Fifield's Crystal Residences Heads to Final Vote in Gables

Coral Gables staff have recommended approval, with conditions, of Fifield Companies’ Crystal Residences, a 9-story, 226,193-square-foot mixed-use project at 110 Phoenetia Avenue that would rebuild the home of Crystal Academy, a nonprofit school for children with autism and ADHD, inside a new market-rate tower. The city commission advanced the project’s four required ordinances on first reading July 7 by a 3-2 vote, and the city’s own Legistar record shows the second and final reading is calendared for August 25, not this week, despite coverage framing the vote as imminent.

Why it matters

Coral Gables is widely regarded as one of the toughest South Florida jurisdictions to entitle, with a Neighborhood Conservation Overlay, an active preservation lobby and a commission willing to split on land-use votes. A project that clears staff recommendation and a first-reading vote here, even narrowly, is a signal to other developers about what the city will trade increased height and density for: in this case, a 99-year, rent-free lease guaranteeing Crystal Academy a new, larger facility on site. The project also needs a Future Land Use Map change from Religious/Institutional to Commercial Mid-Rise Intensity and a rezoning from Special Use to Mixed Use-2, both changes staff found consistent with the comprehensive plan.

The numbers

The staff report puts the project at 1.47 acres, a 9-story, 93-foot building, 184 upper-level residential units, 16 ground-floor live-work units, roughly 5,000 square feet of ground-floor educational space for Crystal Academy, 20,508 square feet (31.6%) of on-site open space and 301 parking spaces. The Planning and Zoning Board recommended approval of the Planned Area Development 6-1, with conditions, on June 17. Applicant FRC Realty, LLC purchased the site for $16 million in April 2026, according to Florida YIMBY.

What’s next

The commission’s second and final reading on the land use, zoning, Planned Area Development and conditional use ordinances is scheduled for August 25 at South Florida’s City Commission. Opponents, including preservation advocates who argue the project’s scale conflicts with the surrounding four-story context and threatens the century-old Garden of Our Lord on the site, are expected to return to challenge the project again. Staff’s conditions require the applicant to revise the Antilla Avenue frontage design and hold to the submitted unit, height and open-space figures, among other terms that could still shift before the vote.