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As if 150 of the world’s rarest sports cars weren’t enough, two of Miami’s hottest restaurants — Carbone and Casa Tua — are joining the party.

The first-ever ModaMiami, an exclusive car show featuring rare Porsches, Lamborghinis, and other sports cars, began on Thursday, February 29, and runs through Sunday, March 3, at the Biltmore in Coral Gables

At the core of the event: an array of classic vintage motorcars, luxury lifestyle experiences, and a weekend-long, onsite shopping experience including designer handbags, jewelry, and more.

On the culinary front, Mario Carbone (of Major Food Group, Carbone, Dirty French Steakhouse, and ZZ’s Club), will host a one-of-a-kind dinner on Friday, March 1, at 7 p.m. against a backdrop of cars from the Collection Ferrari of Miami.

"The evening will begin with a welcome reception with a selection of passed canapés," Carbone tells New Times. "Following, guests will take seats for a four-course, family-style dinner beginning with our famous bread service, followed by antipasti, pastas, a main course, and dessert."

The menu, provided to New Times, will include Carbone’s iconic "Spicy Rigatoni Vodka" accompanied by "Mario’s Meatballs," "Dover Piccata," and "Veal Parmesan," followed by a dessert spread featuring lemon cheesecake, a chocolate praline terrine, and rainbow cookies. Tickets for the event cost $1,000 per person.

Also on the culinary front, Casa Tua will set up a special club space at the Biltmore where it will provide Italian-inspired bites, free-flowing libations, and views of the car showcase. The Casa Tua Club runs Saturday, March 2, and Sunday, March 3, with tickets priced at $875 per day.

"ModaMiami distinguishes itself through its enhanced focus on exceptional entertainment, gourmet culinary offerings, and a high-end luxury marketplace," ModaMiami writes in a press release. "ModaMiami is envisioned as a grand celebration of the collector car universe, embracing both classic and contemporary models. As pioneers in this field, we are continually forward-thinking, aiming to inspire and invigorate the next generation of enthusiasts."

Beyond the Carbone and Casa Tua offerings, ModaMiami organizers say must-sees include the 100 Club — an unveiling of 99 curated cars, with the 100th car staged for a special reveal — and a two-day RM Sotheby's auction with a "focus on the alluring 'Youngtimer' genre, sleek and unique modern-day supercars, and significant prewar classics.'"

ModaMiami. Thursday, February 29, through Sunday, March 3, at the Biltmore, 1200 Anastasia Ave., Coral Gables; modamiami.com. Adult general admission tickets start at $150, Carbone Gala Dinner tickets cost $1,000, and Casa Tua Club single-day admission starts at $875.

CORAL GABLES, Fla. – A historic waterfront home in Coral Gables could meet the wrecking ball and city officials are blaming the state legislature for their inability to preserve it.

The property, located at 140 Arvida Parkway in the gated Gables Estates neighborhood, was built in 1963 and designed by Alfred Browning Parker.

“It’s a masterpiece,” said Karelia Martinez Carbonell, President of the Historic Preservation Association of Coral Gables.

Parker is an architect of such distinction, he was the subject of a History Miami Museum exhibition.

“He is actually compared to Frank Lloyd Wright in his architectural designs and forward thinking,” said Carbonell.

The home, which once graced the cover of “Home Beautiful” in 1965, is now on the cusp of demolition.

“The legislature has passed legislation which preempts us from preserving historic properties that are near the water because of the flood zone,” said Coral Gables Commissioner Ariel Fernandez.

Said Carbonell: “He designed a home within a natural environment and this home actually was built at a higher level, where the living areas are above the flood zone, so it is ironic that it is going to be demolished because of this law.”

The home and the bigger issue of state law were the subject of a discussion at city hall.

City commissioners were unanimous in a decision to gain back historical preservation control.

Carbonell told Local 10 News she plans to appeal directly to Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis.

“Right before this law was enacted, the city was considering designation for this home,” she said. “Governor DeSantis should really take a look at the law, because it is going to play havoc, not just here, but in Miami Beach, Palm Beach is being effected, many other municipalities. I am delivering a personal overture to the governor because he is the only one who can create an exception for this home. I think the implications were not really thought through and not when it comes to the cultural and architectural heritage of a place.”

Miami Beach officials cited that law when they said they were powerless to stop the demolition of famed mobster Al Capone’s old Palm Island home.

The city of Coral Gables said that as of now, a demolition permit has not been issued for the property.

