A proposed nine-story mixed-use development in Coral Gables is one step closer to breaking ground on the site of the Garden of Our Lord, despite a local activist’s campaign to save the garden and a live oak tree said to be up to 200 years old.
At a special master hearing Tuesday, a panel of three independent architects unanimously upheld the Coral Gables Board of Architects’ October 2023 decision to approve the project’s architectural plan. Bonnie Bolton, a Gables resident and activist who has been at odds with developers over the future of the land for years, had appealed the board’s original decision.
The Board of Architects reviews upcoming developments to ensure that structures comply with city design requirements. The proposed project, on a site at 110 Phoenetia Ave., went before the board five times before it was approved…