The City of Miami Climate Resilience Committee recently reviewed two proposals concerning developing and using City-owned waterfront property on Watson Island. These proposals were presented for evaluation due to their deviation from previous plans and now include updated requests and public benefits. The following steps involve potential approval by the Miami City Commission at their upcoming meeting, followed by consideration by Miami voters in the next election.
Watson Island Proposal.
One of the proposals, named ‘Jungle Trail,’ involves transforming the north side of Watson Island. This plan, proposed by Ecoresiliency Miami, LLC—a partnership between Terra Group and ESJ Capital that also intends to build a residential project—includes removing Joia Beach and the existing Jungle Island ‘Theme Park’ to create a ‘nature park.’ According to the 2023 City of Miami Parks and Recreation System Masterplan, ‘Natural areas/nature parks’ are a top priority. The Jungle Trail proposal envisions the ‘Miami Bio Walk,’ featuring eight habitats that mirror native Florida environments, connected by elevated pathways. Bjarke Ingels Group’s (BIG) logo appears on presentation documents, so they are likely involved as the architect.
Maritime and Tropical Hammock Forest.
Orchid Hammock Education Trail.
Miami Bio Walk.
Additionally, BH3 IG Developer, LLC, a joint venture between BH3 Management and Merrimac Ventures, is proposing to enhance connectivity on the island. This involves extending the Baywalk under the currently fenced-off portion of the I-395 Bridge on the NW corner, connecting it to a 100-foot-wide Promenade on the 888 MacArthur Causeway project site, now called Watson Harbor, where a mix of hotel, retail, and residential uses are planned. The plan includes two more parcels to the southeast for promenade extensions and a public park in the southeast corner.
Connectivity improvements also consider linking into existing bike lanes on MacArthur and adding a proposed ferry stop. These projects, individually and collectively, aim to bring new public open spaces to the City, potentially transforming Watson Island. The Climate Resilience Committee recently voted to recommend support for both proposals.
Future funding for the necessary infrastructure will come from various sources. A notable strategy includes exchanging or adjusting development rights within the site, as seen in Terra and ESJ Capital’s Jungle Trail Project. Terra and GFO Investments used a similar approach in the ‘Canopy Park’ development, which incorporated significant green infrastructure in exchange for adjusted development rights, allowing the construction of Five Park Miami Beach.
Additional proposal details are expected to be provided at the upcoming Commission Meeting.
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First off: love the public space and landscape architecture. It really is wonderful. And sure, requests for public funds need to be reviewed.
Second: Oouf, Climate Resilience Committee sounds nauseously like a dystopian, bloated, bureaucratic nightmare from 1984, or Brazil (the movie)
Watson Island – both north and south sides of the causeway should be a public park. What a shame scammers have taken the sites. Miami’s elected officials are so weak.
Love the location under the very busy highway.
I think this is the 20th year of planning and review for a development of Watson. Corrupt politicians, corrupt developers, corrupt bankers, they’ve all been involved. Just let nature take over and return the island to the iguanas and alligators.
I think this is the 20th year of planning and review for a development of Watson. Corrupt politicians, corrupt developers, corrupt bankers, they’ve all been involved. Just let nature take over and return the island to the iguanas and alligators.
Great cities deserve great parks and a lot of them….. Miami has the goods, not the developers, make the latter bend, they will