MIAMI MIRROR TRUE REFLECTIONS

Page 1 of 12




Series: 321 OCEAN ENRIQUE NORTEN


FRANKS FOLLY
The South Beach Noisy Hotel Scare
May 1, 2014
By David Arthur Walters
MIAMI MIRROR
MIAMI MIRROR TRUE REFLECTIONS

Page 2 of 12

Miami BeachAdvertisements for the 321 OCEAN ENRIQUE NORTEN project at 321 Ocean
Drive in South Beach include a picture of its New York developers, Josh Benaim, David Arditi,
and Tim Gordon, applauding Miami Beach Vice Mayor Ed Tobin for the spot zoning that allows
them to cram two condominium masses between relatively narrow and low condominium
buildings. They should also applaud one of my heroes, a man named Frank Del Vecchio.
321 OCEAN ENRIQUE NORTEN is designed by New York/Mexico architect Enrique Norten, who
is not licensed to practice architecture in Florida hence engaged local architect Luis Revuelta to
cover for him. New Yorkers tend to believe Floridians are stupid; therefore they prefer to rely
on New York professionals for Florida ventures. Now the front windows and lanais of the
existing building on the north side of the immense structures face the monstrous project,
therefore residents of the overshadowed smaller building already suffer diminished sunlight,
and they have to cover their windows to secure their privacy from the stares of workmen.
However, residents of the smaller building on the south side of enormous complex have no
such issues since the front of their homes face a park over which they have a fine view of South
Pointe.

Existing north building overshadowed (L) project looms behind south building (R)
Frank Del Vecchio, the gentleman who advocated 321 OCEAN ENRIQUE NORTEN and personally
wrote the zoning amendment allowing the luxury development, lives and presides over the
board at 301 Ocean Drive, the building on the south side of the development. Residents of
Franks building shall continue to enjoy sunlight all day and a permanent view of the park. Now
321 OCEAN ENRIQUE NORTEN is humorously known as Franks Folly because it is said that he is
a wise fool, foolish for advocating a project where there should be none, yet wise for sticking it
to his neighbors in the north building.
MIAMI MIRROR TRUE REFLECTIONS

Page 3 of 12

Del Vecchio, an octogenarian in remarkable physical condition, is known to be a fool in another
sense, as an activist who has preoccupied himself with fighting city hall without pay. Horace
Traubel described such a fool at length in the January 1918 edition of The Conservator:
He became the people's fool. You know how the old kings had their fools. Well: the people this
time had the fool. The kings' fools used to tell the kings the truth. They were the only ones in
the courts who were allowed to tell the truth. They were scoffed at, reviled, spit on, despised.
Yet they could tell the truth. No one was supposed to take the fools seriously. But they were
allowed to talk out. The kings were gone. The last king was dead. There was no monarch for any
fool to play philosopher to any more. The fool was out of a job. So he had to find an occupation.
He did. It was true the kings were all dead and buried. But the people were more alive than
ever. Here was his chance. Why shouldn't the fool now be the people's fool? The truth's needed
more than ever. Suppose the kings are all done for? The people are more than ever in need.
I have much in common with Frank including a high opinion of the breadth of my knowledge
hence an eagerness to answer questions, and a rather acute sense of humor to boot. However,
he has never been scoffed at, reviled, spit on, and despised as I have been. After all, he is far
more gregarious than I, and I lack a law license, his professional manner of addressing very
important people, and a nice apartment overlooking a beach park.

Franks Advantaged View
Frank has publicly inserted his legal opinions into so many issues that he is perceived not only
as a local pundit but as the citys shadow city attorney to City Attorney Jose Smith, whom he
has publicly praised now that Smith is prematurely retiring. That has caused a few people to
MIAMI MIRROR TRUE REFLECTIONS

Page 4 of 12

wonder if he is practicing law in Florida without a license. I do not believe so, at least not in
respect to his lobbying activities. The definition of practicing law is necessarily imprecise
although definitions usually mention compensation for trustworthy advice. He has not
responded to questions about compensation, yet I assume he works for free. And never mind
the stupid states. Lobbyists are not required to have a law license in Florida, nor are they
expected to give sound legal advice to commissions; may heaven forbid!
Frank, by the way, objected to my mentioning him as lobbying for the development of 321
OCEAN ENRIQUE NORTEN. I was concerned with that subject for his sake due to my own
experience with the city after I asked for the city attorneys disclosure statements, whereupon
the city attorney sent an instruction to the city clerk to compile all public record requests in
respect to him, along with any information on business licenses and taxes and the like, for the
purpose of slapping me with a lawsuit.
Frank insisted that he is an advocate. I do not blame him inasmuch as the citys ill-devised
lobbying law prohibits lobbying for a principal even without compensation unless the lobbyist
registers. An exception to the registration requirement is lobbying for a home owners
association such as the condominium board he presides over, but then one still must make a
written declaration. Wherefore I asked Frank to identify the principal for whom he had
successfully advocated 321 OCEAN ENRIQUE NORTEN.
The neighborhood, he responded. We were fighting hotel development cheek by jowl with
neighboring condos.

