2011-0421 Regular City Commission Meeting

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Summary Minutes: Regular City Commission Meeting April 21, 2011 City of Sunny Isles Beach, Florida find ajoint venture partner to operate the aquarium. They met with four companies, of which none had worked out for one reason or another. Basically there was not enough traffic generated to support a 60,000 square foot aquarium, they would have had to have a garage three times larger than what was proposed which was not feasible, and so they revisited the site plan from a whole new perspective. Eduardo Castifieira, Architect President/CEO ofAxioma3Architects, presented renderings of the newly proposed project, noting a lot of it came from the comments and discussions ofthe City Commission and the public. He went through the process of design as it applies to the site with the same challenges as before. There is one aspect to the site that recently came to their attention which is the imminent domain piece of land in the center of the overall site. That presented another challenge as whatever they did relating to the retail, could not happen now in that area. They wanted to create something that gave a more ample, visual feel as you approach Collins A venue, and still have a pedestrian oriented street with the St. Tropez project on the south side. They had to take into consideration the needs of retail, and at the end of the day it is a project that has to marry two different attitudes, one is the needs and visions of the City, and the other is the practical pragmatic needs of retail. Retail needs parking, good visibility, and a more glass box type element with a lot of visuals through it. Mr. Castifieira described where the "Great Lawn" area sits, which is the imminent domain land and includes the garage. The garage is in the western portion of the property, and allows the following three different green areas for parks: 1) a linear type park that will be more heavily landscaped, which will also buffer the parking garage along with the architectural screens; 2) the "Great Lawn" which is an open green area for people and kids to play; and 3) a garden area that will be more tranquil and more secluded. On the north side is the back of the house functions for retail/restaurant functions and will be behind walls and gates that will operate open and close to allow trucks in. There will also be service areas there. This building has three good facades: 1) the eastbound - Sunny Isles Boulevard; 2) the Collins Avenue fayade which fronts the FDOT lot; and 3) the westbound fayade. Eduardo Castifieira said part ofthe design is the combination of the interior of the restaurant with the glass fayade, in combination of a Town Plaza which is an exterior trellis type element that creates a buffer from the Great Lawn but at the same time an area that focuses on the Great Lawn and allows people to enjoy an afternoon, and so the combination became the architectural element that will be the signature piece that will be highly visible. The square footage is 20,000 square feet, everything at ground level slightly elevated to meet criteria, and double high space to create that visual ability to see right through the building. They are introducing a strong architectural image, and capturing a quality of architecture that is more on the contemporary but also a bit timeless in its nature. It is a very simple element but has a lot of visuals such as introducing materials that would illuminate at night, and at the same time this whole fayade is a very transparent glass with the trellis. They also did a design of the four column composition that resembles a stack of palms or bamboo stalks that we find so much of in South Florida. There is also the possibility of setting up tables and chairs with umbrellas outside with stretched canvasses, similar to what Tony Roma's has next door to the Government Center. Also in the landscaping you could introduce a beach type atmosphere of sea grass, shells, etc., and there would be trellis, benches, landscaping, 13