Jackie Gleason Theater Smackdown Heats Up

MIAMI—The battle just intensified between the two leading firms hoping to win a contract to redevelop the Miami Beach Convention Center. Portman CMC, a group that includes Portman Holdings and CMC Group, is now committed to renovating the Jackie Gleason Theater. The company had initially suggested tearing down the landmark.  

“The Miami Beach community has been very vocal in public meetings, in the media and online,” Jack Portman, vice chairman of Portman Holdings and John Portman & Associates, said in a statement. “The residents made it clear that The Jackie Gleason Theater is an important landmark they want to keep. We listened, we heard, an we've found a way to adjust the master plan in order to keep the theater in place while still achieving our other objectives, creating a win-win for all.”

Tearing down the South Beach icon was never part of the proposal from South Beach ACE, a group featuring Tishman Hotels Group and Robert Wennett. Wennett developed 1111 Lincoln Road. South Beach ACE took the opportunity to pounce on Portman CMC after the announcement.

"The best architects, urban planners and traffic engineers in the world have been working as part of the South Beach ACE team on a master plan that includes all the input we've gathered from the community; from preserving the Jackie Gleason Theater and developing retail that will complement Lincoln Road, to creating significant new public parks and green spaces, improving area traffic flow and prioritizing east-west connectivity through the site,” the statement said.

The firm said these elements are reflected in its proposal because, following the direction of the City Commission, we started with no pre-conceived notions, South Beach ACE members listened to the stakeholders and to the community and came up with a plan that is unique to the needs of Miami Beach.

“The type of major changes that the Portman team is now proposing to their plan raises serious questions about whether they really have an understanding of the site, and whether they have been listening to the needs and wishes of the community and the convention center stakeholders since the beginning of this process in the same way we have,” the statement continued.