MILLION DOLLARS ON THE PLANS FOR THESE BUILDINGS. THIS IS NOT A "PROPOSED" DEVELOPMENT, WITH RELATIVELY INEXPENSIVE SCHEMATIC PLANS WITH A SLICK POWER POINT PRESENTATION. THESE PLANS ARE READY TO GO, AND THAT FACT, ALONG WITH THE FACT THAT JORGE PEREZ HAS ANNOUNCED THAT HE INTENDS TO LIVE THERE HIMSELF, ALL TELLS ME THAT THIS IS A "DONE DEAL", AND WE'RE ALL WASTING OUR BREATH COMPLAINING ABOUT IT.
MY GUESS IS THAT THIS IS GOING TO HAPPEN, JUST LIKE GROVE ISLE HAPPENED WHEN MARTY MARGOLIES GOT 3 HIGHRISE BUILDINGS ON THAT LITTLE ISLAND IN FRONT OF THE FAIR ISLE NEIGHBORHOOD. THOSE BAYFRONT SINGLE FAMILY DWELLERS LOOKING OUT OVER FAIR ISLE PROBABLY HAD A LOT MORE PULL THEN THE CURRENT OBJECTORS, AND THEY GOT NOWHERE.
WHAT MAKES ANYBODY THINK IT'S GOING TO BE DIFFERENT THIS TIME???
Do not be deceived by Jorge Perez. He has promised to move into Apogee on South Beach when it is finished in 2007. Into a $12+ Mil unit. Perez promises to move into every new condo project he is trying to sell. I do not care how much he has invested in plans. He should have gotten the approvals first like any investor. And I do not see how it can happen. The scheme is completely too dense and too big for that area. We have 30,000 unsold condo units already.
Do people really not know what’s going down here?!?!?
Related VP and former assistant city manager Christina Cuervo is calling the shots. She joined the Sarnoff campaign in time to become his strategist on how Marc can protect his credentials as the anti-development commissioner while allowing the other commissions to ram the big projects through in his district. They may not try this with Home Depot. Too high profile. But watch out for other mega projects to get through the same way. Especially when Joe Arriola is involved and pulling Marc’s strings.
Marc Sarnoff is well aware there are 29,000 condos under construction in Miami, with another 30,000 in permiting. Miami does not need another Related project in the wrong location. We need to protect single family neighborhoods. S. Bayshore does not need another 1,000 residents.
Send Sarnoff your opinions.
Marc is in a tough spot. He cut a deal to allow approval of the Mercy project and has already been rewarded by Related and Ocean Land, the organization that actually owns the land. They funneled money to Marc through innocent looking fronts. Marc's a smart guy. He knows where the money came from. And what’s expected of him. And he knows he can't go back on his word to them without jeopardizing his next election in only 10 months! He knows he will need their money again because this time his opponent won’t be a pathetic unlikable idiot like Haskins but someone who is smart, credible and independent from City Hall. He also knows that his neighbors will turn on him if they see evidence that Joe Arriola and Related deal-maker Christina Cuervo are making deals on his behalf. The plan is to let Marc give speeches and say he’s against this or that while Joe and Christine whisper to the other commissioners that it’s OK to ignore the district commissioner and ram projects down his throat with a series of 3 to 2 votes. Sarnoff will then go back to the Grove residents and say that the other big meanies on the commission just won’t listen to him.
Good plan. Will it work? Depends on whether Grove leaders are gutless patsies.
I still don't know what Related wanted to do to S. Bayshore Drive. Can someone enlighten me? I think that the permanent change to S. Bayshore Drive is what will impact most of us.
With units starting at 3M, i don't expect much traffic from these buildings which will be half empty most of the time. Grove Isle is half empty most of the time, and that's upper middle working class people. The problem will mostly relate to the impact of three highrises looming over the adjacent neighborhood, removing whatever privacy they once had.
There are few remaining single family lots/home in N. Grove, on the bay. I don't know how Margolies got permission to build the highrises on Fair Isle, but I figure the low rise condos/apartments across from Grove Isle were zoned that way because of the Margolies development. Now, with the related project putting highrises on the mainland, I expect to eventually see upzoning of the lowrise apartment/condo area to highrise, and the Fair Isle neighborhood of single family homes becoming a "last stand" enclave on the bay, or eventually also being upzoned.
There's a lot of history that led us up to this point, and years of momentum. This mayor and commission is not going to stop this train, and neither will this neighborhood blog.
