The Allen Morris Company Caught Misleading Community; Commissioner Lopez Commits to Withdraw RTZ
Thank you to the nearly 50 residents we had attend yesterday’s Zoom call between County District 5 Commissioner Vicki Lopez and the representing lawyer for the developer, the Allen Morris Company. We appreciate the time from the Commissioner’s office to hear all our concerns regarding the lack of transparency about this park’s status/future and our desire to protect this space, and for her commitment to withdraw this property from the Rapid Transit Zone filing.
One shocking (and not shocking development) insight came to light during this meeting: the restaurant plans the developer has been pitching to our our community (allegedly to be built around the trees and preserve them) is actually a front - it’s just a stepping stone to becoming transformed into a sales gallery for their the "phase 2 Brickell Park Residences" supertall development. It's clear the developer has been misleading the community.
I figured this out because the developer via the county office accidentally sent me a PDF showing the plans for their “Phase 2”, in which the restaurant rendering they originally showed to the community is transformed into a sales center for their supertall project, which (no joke), they plan to call “Brickell Park Residences.” So their plan is use the trees to advertise and market a green residence, and then tear them down and the park to build their luxury condo. But then call the condo “Brickell Park,” even though there is no longer any park there. Make it make sense - only in Miami.
We understand this park has been essentially repossessed by the developer originally donating the land through a lawsuit with the city. But the original intent of the donation from Mr. Allen Morris was to preserve tree canopy in an urbanizing Brickell. Why should citizens be punished for a mistake made by this city? And how does it make sense that the developer sued the city for using the land for commercial purposes when their plan is to do the same? The answer seems clear: the Allen Morris Company wants to cash in on this tiny park. The Allen Morris Company is no longer operating with the original vision of their founder.
The work is not over yet here. We need to pressure both the Allen Morris Company and now our city representation this jurisdiction will revert back to (District 3, so representation from Commisioner Escalona) to preserve this tree canopy and the original intent of the gift to the community.
We will not be continued to be fooled by developers and it’s important for the Allen Morris Company to know that trees are not a marketing accessory for luxury condos. The park may not be perfect in how we’ve seen it maintained by the city but it’s one of the very last tree canopies we have in our community and we deserve green spaces in Brickell, no matter how small or imperfect.
Actions you can take:
1) Share the petition if you haven’t yet: https://c.org/nvxBSYnF6k
2) Join me July 20th for the community walkthrough with District 3 hosted by the Brickell Homeowners Association to come express your support for the park and other important issues in the district: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/district-3-community-walkthrough-south-brickell-tickets-1992856043071?utm_experiment=test_share_listing&aff=ebdsshios&sg=ae7d3e70e94963ac9f12160b99e1d52d426b166d92a68bd98bb039e7e04fb97e837dd00da28d23b2d39141f88241ead043691dd228e0aeebbad932b6749acc8be01fb26840ba89896c318984d6
3) Contact the Allen Morris Company to express your disappointment with their lack of transparency and commitment to the community: https://www.instagram.com/allenmorrisco?igsh=MXZnaWJyYW4wYTR5aQ==
4) Contact our District 3 representation to express your support for this tiny green space and demand for transparency from the developer: rescalona@miamigov.com