Burkhart Studio & Apartments in Brickell
Constructed as an office studio and apartment building in 1937, the front façade of the Burkhart building was incorporated into the lobby of the building at 1150 South Miami Avenue.
While the Brickell neighborhood may not be a showcase for historic buildings, there are examples of preservation and adaptive reuse that are not always within plain sight. One example of this can be found in the lobby of the Seacoast Bank edifice at 1150 South Miami Avenue. Enveloped around a building constructed in the early 1990s is history that dates to 1937.
The Burkhart studios and apartment building was constructed at a time of an architectural crossroad in South Florida. While Art Deco was the predominant style of the mid to late 1930s, the Burkhart building incorporated a style of an earlier Miami featuring a predominantly Mediterranean theme, with some contemporary Art Deco influences. This is the story of the studio and apartment building façade that was preserved to provide an historic aesthetic to the interior of a modern commercial building.
The Burkhart Building
Wilford Henry Burkhart was an artisan and dealer of residential and commercial tile when he conceived of constructing a building to act as both an office studio and small apartment building. He was the founder and owner of the American-Olean of Miami company which was an authorized reseller and supplier of commercial tile for construction projects.
By the end of the summer of 1937, Burkhart was granted a building permit to construct what was described by the Miami Herald as “a concrete block and stucco studio and apartment building.” Wilford was issued the permit on August 29th to build his structure for an estimated cost of $12,000. He hired the architectural firm of Paist and Steward to design the building, and general contractor firm Fred Howland Inc. to construct the building.
What was unique about the design of the building was the front courtyard which included a mosaic tiled fountain and an ornate colonnade to greet tenants and visitors to the building. The liberal use of the mosaic tile around the rounded colonnade entrance, as well as found throughout the fountain, provides an association with the Art Deco style that was so prevalent during the time when the building was designed and constructed.
While Phineas Paist and Harold Steward may have been well known for their work centered around neo-classical Mediterranean designs during the 1920s, they also adapted their blueprints for the contemporary design styles of the time. While there are Art Deco elements in the Burkhart building, there are also Mediterranean features including the arched windows and ornamental columns. Overall, the style of the building may best be described as Mediterranean Moderne.
The building served as a combination studio and apartment building until the late 1980s. Wilford Burkhart passed away in February of 1988 during a year when his building was under consideration for inclusion in a national register of historic places application filed in October of that year.
Historic Preservation
As part of a larger effort to preserve historic buildings in and around Miami, an application for a national historic district was authored by the city of Miami’s Historic Preservation Officer in the fall of 1988. The Burkhart Studio at 1150 South Miami Avenue was one of many buildings included in the district application which included The Boulevard Shops on Biscayne Boulevard, City National Bank building at 121 SE First Street, Southside School in Brickell, as well as many other buildings that comprised a list of 40 total structures located within the city boundaries.
The district application was prepared and submitted by the City Preservation Office, Sarah Eaton, in October of 1988. It was approved and signed by the Keeper of the National Register, Amy Schlagel, on December 28, 1988, providing a modicum of historic preservation protection for the Burkhart building.
While national historic designation is a good thing, it did not provide the same level of protection as local designation by the City of Miami. The fate of the building was largely in the hands of the current owner of the building, which changed in 1991.
Ganadero Financial Center
Banco Ganadero was one of the largest banks in Colombia when they established a presence in Miami in 1981 on the 17th floor of the Interterra building at 1200 Brickell Avenue. Given the timing of their entrance into the Miami market and the location of their corporate headquarters, there were questions about whether there was an affiliation with any of the Colombian drug cartels. This question was answered in a story published in the Miami Herald on June 17, 1988, confirming that Jorge Luis Ochoa, one of the founding members of the Medellin Cartel, owned roughly a four percent stake in the bank. Actually, the story originally wrote that it was Pablo Escobar who had ownership interest in the bank, but that was corrected a week later in the June 24th edition of the Herald.
By the early 1990s, Banco Ganadero was ready to establish roots in the Brickell neighborhood when they purchased the Burkhart building, along with the lot to the north of the building, with the intention of constructing their Miami offices. As part of the plan to construct a new building, the general manager of the bank in Miami, Juan B. Echeverry, agreed to incorporate the front façade into the bank’s new edifice.
The design of the 28,000 square foot building consists of a terracotta brick façade, which was a hallmark of modern Bogota architecture at the time, and would be constructed around a central courtyard which included foliage, including palm trees, as well as the fountain and front façade of the Burkhart building. The Ganadero Financial Center, as the building was called, opened in December of 1991.
Shortly after moving into their new offices, the Miami Committee on Beautification gave their Building of the Month award to the Ganadero Financial Center, primarily for how they incorporated the historic Burkhart building into the interior of the building to provide one of the most unique bank lobbies in South Florida. While Banco Ganadero did not offer traditional banking services such as checking and savings accounts, and hence did not generate a lot foot traffic into their place of business, the lobby of their building became an attraction for local residents to see how the old Burkhart building was included in the edifice’s design.
The Building Today
Banco Ganadero operated out of 1150 South Miami from 1991 until they were purchased by Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria in August of 1996. The next institution to occupy the edifice was the Union Credit Bank who purchased the property, building, and furnishings for $6 million in 2000. Today, the building is home to the Seacoast Bank.
While there are not many examples of Miami developers including historic elements in their projects, it is refreshing to see the creative ways that salvaged artifacts can enhance even just part of a building. The preserved façade of the Burkhart building has been maintained well, and adds a lot intrigue and beauty to what is typically a very mundane part of a commercial building.
Resources:
Miami Tribune: “$78,460 Permits Raise Total to $8,293,595”, August 25, 1937.
Miami News: “Building Permits Decline for Week”, August 28, 1937.
Miami Herald: “Colombia drug armies wage war on guerillas, their old partners”, June 17, 1988.
Miami Herald: “Setting the Record Straight”, June 24, 1988.
Miami Herald: “Loan given on offices”, April 4, 1991.
Miami Herald: “Banco Ganadero opens building in Miami”, December 10, 1991.
Miami Herald: “Building of the Month”, April 26, 1992.
Miami Herald: “Latin American financiers bank of S. Florida”, by Ina Paiva Cordle on May 8, 2000.