Allen Morris Advances $11.2M Ponce Circle Park Redo in Coral Gables

Allen Morris Company is moving ahead with an $11.2 million overhaul of Fred B. Hartnett Ponce Circle Park in Coral Gables, a public-private partnership tied to the firm’s condo tower rising next door at 3000 Ponce de Leon Boulevard.

Why it matters

The park redo is not a standalone city project. It is a condition attached to Allen Morris Company’s approval to build Ponce Park, the 11-story mixed-use tower it broke ground on in December 2025 and financed with a $132.5 million construction loan from Bank OZK. The arrangement, rooted in city Resolution 2024-107 and later amended by Resolution 2025-463, means a private developer is funding and managing the redesign of a public park as the price of building beside it, a structure other South Florida cities have leaned on as public budgets tighten.

The numbers

The city put the renovation’s cost at $9 million-plus when it first approved the project in 2024, and Allen Morris Company’s own 2024 filing pledged $2 million toward public improvements. A financing package the city approved in July 2026 set the estimate at $11.2 million, the figure now attached to the project. The design calls for a Frank Stella sculpture the city commission voted 5-0 to acquire, an open-air performance space and shaded walkways, according to the city’s concept design document and local coverage of an October 7 construction update.

What’s next

Construction on the park is slated to start in January 2027, with completion targeted for the first quarter of 2028, the same window Allen Morris Company has set for finishing the adjacent tower. The city held a community input session on the concept design in June 2026, with feedback covering event noise, the sculpture placement and electrical needs. No general contractor for the park phase has been named in public filings reviewed so far.