“Don’t build here”. That’s the message from the Village of Palmetto Bay, a small enclave on Miami-Dade’s Biscayne Bay, when talking about a flood prone stretch of coastal property. In fact, regulators say the property has a one-in-four-chance of serious flooding. For most builders, this stretch of Florida real estate is the place NOT to be. But that hasn’t deterred Manny Varas.
Manny Varas is the owner and CEO of MV Group USA, a luxury home builder in Miami. Varas is convinced that he can build a $50 million dollar luxury estate on the property which he describes as “a flood proof bunker”. If his track record of building high-end luxury homes that encompass both value and environmental resilience is any indication, he can do it too.
Varas obtained a skeptical “go ahead” from Palmetto Village for his latest project, the G house, after he agreed to abide by federal, state, and local building regulations. From the outside, the project looked like it was one of those things that you can do, the question remains should you do it? For Varas, the answer was a resounding yes.
Designed by Studio KHORA architects, construction has started on the G House, 26,000 square feet of waterfront living that makes it likely the largest waterfront home in Miami-Dade. The home will feature amenities like an infinity pool, cascading waterfalls, ponds, patios and balconies without view-obstructing columns, and even a golf course, all accented by a lush mangrove garden.
Varas says the home is built to withstand a Category 5 Hurricane – and it may have to. G House is being built right where Hurricane Andrew raged across the Florida coastline in August, 1992. That storm set a record storm surge in this very spot of 16.9 feet, packing winds of 140 mph.
The elevation of G House? The main floor sits at precisely 17 feet, just 1/10th of a foot above Andrew’s record surge. 17 feet is the absolute minimum elevation allowed by federal and state regulations for the area.
Varas says the elevation of the super-luxury home is just one of the reasons it is storm proof. The home sits high on heavy pilings, which have become the standard for coastal building in Florida. In order to keep the pilings from distracting from the aesthetics of the ultra-rich playground, Vargas got creative. He encased the perimeter of the pilings with a break-away walls that would crumble under water pressure should the surge reach that height. The water would then be free to flow around the pilings, dramatically reducing the danger to the home.
To mitigate the wind threat, G House is constructed of concrete walls that are poured on-site, providing added strength over traditional cinder block construction. The process is a good bit more expensive, but hey, we ARE talking about a $50 million mansion here.
Architectural resiliency is important, but mitigating storm effects need to go much further. To that end, the G House is surrounded by 20,000 square feet of mangroves. The theory is that besides providing aesthetic beauty, the dense mangrove canopies and extensive large, above ground root system will dampen tidal surges, causing them to lose much of their energy long before reaching the house.
As the famous TV pitchman Billy Mayes once said, “But wait, there’s more!” The design of the property, including the beautiful three hole golf course, includes elevation changes that make the course more challenging, as well as mitigate flood risks.
Varas told the Miami Herald, “Create sustainable items, but don’t look at them as just sustainable. Look at them as the added value that you’re creating,” he said. “That’s going to increase the property value while protecting you against a 100-year storm.”
Varas said he hopes that extreme prototypes like G House will set new standards for home building in South Florida’s low-lying zones, which face increasing threats from hurricane surge and sea-level rise. And indeed, his approach could revolutionize Florida real estate in areas once thought unbuildable. Work on the mansion is expected to conclude later this year, with potential buyers able to customize finishes if purchased pre-completion .
