There's now a petition against SkyRise
He explained how developer Jeff Berkowitz is scamming everyone into thinking that visitors and the public will visit the thing in huge numbers, but as Charles shows, there is no way the Miami structure is going to draw more visitors than famous places like the Empire State Building or Eiffel Tower.
"Mr. Berkowitz has declared that 'SkyRise' will attract 3,200,000 visitors per year. That number breaks down to 8,767 visitors per day," says Charles.
After doing the math, it looks as if Mr. Berkowitz figures that SkyRise will capture almost 20% of the visitors to Miami, which seems quite high, according to Charles who figured that the Statue of Liberty only receives 7.3% of New York visitors, while the Statue of Liberty receives 6.1% of New York visitors and Eiffel Tower's capture rate is less than 10% of visitors. Will 20% of Miami's visitors want to visit SkyRise?
But that really is not the issue here. The issue is the City of Miami giving away publicly owned land to a privatly owned property, which has a clause to sublease space to a casino. Public land for a private casino?
After doing all the math, Charles says, "In the final analysis this clearly appears to be a high risk project on PubliclyOwned Land. Due to the possible extraordinary expense the City may incur if this project fails I respectfully suggest that Mr. Berkowitz build his project
somewhere else and certainly not on our Public Land."
As usual, blogger Al Crespo has all the documents here to show what a scam the whole thing is and how Jeff Berkowitz pulls figures out of the air, none of which make sense.
There is a petition now, created by Charles Corda, which states:
"The construction of the 1000' SkyRise Miami Observation Tower, Amusement Center, and possible Casino, on our Publicly Owned Land has the potential to be a financial and environmental disaster for the City of Miami. If this massive high risk 1000' tall project fails, the extraordinary costs involved will burden the taxpayers of Miami with higher taxes and reduced services for a great many years to come. If it succeeds the environmental impact of this project will create traffic, noise and pollution problems for both the residents and the downtown business community for many decades to come. Either way this project does not belong on land owned by the citizens of the City of Miami.
"The City of Miami Commission should not be gambling with Miami's future by leasing Public Land for this wildly inappropriate high risk project."
You may see and/or sign the petition here:
petitions.moveon.org/sign/stop-skyrise-miami
posted by Tom Falco at 5:00 AM
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19 Comments:
What does the FAA and MIA have to say about a a tower in their flight paths ?
THe FAA gave an approval that was to expire by July 1st if construction does not start. That is why the City allowed 3 footings built prior to approval by referendum.
The site is now active with loss of usable dock space.
Marc
I just signed the petition.
Government cut is being dredged deeper to receive newly constructed mega cargo ships along with a billion dollar tunnel to handle the massive tonnage of cargo going places world wise. Dinner Key has been dredged deeper for mega multi-million dollar yachts. We in Miami have business dealings in our gateway to the America's and elsewhere worldwide. The fact is we're going places, big bucks with a high trickle down affect. And any plane flying low enough to hit this tower is already in trouble and flying way to low. And what a beautiful impressive landmark this would make for folks who visit or view Miami in travel literature, or arriving by air and sea. Jobie Steppe
Though I'm opposed to the sky rise, I don't think it's fair to compare the tourism impact of the Statue of Liberty and the Eiffel Tower on NYC and Paris with this proposal. Both cities have hundreds of alternate tourist spots, and the Statue of Liberty is not even located on the mainland but out in the harbor--you have to take a boat to get to it which limits its draw. And what is 7.3% of visitors to NYC? A lot.
Miami on the other hand has the beach, shopping, and...not much else. So, I could see this being an attraction. Now, whether the public lands needs to be a tourist destination drawing 3+ million a year and whether this is an appropriate structure on our sky line is the real question. My answer is no.
Imagine that! A Grove activist forming a petition to block industry! I love the Grove, I seriously do, but is there anything that the "activists" aren't against?
I guess the only thing that makes this unique is I don't see anyone blaming Sarnoff..yet. I'm sure that will come soon.
People also protested against the Eiffel Tower, and today it is one of the most famous structures in the world. Give SkyRise a chance.
