Jan 9 2013
The historic and striking 1925 marble downtown building, once Miami´s International Bank, is set to be restored by construction specialists Stambul USA.
The company is betting on downtown´s comeback and has announced that the structural restoration plan begins with a six million dollar investment in order to return the building to it´s essential service conditions before commencing the renovations to convert it to a hotel.
The project´s renovation may only begin once the property is brought back to its elementary operational state which requires the above stated initial investment.
Daniel Peña Giraldi, general manager of Stambul USA, the building´s developers, explained that being a 1925 building, devoid of original plans, the first job was to understand the building´s operation for which everything from excavations, to identifying the type of foundations, to implementing x-rays and radars to determine the structural reinforcement was necessary.
Peña Giraldi said, “Using the findings of this data and after meetings with experts and authorities, including the Historic Preservation Department of the City, we generated a project for reinforcing and restoring the building´s structure.”
“Our initial plan calls for a $6 million investment before we are able to move on to the hotel´s design. We know it is an incredible amount of work and a significant investment, but at Stambul we are committed to Miami and believe this project is important to the comeback of downtown and our community. This primary investment accounts for approximately 30% of the total investment we are planning to devote to the development of the hotel,” he explained.
The plan requires activities like the removal of obsolete sanitary and electrical systems, demolishing, replacing and reinforcing of the building´s core structure, adjusting the emergency exits, windows, fire escapes, etc. to meet the current requirements of the fire department and repairing the original elevators, among others, before moving on to the hotel´s refurbishing phase.
The company plans to restore these services and equip and adapt the entire building to its existing quality criterions and fulfilling LEED certification standards in line with our commitment to reducing the environmental impact.