The Palace at Coral Gables, designed for independent and assisted living in downtown Coral Gables, Fla., opened in June 2013, the result of a public-private partnership between a South Florida senior community development company and the city of Coral Gables. Architectural and design criteria were focused on an upscale clientele of senior residents seeking to maintain their accustomed lifestyle among familiar surroundings.
The Fullerton Group architects were given a special incentive through additional square footage to maintain traditional Mediterranean Revival architecture in keeping with the city’s urban renewal styling as originally conceived by George Merrick, the city’s founding developer, in the 1920s.
Inter-relating public areas to encourage social interaction among resident was maximized through spatial flexibility based on function and accessibility, including connectivity between public areas, multiple dining venues, and locating the administrative offices on the second public level for resident accessibility.
The Palace Group developed a nine-story senior residence in a Renaissance motif, with a copper rooftop dome, an arcade loggia and entry, a Grand Plaza lobby, and dramatic grand staircases accessing public facilities on the second floor. Interior areas emulate the George V Hotel of Paris with inlaid marble flooring under Murano crystal chandeliers, Old World décor wall treatments, and antique furnishings.
Wellness and amenity areas on the first floor include a fitness room and aerobics studio, rehabilitation facility, and beauty salon. Additional resident features include a formal outside terrace for dining and entertaining, indoor Venetian-styled swimming pool complex, and a covered paseo walkway to the Miracle Mile business district.
A total of 243 apartments with exterior balconies, including third-floor assisted living residences, offer floor plans in a variety of studio, one-, and two-bedroom designs and incorporate universal design features such as walk-in tubs in baths, convection cooktops in kitchens, raised electrical outlets, and barrier-free thresholds.
To utilize the 1.6 acre downtown site, The Palace Group structured a 99-year leasing agreement with the City of Coral Gables to also provide a second nine-story architectural tower directly across the street to serve as a 554-space parking garage for both resident and public use, replacing a deteriorated structure while increasing vehicle capacity. The ground floor of the new parking garage is reserved for a potential city senior center.
