High profile architects BIG (Bjarke Ingels) and OMA (Rem Koolhaas) are in a close battle to win the redevelopment competition for the design of the Miami Beach Convention Center. Recently put on hold by a corruption probe and procedural concerns, Miami Beach’s ambitious plans to create a 52-acre convention center district are again progressing toward a crucial vote by elected officials. The committee’s recommendations will be reviewed by interim City Manager Kathie Brooks, who will issue her own recommendation to city commissioners. Commissioners could vote on the project and development teams Dec. 12. More information after the break.
On Tuesday, a city committee tasked with reviewing credentials of interested development teams met and identified frontrunners — again — to renovate the convention center, build an 800-room hotel and lease and develop surrounding public land. The committee met previously this summer, but reconvened after city legal staff worried that the first meeting might not have complied with Florida’s Sunshine Law. Best positioned by the committee to begin master planning and negotiating land leases: teams led by Portman Holdings and Ugo Colombo’s CMC Group, and Tishman and developer Robert Wennett’s UIA.
