A Miami city board has approved the rezoning of part of the Jungle Island property, paving the way for a major redevelopment project led by Terra and ESJ Capital Partners’ Ecoresiliency Miami. The Planning, Zoning and Appeals Board voted to amend the Jungle Island special area plan and rezone approximately 5.4 acres of the 19-acre site from T6-12 to T6-36. This decision, however, is not final and will require two further approvals from the city commission at future dates.
The approval was unanimous, but board members expressed reservations about issues such as parking, traffic, and the amount of green space provided. A parking study will be required as a condition of the approval.
In November of last year, a charter amendment to redevelop Jungle Island received 62 percent voter approval. The joint venture between David Martin’s Terra and ESJ will acquire the 5.4 acres, which are currently part of the larger Jungle Island property at 1111 Parrot Jungle Trail. Plans include the construction of two luxury condominium towers, each up to 48 stories high, on land purchased from the city. Much of the current Jungle Island theme park will be converted into a $37 million public park funded by the developers.
The land’s assessed purchase price is $160 million, but much of this will be offset through public benefits provided by the developers. At closing, Terra and ESJ will pay $10 million and make annual payments to the city for 99 years. They will also provide $20 million in public benefits and $22 million to pay off a HUD loan associated with the property.
During the board meeting, Arthur Porosoff, a board member and developer, criticized the proposal for including only 50 parking spaces and questioned whether the planned public park would truly serve the public or mainly benefit future condominium residents. “Let’s be real,” Porosoff said. “The reality is that it’s a joke….This is an amenity for the building. I understand everybody gets paid a lot of dollars. I get paid big dollars. I’m a developer. I like the story. I would hire you to tell the story, and I would hire you to convince them to agree with the story, but the fact of the matter is that this is not for the public. Am I going to vote for it? Yeah, I’m a real estate guy. But the fact of the matter here is that this is a joke, and everybody knows it.”
Porosoff also noted that attempts to negotiate more parking were no longer feasible because “the deal was already struck, and it’s a bad deal that we did, in my mind.”
Iris Escarra, attorney for the developers, explained that the city’s parks department would oversee both the park’s design and parking allocation, though additional parking would reduce available park space.
Board member Joseph Corral questioned how people would access the park and expressed skepticism about whether voters had been fully informed about plans for high-rise towers when they approved redevelopment last year. “It’s hard not to be skeptical,” Corral said. “It’s very hard, because if you would have told the people they were voting for a referendum to build [up to 48]-story towers, it would have never passed. But the park is really all we saw. We all saw the beautiful renderings.”
Daniel Vasini of West Eight, the park’s designer, described the project as transformative: “There is a great bicycle lane so you can come here by bike.” Corral responded with disbelief: “You’ve got to be kidding me.” Vasini replied, “I’m sorry. I’m being very serious.” Corral then asked if Vasini had ever been on the MacArthur Causeway.
