Ice Box Cafe and Panther Coffee are open for business

Panther Coffee in Sunset Harbour

In case you were wondering….both Ice Box Cafe and Panther Coffee were open and doing a nice lunchtime business in Sunset Harbour on Tuesday…..

The neighborhood should be hopping this weekend!

 

A look back at the Miami causeways and shoreline — before The Miami Herald

This 1930s postcard shows residences and a hotel on The Herald property

It’s a nostalgic time on the west end of the Venetian Causeway.

The Miami Herald printed its last newspapers  two weeks ago at 1 Herald Plaza, on the mainland between the Venetian and MacArthur causeways.

1939 view of downtown looking west.

Since then, office and news gathering operations have been moving to the news organization’s new home in Doral.

The final newsroom employees — and few from other departments — are scheduled to finish packing this week and all will be working in Doral by Friday afternoon.

Some time after that — it’s not clear when — property owner Genting plans to tear down The Herald building to make way for its planned resort (no, it won’t be a casino — at least not yet).

The Miami Herald in 2006.

The Herald’s been on the property for 50 some years. BelleIsleBlog has been trolling eBay again, finding old postcards that provide a view at the bayside property between the Venetian and MacArthur Causeways before The Herald built its offices and printing plant in the early 1960s. The Herald moved to One Herald Plaza from a location on South Miami Avenue in April 1963.

Another view of the Causeways, circa 1939.

The postcards show another Miami — when the port was off an undeveloped Watson Island, and the shoreline south of the MacArthur Causeway (then the County Causeway) featured huge oil tanks. Biscayne Island, the first on the way east on the Venetian Causeway, was barren, used as a landing strip.

The postcard above shows the Boulevard Shops (originally the Shrine Building when buit in 1930) on Biscayne Boulevard — and the Trinity Cathedral to the west of the Venetian Causeway entrance. Both remain, dwarfed by the city that grew up in the next 80-plus years.

Circus elephants cross the Venetian Causeway drawbridge, in 1960, with  Herald building property in background.

Construction on The Herald building began in 1961, and finished with the building opening on April 5, 1963.

Sunrise in Sunset Harbour: Panther Coffee, Tequitzlan Mexican and Ice Box may open this week

Panther Coffee is almost ready to brew in Sunset Harbour.

There was a barista behind the gleaming expresso machine at the new Panther Coffee in Sunset Harbour on Saturday, but the coffee house won’t be open until some time later this week.

Management is waiting on a certificate of occupancy from the city of Miami Beach, and it’s a day-to-day thing.  But the space, facing the Sunset Harbour condos, looks great. They won’t be roasting beans here, as they do in Wynwood, but the space seems bigger, with more seating.

A sneak peak into Ice Box.

A couple of shops down at 1855 Purdy Ave., workers labored Saturday at the new Ice Box Cafe location.

The Miami Beach favorite closed its tiny just-off Lincoln Road (on Michigan Avenue ) location on Sunday, and plans to open in Sunset Harbour as soon as Mother’s Day. The new space dwarfs the tiny Lincoln Road location, and features a full bar and lots of table space.

By the way, while traveling last weekend, Belle Isle Blog stumbled upon an Ice Box that opened in Concourse A at Dallas-Fort Worth Airport (near Gate A9, to be specific).

At DFW Airport.

The DFW shop is desserts only, unlike the spot in Miami International, which features a wide range of takeout sandwiches and salads.

Meanwhile, on the Bay Road side of the Shoppes at Sunset Harbour, Tequitzlan Mexican Restaurant and Tequila bar is racing toward an opening day.

Tequitzlan Mexican readies for opening.

The spacious spot features some unique lighting fixtures, and a large bar. The staff on site Saturday said they hope to be open for customers on Thursday.

The restaurants will join the Shoppes pioneers, starting with Juan Plasencia’s Sunset Clothing Co., and Frankie’s Boutique, both of which opened in November.

Last month, ice cream eatery Emack & Bolio opened up, featuring great ice creams and frozen yogurts.

A look at what could be on Alton Road

Yes, the $32 million, 28-month reconstruction of Alton Road has begun.

And yes, getting the Florida Department of Transportation to change direction on a plan bid and begun may be impossible.

A quick look at the Coalition plan.

But….a group called the Alton Road Reconstruction Coalition has assembled a thoughtful ploposal for rebuilding Alton Road to accommodate pedestrians, bikers and commuters with a concept that promotes good air and green space.

The folks behind the plan, led by a group of neighborhood associations, advocate for wider sidewalks, a hike and bike trail on the west side of Alton, a lower Alton Road speed limit and narrower lanes to slow traffic, more shade trees and a center median.

