Mario Garcia-Serra, a shareholder in Gunster’s Miami office, was quoted in the Miami Herald recently on the topic of a variety of redevelopment projects promising hip, urban-style living in suburban Coral Gables.
A land use and zoning attorney, Garcia-Serra is known for his work on behalf of unique, prestigious projects such as Mediterranean Village, a large, mixed-use project that will reshape Coral Gables. According to the Herald article, it is the biggest single development in the city, and will include 1 million square feet of hotel, condos and shopping just south of Miracle Mile on Ponce de Leon Boulevard.
Coral Gables city officials recently gave the project its final land use and zoning approvals.
The challenge of managing redevelopment in a well-established community like Coral Gables, aka the City Beautiful, is ensuring that the proposed development will improve overall quality of life and provide benefits to existing residents and businesses.
As Garcia-Serra told the Herald, property owners in this case were won over by the many public benefits of the project, such as the creation of a more pedestrian-friendly city. Improvements to the city’s trolley system and investments in public art and open spaces round out the benefits to the community as a whole.
The Agave Group of Mexico, one of Mexico’s oldest and most successful corporate groups and the owner of Jose Cuervo Tequila, is developing the Mediterranean Village and expects to break ground in the first quarter of 2016.
Read the article: Redevelopment wave to hit Coral Gables (Miami Herald, 7/5/15); subscription required.
