Miami

The Art of Nightlife

City board OKs Brickell late-night art gallery lounge

By Erik Bojnansky

In spite of complaints from neighbors, the Miami Zoning Board gave its backing Monday to a private supper club that will invite patrons to eat dinner, shop for artwork and drink until 3 a.m.

Augusto Valverde, owner of Brickell Art House LLC, initially sought a 5 a.m. closing time for his lounge, Gallery, which will be located on the bottom floor of the 42-story The Club at Brickell Bay, located at 1200 Brickell Bay Drive. He said he invested $3 million and three years of his life into the lounge, which will allow only entry to members more than 25 years of age who are interested in investing in artwork on display while being entertained with music, food and alcohol.

“If I was just going to open up a club, I would have painted the walls and been done with it,” Valverde said.

Valverde claimed Gallery would not disturb neighbors because it has several layers of soundproofing and is further insulated by 10 levels of parking.

But several residents of The Mark on Brickell, located at 1155 Brickell Bay Drive, feared that Gallery would be the first of many late-night establishments flooding into the area if approved. Nick Dove, president of The Mark on Brickell’s condominium association, said his neighbors were opposed to Gallery staying open past midnight and vowed to keep fighting. “Call it whatever you want — it is still a nightclub,” he said.

Dove and other dwellers of The Mark said Brickell Bay Drive is a predominately residential street already overburdened by the traffic of nearby Brickell Avenue.

“To make a change in the law now would create a headache for all of you,” argued Mark resident Linsey Harris.

But Lou Terminello, Valverde’s attorney, said the law encourages establishments such as Gallery to open in the downtown Brickell area. “About five or six years ago, you couldn’t do this,” he said. Then the Miami City Commission approved legislation allowing for late-night liquor establishments in mixed-use residential buildings. “When Tibor Hollo’s building was coming up, everybody understood the need for a liquor lounge use,” he said, referring to The Club at Brickell Bay.

While no one affiliated with Brickell Art House met with residents or the Brickell Avenue Homeowners Association, Terminello said no one living at The Club at Brickell Bay opposed Gallery, prompting whispers from Mark residents watching in the audience. “It’s empty,” one of them muttered.

Indeed, according to Condovultures.com, there were 54 foreclosures in The Club at Brickell Bay this past fall, the highest number for any one building in Miami-Dade and Broward counties. Even Juvenal Pina, chair of the Zoning Board, pointed out that half of The Club at Brickell’s residents “just moved to the area.”

Board member Ron Cordon questioned why Valverde, who lives in The Mark at Brickell, never met with those living in his own building. Valverde replied that this was his “first time” in front of the Zoning Board. “If I knew, I could have brought three people for every one opposing this.”

Still, many Zoning Board members were supportive of Gallery. Board member Joseph Ganguzza said it would be “hypocritical” to vote against Gallery after the city approved mixed-use buildings that allow such establishments. Angel Urquiola, another board member, even argued that the new condo units in Brickell would soon be occupied by part-time actors from Colombia, Mexico and Puerto Rico, while the rest of Miami’s residents will be individuals working in the service industry. “The area needs to have this kind of place,” he said.

Still, many board members didn’t want to approve a conditional use permit that would allow Gallery to stay open until 5 a.m. Pina said the Miami City Commission recently approved an ordinance that cut off liquor service in Coconut Grove at 3 a.m. after Center Grove residents complained of intoxicated club-goers wandering the streets after 5 a.m.

Miguel Gabela, meanwhile, said he would vote against the club unless it agreed to close at 1:30 a.m. “1:30 is very, very fair,” he reasoned.

Valverde insisted he would lose money. His lounge would not open until late at night and most of his profits would be dependent on alcohol and artwork sales.

With that, the board voted 6-3 to allow Gallery to obtain a 3 a.m. license, with a reevaluation of the lounge in 12 months. Voting yes: Pina, Urquiola, Ganguzza, Ileana Hernandez, Cornelius Shiver and Charles Garavaglia. Voting no: Cordon, Gabela and Jorge Luis Lopez.