Miami Beach’s historic Savoy Hotel could face demolition for a 38-story tower

Photo credit: State Archives of Florida/FloridaMemory.com The Savoy Hotel has stood on Miami Beach’s Ocean Drive since 1937, a low-rise Art Deco landmark in a neighbourhood defined by that style. Now, a plan filed by Allied Partners would demolish most of the Savoy and the neighbouring Arlington Hotel to make way for a 38-story, 480-foot tower designed by Arquitectonica. The project relies on Florida’s Live Local Act to bypass local zoning limits and on the Resiliency and Safe Structures Act to allow demolition of flood-vulnerable historic buildings, according to WLRN and project filings. Read on to know more details here:A landmark from the 1930sThe Savoy Hotel was built in 1937, during the era when Miami Beach’s Ocean Drive was taking shape as a showcase for Art Deco architecture. Its low-rise footprint and distinctive facade have made it a familiar sight in the South of Fifth neighbourhood for nearly a century. The neighbouring Arlington Hotel, built in 1941, shares the block and has been closed since it was badly damaged by Hurricane Irma. Under the current proposal, the Arlington would be demolished entirely, while the Savoy would lose most of its structure. What remains would...