In this new Case Study from ULI, get an inside look at the financing, design, and development of 1450 Brickell, an office project in Miami that uses impact-resistant glass to make the building more resilient against flying debris in hurricanes. This building was the District Council’s Vision Awards 2012 Project of the Year winner.

Alan Ojeda, the founder and CEO of Rilea Group, began planning the second phase of his two-acre project on Brickell Avenue in 2005, the same year that numerous high-rise buildings in the area were badly damaged by Hurricane Wilma.

Since Ojeda was planning an office building with a glass curtain wall, he immediately focused on how he could create a structure that was more resilient than those that had been damaged. Consequently, he and his team of architects and consultants began to research impact-resistant glass and to redesign the building to incorporate that glass and structural framing systems that would eventually result in a LEED Gold–certified building that was also extremely resilient and resistant to hurricanes. That 586,000-square-foot office building was completed in 2010 and is today 100 percent leased. Read More…