The coalition  Facebook page lists a series of public meetings to make the case, including a May 22 Miami Beach Land Use meeting where a lower speed limit (30mph  instead of 35) will be pitched. There’s also a coalition meeting Wednesday at 6:30 p.m. at the Seymour, 945 Pennsylvania.

The coalition website outlines the plan in detail — what looks right in the FDOT plan and what doesn’t.

So yes, construction has begun. Can the course of action be changed?

Planning Board approves 17th Street hotel; Design Review Board comes next

Proposed Residence Inn site north of 17th Street

The Miami Beach Planning Board approved the proposed Marriott Residence Inn at 17th Street and West Avenue on Wednesday night, after more than four-and-one-half hours of discussion.

The project, which includes a sleek 116-room hotel designed by architect Kobi Karp and a 66-space mechanical parking garage, now will go before the Miami Beach Design Review Board.

The 6-1 vote came after board members heard from more than a dozen residents from different neighborhood associations who expressed concerns the hotel would add to traffic woes on 17th Street between Alton Road and Belle Isle.

They also heard from supporters of the project, who said an extended stay hotel in the residential part of Miami Beach would add convenient lodging for family and friends of Miami Beach residents.

The property is bounded by 17th Street, the Collins Canal, the path of the planned West Avenue Bridge and a parking lot that serves Boston Market and a retail and apartment building at the corner of 17th Street and Alton Road.

Rendering of proposed Marriott hotel

Board members praised the design of the hotel project, proposed to be built on land under contract to be purchased for $5 million from the Miami Beach Housing Authority by the Finvarb Group.

Finvarb owns several Marriott properties, including the Courtyard on Washington Avenue.

But most of the debate involved impact on 17th Street traffic from the project.

Henry Stolar, the only board member who voted against the project, did so after asking for the vote to be postponed so the development team and city staff could do more work on the 17th Street issues.

“I can’t imagine a better case for doing the right thing than giving this another month….otherwise we are in a position of just getting this done. I do not like haste in deciding something that has taken seven months while a political process takes its course.”

Board chairman Charles Urstadt said the decision was difficult because he believed the project is a good one, but the concerns about traffic were legitimate.

“We are here to balance the greater good to the public with the rights of the property owner.” he said. “We can’t force this to become a park, we have certain limits on what we can do.”

To try and address traffic, board members asked for a slim median on 17th Street to keep eastbound traffic on 17th Street from attempting left turns into the property, and a requirement that a fourth valet be added during peak business hours at the hotel to prevent cars from backing up from the hotel entrance into the street.

Developer Ron Finvarb told board members the hotel would be something the city will be proud of. “This will be a Residence Inn by Marriott. It must adhere to very high standards,” Finvarb said.

“It will not have any accessory uses that will create additional impact or noise…. With all of the conditions we have offered…the hotel will only benefit the neighborhood. This will not be a party hotel. It will be a state of the art hotel with great design and service.”

Planning board considers 17th Street hotel at 5 p.m.; expect a crowd

Rendering of the hotel from the Collins Canal.

The Miami Beach Planning Board has scheduled a 5 p.m.  hearing on the proposed Marriott Residence Inn on 17th Street and West Avenue.

Expect a big crowd and a lengthy discussion.

The Finvarb Group wants to build a 116-room hotel on the property. It’s a sleek five-story hotel designed by architect Kobi Karp, with 66 parking spaces.

The property, owned by the Miami Beach Housing Authority, is tight, tucked between 17th Street and the Collins Canal, west of the apartment building that houses the Vespa store and other retail, and the Boston Market on Alton Road.

A coalition of neighborhood groups — including the Belle Isle Residents Association, the West Avenue Corridor Neighborhood Association, Venetian Causeway Homeowners Association and six more — are asking the Planning Board to delay approval until the city can better study its impact on traffic. They have also suggested the property should be preserved as green space.

They are urging their members to show up at the meeting wearing red.

In a letter to Planning Board members, BIRA President Scott Diffenderfer said the impact of the planned West Avenue bridge, which will form the west boundary of the hotel property, needs to be considered in the plan, along with the expansion of the Miami Beach Convention Center.

Planning Board members also will hear from supporters of the project, many of whom posted comments during the weekend on BelleIsleBlog. Several praised the design and said a hotel like a Residence Inn — which caters to business travelers and longer stays — would be an amenity to residents who have friends and family visiting. They also argue that the hotel would have less impact on traffic than other businesses that could be built on the property, like a fast food restaurant or a drug store.

