SUPERIOR APTS 7800 NW 2Nd Avenue Preliminary Designation
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SUPERIOR APTS 7800 NW 2nd Avenue Preliminary Designation Report Submitted by: Laura Weinstein-Berman Vagabond Group Consulting, LLC I. GENERAL INFORMATION Historic Name: Mol-Ral Motel Superior Motel and Apartments Current Name: Sevilla Condominiums Location: 7800 NW 2nd Avenue Miami, FL 33150 Present Owner: 7800 Scatter LLC 7272 NE 6 Court Ste 10 MIAMI, FL 33138 Present Occupant: Multiple tenants Present Use: Apartments Present Zoning District: T5-R HC Zoning Overlay District: n/a 1 SUPERIOR APTS 7800 NW 2nd Avenue Location Map 2 II. SIGNIFICANCE Statement of Significance: The Superior Apts is significant for its association with the development trends of Greater Miami during the mid-twentieth century and the growth of the Little River/Little Haiti community, historically referred to as Lemon City. The building is an excellent example of MiMo architecture along the 79th Street thoroughfare and is noteworthy for incorporating elements of post-World War II automobile culture. It is also notable for its details, materials and craftsmanship, as reflected in its symmetrical U-shaped building footprint, open-air verandas with catwalks, patterned stucco with slump brick details, original ironwork, and a distinctive monument sign. It is the last extant example of a 1950’s/1960’s MiMo motel/apartment composed of a U-shaped footprint within the Little Haiti neighborhood. As the City progressed from a resort destination to a diversified economy, extensive new suburban areas were expanded and the automobile became a dominant force in influencing architecture.1 An extensive number of motels appeared along Biscayne Boulevard during the 1950’s expansion, with more affordable options extending westward along the 79th Street corridor towards the popular Hialeah Park Race Track. Additionally, this era marked a new fashion in building design that incorporated “jet-age styling” and advanced materials. The structure was completed in 1953, with renovations to the west building in the mid-1960’s. Serving intially as a motel with efficiency apartments, budget travelers visiting Miami for seasonal, monthly, weekly, and overnight visits were provided a cost-effective means of vacation. Today, the property is undergoing rehabilitation, conforming to the Secretary of Interior Standards, to maintain affordability within the historic Little Haiti area while preserving its architectural identity. 1 “MiMo on The Beach,” City of Miami Beach, www.mimoonthebeach.com. Accessed November 27, 2017. 3 Relationship to Criteria for Designation: As stated above, the Superior Apts has significance in the historical and architectural heritage of the City of Miami; possesses integrity of location, design, setting, materials, workmanship, feeling and association; and is eligible for designation under the following criteria: (3) Exemplify the historical, cultural, political, economical, or social trends of the community; Following the outbreak of World War II, Greater Miami became a major training center for the Armed Forces. The end of the war brought an influx of people, including former soldiers, and the area of Little Haiti was simultaneously experiencing an influx of immigrants, concentrating in this area.2 Consequently, Greater Miami experienced a post-World War II boom with expansion along its former outskirts. For the first time, automobiles were a dominant force in city planning and architectural programming. Businesses, resorts, and motels along major thoroughfares catered to automobile drivers. It was in this climate that the Superior Motel and Apts was developed, capitalizing on its central location along the 79th Street thoroughfare, just blocks from the U.S. 1 highway, with the beaches to the east and racing tracks to the west. Affordable seasonal, monthly, weekly, and nightly rental apartements composed of individual efficiencies with kitchenettes allowed visitors from modest economic backgrounds to enjoy cost-effective vacations. (4) Portray the environment in an era of history characterized by one or more distinctive architectural styles; Superior Apts embodies characteristics of the MiMo (Miami Modern) style which was popular from 1945 to the mid-1960’s.3 It represents an motel/apartment interpretation of Subtropical Modernism, an adaptation of The International Style to the local climate. The Superior Motel and Apts capitalized on the booming post-World War II tourism economy, providing a cost-effective vacation for America’s middle-class population, reflected in its interpretation of MiMo architecture. (5) Embody those distinguishing characteristics of an architectural style, or period, or method of construction; Superior Apts is an excellent example of the application of the post-World War II MiMo (Miami Modern) style of architecture to the South Florida environment. The building is particularly noteworthy for its stylized monumental sign wall, original ironwork, patterned stucco with slump brick details, open-air verandas with catwalks, semifloating staircases, and symmetrical U-shaped building footprint. The monumental neon logo was prominently placed on the sign wall in order to attract the attention of passing motorists. Its central parking courtyard reflects the era’s motor- 2 Dunn, 332. 