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Developer Taps Starchitects, Baz Luhrmann For Miami Cultural & Residential District

Developer Taps Starchitects, Baz Luhrmann For Miami Cultural & Residential District

A tired strip along Collins Avenue in Miami, once populated by swanky hotels, will soon be returned to its former glory days. The Miami Herald reported that Argentinian developer Alan Faena is moving forward with his grand vision for this ghostly side of town, dubbed the “Faena District Miami Beach,” which will consist of an elaborate mix of residential, hotels, retail, and cultural space.

Modeled after his successful transformation of the Puerto Madero district in his hometown of Buenos Aires, this new plan aims to turn this washed up, beachfront stretch into a bustling cultural and residential neighborhood. And to accomplish this, Faena has enlisted the help of big name architects such as Norman FosterRem Koolhaas, and Roman & Williams.

The developer just broke ground on the first phase:  A lavish 18-story condo tower designed by Foster + Partners with apartments, ranging from 4,000 to 18,000-square feet in size, and costing up to $50 million.

Across the street, Koolhaas’ OMA will design a cultural center with a domed auditorium and an underground parking garage with shops on ground floor. The firm will also overhaul the understated Atlantic Beach Hotel and turn it into an open courtyard building for retail.

The developer has also purchased the run down Saxony Hotel and asked Roman & Williams to renovate the interior of the historic landmark.

And apparently designers aren’t the only creatives coming on board this project. Filmmaker Baz Luhrmann—of the flashy, over-the-top productions, such as The Great GatsbyMoulin Rouge, and Romeo and Juliette—will work in some currently-vague capacity, along with his wife Catherine Martin, in what the Herald has called a “creative role’’ at the hotel. Should we expect to find his visual spectacles projected on walls of suites playing to soundtracks by Jay-Z?

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