Some Miami commissioners support selling Brickell historic site
The 1905 Dr. James M. Jackson office in Brickell is the headquarters for the Dade Heritage Trust, which is a preservation group.
more than a century, the inviting wooden bungalow built as a clinic by Miami’s first doctor, James Jackson, has occupied a narrow lot in what is today the bustling Brickell neighborhood — a rare, light-filled and tree-shaded reminder of the city’s early days amid closely packed high-rises.
Now some Miami commissioners want to sell the publicly owned property, one of the earliest designated historic sites in the city, for possible condo development.
The move, to be considtained ered by the commission Thursday, comes four years after Miami voters approved extending a long-term, lapsed low-rent lease on the Dr. James M. Jackson Office to Dade Heritage Trust. The historic-preservation group has been based in the bungalow and is responsible for its upkeep since the city bought the property in 1977 with federal grants.
The Neo-Classical cottage was built in 1905 in downtown Miami by Jackson, after whom Jackson Memorial Hospital is named, and moved to its present site flanking what’s now Brickell Bay Drive in 1917.
Since moving in, the trust has renovated and mainFor the house, designated a protected historic site by the city in 1983, at its own cost. The group keeps a small native botanical garden on the site, puts on historic exhibits and runs popular walking and cycling tours of Brickell, downtown Miami and surrounding neighborhoods from the house, which is at 190 Southeast 12th Terrace.
After prolonged delays by the city, commissioners were set to approve a 30-year renewable lease in September, but Commissioner Joe Carollo balked. Citing a looming budget crisis prompted by the coronavirus pandemic, Carollo said during a Sept. 24 hearing that the city should sell the property and move the bungalow elsewhere — either at a developer’s or Miami-Dade County’s expense. The 2016 referendum vote does not obligate the city to grant the lease.
Although the small, 6,000-square-foot lot is assessed by Miami-Dade’s property appraiser at $1.275 million, exclusive of the house, Carollo argued a sale would likely generate millions more for city coffers.
After he was backed by commissioners Manolo
Reyes and Alex Diaz de la Portilla, commissioner Ken Russell, whose district includes Brickell, persuaded the board to wait until city administrators could analyze how much a sale would generate and the feasibility of moving the house. The proposed $600-a-month lease requires a “yes” vote from four of five commissioners to waive competitive bidding.
“It is in a very, very, very expensive area,” Carollo said. “While we certainly want to see the house preserved, the land is worth quite a bit.”
City Manager Art Noriega promised the report would be available for commissioners by Thursday’s meeting. But it has not been published as part of the commission agenda for the scheduled public hearing. The Miami 21 zoning for the neighborhood allows up to 48 stories of mixed-use development. Noriega did not respond to a text message to his cellphone.
Russell, who has not seen the full report but was briefed on some of the administration’s findings, said Wednesday the zoning analysis concludes the lot is so narrow it’s virtually unbuildable under Miami 21 setback rules. That means a sale would likely not bring in much, he said.
“There really is no development capacity on that lot as it stands,” Russell said in an interview. “To my understanding, you can’t even build the same house there because the lot is so small.
The setbacks preclude anything of reasonable size to be built.”
Absent a large windfall, he said, it’s better to leave the house as it stands, especially when moving a 115-year-old historic wooden house is a risky, complicated and expensive venture. The Jackson clinic was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1975.
“It’s very charming where it is. I understand where the other commissioners are coming from. We are looking at massive shortfalls,” Russell said. “But sacrificing our historic structures is not the answer. We should not feel the pressure to develop every last postcard lot in Brickell.”
Carollo said on Wednesday he has not seen a report or been briefed. He expressed skepticism that the lot can’t be redeveloped. But even if the lot isn’t worth selling, he said, he doesn’t think Dade Heritage Trust or the Jackson house should remain on what he called “prime real estate for the city.”
A better use, he suggested, would be as a dog park or a playground for Brickell residents who have little public green space to enjoy.
“I’m tired of giving away city property,” Carollo said in an interview. “You’re going to tell me it’s worthless? I don’t think so. That house doesn’t have to be there.
Why do you have to have a building, I don’t care what you call it, so the bureaucrats can have offices in a prime piece of real estate for the city?”
Dade Heritage Trust director Christine Rupp says the city and its residents get a good deal in return from their stewardship of the Jackson house and its prominent location, which helps highlight city attractions and history. The organization restored the house after the city purchased it for
$115,000 with federal grants, pays for insurance and lays out $30,000 to $40,000 a year to cover all repairs and maintenance, Rupp said.
The organization, which has played a key role in preserving historic and architectural landmarks including the Miami Circle, the Freedom Tower and Miami Marine Stadium, conducts educational programs and houses a visitor’s center and a small exhibition gallery in the Jackson house, which is open to the public.
“From our standpoint,the organization and everything we do is promotion of the city,“Rupp said. “Over the years, DHT has invested a lot of money in this building. We’re proud of it and we take good care of it. It’s a symbol of this organization and a symbol of the history of the neighborhood.
“The building has been here for 103 years. We’re a little breath of fresh air and green space in Brickell.”
Jackson helped plan and set up the Miami City Hospital, later renamed in his honor after his death in 1924. Jackson was brought to Miami by the city’s co-founder, industrialist Henry Flagler.
The doctor built the clinic next to his new residence on what is today Flagler Street. For a building of modest scale, the clinic boasts impressive architectural flourishes, including a front porch supported by Doric columns and a classical portico.
Jackson sold the property in 1916 to make way for the Olympia Theater, but did not want to see the buildings torn down, so he planned to move them to the new resort city of Miami Beach. A pioneering Miami merchant and jeweler agreed to purchase both, and instead moved the structures by barge to the new Brickell section, then known as Southside.
The city purchase, engineered by Dade Heritage, saved the office. But the adjacent house remained in private hands. Badly deteriorated, it was demolished in 2001 and replaced by a condo tower, leaving the Jackson clinic as one of the last surviving original buildings in all of Brickell.