In the 1920s, the King Cole Hotel helped put Miami Beach on the map as a popular tourist destination. Automotive industry pioneer and entrepreneur Carl Fisher developed the three-story, 60-room hotel to fulfill his vision of turning vacant land into an oceanfront winter getaway.
The hotel, which functioned as a military hospital during World War II, faced the wrecking ball in 1965 to make way for the propertyâs next occupant: the Miami Heart Institute. Over the next three decades, the hospital expanded its footprint on the 7.2-acre site to encompass six structures.
In 2000, Mount Sinai Medical Center acquired the Miami Heart Institute and ultimately consolidated its operations at the competing hospital systemâs main campus about a mile away.
Real estate investment and development firm Lionheart Capital stepped in to purchase the deserted complex for $20 million in 2012, initiating the propertyâs third act as a luxury condo development. âIt was a fair price, in an excellent location, and we felt confident we could transform the property into something truly special,â said Allison Greenfield, Partner at Lionheart Capital.
Â
Residents have 24-hour access to a private art studio equipped with easels, sculpting surfaces, reference books, and supplies. Photo: Kim Sargent
Â
But Lionheart faced some tough obstacles in converting the former hospital into condosâand starting from scratch wasnât an option. âThe site was overbuilt by about 600,000 square feet, so we would lose that space if we demolished the buildings,â said Greenfield. Rezoning the property to residential use would also limit the maximum building height of new construction to four stories.Â
Lionheart enlisted Stantecâs Miami practice to oversee the conversion process as architect of record. âThe city was eager to approve the zoning change as long as the neighbors were in favor of it,â said Christina Villa, Senior Associate in Stantecâs Miami office.Â
Â
ALSO SEE: Historic âskyscraper hospitalâ in Brooklyn refashioned into 17 luxury condominium residences
Â
Stantec staff met with residents of the surrounding Mid-Beach neighborhood, composed of single-family homes that range from historic 1920s structures to modern residences. âMost of the neighbors were ecstatic to hear that we were planning a condo development because it would decrease traffic and be more compatible with the neighborhood,â said Villa.Â
The intricate planning and design process involved reconfiguring the existing institutional building layouts to accommodate high-end residential units. âWe stripped away everything that made the complex look like a hospital and brought it down to its bare columns, then started to carve out the massing of the buildings to make the floor plates work,â said Villa. Â
The process yielded a staggering 64 different unit layouts. âUnlike a typical South Florida multifamily building, where buyers choose a view and a stock layout, we essentially created 64 vertically stacked single-family homes,â said Greenfield.Â
Â
The club room at the Ritz-Carlton Residences. Residents have access to the services of the Agatston Center for Private Medicine, led by Arthur Agatston, the cardiologist who created the South Beach Diet. Photo: Kim Sargent
Â
Because the slabs between adjoining buildings did not align, the Stantec team planned each unit within the floor plates of its original structure, then created several new elevator lobbies that would transport residents directly up to their units.Â
The lower levels of the former hospital featured floor-to-floor heights of 12 to 14 feet, providing opportunities to create one-of-a-kind living spaces. âThe price point for those lower floors is much higher than you would typically find in a condo tower because the units are so spectacular,â said Greenfield.
Â
Miami's Ritz-Carlton Residences feature EUROPEAN ELEGANCE, MODERNIST AESTHETIC
To achieve its goals of establishing a European modernist design aesthetic, Lionheart engaged Italian architect and industrial designer Piero Lissoni as design architect. It was the first large-scale building project in the U.S. for the founder of Lissoni & Partners, an architecture and design studio with offices in Milan and New York.Â
Likening the property to âa new, small Portofino town,â Lissoni focused his attention on the building forms, façades, and public spaces. He also collaborated with Italian product designer Boffi to custom design the European-style kitchens and bathrooms in each unit. Â
When visitors enter the double-height main lobby, they have no clue theyâre stepping into an environment that formerly housed an emergency department and surgical suites. Instead, theyâre likely to be awed by the ironclad floating spiral staircase that anchors the space and the floor-to-ceiling glass wall that accentuates views of the adjacent private lake.
Â
A floating spiral staircase marks the double-height main lobby, designed by architect Piero Lissoni, whose goal was to create the effect of a small fishing village in his native Italy. Photo: Kim Sargent
Â
GUEST SUITES ADD A NEW OPTION TO THE MIX
The 678,000-sf Ritz-Carlton Residences, Miami Beach houses 111 condos that range in size from 2,000 sf to more than 10,000 sf and are priced from $2 million to $40 million. Also available for purchase are nine guest suites that function like hotel rooms and are positioned around an outdoor meditation garden. With the onset of COVID-19 lockdowns and work-from-home mandates, a few residents opted to convert these suites into private office environments.Â
Other outdoor amenity areas include a walking track that circumnavigates the property and a half-acre rooftop pool deck with private cabanas. Located atop the former hospitalâs main parking structure, the expansive space offers panoramic vistas of the Atlantic Ocean, Biscayne Bay, and downtown Miami. Â
Â
ALSO SEE: Designing multifamily housing for COVID-19
Â
Residents can grow and pick their own fruits, vegetables, and herbs in the ecological food forest and community garden. They can even take advantage of a medical concierge service offered by the Agatston Center for Private Medicine, led by cardiologist Arthur Agatston, creator of the South Beach Diet.