Frank graduated from protesting trash on beaches, to protesting noisy hotels, to protesting the
administration of City Manager Jorge Gonzalez, and advising the campaign of the new mayor.
MIAMI MIRROR TRUE REFLECTIONS

Page 5 of 12

He is now in his heyday as an activist, having been invited to recite the pledge of allegiance for
the reform commission on April 9, 2014. That is not all he does with his spare time: an online
resume states that he is the president of the South Pointe Residents Association; a member of
City of Miami Beach Condominium Reform Task Force; the South Beach representative of the
City of Miami Beach General Obligation Bond Oversight Committee; chairman of the Technical
Committee, Miami-Dade County Light Rail Transit Citizens Advisory Committee; member of the
Mental Health Court Diversion Project, 11th Judicial Circuit; member of the Miami Beach Design
Review Board; and member of the Urban Arts Committee.
A more exhaustive resume certainly reveals an impressive background before he went into the
balloon business to preside over Balloon Bouquets, Inc. from 1979 to 1995, a corporation still
maintaining a principal place of business address at his South Beach condo.
He graduated from Tufts College magna cum laude before serving as Navy fighter pilot from
1954 to 1959 with Carrier Group One, USS Franklin D. Roosevelt, before attending Harvard Law
School and getting his Massachusetts license in 1962 to practice the noble profession of law. By
the way, he was in the same September 1954 Pensacola entering class of flight students as
Ronald Rumsfeld, who was Princeton NROTC while Frank was Tufts NROTC. They met the first
day at the BOQ dinner mess, and flew together.

Frank served as an attack squadron pilot with the U.S. Naval Ready Reserve in South
Weymouth, Massachusetts, from 1962 to 1966, while working as attorney and director of the
Charlestown Urban Renewal project. He took a job with the District of Columbia
Redevelopment Land Agency as director of the inner-city Shaw Neighborhood Development
Program from 1966 to1970, and then went on to the U.S. Department of Housing & Urban
Development, from 1970 to 1995, as New England Regional Director over Urban Renewal,
Model Cities Program, Metropolitan Planning & Development, Community Planning &
Development, and Homeless Programs, and also served as Regional Environmental Officer.
MIAMI MIRROR TRUE REFLECTIONS

Page 6 of 12


Franks South Beach Overview
I asked Frank why he does not run for the city commission. He said the local electorate is not his
constituency. Although his resume on file with the City of Miami Beach advertises that he
drafted and advocated several ordinances that were enacted enhancing Miami Beach Historic
districts, it does not mention his work at HUD as coordinator for the HOPE 3 Program, which
provided grants for the development of affordable homeownership opportunities. Perhaps he
sees little hope for plenty of affordable housing in Miami Beach given its present constituency.
However that may be, he recently aligned himself with the alleged reformers who took control
of the citys government by virtue of a majority of four among seven: Commissioners Ed Tobin,
Jonah Wolfson, and Michael Grieco, and their great leader, Mayor Philip Levine, a local public
relations magnate and real estate developer who received Bill Clintons endorsement and spent
over a million of his own dollars to win his seat, slapping defamation suits against journalists
who criticized him along the way. The scuttlebutt is that Levine did not really want to be mayor
to begin with, so he had to be persuaded into investing in the citys political future. Their city
manager, Jimmy Morales, a political insider without general administrative experience who was
shooed into the job despite the recommendations of a professional recruitment firm, is quickly
learning on the job and shows considerable promise; he may very well overcome his faults as a
politician and Harvard lawyer.
The controlling juntas foremost concern, with the possible exception of Grieco, has been with
real estate development: what it shall amount to for stakeholders, and with what set of real
estate developers will accomplish their objectives with the assistance of what law firms. As far
MIAMI MIRROR TRUE REFLECTIONS

Page 7 of 12

as they are concerned, real estate is the basis of all wealth; at least one must have something to
stand on. The junta deserves credit for addressing the flood control issue; an apocalypse that
would sink real estate values is greatly feared. And the conservative, businesslike composure of
the commission is gratifying after several years of hysterical convulsions. Significantly, the
newly composed commission addressed an epitome of maladministration and conflicting
interests that plagued the city, ridding the parks of a private tennis center contractor that had
been in an almost continuous breach of contract for a dozen years.

