By 6 a.m., a steady mechanical hum seeps into bedrooms at Quantum on the Bay in Edgewater, the soundtrack of Edge House construction on the other side of the narrow alley behind their building. The developer has floated a so-called Good Neighbor Agreement that would have allowed 5 a.m. concrete pours under a city noise waiver, with token concessions like debris netting and pool-deck cleanings, but none of the closest buildings signed on. To neighbors, the proposal looked less like a gesture of goodwill and more like a developer tactic to secure waivers while sidestepping the real disruptions residents are already experiencing. Considering that construction has taken place at all hours, despite the lack of signed agreements, their concerns seem well-founded.
Edge House is the latest monolith due to rise in Edgewater’s skyline, a 57-story tower marketed to buyers as a condo with short-term rental flexibility. “With short-term rentals permitted, residents will have the flexibility to capitalize on Miami’s thriving tourism industry,” a September 2024 Edge House blog reads, “making it not just a residence but an investment opportunity unlike any other.”
That contradiction is no accident: it’s enabled by the Miami 21 Code of Ordinances, the city’s form-based zoning code, which developers and their architects have learned to treat as a playbook of exploitable loopholes…