After a busy and tense meeting at Miami City Hall on Tuesday, the Historic and Environmental Preservation Council is set to provide a historic designation for a prehistoric archaeological site discovered in Brickell that dates back 7,000 years ago. But in a compromise with the developers, it will also allow construction to begin on a pair of skyscrapers on part of the property.
More than 50 people lined up to speak at the hearing, the most eager to make the case for preservation after months of silence from the city and developers over the state of the dig and plans for the site. The meeting spilled into the streets with crowds watching the proceedings on live video in a tent outside.
It was “chaos,” said University of Miami archaeologist William Pestle, who helped write the city’s historic designation proposal. Miami Herald.
The site is owned by Related Group, the development company owned by local art collector and real estate mogul Jorge Pérez, the namesake of the Perez Miami Art Museum. Related bought the property – which is located in a designated archaeological area – for $104 million in 2013, planning to build a luxury hotel and condos. The company has taken out a $164 million construction loan for the first phase of work, at Southeast Fifth Street.
Part of the 444 Brickell development site, which may receive protected designation as a historic landmark. Photo courtesy of the Archaeological and Historical Conservancy of Florida.
But after demolishing the federal compound that previously occupied the land, Related soon realized it had stumbled upon an archaeological gold mine and was forced to halt construction in April 2021. The ground was teeming with prehistoric tools and other artifacts, as well as human remains. -of a Tequesta Civilization colony, the first inhabitants of Florida.
There were pottery shards and engraved seashells, stone tools, and punched shark teeth that would have been affixed to wooden handles to create knives. The site also contained postholes dug into the bedrock to support the foundations of buildings and boardwalks, as well as seeds, timber and animal bones, including a whale’s rib probably used as a religious offering.
The find was compared to nearby Miami Circlea circular prehistoric structure carved into the rock by the Tequesta.
Miami Circle, an archaeological site discovered in 1998 during the demolition of a building. Today it is a National Historic Landmark. Photo by Juan Castro Olivera/AFP via Getty Images.
The first permanent settlement and only known site of its kind on the east coast, it was discovered in Brickell in 1998. Plans to build two high-rise buildings were later abandoned. Today it is a National Historic Landmark and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. (Related intends to build a walkway to Miami Circle as part of its plans for the Brickell development.)
Although preservation officials have determined that the entire site undergoing development in Brickell deserves a protected designation, the city would have risked a “prolonged litigation” from Related if it tried to curtail construction altogether. , said preservation board member Luis Prieto y Munoz at the meeting.
Developers are required by law to bring in archaeologists upon discovery of prehistoric artifacts, and to date Related has spent $20 million on excavations from developers. Eager to move forward with the project, the company argued that official historic designation would cause permitting and construction delays to the tune of “hundreds of millions of dollars”.
Digs at Miami Circle in 1998. Photo by Eric Smith, Getty Images.
During the hearing, associate archaeological consultant Robert Carr also argued that the site was only 2,500 years old and that the oldest artifacts, dating from 7,000 years ago, had been collected by people. who lived there much later.
Other experts disagree.
“There are artifacts that go back sequentially over those thousands of years,” Pestle told the Herald in February. “It’s like a continuous drive, powerful and cool. You go back to the time when the first cities of Mesopotamia emerged. It’s thousands of years before the Roman Republic and the Roman Empire. In all respects , it’s an early manifestation of human activity. It’s legitimately old.
Pérez published an editorial in the Herald counter this position. “Experts agree: this site is not as old as the pyramids, and it is not another Miami circle,” he wrote, promising that if he remains committed to the project of construction, “all findings will form part of a major interpretive study”. exhibit that will be kept for further research and study at a reputable institution and available for public display.
Jorge Perez. Photo by Andrew Milne.
The development faced considerable opposition at the meeting, with members of the Native American community calling the project a “desecration” of an ancient cemetery. (The dig unearthed two graves; under Florida state law, the Seminole tribe must be allowed to rebury any native remains found by archaeologists.)
Despite the removal of part of its proposal for official historic designation, the preservation board is asking Related to consult with the local Native American community and independent archaeologists when developing a “preservation action plan” for the site.
The lot adjacent to 444 Brickell Avenue could still receive protected landmark designation, pending a final vote in July by the Preservation Board.
Currently, Related plans to demolish the 10-story office building that stands on the site to erect a luxury condo called the Residences Baccarat. The demolition is expected to yield similar archaeological finds from the prehistoric Aboriginal community.
“We are satisfied with the decision of the board of directors,” Pérez said in a statement given to the Herald. “We also agree that the site of 444 Brickell should be celebrated and honored. We will work hand in hand with the city on the designation of the site for 444 Brickell. Our efforts will continue to be transparent and inclusive. We know that working together to preserve sites of archaeological significance is a collaborative effort that benefits everyone.
“I was very disappointed that the board departed from the prescribed nomination process and went with this vague promise of an ‘action plan,’” Pestle said. Hyperallergic. “Unless there is legal enforceability for the big projects that Pérez has been talking about, I’m afraid all those promises won’t translate into anything in the long run.
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