Talk of a public walkway along Biscayne Bay, connecting areas such as Museum Park and Edgewater, is picking up momentum. Ocean Drive sat down with some of the players who just might make it happen.
For a city with miles and miles of stunning bay shoreline, Miami has a dearth of public waterfront parks. That may soon change. The University of Miami School of Architecture created an 84-page study, “On the Waterfront,” which ambitiously envisions a walkway called the Biscayne Line running seven miles along the western shores of Biscayne Bay, from the Julia Tuttle to the Rickenbacker Causeway, and another five along the Miami River. The path would connect existing public areas, and jut around private land via piers, or inland sidewalks.
The three-mile stretch of Edgewater seems to be garnering the most attention right now, due in part to the involvement of heavy hitters such as property developer The Related Group. Ocean Drive sat down to talk with three key players in the project—Carlos Rosso of The Related Group, District Two City Commissioner Marc Sarnoff, and architect Bernardo Fort-Brescia of the firm Arquitectonica—to better understand the project’s development, goals, and chances of coming to fruition.
Why is the Edgewater section of the Biscayne Line getting your attention?
BERNARDO FORT-BRESCIA: The Edgewater section is big because it connects the northern neighborhoods to downtown. This finally provides a place for bikers, joggers, people walking, to link a neighborhood in Miami with amazing geographic attributes.
Why is this idea gelling now as opposed to 10 years ago?
CARLOS ROSSO: With Bernardo, we picked up the study at the University of Miami. With all the jobs we were doing here in Edgewater [Icon Bay and the four-tower Paraiso complex], and with Bernardo involved with Genting [the developers of the former Miami Herald site that links Edgewater and Museum Park], we thought there is already critical mass to start pushing the idea through.
How realistic is this?
MARC SARNOFF: I think the Biscayne Line will inevitably be built. With Edgewater, you’re looking at a blank canvas, in that an entire community is being built in a 10-year span. Creating the Biscayne Line is imperative.
BFB: Since 1979, every new developer has been required to convey 20 feet of land for public access [along the waterfront], so we’re way ahead of the game by the fact that there is legislature that actually forces that to happen.
CR: It’s very real. There’s a couple of old buildings [built prior to the 1979 law], but that’s where UM, the city, Related Group, and Arquitectonica come together to try to put this issue on the table and see how we can do this.
Rosso, Fort-Brescia, and Sarnoff at Paraiso, a Related project in the revitalizing Edgewater area.
How will the walkway get around those old, private areas?
BFB: There is a way to bypass the private space—the water. That’s where the government has a role. You can do it with floating docks; there are other ways. We’re going to have University of Miami students doing this investigation. Often students think out of the box, and it’s good to hear what ideas could be out there.
How have residents and other developers responded?
CR: The neighbors said, “Look, instead of having dead-end streets, we would prefer to have something that feels more secure and gives us identity.” The board of the Arsht Center—they loved it. As for the developers—for example, the Melo Group owns property here—the Melos have already told us that they would be willing to give that [walkway] space ahead of them building their building.
Some would argue that with public space comes crime. What’s the solution here?
MS: Developers are catalysts for taxes. We intend on policing the public space by using [the developers’] ad valorem dollars.
CR: This would make the neighborhood more secure, because you have people living in front of the spaces. The more public the spaces are, the more people watch what happens.
What’s in it for developers such as The Related Group?
CR: We think it’s better for us to sell if there is a way of connecting those buyers to those public spaces. It’s more value to the city and to us. At the same time, [Related Group CEO] Jorge [Pérez] wants to give back. It’s part of a legacy.
How will this be paid for?
CR: We [The Related Group] are willing to pay for it, so it’s not about money.
Other than raising property value, why do this?
CR: I think there are no great cities without great public space. Great cities have great parks and museums. In Miami, we are seeing that for the first time. For the maturity, it’s important to involve the universities, like UM.
BFB: Here we have beauty, which is the geography of Biscayne Bay. Logic says that we should take advantage of it and not separate ourselves from it. The most important message from our city is this bay and the connection with the water. To not try to experience that amazing dimension that we have is a pity.