Local 10 News reached out to the property owner for a statement but have not heard back at the time of this story’s publishing.

READ THE CORAL GABLES RESOLUTION BELOW:

Copyright 2023 by WPLG Local10.com - All rights reserved.

Ignoring pleas from preservationists and architects around the country, a Texas mogul who paid $36 million for a Coral Gables home widely regarded as a modern design masterwork is now in the process of knocking it to pieces.

Backhoes were at work Thursday ripping apart the “Sea Aerie” house designed and built in 1963 by famed Miami architect Alfred Browning Parker for his family in the city’s Gables Estates section. Chunks of limestone lay on the ground by the home’s once-grand gateway, and the panoramic elevated swimming pool and a massive tree that occupied the entry courtyard were gone.

“I know there are a lot of people who are brokenhearted about this,” said the late architect’s daughter, Lebritia Kendrick Parker, who lived in the house as a young girl. “It’s tragic.”

The home’s destruction by a new owner, identified as Felix Sorkin, founder of General Technologies outside Houston, was made possible by a controversial 2022 state law that prohibits local authorities from blocking the demolition of single-family homes in designated high-risk flood zones if they were not previously protected as historic or architectural landmarks.

The demolition comes as Miami’s relentless redevelopment and real-estate speculation claims some of the city’s most prominent architectural and historic landmarks, including ancient archaeological sites. The state pre-emption law that paved the way for the Parker house tear-down also led to the demolition of mobster Al Capone’s Miami Beach estate in August.

Read More: How Florida law allowed demolition of landmark home

Also this week, Miami’s historic preservation board declared a prehistoric indigenous settlement site on the Miami River in Brickell an archaeological landmark, but will also allow the Related Group to build a tower atop it. Related, a major developer, is already building two more towers next door over what’s considered to be the one of the most important and extensive discoveries of ancient settlement in Florida.

The loss of the house also comes a week before a new documentary on Parker’s work that has been picked up by PBS will have its premiere in Gainesville, where the architect studied and taught at the University of Florida. The Gables Estates house is featured in the film.

Officials in Coral Gables, known as a bastion of historic preservation, said the new law tied their hands and compelled them to issue a demolition permit for the Parker house, at 140 Arvida Parkway. The city commission has asked the state legislature to revise the law to permit exemptions in cases of significant homes.

Kendrick Parker said the office of Gov. Ron Desantis did not respond to requests that he intervene to halt the demolition to give the family and preservationists time to attempt to persuade Sorkin to save the house. Neither did Sorkin or his representatives, she said.

Groups from the American Institute of Architects’ Florida and Miami chapters to Docomomo, an international organization that advocates for the preservation of modern buildings, issued letters and statements extolling the home’s architectural value. The AIA chapters in a joint letter called the decision to demolish “incomprehensible as well as unforgivable.”

Read More: An architectural gem was just razed in Coral Gables. See the before and after photos

Sorkin’s response was silence.

“Many letters were written. You would think the courtesy of a reply would have been warranted in a situation like this,” she said. “The big concern is not only that this house is now gone, but there are other homes now in jeopardy.”

Kendrick Parker also blamed the real estate agents who advertised the property as a potential redevelopment.

“The real estate agent who sold it as a tear-down should be ashamed,” she said. “I know they want to make a sale, but there should be a distinction between a sale and something that is a part of Miami’s historic landscape.”

Parker, who designed more than 500 homes and buildings in a 60-year career, was in his heyday regarded as Miami’s answer to Frank Lloyd Wright. The most famous American architect not only inspired Parker’s own “organic” approach to design, which was closely attuned to nature and the environment and sought to harmonize a home or building with its surroundings.

Other houses by Parker in Coral Gables and Miami’s Coconut Grove are designated as protected historic landmarks, but many of his works have been lost to demolition or neglect. Some of his homes in recent years have commanded multi-million-dollar sale prices from owners who have renovated or preserved them.

The Gables Estates home was widely published, praised as one of his most ambitious and fully realized designs. Ironically, it anticipated many of the elements required by modern building codes to contend with hurricane wind and storm surge -- ostensibly the reason behind the state pre-emption law.

All living areas in the three-story main house were elevated above the ground floor, and an open “seaway” and angled support columns were designed to channel surging water through the house. The pool deck was also raised well above ground level.

The home was built under Parker’s direct supervision with lavish use of local and tropical materials like oolitic limestone and Honduran mahogany, with friezes and other artworks built into columns and interior walls.

