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HomeMy WebLinkAbout09-00166 BackupNA Investments, Inc. 697 N. Miami Avenue, Loft # 2 Miami, FL 33136 (T) 305 527 7332 (F) 305 402-0311 Febrary 4, 2009 Mr Jim Viilacorta City of Miami CRA 49 NW 5th Street Miami, FL 33128 RE: Florida East Coast Railway right of way cleanup Mr Villacorta, I am writing you regarding a request for a grant from the CRA to clean up and improve four blocks of the FEC Railway from Biscayne Blvd to NW 1st Avenue. We are the owners of a property located at 697 N. Ivliami Avenue, Miami, Florida. The building is a recently completed adaptive reuse project on a 20,000 sif 1920's warehouse located at the above address. The building is nearly fully leased and 35-40 jobs have been created due to the hiring of employees by the new tenants. Our property borders on the FEC Railway right of way. For years this has been a source of contention as it is often overgrown, strewn with trash and contruction debris from 30- 40 years of neglect. Walt illy ll ���'im34�i�irE �Qlilli� I�� r f9. 3iili View of FEC right of way from N. Miami Avenue looking east (before). The railway, for us, is a scar running through the neighborhood. It is a haven for crimminals and homeless and contributes greatly to the general unsafe and rundown feeling of the neighborhood. As we have a responsibility to our tenants and to the neighborhood, we decided to work with the railway on a pilot project (paid for out of our own pocket) to clean up the area directly behind our property. The railway's position is that although they will do the minimum to maintain their property, they will not spend money for beautification on an abandoned track (there has been no regularly scheduled service on the line since 2005). Our logic was to do something as a permanent solution to avoid having to clean up and trim vegetation every six months. All debris, vegetation, and trash was cleaned out, weed mats put down, and 6 inches of #57 limerock spread along the right of way. The ideas is to create a sterile, non -inviting area, which will be free of vegetation and need little or no maintenance. The project was overseen and approved by FEC Railways and the results are seen below: /if■�t�ii . .iki 11 ,liiiii414 u11111111 111111\ 1.44111111Ill{i�l4f0143[[ iiiimist f� View of FEC right of way from N. Miami Avenue looking east (after). As the results are a clean, long -terra, one off solution with rather minimal cost, we are now proposing to do the same along the FEC right of way for the worst four blocks of downtown Miami, from Biscayne Blvd to NW 1 S` Avenue. The scope of our request is similar to the pilot project: - Remove and dispose of all trash, veetation and debris, including three abandoned loading docks and a collapsing retaining wall • - Spray entire area with weed kill, strip vegetation, and place weed mats on the ground - Trim overgrown vegetation and trees along the right of way. - Properly grade for slope and drainage and cover with 6 inches of #57 limerock - Repair edges along property line with asphalt and concrete block - Place decorative bollards and fencing along pedestrian crossings to discourage access - Installation of 10-15 streetlights to light up right of way through the FPL outdoor lighting program - Planting of decorative ground cover (see photo) on triangular piece of land bordering NW lst avenue. This will create a visual park at the comer of 6h street and NW 1st Ave which could, should the City wish, be converted into a small pocket park, greatly improving the area. New Visual Park or Groundcover The total cost for this project is $192.368.00 . This includes the right of way work for $188,048.00 and one year of FPL outdoor lighting service for $4,320.00 (15 LIGHTS AT $24.00 per month). We have been working with the FEC Railway for several weeks along with the contractor, Heavy Civil Group, as a deign team to spec out the project and we have executed a legal ageement with FEC Railway giving permission for us to perform the work (see attached) We would the Board of the CRA to approve this project. We feel that for the benefit of drastically improving an area in downtown four blocks long is immense considering the relatively small cost of the project. Contrary to any streetscape improvements, which could take years to plan and execute, this project could be completed in 3-4 weeks, having an instant major impact on the neighborhood. The total outlay for four complete city blocks would cost less than the small pocket park currently being built on Flagler street. We would also like to highlight the one off' nature of the project. 30-40 years of neglect will be elininated and by properly executing the project, maintenance and vegetation trimming will be eliminated. • • • Thank you for considering our request, Please feel free to contact me with any questions or issues that you may have. and I am available at any time at the above number should you wish to discuss the matter further. Thank you for your prompt response to this matter. Brad Knoefler — President NMA Investments, Inc.