Coral Gables, currently enjoying a wave of new developments, could add more luxury condos and retail space adjacent to The Collection car dealership on Bird Road by mid-2016.The proposed 10-story, 270-unit property, temporarily dubbed the Collection Residences, is a joint venture between Shoma Group, led by Masoud Shojaee, and Ugo Colombo’s CMC Group. Two architecture firms — Arquitectonica and Duany Plater-Zyberk — have teamed on a design which will be discussed at the city’s Design Review Committee meeting on Friday, the start of a lengthy process that would then go before the Board of Architects, Planning and Zoning and the City Commission before construction could start.The placeholder name, The Collection Residences, has gotten some buzz because the homes would be near the auto dealership, 200 Bird Road, which sells luxury brands such as Audi, Porsche, Maserati and Aston Martin.“We do not have an agreement with The Collection to put in any dealership or parking at this point,” said a representative for the Shoma Group in regard to the “Collection Residences” name. The market for the residences, he said, would be affluent. “We’re looking for empty nesters or foreign nationals who are looking for luxury property in an upscale, urban project.”The applicant, Coral Gables Luxury Holdings LLC, closed on the purchase of the 2.8-acre property in early December for $27 million and expects to spend more than $83 million to build the project. The site between Salzedo and Aurora streets now houses office buildings, warehouse space and parking lots that would be razed to make way for the residences/retail. The area was designated a mixed-use zone about a decade ago. “The idea has always been to bring more mixed-use projects around the Village of Merrick Park. It’s a promising project. To obtain a full city block within Coral Gables is usually a challenge,” said Greenberg Traurig land-use attorney Mario Garcia-Serra, who is representing Coral Gables Luxury Holdings.In the past 18 months, Coral Gables has become home to the Palace, a luxury senior living facility near Miracle Mile, The Building on Ponce Circle, a 58,000-square-foot office building that incorporates the first use of public art in the city, and the first phase of the Gables Ponce project whose ground floor tenant, Epicure Gourmet Market, opened Friday on the corner of Ponce de Leon Boulevard and Le Jeune Road.
Coral Gables
Coral Gables
