HomeMy WebLinkAboutSubmittal-Correspondence-Shane GraberSHANE M. GRABER — 1001 NE 72 Street — Historic Bayside, Miami, FL 33138
May 21, 2008
Dear City of Miami Elected City Officials and To Whom It May Concern:
This serves as my letter of support for the previously -approved Kubik Project, slated for the Palm Grove Upper
Eastside Miami neighborhood.
I was president of Bayside Residents Association (BRA), which spans from NE 62nd though NE 72"d
Streets, east of Biscayne Boulevard from 2001 through early 2005. During my term, neighborhood residents
voted overwhelmingly to support the Kubik project.
For the same reasons the neighborhood supported Kubik then, I support the project today:
1. The KUBIK developers proposed a building that was much lower than allowed at their time of
application —and at a height that would most likely be allowed as part under the new Miami 21 "transect"
paradigm, due to its unique location and relationship to its surroundings.
2. The project brings needed ground level retail to the Upper Eastside in one of the few areas that can
accommodate it. The Miami 21 Plan calls these special areas of interest "transects". The Kubik site is
located at one such transect that welcomes true mixed -use activity In fact, this location was always
intended to be high -density, dating back to the FEC Corridor Study, which later became Miami 21,
because it is located in a node that would welcome a higher node of density and activity, even if located
within the MiMo Historic District, due to its unique "island" location (similar to the 79th Street Shopping
Center at Biscayne Boulevard).
3. All on -site parking is hidden from public view... and additional on -street
street parking on NE 4 Court is ample and underutilized (the street could use pedestrian activation, espec
ially at night). Again, Miami 21 compliant.
4. The project will bring an architecturally noteworthy landmark building-- a new historical structure.
5. Unlike other Upper Eastside proposed projects, KUBIK is NOT directly adjacent to R1 or R2 residences... it
is surrounded by an R3/mutli-family residential district, warehouses, railroad tracks, two federal
highways, and commercial districts. Again, this is a unique transect location.
6. In Bayside, we share our neighborhood with four mid- and high-
rise complexes: Palm Bay Yacht Club (over 20 stories), Palm Bay Tower, Palm Bay Condo and the Clipper
as well as the Palm Bay Marina. These dense and
high projects have NOT reduced our quality of life or our single family home
property values. In fact, they have helped to bring a needed mix of uses
and demographics to our neighborhood.
7. The Kubik developers have made ample changes to their original plans... the "opponents", which are few
in number, yet quite vociferous, have not made any concessions. This is not reasonable behavior.
8. Most importantly, I believe that Kubik is in -line with the Miami 21 plan —it sits at a major transect that
would welcome exactly the sort of mixed -use, pedestrian -friendly, development that is proposed.
In addition to serving as president of the Bayside Residents Association for four years, I also serve on the City of
Miami Nuisance Abatement Board; I have served as director of the Upper Eastside Miami Council; I am a member
of and property owner in the Palm Grove Neighborhood Association —where KUBIK will stand; and I work at
BACARDI USA headquarters in the City of Miami. In other words, I live, work and play in the area immediately
surrounding Kubik —and I deeply care about my neighborhood!
Thank you for your consideration.
Yours truly,
Shane M. Graber
SUBMITTED INTO THE
PUBLIC RECORD FOR
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