Inman

Miami’s One Thousand Museum will rise above the ordinary

Roberto A Sanchez / iStock.com

One Thousand Museum By Zaha Hadid is taking shape on Biscayne Boulevard.

We already know a few things about One Thousand Museum, the ultra-luxury, 62-story condo building under construction now.

ONE Sotheby’s International Realty is responsible for sales of the 83 units that will soon comprise the building.

That comes out to roughly one or two units per floor.

Real estate developers Louis Birdman and Gregg Covin snagged Pritzker Prize-winning architect Zaha Hadid, who does not often design buildings on this side of the globe.

The project is on the last parcel available in the Biscayne Blvd. district that’s right across from museums, and other retail.

The area is just now starting to see increased foot traffic, said Kevin Venger, one of the three developers of the project.

“This building is desirable because of a combination of design and location,” he said. “But it’s more location, as it’s the last spot on Biscayne Blvd.”

He added that he was one of the developers on another spot as the spaces on the street diminished. Now that, after seven years of related construction, pedestrian traffic is beginning to flow on the boulevard.

He said that that dynamic would help One Thousand Museum fill its retail space.

Currently, the construction’s at the stage where the podium over the parking deck is finished. In the second quarter of 2017, it’s expected that the whole structure will be topped off.

One Thousand Museum a global building

What’s beyond the pale for this building is part of the exoskeleton for the building is being built in Dubai.

Venger said that computer-generated models created by the architects and structural engineers are sent to a company in Dubai that casts the huge panels, which are then shipped back to the U.S. 

He said that the process was begun a year and a half ago, and the first set of panels will be placed on a ship at the end of this month, with expected arrival in Florida on April 16.

“It’s an architectural design that no one this side of the ocean had seen before,” he added. “There’s no one else doing exoskeleton work like this in South Florida.”

He said it’s not only aesthetically pleasing, as the columns will not simply extend from ground to roof, but will begin on the 15th floor, but casting them this way shaves six months off construction.

Internationally renowned for her revolutionary designs worldwide, including Beijing, Abu Dhabi, Rome, and London, Zaha Hadid was the developers’ first choice for One Thousand Museum.

“Miami has become a truly global city, and we wanted to work with someone who has the vision to create an architectural icon that will capture its unique character,” said Birdman and Covin in a joint statement.

“Zaha Hadid is a visionary. The buildings she designs not only make headlines worldwide but also garner critical acclaim and promise to be in history books for generations to come.”

Located at 1000 Biscayne Boulevard on a coveted property overlooking MuseumPark and Biscayne Bay, One Thousand Museum will be Zaha Hadid’s first residential skyscraper in the Western Hemisphere. It will be comprised solely of half- and full-floor residences, duplex townhomes, and a single duplex penthouse.  

Museum Park, the future home of the Peréz Art Museum Miami and the Frost Museum of Science, is rapidly becoming one of Miami’s most prestigious cultural destinations.

While Venger could not share what purveyors were in the hunt for space in One Thousand Museum, he did add that those chosen would begin work to open in time for the building grand opening in late 2018.

Email Kimberley Sirk.