Before a zoning loophole was closed in June, the Ritz-Carlton and three other properties secured the city’s blessing to build three stories higher than is typically allowed.
The Ritz-Carlton Coconut Grove is among four Center Grove developments authorized to build three stories above standard height limits under a disputed — and since rescinded — zoning provision, City of Miami officials have confirmed.
The four — all within a stone’s throw of each other — are taking advantage of a short-lived zoning law that allowed new construction in areas normally restricted to five stories to reach as high as eight if within a mile of a Metrorail station or other transit hub.
The other projects receiving the so-called “bonus height” are The WELL on Tigertail Avenue and Mary Street; The Lincoln on Southwest 27th Avenue and Darwin Street; and The Lennox at Southwest 27th Avenue and Day Avenue.
City officials confirmed the list in response to a public records request filed by the Spotlight. No other details were provided.
The Ritz-Carlton consists of a hotel and residential condominium units within two 21-story towers along with an adjacent two-story, 5,200-square-foot ballroom. The ballroom and a pool are located on a separately platted parcel zoned for up to five stories for new construction — a height limit that, under the city’s determination, can be expanded to eight.
The Ritz-Carlton complex is owned and operated through a joint venture between Philadelphia-based Hersha Hospitality Trust and Coconut Grove development firm Gencom. Neither company initially responded to the Spotlight’s request for comment.
The law allowing the bonus height was approved in September 2023 and repealed last June after a Spotlight investigation revealed that Coconut Grove had originally been exempt from its provisions — until a last-minute alteration of the law’s wording stripped out that exemption, opening large swaths of the neighborhood to the bonus-height allowance.
City officials say the four properties were granted the bonus height after submitting completed zoning applications ahead of the law’s June repeal.
The WELL, a luxury mixed-use project by Coconut Grove–based Terra Group, will include office space, retail and 194 residential units priced from about $1.4 million to more than $8 million. Now in preconstruction, the complex is scheduled for completion in 2028.
Critics of the project say the developers are unfairly benefitting from a bonus height provision predicated on residents opting out of car ownership in favor of Metrorail ridership, nearly a mile away. They say The WELL’s targeted high-end buyers are unlikely to ditch their cars in favor of mass transit use, as the law envisions.
The other two eight-story towers — The Lincoln and The Lennox, twin projects by Miami-based Lore Development Group on either side of Southwest 27th Avenue just north of Tigertail Avenue — also are not without controversy.
In October, city zoning officials angered nearby residents by approving a request by The Lennox to allow a non-conforming driveway and to reduce the required building setbacks, pushing new construction closer to neighboring homes than typically permitted.
As for The Lincoln, a small group of residents continues to contest its eligibility for the bonus height, arguing that city officials erred in its initial approval due to the property’s location abutting a single-family neighborhood — a mistake that city emails show was acknowledged, and then ignored, by a senior zoning department official.
Center Grove resident Chris Lunding, a retired trial attorney who flagged the alleged error months ago, says city officials — including District 2 Commissioner Damian Pardo — now seem more focused on avoiding a developer lawsuit than on correctly interpreting the law.
“If government makes a mistake and it’s pointed out that they just made a mistake, the correct answer is not to stick by the mistake, it’s to act in good faith and correct it,” says Lunding. “They’re supposed to be fiduciaries for the citizens.”
In a written statement, a city spokesperson said zoning officials dispute that any errors were made and stand by their decision.
Pardo did not respond to a request for comment.
The available evidence in the public domain regarding the issuance of variance allowed for the LINCOLN to go to 8 stories suggests the City’s reply to the Spotlight is wrong on the facts. The developer seems to have mislead the City re. the presence of an abutting T3 transect property. Per Miami 21 — if the City planners still follow it — the developer cannot push the height above 5 stories considering Miami 21 zoning rules under this situation. The City should demonstrate to the citizens it recognizes it has a fiduciary responsibility to enforce Miami 21 and not allow the LINCOLN to go to 8 stories when the facts in this case clearly demonstrate otherwise.
I continue to be disgusted by the developers that are outsmarting our government officials. Mr. Pardo is non responsive to any communication or standing up to correct extending height restrictions. The beautiful Grove is fast becoming another community with no soul, tons of traffic and noise.
For heaven’s sake, Lincoln Ave., has two single family residences on the street. Pardo and Javier are gas lighting residents.