MIAMI, August 13, 2026. Brickell residents neighboring the First Miami Presbyterian Church property have won the right to weigh in on the removal of historic protection from the church’s school building and parking lot, a step that would clear the way for demolition and redevelopment.
In a unanimous ruling, Miami’s appellate court quashed the City of Miami’s approval and found that the City had wrongly shut the neighboring community out of that decision. BHA welcomed the ruling, which gives neighboring residents a voice in decisions on design, environmental impact, and historic preservation for the future of their community.
The matter returns to the City
On July 16, 2026, the Circuit Court of the Eleventh Judicial Circuit, Appellate Division, granted a petition by the neighboring community, IconBrickell Condominium No. Two Association, Inc., known as Tower 2, recognizing its right to take part.
The ruling set aside the City’s approval of an application by First Miami Presbyterian Church to remove the educational building behind the church and the parking lot from the historic protections that also cover the 1949 church building. Any removal of those protections requires a public hearing on the record, and the matter now returns to the City.
Many Brickell residents appeared before the City to voice their concerns and ask that the neighboring community be included in the process, but those requests were denied.
On December 3, 2024, the City of Miami’s Historic and Environmental Preservation Board denied Tower 2’s request to intervene and approved the application that same day. On April 10, 2025, the City Commission denied Tower 2’s appeal on standing grounds and upheld the Board’s decision.
On July 16, 2026, the Court quashed both decisions, finding that Tower 2 had been denied procedural due process and that the Board and City Commission had contravened the essential requirements of law.
“The Court’s decision affirms exactly that principle, a good outcome not just for one community, but for every Brickell resident who believes decisions that shape our neighborhood should be made fairly, and in the open.”
Why neighboring residents have standing
Under the City of Miami Code, a property owner within 500 feet of a site who has an interest different in kind and degree from that of the general public is entitled to take part in these proceedings, with the right to present evidence, question witnesses, and make arguments on the record.
Tower 2 sits about 160 feet from the church property, and the Court found its interests sufficient.
Icon Brickell is a longtime member of the Brickell Homeowners Association and has supported an approach to growth that values both thoughtful progress and historic preservation. Icon Brickell residents help fund and care for neighboring Brickell Park along the bay.
“We want Brickell to thrive in every sense, and we want the people who live here to have a say in how that happens. The Court agreed we had that right, and we intend to take part thoughtfully, on the record, and in good faith.”
A historic property
The property is home to Miami’s oldest congregation, organized in 1896, the year Miami was incorporated. Henry Flagler donated the land and funded the congregation’s first permanent home, built in 1900. The church’s Flagler Memorial Chapel preserves pieces of that original building.
In 2003, following a designation report prepared for the City by preservation consultants, the City of Miami designated the property as a single historic whole, comprising the church, the School Annex, and the parking lot.