The Simone Hotel was ruined by neglect and developers, 321 Ocean Drive
Now Frank, like many activists, has been against developments as proposed more often than
not; however, he is a compromising lawyer, so he may have some alternative in mind when he
is not dead set against anything at all. In this instance, the developers of the plot behind his
building, where the old Simone Hotel stood until it was condemned and torn down, threatened
to sell the property to hotel developer if they were unable to obtain the residential zoning that
would allow them to raise two condominium buildings and to exceed the current height
limitations. Without the added height, they said the project would be unfeasible. Besides, the
towers would be set back a few feet more on the sides, allowing more space between the
towers and the existing buildings.
Of course that was bosh. This was the last beachfront lot available. Height limitations were set
to prohibit any further buildings of this height from being built. As can be seen from the beach,
the beachside building crammed between the condominiums on each side dwarfs them both.
The development simply does not belong there, as can be plainly seen. And there is nothing
historic about its design. The property should have been seized by eminent domain and
turned into a dog park, or put to some other appropriate use.
MIAMI MIRROR TRUE REFLECTIONS

Page 8 of 12


And, why a hotel project would be feasible without changes in dimension, but not a
condominium, is another question not adequately addressed by experts who have a habit of
proceeding to foregone conclusions depending on whom they serve.
So-called starchitect Enrique Norten, who personally appeared at a neighborhood meeting to
hustle the project for his principals, said it would make a decent, very cheap hotel, but it
wouldnt make a good residential building.
Well, then, why not a good, cheap hotel instead of a colossal residential project? Why not a re-
production of the historic Simone Hotel?

Frank agreed that it is reasonable not to expect much from greedy developers; nevertheless, he
believes wholeheartedly that these New York developers, Josh Benaim, David Arditi, and Tim
Gordon, are nice kids who really care about the community they threatened to abandon if they
did not get their way.
It may be hard for some to imagine that the developers would take a hit to the bottom line to
please the community, he said when reached at his home overlooking the park and beach,
considering the well-founded cynicism about developers and their games, but the three young
MIAMI MIRROR TRUE REFLECTIONS

Page 9 of 12

developers were just as interested in working together on a project they could be proud of as a
bottom line. These are three talented young guys who grew up together and always wanted to
join forces. They landed up joining forces with a community that was eager to support a condo,
staving off the nightmare of another hotel.
Noise, he went on, is the real threat to the public health, welfare and safety, not the 25
additional feet of height at the rear, on a line with the three ten-story oceanfront condo towers
north of this site, and the Marriott and Bentley hotel towers south of the site.
Frank should know what the possible outcomes would be given the circumstances including the
prejudices of the parties involved. He must have figured eminent domain seizure would be
unlikely because it would run contrary to the traditional worship of Mammon. He probably
believed approval of a condominium would be likely if support could be garnished to that end.
He knew a hotel would be economically feasible, yet a big condominium would be immediately
profitable to the developers. The construction cost is estimated at $18,000,000. The penthouse
is priced at $25,000,000. Go figure.
Indeed, Frank was the man to call for the right solution to development on South Beach.
The site was previously approved for a 130-room hotel with restaurant and bar seating, he
explained, a rooftop pool deck with an elevator providing direct access to kitchen and bar
service, an oceanfront restaurant patio level, and an oceanfront pool deck with direct access via
two wide stairways to restaurant and bar service. Jan Hochstim, professor of architecture at
University of Miami, did detailed site studies showing that the aggregate capacity for
destination restaurants could be several hundred patrons. After the developer defaulted on his
mortgage obligations to TD Bank, I was contacted by a well-known developer attorney who told
me he had a hotel developer client. I reminded the attorney of neighborhood opposition to a
hotel at that location, and that a condo would be welcome but not a hotel. This preceded the
effort by the current owners to buy the property out of foreclosure. One of the first things they
told our board of directors when we met with them shortly after the purchase was that they
had already gotten six offers for the site from hotel developers. They were not hotel
developers and did not want to develop a hotel. They wanted to develop a condo. Their
architect did sketch plans for several ways to locate a condo on the site, and made that
preservation to a public meeting sponsored by the Miami Design Preservation League. The
approach with the least visual impact on the neighborhood and surrounding condos was the
one finally pursued. I never asked the purchasers what hotel developers were interested. I
already had a preview from the developer's attorney who contacted me. I also knew generally
from my extensive brushing of elbows at city hall with developers' attorneys and their
principals that, oceanfront properties that could be developed as hotels were hot properties.
MIAMI MIRROR TRUE REFLECTIONS