A 36-slip private marina and captained day yacht on the neighboring Surprise Lake further distinguish the property from the regionâs many other condo developments. Phase two, currently under construction, will add 15 single-family custom villas.
Since opening in February, the development is nearly sold out and has attracted an uncharacteristically large number of Florida-based residents. âI think it appeals to local buyers who may be leaving their house, but still want to maintain the individuality and specialness of their home environment,â said Greenfield. âThe site is located in a beautiful, bucolic neighborhood that is perfect for those who really enjoy the South Florida lifestyle, and not just the weather.âÂ
Â
A postcard of the King Cole Hotel, built in 1920 by automotive industrialist Carl Fisher. The hotel was later converted to a hospital before being transitioned into residential use. Photo courtesy Stantec
Â
PROJECT TEAM | THE RITZ-CARLTON RESIDENCES, MIAMI
DEVELOPERÂ Lionheart CapitalÂ
DESIGN ARCHITECT | INTERIOR DESIGNERÂ Lissoni & PartnersÂ
ARCHITECT OF RECORDÂ StantecÂ
STRUCTURAL ENGINEERÂ McNamara SalviaÂ
CIVIL ENGINEERÂ Kimley HornÂ
MEP ENGINEERÂ Steven Feller, PEÂ
BUILDING ENVELOPE CONSULTANTÂ Paramount Consulting and Engineering
LANDSCAPE ARCHITECTÂ Rhett Roy Landscape Architecture PlanningÂ
GENERAL CONTRACTORÂ Plaza Construction
Related Stories
Adaptive Reuse | Jul 10, 2023
California updates building code for adaptive reuse of office, retail structures for housing
The California Building Standards Commission recently voted to make it easier to convert commercial properties to residential use. The commission adopted provisions of the International Existing Building Code (IEBC) that allow developers more flexibility for adaptive reuse of retail and office structures.
Mixed-Use | Jun 29, 2023
Massive work-live-play development opens in LA's new Cumulus District
VOX at Cumulus, a 14-acre work-live-play development in Los Angeles, offers 910 housing units and 100,000 sf of retail space anchored by a Whole Foods outlet. VOX, one of the largest mixed-use communities to open in the Los Angeles area, features apartments and townhomes with more than one dozen floorplans.
Multifamily Housing | Jun 29, 2023
5 ways to rethink the future of multifamily development and design
The Gensler Research Instituteâs investigation into the residential experience indicates a need for fresh perspectives on residential design and development, challenging norms, and raising the bar.
Office Buildings | Jun 28, 2023
When office-to-residential conversion works
The cost and design challenges involved with office-to-residential conversions can be daunting;Â designers need to devise creative uses to fully utilize the space.
Multifamily Housing | Jun 28, 2023
Sutton Tower, an 80-story multifamily development, completes construction in Manhattanâs Midtown East
In Manhattanâs Midtown East, the construction of Sutton Tower, an 80-story residential building, has been completed. Located in the Sutton Place neighborhood, the tower offers 120 for-sale residences, with the first move-ins scheduled for this summer. The project was designed by Thomas Juul-Hansen and developed by Gamma Real Estate and JVP Management. Lendlease, the general contractor, started construction in 2018.
Affordable Housing | Jun 27, 2023
Racial bias concerns prompt lawmakers to ask HUD to ban biometric surveillance, including facial recognition
Two members of the U.S. House of Representative have asked the Department of Housing and Urban Development to end the use of biometric technology, including facial recognition, for surveillance purposes in public housing.Â
Apartments | Jun 27, 2023
Average U.S. apartment rent reached all-time high in May, at $1,716
Multifamily rents continued to increase through the first half of 2023, despite challenges for the sector and continuing economic uncertainty. But job growth has remained robust and new households keep forming, creating apartment demand and ongoing rent growth. The average U.S. apartment rent reached an all-time high of $1,716 in May.
Apartments | Jun 27, 2023
Dallas high-rise multifamily tower is first in state to receive WELL Gold certification
HALL Arts Residences, 28-story luxury residential high-rise in the Dallas Arts District, recently became the first high-rise multifamily tower in Texas to receive WELL Gold Certification, a designation issued by the International WELL Building Institute. The HKS-designed condominium tower was designed with numerous wellness details.
Multifamily Housing | Jun 19, 2023
Adaptive reuse: 5 benefits of office-to-residential conversions
FitzGerald completed renovations on Millennium on LaSalle, a 14-story building in the heart of Chicagoâs Loop. Originally built in 1902, the former office building now comprises 211 apartment units and marks LaSalle Streetâs first complete office-to-residential conversion.