In its analysis of the proposal, city of Miami Beach planners recommended approving it, subject to many conditions. The on-site restaurant must be for hotel guests only. The roof-top pool must close by 11 p.m. The hotel has to provide a shuttle for employees who park off-site. And more.

The project still must be scrutinized by the Miami Beach Design Review Board.

Alton Road construction to add northbound detour at 17th Street

The two-year-plus Alton Road reconstruction project, which began April 1 between 17th Street and Michigan Avenue, gets a little more inconvenient next week.

Alton roadwork during spring 1013.

Northbound traffic on Alton Road will be detoured at 17 Street east to Meridian Avenue, north to Dade Boulevard and then north on Michigan Avenue before continuing north on Alton.

Southbound traffic on Alton between Michigan and Dade Boulevard will remain open, although one southbound lane may be closed daily, and left turns may be restricted.

The northbound detour is expected to last through September 2013.

According to the Florida Department of Transportation, which is running the project, the detour will enable the contractor to begin excavating the roadway to prepare for the new water main installation.

Belle Isle leaders push for green space for 17th Street, not proposed Marriott hotel

Rendering of proposed Marriott hotel

The Belle Isle Residents Association asked 10 other neighborhood associations to join them in urging Miami Beach to use Housing Authority land north of 17th Street at West Avenue for green space, rather than sell most of it to a hotel developer.

Proposed Residence Inn site north of 17th Street

The Housing Authority has an agreement to sell about 25,000 square feet of land east of West Avenue between 17th Street and the Collins Canal to the Finvarb Group, which owns and operates several Marriott properties. Finvarb plans to build a 116-room Residence Inn on the property, and the proposal is scheduled to be heard by the Miami Beach Planning Board on April 30.

The Belle Isle Association letter, signed by BIRA president Scott Diffenderfer, argues the property is too small the accommodate the development and is too awkwardly places amid intersections on Alton Road, 17th Street, Dade Boulevard and West Avenue and therefore will result in added traffic congestion.

“Residents of the surrounding neighborhoods need to write to the Planning Board Members and City Commissioners,” Diffenderfer wrote.  “Please circulate the attached “Green Spaces-Not Traffic” document to the residents you represent and ask those who wish to support this position to do so now before the April 30 Planning Board meeting.”

The purchase of the Housing Authority land is contingent on city approval of the hotel.

On March 13, the Miami Beach City Commission relaxed parking requirements for small hotels in the city’s historic district, and added the 17th Street parking to the the more generous rules. That decision was opposed by the Belle Isle Residents Association and the West Avenue Corridor Neighborhood Association.

So far, four neighborhood associations have signed on to the Belle Isle association initiative, according to Belle Isle board member Herb Frank: the West Avenue Corridor Neighborhood Association, the Venetian Island Homeowner Association, Sunset Island homeowners and the Sunset Island 3 and 4 homeowners group.

Interestingly, one member of the Planning Board,  real estate analyst Charles Urstadt, is a Belle Isle association board member, and a second, architecture professor Jean-Francois LeJeune, was on the board until he resigned in March. A third, Frank Kruszewski, is the former manager of the Costa Brava condominium on Belle Isle and  lives in Sunset Harbour. (Note: An earlier version of this post incorrectly said that Kruszewski is currently the manager at Costa Brava; he no longer is).

Another Venetian curiosity: Ruby Foo’s on the Causeway

We think Ruby Foo’s closed back in the 1960s.

We know Ruby Foo’s — the Times Square Chinese restaurant and sushi bar at 49th and Broadway. It’s a Midtown landmark.

The matchbook cover.

But only recently did we learn that there used to be a Ruby Foo on the Beach — right off the Venetian Causeway, where it meets Dade Boulevard east of  Belle Isle.

First, Nine Island resident Josh Fisher turned up the old black and white photo. And then we found this matchbook cover on eBay — with the old style phone number without area code and location — at Miami Beach and the Venetian Causeway.

According to historian Seth Bramson’s 2005 book, Miami Beach, Ruby Foo’s “was a favorite for Chinese food before Thai, Indian and Vietnamese became popular. Some Beachites vaguely recall the eatery relocating to 41st Street, but in any location it is a happy memory….’

FDOT closes lanes at 17th and Alton

The Florida Department of Transportation has closed all but one lane east and west on 17th Street at Alton Road while Teco Gas crews repair a line.The work is epxected to continue throughout the day Tuesday.

(And thanks to the West Avenue Corridor Neighborhood Association for the heads up).