The community of residents from the buildings: 1800 Club (469 units), Quantum on the Bay (698 units), and surrounding buildings in the Edgewater area urgently request that the City of Miami Administration, Miami Dade-County officials and relevant authorities consider the three waiver requests by Grupo T&C and Meridian Tc Real Estate Group, LLC for rejection.  The developer is proposing to build a 56-story tower, Edge House, at 1825 N.E. 4th Ave. This massive development poses severe threats to our community’s quality of life, safety, and environment.

The proposed Edge House development will fundamentally disrupt our neighborhood, presenting the following critical issues:

1. Material Misrepresentation to City of Miami Officials and to Prospective Investors

The Edge House project is currently being marketed online and through various channels as a residential condominium with the word “residences” clearly used throughout. Additionally, upon review of the building plans submitted to the City of Miami officials for review and approval, it is unclear whether the project is intended to be a hotel or residences with hotel-sized units and parking calculations, but residential loading zones on the ground floor. This discrepancy represents a material misrepresentation, not only to potential buyers and investors but also to the City of Miami officials. The developers appear to be disclosing two different narratives: one to foreign and local investors and another to city officials. This is a blatant violation of ethical business practices and potentially legal regulations, as it misleads the public and undermines the trust in the planning and approval processes.

2. Parking Waivers and Variances

The developers have submitted parking waivers that use hotel parking calculation standards, which require half a parking space per unit, rather than the more stringent condominium calculations. Despite using these reduced requirements, the developers still do not reach adequate parking space and are requesting additional variances. These variances include extending parking closer to the street than the code allows, further demonstrating that the project lacks sufficient space to accommodate even the reduced parking needs. This request for a variance, combined with the inappropriate use of hotel parking calculations, raises significant concerns about the project’s compliance with zoning and planning regulations.

3. Developers’ History of Code Violations and Non-Compliance

The developers of the Edge House project have already demonstrated a pattern of non-compliance with City of Miami regulations. They have been fined for installing fences around the site without obtaining the necessary permits. Additionally, they began construction on the sales office without an approved permit. This disregard for proper procedures and legal requirements is alarming and suggests that the developers are attempting to circumvent established processes, potentially to the detriment of the community.

4. Increased Density & Traffic

The construction of Edge House will drastically worsen traffic congestion on N.E. 4th Ave, a key access point for Margaret Pace Park. Over development will lead to severe parking shortages, limiting access to the park and reducing its usability. This will diminish our community’s enjoyment of a vital recreational area and negatively impact adjacent residences. Traffic in Edgewater is already problematic, and adding another major development that goes beyond what would be allowed by code if properly calculated will exacerbate congestion and extend commute times. If we are going to add density we should add more affordable units as opposed to adding a hotel building advertised as a condo unit. 

The ongoing and planned construction projects in the area are already causing congestion, and adding another major development requesting variances to code will further clog our streets and increase commute times.

5. Flooding

Our neighborhood is highly susceptible to flooding from storm water draining issues, which is disrupting our daily lives and creating hazardous conditions. The addition of another high rise development will likely worsen flooding issues by increasing water runoff and reducing permeable surfaces, making it even more difficult to navigate during flood events.  The most recent buildup completion on the area (Aria on the Bay) had a significant and noticeable impact on flooding in the area.

6. Short term/hotel Rentals and Safety

The new building is marketed to investors to  facilitate Airbnb rentals, which introduces transient populations and increases the risk of criminal activities. Our community values stability and safety, which will be compromised by the constant turnover of short-term renters.

The rules and regulations of many of the condominium associations in the area expressly prohibit short term rentals to maintain safety in their buildings.

Publicly available police records for the Opera Tower building, show a significant increase in crime, which might be associated with the  short term rentals.

7. Insufficient Schools

The Edgewater area already faces a critical shortage of quality schools. The addition of a massive residential tower would further exacerbate this issue, leaving families with even fewer limited options.

The developer is avoiding paying the associated impact fee to the Miami-Dade County Public Schools system by submitting their building application asa hotel unit; while selling units with multiple bedrooms that could be lived in by families with school aged children and further impact the crowding in our schools. 

8. Overcrowded Margaret Pace Park

Margaret Pace Park is already overcrowded during peak times. The addition of hundreds of new residents or short term/hotel patrons will further strain these vital green spaces, making it increasingly difficult for current residents to enjoy them and for the city to maintain.

9. Endangerment to the City Tree Canopy

Renderings and marketing promotional documents do not show any trees. The site currently has several trees, and on public record, there is no evidence of any arborist study . The potential removal of the trees on the site, without these studies, could harm the tree canopy.

10. Impact Fees

The proposed buildup will add passenger load to the existing Public Transportation infrastructure.

We request from the City of Miami-Planning and from the Miami-Dade County-DTPW (Department of Transportation & Public Works) an impact fee assessment that would contribute to the regular maintenance and future expansion of the Metromover line.

The community would be fairly compensated by structuring a joint project between the County's Department of Transportation, Public Works (DTPW) and the developer, similar to the Freedom Tower Metromover renovation, where the developers of Miami Worldcenter took ownership of the capital investment.

Conclusion

These actions indicate a troubling pattern of behavior by the developers, who seem intent on cutting corners and ignoring the applicable rules and regulations. Their approach not only undermines the integrity of the building development process but also poses a risk to the quality of life for local residents and the overall community.

As the developer relies heavily on the existing public transportation infrastructure in their plan, we foresee a negative impact by the added density. We request county officials to consider a direct investment by this developer in the beautification and maintenance for the next 10 years of the Arsht Center metro mover station and any existing and future bus stop station along the Biscayne corridor. 

We urge the city and county authorities to thoroughly investigate these issues and take appropriate action to ensure that the Edge House development project is brought into full compliance with all applicable laws and regulations. The developers must be subject to careful review and due diligence, and any approvals or permits should be carefully scrutinized in light of these concerns.

We urge city, county and other officials to reject any current waiver requests associated with this development and further investigate their use of hotel calculations while these units are being marketed as livable units.

Thank you for considering the needs and well-being of our community.