1600 Washington
MDPL Position – Opposition to Demolition
While we appreciate the need for market-rate housing on Miami Beach, we oppose the proposed demolition of the contributing Henry Hohauser streamline moderne building and the design of the proposed apartment building.
In 2018, city preservation staff described this building as having “a high degree of historic and architectural integrity with only limited modifications” and commended the applicant for proposing to retain and restore it.
Now, years later, the same owner says the building cannot be saved, a clear case of demolition by neglect, where they have allowed a previously intact contributing building to deteriorate to justify its demolition.
235 Washington Ave.
MDPL Position – Opposition to Demolition
The Miami Design Preservation League (MDPL) strongly opposes the proposed demolition of the former Parkside Hotel at 235 Washington Avenue. The building is a contributing structure within the locally designated Ocean Beach Historic District, one of the earliest and most historically significant areas of Miami Beach.
Constructed in 1938, the Parkside Hotel represents the type of modest, human-scale hotel that defined the Ocean Beach neighborhood in the late 1930s and helped shape the historic character of Washington Avenue. Buildings such as this formed the backbone of a community that welcomed everyday travelers and residents, offering a more accessible and intimate version of the Miami Beach experience beyond the grand oceanfront hotels.
The Ocean Beach Historic District was designated specifically to preserve this story. Its significance lies not only in individual landmarks, but in the collective character created by these smaller buildings and the streetscapes they define. Together they form a cohesive historic environment that reflects the early development of Miami Beach as a vibrant seaside community.
The Parkside Hotel still clearly expresses its original design. Its two-story scale, flat roofline, balanced façade, and restrained Art Deco detailing remain intact and continue to contribute to the architectural rhythm and pedestrian character of Washington Avenue. The building is a quiet but essential part of the district’s historic fabric.
Allowing demolition in this case would establish a deeply troubling precedent. If contributing buildings can be removed simply to accommodate new amenities or open space for adjacent development, the long-term integrity of the historic district is placed at risk. Historic districts endure only when the buildings that define them are protected and allowed to remain part of the living city.
The demolition of the former Parkside Hotel would therefore represent an unnecessary and avoidable loss of a historic building that continues to contribute meaningfully to the character of Washington Avenue and the Ocean Beach Historic District.
For these reasons, MDPL respectfully urges the Historic Preservation Board to deny the demolition request and encourage the applicant to pursue alternatives that retain and rehabilitate the former Parkside Hotel. Miami Beach has repeatedly demonstrated that historic buildings can be successfully integrated into new development. Preserving this building would continue that tradition while protecting the architectural heritage that makes Miami Beach unique.
716-720 Lincoln Road
MDPL Position – Support
MDPL concurs with staff that the proposed changes are a “compatible alteration” to the existing storefronts, and a sensitive adaptation that responds to the contemporary retail experience.
We especially appreciate the use of near-full glass doors, which helps keep intact the defining characteristic of the terrazzo pattern at the entryways, and conveys the distinction between the original layout and its current one.
In sum, this is a thoughtful approach to modernizing an historic storefront on one of the city’s most iconic thoroughfares.