Page 10 of 12

That is what the oceanfront lots on Miami Beach under development since are being developed
for.
Yes, one thing Frank did not want in his own backyard was another hotel. Hotels are inherently
noisy because, as everyone who lives in the hotel district knows very well, noise ordinances are
inadequate to keep the peace, and the existing ordinances are inadequately or selectively
enforced by the citys lax and often corrupted code enforcement agencies. I lived smack dab in
the middle of Waikiki for many years, where I worked for travel agencies and hotels. I was
never disturbed by noise, except on the July Fourth, before fireworks were regulated, nor did I
field any complaints about noise. South Beach, however, is notorious for its party hotels. When
the Cleveland Hotel on Ocean Drive was renovated recently, sturdy furniture was nailed down
and surfaces were rendered vomit-proof.

I was invited to a deafening Miami New Times party on the rooftop of the Congress Hotel at
1052 Ocean Drive. I made the mistake of inviting a friend, enticing her with my good company,
and mentioning the open bar.
Rooftop party, free drinks? Not for me! Those parties are for losers and freeloaders! I asked
her to put away her cookie cutter, because I was no loser or freeloader, I was just hoping to
meet a New Times reporter face to face. Yes, you are a loser and a freeloader, and refuse to
face the truth about yourself, because if you were not, you would not go to that rooftop party!
I went to the party. The noise violated OSHA parameters three times over. The party was for
the deaf and dumb or insane. People were screaming at one another as they waited forever for
margueritas to be poured from plastic storage boxes and trash cans. I order a Red Stripe
because the sight was repulsive. The bartender demanded $8 for the beer. I screamed my
thanks to Sindy Munoz, the sweet event coordinator, for waiving the price of the beer, and left
with ears ringing for a half hour. My friend gave me the silent treatment for a full week.
I had forgotten that she had just recovered from the awful noise emanating from a week of
rooftop parties at the Gale Regent Hotel near her home. And that was in addition to weekly
music booming from the outdoor lounge at the Ritz Carlton. In fact, it was so loud that I called it
MIAMI MIRROR TRUE REFLECTIONS

Page 11 of 12

in to Code Compliance. And to the Fire Department since the rooftop was overcrowded.
Neither Code Compliance nor Fire Department officers were very enthusiastic about sending
someone over. Code Compliance did come and issued a warning, and on the next day, as the
part continued, fined the hotel a thousand dollars. The way that usually goes is the owner
appeals to the special magistrate, who reduces or dismisses the fine. After all, this noisy party
hotel is controlled by the family of the powerful developer, Russell Galbut.

Gale Regent Party Hotel
Yes, Frank and his neighbors had a good point; that is, if party hoteliers like the Galbuts or their
Menin Hotel Group were likely to get their hands on 321 Ocean Drive and make the lives of
residents miserable.

The Mondrian Hotel generates many noise complaints
Galbuts flagship noisy hotel conversion venture was the Mondrian condominium building on
West Avenue. Noise makes enemies. Rude noisemakers have been shot dead by the
depraved persons insulted, wherefore noise ordinances. A fellow by the name of Bruce Mazer
who lives next door to the Mondrian is one of the many persons insulted by the Mondrian
MIAMI MIRROR TRUE REFLECTIONS

Page 12 of 12

racket; he has dedicated countless hours to getting the Galbuts cited for violations of all sorts
all over town.

One partner promising no accessories while another partner almost interrupted
One of the OCEAN ENRIQUE NORTEN developers was caught on camera at the neighborhood
presentation promising there would be no commercial accessories associated with the
development. Curiously, a colleague almost interrupted him at that point, as if to take
exception, but kept his mouth shut.
The truth about this project shall be told in time. I am standing by for an invitation to the grand
opening. If invited, I shall propose a toast to Frank, without whom the project would not be a
fait accompli. In my opinion, that is worth a life tenancy in one of the $1.5 million units.
# #
NEXT: Why 321 OCEAN ENRIQUE NORTEN does not really belong in that spot.