3 Nash and Robinson, 9. 4 age sensibilities towards tourism, transportation, and technology. It is the last extant example of a MiMo motel/apartment composed of a U-shaped footprint within the Little Haiti neighborhood. 5 III. HISTORICAL INFORMATION Date of Construction: 1953 Addition in 1965 Architect: Unknown Builder/Contractor: Unknown Historical Context: Bordering the Little River area to the north and Little Haiti to the South, the building location was originally included in the expansion of the City Map of Miami from 1920-1925.4 (Figure 1: Map of the City of Miami, 1935). On the 78th Street block, major development had not been constructed until the mid-1950’s. The 1925 G.M. Hopkins Plat Book of Greater Miami, demonstrates fifty-foot wide plats belonging to “Crosel Heights” with a few scattered wood- frame structures on the 78th Street block of NW 2nd Avenue. (Figure 2: 1925 G.M. Hopkins Plat Book of Greater Miami) Known historically as Lemon City, the area was most likely used as agricultural land in the late 19th-century by early Miami pioneers and homesteaders.5 (Figure 3: Little River homestaed by Alva F. Woods, 1843) As one of the first areas settled in Miami, Lemon City was known as a “farm trade town with a lively port,” through the late-19th century.6 The Business Directory and Guide of Dade County, 1896-97 stated, “Lemon City was, up to the beginning of Miami, the largest place on the Bay, and has a prosperous settlement for several miles back.”7 (Figure 4: Rock Road between Buena Vista and Lemon City in 1902) As with the modernization of most Miami neighborhoods, development was predicated on the expansion of railroad infrastructure in 1896 and access to water. The 1925 map demonstrates the proximity to the Florida East Coast Railway a few blocks south from the Crosel Heights plats. The natural landscape of Lemon City had few mangroves, allowing easy port access.8 In 1892, the county constructed the first railway from Lemon City to 4 Sauer and Seghy, Map of the City of Miami and Environs, 1935. Courtesy Library of Congress. 5 Previously the Tequesta and Seminole Indian tribes dominated the area. Homesteaders were promised 160 acres in return for living on the frontier as a deterrent to native Indian occupants. Peters, 75; “Lemon City came very near being named “Motlo,” after a Seminole Indian chief of that name. In fact, when the citizens of the community asked the government to establish a post office there (about 1870), Motlo was the name agreed upon.” Leyden, Section B. 6 Mahoney, 17. 7 Ibid., 171. “Though Lemon City was a port it never was a port of entry; though it called itself “City” it had no local government, no land taxes, no police or fire department, no newspaper, no zoning, no garbage pickup, no sewer, no water system, and until 1909, no electricity.” Ibid., 3. 8 Peters, Lemon City Tour Guide, a1. 6 Lantana, and development expanded westward. By 1925, Lemon City was annexed into the City of Miami. The area served a diverse population. Though never officially designated as a city or port, the neighborhood was a “community of people… The population in the early years included Crackers and Midwesterners, Tar Heels, and Conchs, black and white Bahamians, so many Europeans it was necessary to have a French Mike and a Dutch Mike (the latter actually a German as were so many Lemon citizens) and, of course, the haunting presence of the oldest group, the Indians.”9 Beginning in the late 1920’s, the area began to be developed to facilitate Miami’s building boom.10 In 1929, the North Bay Causeway over Biscayne Bay opened and aligned with 79th Street, linking Miami Beach to Miami and continued westward. Established by developer Henri Levy, it’s completion coincided with the popularity of the Hialeah Park Race Track, coupling “hostelries and wealthy winter residents with the racetrack and betting.”11 Previously there were only two bridges connecting Miami to Miami Beach over the Biscayne Bay; the southern “Causeway” linked to 5th Street in South Beach and the northern Venetian Way which linked to Dade Boulevard. (Figure 5: 1925 G.M. Hopkins Plat Book of Greater Miami) Florida’s population grew by over eighty percent by the end of the 1940’s. In addition to a recovering economy, paid vacations and Social Security benefits became beneficial post-World War II innovations for South Florida.12 Biscayne Boulevard, also known as U.S. Highway 1, became a crucial node for motorists arriving on vacation, with the development of boulevard motels as “typical roadside motels or prewar motor courts.”13 Biscayne Boulevard was dominated by motor courts and motels constructed in the early 1950’s, and became a representative example of the MiMo typology.14 The urban lots along Biscayne Boulevard were smaller in dimension, as compared to their Miami Beach resort counterparts.