"We come, we writers, painters, sculptors, architects, lovers of the beauty of Paris which was until now intact, to protest with all our strength and all our indignation, in the name of the underestimated taste of the French, in the name of French art and history under threat, against the erection in the very heart of our capital, of the useless and monstrous Eiffel Tower..."
http://www.toureiffel.paris/en/everything-about-the-tower/themed-files/71.html
Funny how you just could not resist mentioning Sarnoff, even if just as an opportunity to dish a left-handed whack to those who are smart enough to know he could not care less about the 33133. Far too much stupid misguided hate out there.
This is a bad economic deal for the City of Miami, period. If Berkowitz is so confident this will succeed than he should buy a property and build it. Why does he need the public waterfront land? Because it is significantly less expensive than if he were to go out to market and pay fair market price.
If the City is to move forward with this deal than it needs to be a direct deal with the City. Why structure it as a sublease under the Bayside lease. Bayside wants an early renewal of their lease so make a condition of that deal be that the City carves out the land for the tower. Much cleaner. Then you make Berkowitz put up a bond to protect the city in the event of the inevitable bankruptcy that will occur once they miss their target numbers, stop paying the City rent, etc....
The City of Miami does not need this to drive traffic to Downtown. The new residential construction and commercial projects (World Center and City Centre) will transform Downtown.
This is an easy NO!
Is it a gigantic nail clipper, forseps or a kinky toy? Can Mr. Sarnoff give an answer as to why is such a THING being built on public land?
I'm second to no one in my criticism of the Grove's naysayers-to-everything crowd. But this project strikes me as a very bad idea. If it isn't economically viable, we will be stuck with another massive white elephant on our hands. If it is a success, the traffic impact downtown will be unbearable.
The Problem with This project is simple. According to Mr. Berkowitz $208,000 COST to Operate..PER DAY EVERY DAY.7 days a week 52 Weeks a year..If it attracts less than 6,667 Visitors a day it goes bankrupt. IF it goes bankrupt up WE the taxpayers of Miami will be saddled with it.. The Costs involved with be astronomical and become an impossible burden for the City to carry.. If it fails count on higher taxes and reduced services. The Legal costs alone could Bankrupt Miami. This is not a problem that can be bulldozed away like a 2 or 3 story building. This is a 1000' Tall , roughly 85 Story, Building..Once its up it's here forever.The CITY Commission should not be gambling with our Future. This building does not belong on Public Land. Sign the Petition and Vote NO on August 26.
Thank you poster at 6:34 PM.
I was thinking of the same incident but could not immediately remember the year. The "Tower" looks to be on that flight path.
JRL
The Skyrise is OK, but it looks like a poor design. I am not for or against it.
Mr. Corda is doing good by getting involved.
However, I believe that his kind of energy would be better utilized by working to reduce violence in Miami Dade.
Comparing the Eiffel Tower to the proposed tower is a bit disingenuous. Furthermore, with the city's poor tax base, I don't think the city should take on additional risky investments that can't pay for themselves. The Playhouse, if and when it's ever decided what will be done with it, will require a public subsidy. The Miami Marine Stadium, which, for some odd reason everyone has become nostalgic about, will require a subsidy and now this? The economy has turned around a little bit, and we're opening the purse strings for developers. We're getting into the same mess cities got themselves into during the housing boom 10 years ago--grandiose plans that require a long term, continuous investment.
In response to Tony Scornavacca Jr. ..
In truth Tony, way my concern is violence on the streets... social programs, Taxes and City Services.
If this project fails and the City has to be involved the Legal Fees alone would take a huge chunk out of the City budget.
In a City that never seems to have any money for people, programs ,parks at the like, Why would we risk so much for so little possible return. This is not something that simply goes away if it doesn't work. 1000' Tall approx. 85 Stories. This is BIG. The City is out of their league with this project. Simply too much of a risk on City owned land. Any Money that might go to this, does not go to other line items and programs. Police, Fire and other essential City Services can be impacted in the event of a default. Given the optimistic projections a default is almost assured. The City should not be gambling with our future.
CRC
Its a big structure for just a look-out tower. Nothing but a curiosity. If the thing could also be used as an ultimate water slide, however, I am FOR it 100%!
Miami Herald article today on how the FAA is passing new regulations regarding building height limits in flight paths....
But aside from that, this project is a waste of our land and money...
DKF
Sarnoff voted Yes.
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