Brickell homeowners’ fight against 13th Floor Investments’ planned branded condo tower behind a historic church has been resurrected.
A court overturned the city of Miami’s previous decision to quash the landmark status for a portion of the First Miami Presbyterian Church lot where 13th Floor Investments wants to build a 75-story Nobu-branded tower. The three judges presiding over the case said nearby residents were improperly shut out of the decision.
The court sided with IconBrickell II, which is separated from the development site by a small park. The ruling isn’t based on the merits of the two sides’ arguments, said attorney Tara Faenza, who represents the association.
“This [ruling] is simply saying there was a failure to afford Icon Brickell II’s procedural due process,” Faenza said.
The city has until Monday, Aug. 17, to appeal.
Miami officials didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment, though the city is widely expected to appeal. In that case, the issue would go up to the Third District Court of Appeal.
Coconut Grove-based 13th Floor, led by Arnaud Karsenti, and Brickell-based Key International, led by the Ardid family, plan to develop the 321-unit tower on the nearly 2-acre site that consists of a school and parking lot behind the church, at 619 Brickell Avenue. Under the plan, the historic church will be preserved and restored.
The project has been steadily advancing this summer, with 13th Floor and Key International launching sales of the luxury units and then scoring design approval from a Miami board last month. As of June, the developers said they had secured more than $1 billion in reservations for condos. The development joins dozens of branded condo projects in the works across South Florida, many of which are concentrated in Brickell.
The developers, who aren’t a party to the litigation, said the ruling is “procedural” and has no bearing on their project, pointing out this is an as-of-right development without variances, waivers or rezonings.
“The project is moving forward as planned,” 13th Floor and Key International said in a joint statement. “Neighbors deserve the opportunity to voice their concerns, and this is simply one more step in a public process we respect.”
But Faenza called the court’s opinion “at bare minimum, a setback” for the development.
“I certainly wouldn’t consider it true if anyone says everything is moving forward smoothly,” she said.
The crusade
The Miami Historic and Environmental Preservation Board voted to lift the historic status of the school and parking lot directly east of the church in December 2024, denying opponents’ request to intervene.
In April of last year, commissioners upheld the board’s decision and again shot down residents’ request to have a say. The city said neighbors don’t have standing — proven direct harm and effects beyond those on the general public — to intervene.
IconBrickell II Condominium Association filed a petition for writ of certiorari against First Miami Presbyterian Church in May of last year, with the city joining the case on the church’s side.
In their opinion, the Miami-Dade Circuit appeals judges said the historic board and commission violated “the essential requirements of law” in silencing neighbors’ bid to participate in the process.
City code mandates that property owners within 500 feet of a site are entitled to intervene, and IconBrickell II is about 160 feet from the development site, the court said.
Generally, this gives residents a right to question witnesses and lay out its arguments in a case.
The court shot down the church’s argument that IconBrickell II has no stake in the development beyond that of the community as a whole, writing that unit owners’ interests “are different in kind and degree than those of the general public.”
Brickell residents’ pushback is rooted in concerns over noise, pollution and decrease in air quality due to the school demolition and tower construction, according to the court opinion. IconBrickell II argued the project would damage Brickell Park, which separates the tower from the development site. The city owns the park, but IconBrickell master association maintains it.
Ernesto Cuesta, president of the Brickell Homeowners Association, of which IconBrickell II is a member, said the neighbors aren’t opposed to development, but want to preserve the quality of life and historic structures.
“The city of Miami has walked away from historic preservation matters. And it seems that the public opinion doesn’t count lately, unfortunately,” he said, adding the city has a record of demolishing formerly historically designated structures.
First Miami Presbyterian Church, designed in the Mediterranean Revival style by architect Lester Geisler, was completed in 1949. It’s widely considered home to Miami’s oldest congregation that organized in 1896, when the city incorporated.
A one-story school building was added in 1953, with a second story built in the early 1960s. The city designated the entire property historic in 2003, according to city records.
“The school they want to demolish is part of the structure of the building. It has been there for decades,” Cuesta said. “The whole process has to be analyzed legally. It’s not my way or no way. That’s not the way it works.”
In their statement, 13th Floor and Key International said that “to date, no court or board has found the surface parking lot or the later-added school building to be historic.”
“The city’s own preservation analysis concluded they are not,” the developers said.
In 2022, a majority of First Miami Presbyterian agreed to hammer out a sale of the school and parking parcels for a reported $240 million, though the deal was temporarily threatened by a church member’s complaint seeking to block the sale.
Cuesta is hopeful that if the issue goes back in front of the Miami historic board, new board members will have a fresh perspective on neighbors’ right to intervene.
Beyond this, residents also took issue with the developers’ and church’s lack of communication with neighbors, he said.
John Shubin, attorney for the church, said the city will appeal. “This decision is very narrow and technical and will in no way delay the ultimate timing of the project.”
Shubin declined to comment on its outreach to the neighbors.
