Spotlight 64-241230 Terra WELL, Wawa, Strut

The Spotlight reports on:

A new eight-story, 129-foot tall project planned for the Center Grove on Tigertail Avenue.
The uncertain status of a prime West Grove development site.
The King Mango Strut parade comes this weekend.

The Spotlight employs free lance reporters to investigate and inform you on the topics that matter most to your neighborhood. Acknowledging this community service role, NewsMatch, a nationwide fundraising program that supports local journalism, will match any gift you make to the Spotlight up to $1,000 today or tomorrow only.

Donate here and double its value.

Thank you for supporting your Coconut Grove Spotlight.

Despite Restrictions, Eight-story Development Coming to Center Grove

Terra Group has announced plans for a $650 million wellness club and living community — at the former Marriott site on Tigertail Avenue near Mary Street — that would exceed by three stories the city’s prescribed limit for new construction.

By Jenny Jacoby

A rendering of the eight-story mixed-use residential project THE WELL Coconut Grove. (Courtesy Terra Group).

High-end Coconut Grove development firm Terra Group has announced plans for THE WELL Coconut Grove, an eight-story, mixed-use wellness living community, at the corner of Tigertail Avenue and Mary Street in Center Grove.

The development will add 194 luxury residential units and 53,000 square feet of exclusive wellness space, including an indoor fitness center and a rooftop pool and pickleball court. The project also will include 22,000 square feet of ground floor retail, city records show.

Construction is expected to begin in late 2025 with completion in early 2028.

The complex falls in a T5-O Urban Center transect zone that traditionally limits developments to five stories, as established by the Miami 21 Code of Ordinances. A spokesperson for the project confirmed it would be eight stories, though it remains unclear why an exception will be made for the project.

With Wawa Gone, West Grove Lot Remains in Limbo

A lawsuit opposing a gas station and convenience store where Grand Avenue meets U S. 1 has been withdrawn, but plans for the affordable housing many envisioned are far from certain.

By Mary Ann Esquivel-Gibbs

This 1.4-acre parcel of land at the western end of Grand Avenue remains vacant more than 20 years after a West Grove homeowner’s association purchased it from the county for $10. (David Villano for the Spotlight).

Nearly three years after a judge torpedoed plans for a Wawa gas station on a long-vacant parcel in the West Grove once slated for affordable housing, plans for the site remain very much uncertain.

No recent building plans or permit applications have been filed for the 1.4-acre parcel at the corner of Grand Avenue and U.S. 1 in the Coral Gables section of the Grove.

King Mango Strut Parade Invades Grove Streets January 5th

Organizers and fans of Miami’s wackiest parade are serious about annual bid to keep the nut in Coconut Grove.

By Christopher Pearson

Marchers in the 2024 King Mango Strut parade. This year’s event is Sunday January 5 at 2 p.m.

Considering it was born out of utter rejection, Coconut Grove’s King Mango Strut has come a long way. Denied a request to march in the nationally televised Orange Bowl Parade on the streets of downtown Miami, a group of free-spirited Grovites organized their own.

“To hell with them. We’ll start our own parade,” was the rallying of King Mango Strut cofounders Glenn Terry and Bill Dobson.

Save for the pandemic years, the parade has been held annually since 1982. The Orange Bowl Parade ceased to exist in 2002.

The King Mango Strut – or simply the “Strut” in local parlance – takes place in downtown Coconut Grove on the first Sunday of January. This year’s event kicks off at 2:00 p.m. on Sunday, January 5.