I would love to be proved wrong, but experience tells me otherwise.
Mercy Hospital site. Related wants to build at least 1.2 Mil sq ft. The proposed units will have 3 to 6 bedrooms. The bedrooms will house parents, children, grandparents, nannies, maids et al. As usual, with $3+ Mil units there is an enormous amount of renovation. Oftentimes these projects are under permanent renovation. (Think Fisher Island.) That means thousands of workers putting in tile, paint, new bathrooms etc. Many children will be commuting to school. We expect 1,300+ new drive trips a day. On already parking lot like S. Bayshore drive.
The Grove does not need this monster project on this site. Miami has 30,000+ new condos to sell and occupy. Many are waterfront. Let's get those finished and sold. This change in zoning application should be denied. And, no, Commissioners do not overrule Commissioners on district based projects. And Commissioner Sarnoff can easily win reelection. He needs no help and no money from Related.
What a nightmare. 1,300 extra trips a day on S. Bayshore?
Anonymous said...
Mercy Hospital site. Related wants to build at least 1.2 Mil sq ft. The proposed units will have 3 to 6 bedrooms. The bedrooms will house parents, children, grandparents, nannies, maids et al. As usual, with $3+ Mil units there is an enormous amount of renovation. Oftentimes these projects are under permanent renovation. (Think Fisher Island.) That means thousands of workers putting in tile, paint, new bathrooms etc. Many children will be commuting to school. We expect 1,300+ new drive trips a day. On already parking lot like S. Bayshore drive.
The Grove does not need this monster project on this site. Miami has 30,000+ new condos to sell and occupy. Many are waterfront. Let's get those finished and sold. This change in zoning application should be denied. And, no, Commissioners do not overrule Commissioners on district based projects. And Commissioner Sarnoff can easily win reelection. He needs no help and no money from Related.
Last poster is unfortunately wrong. Other Commissioners WILL roll over MS on Mercy project....with MS's acquiescence. The deal has been cut (by Arriola). The script is written. The train is running. Cho-cho.......
I refuse to believe that Marc Sarnoff, after hearing all the evidence from both sides, would agree to allow the Grove to be ruined by that disgusting greedy overly large maxed out condos on steroids project, promoted by Related, for no other purpose but to make another few millions (hundreds of millions) for Jorge Perez.
After all, as other posters have stated, rich people have many options for housing. What is the public benefit of ruining this neighborhood?
David Plummer and Associates, Professional tranpostation Engineers and City of Miami Transportation engineer prepared a traffic study showing 110 vehicles during the peak hour would be generated by this 300 unit development and not 3100. The entire report is posted on www.relatedatthegrove.com The number 2800 vpd deals with an alternative use of office medical, office or research medical. This is also in the report. Alicia Cuervo
The Related Group will not be placing any roadway or access easement on either East or West Glen Coe or nay other surrounding neighborhood. Plans as submitted can be viewed on our Web site at www.relatedatthegrove.com
Traffic consultants never provide recommendations or data that conflict with their clients desire to pave everything. If they did the client (developer) or the City would just solicit another consultant to get the recommendation they want.
300 units with 1,000 bedrooms owned by super rich residents, with staff, will yield far in excess of 110 vehicle trips per peak hour or in excess of 2,000 vehicle trips per day. Would not an additional 100 vehicle trips per day on S. Bayshore be 100 too many?
The request for a change in zoning should be denied.
Much of the problem not only deals with the heavy traffic but the shadows cast by such enormous buildings and the "way-out-of-scale" building designs. Of course, the next phase of the project will dredge the bay to plant a mega yacht marina next to the monolithic towers. It's a snowball affect. It's terrible that the City Commissioners could allow this in a single family neighborhood.
The City Commissioners and Mayor Manny "I love concrete" Diaz have to learn to say no. Ruining S. Bayshore and corrupting the neighboring single family neighborhoods is NOT smart planning.
January 25th at 5:00 pm. I believe the Commission will hear Mercy's change in zoning request. Mercy and Related (and its financial partners) want to get approvals to add 1,000+ bedrooms to the Mercy parking lot on S. Bayshore. They want to add three huge towers. Maybe 2,000+ new traffic trips a day. With 40,000 unsold condos in Miami, there is no need for this assault on our quality of life. Contact your commisioners to vote to deny.
If you oppose the application please write all five Commissioners. And write the Planning Department. Let them know.
Remember the people getting paid to support the three huge residential towers will be writing everyone.
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