Miami Presbyterian Church Gets Blessing To Sell Brickell Land For Potential $240M Windfall

Miami’s oldest Presbyterian church got the final blessing to move toward closing a $240 million land deal that would enable developers to transform a rare vacant slice of Brickell’s waterfront on the church’s property into condominiums.

It’s been almost a year since First Miami Presbyterian Church declared its intention and a single member of the congregation sought to block the land sale and proposed 80-story condo tower on 2.2 acres at 609 Brickell Ave., filing a formal complaint with church leadership.

Church leaders and the opposing member Cary Tolley met in Louisville and then this week a church governing body sided with the church. Church leaders on Tuesday told the Miami Herald they are finalizing a sale contract with developers that would ultimately lead to construction of the condo building on one of the last remaining waterfront sites in Miami’s prime financial district.

Developers 13th Floor Investments and Key International are working with the church to reach a deal to buy the two-acre tract, said Rev. Dr. Christopher Benek, of First Miami Presbyterian.

The original plan called for the 80-story high-rise that would replace the church’s school and parking lot, but the 1948 church would remain on the property. The developers have hired Sieger Suarez — the same architect behind the luxury condos Porsche Design Tower in Sunny Isles Beach and Portofino Tower in South Beach — to design the development.

“This iconic project will provide our congregation with state of the art facilities and the resources to serve the Brickell community in perpetuity,” Benek said in a statement. “We look forward to continuing to work with our partners and the entire Brickell community as we finalize the project.”