House Beautiful magazine dedicated its entire May 1965 issue to the house, naming it its Pace Setter Home of the year — a significant honor at the time that Parker had received twice before. The magazine called the home innovative, “lofty” and “heroic.”

The family trust of longtime owner Mary Jean “Bunny” Bastian, a prominent Gables socialite and philanthropist, put the house up for sale after her death last year, initially asking $45 million, before the Texas businessman eventually bought it for $9 million less. Bastian had renovated the home with Parker’s guidance before his death in 2011. Kendrick Parker said she understands the house was in top condition when Sorkin bought it.

Kendrick Parker said she finds some consolation in the fact that the home’s destruction has brought renewed attention to her father’s work.

Along with the Nov. 16 premiere of the documentary “Perfect House, Magic city: The world of Alfred Browning Parker,” the Gainesville Modern preservation group will hold a celebration of his work at a home he designed in the college town. (The home was the location of early rehearsals for the band that would become Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers).

“That’s the silver lining. The house is physically gone,” Kendrick Parker said, referring to the Gables home. “But it will live forever in the documentary and in books and magazines.”

This story was originally published November 10, 2023, 5:30 AM.

U.S.-based law firm Hinshaw & Culbertson has leased more than 21,000 square feet of office space in The Plaza Coral Gables in Coral Gables, Fla., according to Blanca Commercial Real Estate.

Developed by Agave Holdings and completed last November, the 7-acre Plaza includes approximately 455,008 square feet of office space in two towers, referred to as North Tower and South Tower.

SEE ALSO: NWF Renews Space in DC’s Metro Center

The law firm was one of six new tenants to sign at the property. The other new tenants include Eisner Advisory Group, Trax USA, Diageo North America, W.E. Family Offices and Marriott International, which will all occupy space in the North Tower. The 291,267 square feet of office space in the North Tower is 83 percent leased thanks to the new and existing tenants, while The Plaza overall is now nearly 90 percent leased.

“We have witnessed continued leasing momentum and are positive that it will result in full occupancy by year end,” said Tere Blanca, founder and CEO of Blanca Commercial Real Estate.

In addition to the office towers, the Plaza includes the 242-room Loews Coral Gable Hotel, 165,000 square feet of street-level dining and entertainment space, 170 “high-end” rental units and a large open green space.

Despite office market activity generally lagging behind pre-pandemic levels in some major U.S. cities, commercial real estate is booming in South Florida, executives at Avison Young told the Commercial Observer in June.

Along with sunny weather, geographic location and other advantages, Avison Young Principal John Crotty said that the state’s tax benefits create a strong incentive for companies around the country to relocate to the region, thus fueling demand for space.

Nick Trombola can be reached at NTrombola@commercialobserver.com.

MG Developer secured a $67.5 million construction loan for the Village at Coral Gables, which will feature a mix of for-sale villas, townhomes, lofts and flats.

Churchill Real Estate provided the loan to the Miami-based developer, led by CEO Alirio Torrealba. It secures the 2.6-acre site at 535 Santander Ave.

MG Developer said it plans to break ground on the Village at Coral Gables by the end of July and wrap up construction in the fourth quarter of 2025 or the first quarter of 2026. The general contractor is Coral Gables-based FC&E.

“We are truly excited to now be entering the construction phase of The Village at Coral Gables,” Torrealba stated. “It’s been a true labor of love, from the initial planning phase to now."

The Village at Coral Gables will feature 48 units, with a variety of villas, townhomes, lofts and flats. The townhouses will range from 1,750 to 3,100 square feet. Prices start at $1.7 million.

Amenities will include a 4,000-square-foot clubhouse with a lounge, fitness center a business center and a pool.

Coral Gables-based De La Guardia Victoria Architects & Urbanists designed the project. One Sotheby’s International Realty is the exclusive broker for this development.

“MG Developer has a strong track record of delivering exceptional projects, and we are excited about MG bringing this highly anticipated development to life,” stated Jeff Rosenfeld, co-head of loan originations at Churchill Real Estate.

MG Developer, through affiliate Gables Village Propco LLC, assembled the property for a combined $15.85 million in 2022.

Meanwhile, MG Developer is working on plans for a condo on Alhambra Circle. There’s been more high-end residential development in Coral Gables in recent years as wealthy people seek to live in the city, with its popular restaurants, good schools and office sector with many financial and law firms.

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