The Miami Planning, Zoning and Appeals Board has approved a rezoning request for part of the Jungle Island property, paving the way for a major redevelopment project by Terra and ESJ Capital Partners’ Ecoresiliency Miami. The board voted to amend the existing special area plan and rezone about 5.4 acres of the nearly 19-acre site from T6-12 to T6-36 zoning. This change will allow for greater building height and density on that portion of the land.
The approval is conditional on a parking study being completed. The rezoning still needs to pass first and second readings before the city commission at dates yet to be determined.
Concerns were raised by board members regarding parking, traffic, and green space in relation to the proposed development. Board member Arthur Porosoff criticized the planned number of parking spaces, describing it as insufficient and expressing frustration with how parking issues were handled during discussions. He also questioned whether the planned public park would truly serve the public or primarily benefit residents of the new condominiums.
“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 acknowledged that efforts to negotiate additional parking with developers would not succeed because “the deal was already struck, and it’s a bad deal that we did, in my mind.”
The joint venture led by David Martin’s Terra and ESJ plans to buy 5.4 acres currently part of Jungle Island at 1111 Parrot Jungle Trail from the city of Miami. The developers aim to construct two luxury condominium towers up to 48 stories tall on this land while converting much of what remains of Jungle Island into a $37 million public park funded by them.
According to terms discussed at previous city meetings, Terra and ESJ will pay $10 million at closing, make annual payments over 99 years, provide $20 million in public benefits, and pay $22 million toward an outstanding HUD loan on Jungle Island property instead of paying all $160 million in cash for their purchase.
Attorney Iris Escarra, representing Terra and ESJ, stated that Miami’s parks department will determine both design aspects for building out park space as well as final decisions about how much parking will be provided there—though any additional parking could reduce available parkland.
Board member Joseph Corral expressed skepticism about whether voters had been fully informed about plans when they approved redevelopment last November: “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.”
Park designer Daniel Vasini described his vision: “There is a great bicycle lane so you can come here by bike.” However, Corral challenged him on how practical such access would be given local conditions: “Have you been on the MacArthur Causeway?”
