Planteamiento general

Figure 3.65: Waldorf Towers, 1986 and 2017

Profit margins could be demonstrated through restored and flipped properties—

Sanchez sold the Waldorf Towers for three and a half times what he purchased it for less than a year earlier.¹⁶⁸ Four years had gone by since the original Historic Preservation Ordinance was adopted, and the city commission had the proof of concept they needed.

3.22. DEMOLITION AND STRENGTHENED PRESERVATION PROTECTIONS

Historic preservation was gaining momentum and broad public support, though the issue of gentrification was a reality that was still not being dealt with properly through public

165 Just two years early, in 1984, only four developers were actively renovating buildings; Debbie Sontag, “Buying wave hits Ocean Drive,”

Miami Herald, September 2, 1986.

166 Gratz, 51.

167 Even if a bank would lend money, it would only be at 65 percent of the appraised value, where it would typically be closer to 80 percent, and included personal guarantee provisions; Stofik, 153; Marlene Sokol, “Bankers still tiptoe on beach,” Miami Herald, May 31, 1987.

168 Debbie Sontag, “Developer cashing in on South Beach restoration,” Miami Herald, July 31, 1986.

policies.¹⁶⁹ New planning regulations brought lawsuits, but many were dismissed due to the landmark 1978 Supreme Court ruling on the designation of Grand Central Station as a New York City landmark.¹⁷⁰ However, the code enforcements still seemed to favor new

construction over rehabilitation, minimal protections against demolition were in place, and old zoning laws conflicted with the vision of regulating historic districts.¹⁷¹ It was clear that the city commission viewed historic preservation in terms of economic value, rather than one of cultural or historic value.

Though there was success along Ocean Drive, further south where the failed South Shore Redevelopment project would have broken ground, many abandoned buildings were boarded up by owners who never recovered from the city’s “blighted” determinations. An illustration of these failed policies directly led to the demolition of the Biscaya Hotel on March 15, 1987.¹⁷² Constructed in 1925 in the Spanish Mediterranean revival style, the historic structure represented the last remaining example of the grand bayside hotels.¹⁷³ For all of MDPL’s successes in its short history, they realized the need to apply additional political pressure to initiate strengthen demolition protections.

Figure 3.66: Abandoned The Figure 3.67: Demolition, March 15, 1987 Figure 3.68: Capitman and fellow Biscaya, known as The Floridian advocates picketing to save The in the 1920s, c.1983 Biscaya, 1986

169 Elderly resident commenting on displacement through gentrification: “All I see are young people. I don’t know what has happened to our old friends. It’s funny. My generation built this town and now nobody wants us here;” Stofik, 150.

170 Penn Central Transportation Co. v. New York City, 538 U.S. 104 (1978); Another ruling by the U.S. Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals in 1974’s Maher vs. New Orleans, stated that “ephemeral societal interests” must be considered in crafting zoning laws; Maher v. New Orleans, 516 F.2D 1051 (5^th Circuit, 1975).

171 Interview with Debbie Tackett.

172 “Bye Bye Biscaya,” Wolfson Archives, YouTube, 1:43, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LXqlJrBeE9w; “Biscaya Hotel to be destroyed,”

SunSentinel, March 15, 1987.

173 Christopher Wellisz, “Court order halts razing of old hotel,” Miami Herald, February 12, 1987.

Good news came on May 6, 1987, with the effective adoption of Ordinance No. 87-2665 designating Altos del Mar a local historic preservation district. However, just a few months after Biscaya’s demolition, the MDPL began a new campaign, SOS (Save Our

Senator), to prevent demolition of the Senator Hotel.¹⁷⁴ Although the hotel was demolished on May 3, 1988, advocacy efforts delayed demolition for an additional year and further

resulted in the passing of a strengthened ordinance to counteract forthcoming demolitions.

Finally, on February 3, 1988, Ordinance No. 88-2598 strengthened the demolition regulations.¹⁷⁵

Figure 3.69: “Altos del Mar on the upswing as historic oceanfront area,” Miami Today, July 25, 1991

Art Deco was gaining international appreciation and cultural tourism was becoming a reality. In May 1988, a Miami Beach Art Deco Guide with six self-guided walking tours along South Beach was published by MDPL.¹⁷⁶ MDPL founder Barbara Baer Capitman’s book, Deco Delights: Preserving the Beauty and Joy of Miami Beach Architecture, was published in June 1988. That same month, Ordinance No. 88-2606 placed the National Register’s Miami Beach Architectural District under Design Review jurisdiction, regulating any

174 Jan Lin, The Power of Urban Ethnic Places: Cultural Heritage and Community Life (New York: Routledge, 2011), 132.

175 Unfortunately it was too late for the The Poinciana Hotel designed by Albert Anis in 1939, located at 1555 Collins Avenue, which was demolished in January 1988, and the Senator Hotel designed by L. Murray Dixon in 1939, at 1201 Collins Avenue, which was demolished on May 3, 1988; Ordinance No. 88-2598, City of Miami Beach, February 3, 1988,

http://docmgmt.miamibeachfl.gov/WebLink/DocView.aspx?id=48966&searchid=cb87ba07-808e-480b-9330-e95c070467d0&dbid=0.

Accessed April 2, 2017.

176 The guidebook was written by Keith Root with editorial assistance by Dr. Ernest Martin and Michael Kinerk.

exterior additions or alterations.¹⁷⁷

The end of the 1980s manifested a remarkable transference from the turbulence and abandonment of neighborhoods across Miami Beach to political and community support for historic preservation as a source of economic revitalization. On April 5, 1989, the Venetian Causeway, completed in 1926, was designated as a local landmark.¹⁷⁸ Two new historic districts in the Flamingo and Museum neighborhoods were suggested by the City Commission for designation consideration on September 7 and 21, 1989. As a 1988 Miami Herald quoted pro-development commissioner Abe Resnick, “We have experienced in the last few years a response—not just from our community but worldwide—that Art Deco’s giving the city a lot of glory and vitality.”¹⁷⁹ Economic development through tourism was the key to historic preservation’s relevance, and every time an irreplaceable resource was demolished, it fostered new media attention for stronger protective legislation.

Figure 3.70: Repairing cracked plaster of facade of Bentley Hotel, 1986, and comparison to 2016