One week before Coral Gables voters choose a mayor and fill two commission seats, the current City Commission will consider a proposed $5 million acquisition of a Richard Serra sculpture despite a 4-2 recommendation against the purchase from the city’s Cultural Development Board.
Tuesday’s Oct. 27 session is the last regularly scheduled commission meeting before the election. Commissioner Ariel Fernandez is not seeking reelection, while Mayor Vince Lago and Commissioner Melissa Castro are on the Nov. 3 ballot. The sculpture acquisition could therefore be among the final major decisions made by the current five-member commission.
The Cultural Development Board voted Oct. 20 to recommend denying the acquisition of Fin, an 18-ton curved steel sculpture that has stood in a Manhattan office building since 1990. The recommendation is advisory. The proposed resolution would authorize City Manager Peter Iglesias to negotiate and execute an agreement with Tresart, Inc., the firm representing the seller.
The sculpture is one of two major arts expenditures on Tuesday’s agenda. Commissioners will also consider a $1.24 million construction contract for the Coral Gables Art Cinema expansion and a related lease amendment.
Arts board recommends against acquisition
The Cultural Development Board’s recommendation represents a significant development since the commission unanimously authorized preliminary negotiations for a Serra sculpture on Sept. 15.
That earlier vote allowed the city to pursue a nonbinding letter of intent for a purchase not exceeding $5 million, including removal and transportation. It did not authorize an acquisition.
As the Gazette reported Oct. 19, the city’s Arts Advisory Panel reviewed the proposal Oct. 7 but deferred making a recommendation while seeking additional information about installation costs, maintenance and possible locations.
The Cultural Development Board subsequently voted 4-2 to recommend denial “at this time,” according to the staff memorandum prepared for Tuesday’s meeting. The memorandum does not explain the individual board members’ votes or summarize the arguments behind the decision.
The commission is not required to follow the board’s recommendation.
The proposed resolution would authorize Iglesias to negotiate and execute an agreement with Tresart for the sculpture and amend the city’s fiscal 2025-26 and 2026-27 budgets to make Art in Public Places funds available for the acquisition and related expenses.
The proposal follows the commission’s May 2025 approval of Frank Stella’s Puffed and Inverted Star II for the planned redevelopment of Ponce Circle Park. In that case, the Cultural Development Board had recommended approval by a 5-2 vote.
Appraisal values the sculpture at $5.8 million
The latest commission materials provide considerably more information about the proposed Serra acquisition than was available when commissioners first discussed it in September.
An appraisal prepared by New York art appraiser Ronny H. Cohen values Fin at $5.78 million as of Sept. 29, approximately 15.5 percent above the $5 million amount identified in the city’s financial summary.
The appraisal is an estimate of fair market value, not a negotiated sale price. The commission materials do not disclose the seller’s final asking price or the specific amount the city would pay under a completed agreement.
Cohen based her valuation partly on L.A. Cone, a related Serra sculpture that sold at Christie’s in 2013 for $4,267,750, including the buyer’s premium. She adjusted that sale upward to account for Fin‘s shape and sculptural characteristics.
She also considered reported $14 million sales of two much larger Serra works, Reverse Curve and Running Arcs (For John Cage), adjusting their values downward to account for Fin‘s smaller dimensions. The resulting estimates were averaged, with an additional allowance for the absence of restrictions on future siting or resale.
The appraisal says Cohen personally examined the sculpture but is not an authenticator. No formal condition report was supplied, although she described the work as structurally intact and in generally good condition.
Fin consists of a single plate of hot-rolled steel approximately 14 feet high, 18 feet wide and three inches thick. Its gently curving wall tilts backward, an early example of the forms that became central to Serra’s internationally recognized sculptures.
Commissioned by Swiss Bank Corporation in 1989 for an office tower at what is now 623 Fifth Ave. in New York, the work has been on view in that building since 1990. The Richard Serra Studio identifies it in its records as RS-0149.
Serra died in 2024 at age 85.
A proposed park site, but additional costs remain
The city has also identified a possible permanent location: a planned downtown park at Salzedo Street and Almeria Avenue being developed in partnership with the Regency Parc project.
The location is a proposal, not an approved installation site. If the acquisition proceeds before the park is completed, staff recommend storing the sculpture in the city.
That would introduce another period of handling and storage for a work weighing approximately 18 tons.
The $5 million listed in the agenda’s financial summary covers the artwork and its delivery. The staff memorandum says the sculpture will require a separately funded foundation, installation, lighting, signage and landscaping.
A professional conservation team would assess annual maintenance costs after installation. Neither those recurring costs nor the additional installation expenses are quantified in the memorandum.
The sculpture was originally designed for an indoor setting. Moving it outdoors in South Florida would require decisions about its foundation, surface treatment, environmental exposure and long-term conservation.
Funding for the proposed acquisition would come from the city’s Art in Public Places program, which receives contributions associated with both private development and municipal construction projects.
The staff memorandum identifies $118,801 in interest earned by the art fund during fiscal 2025-26 and an Art in Public Places payment associated with the City Hall renovation as sources. It does not provide a complete reconciliation showing the fund’s available balance or how the full $5 million would be assembled.
Those questions—along with the Cultural Development Board’s recommendation—will be before commissioners Tuesday.
Art Cinema expansion contract heads to a vote
Another major decision involves the long-planned expansion of the Coral Gables Art Cinema at 240 Aragon Ave.
The city manager is recommending a $1,239,900 construction contract with Miami-based Hycon Investments, LLC, for the interior build-out of a second auditorium with 90 seats and associated support spaces.
Fourteen firms submitted bids in August. Hycon submitted the lowest bid among the 13 firms deemed responsive, according to the city’s procurement records.
RYD Construction submitted a lower bid of $1,023,234 but was disqualified after failing to demonstrate the required Florida certified general contractor licensing qualification. The next-lowest qualifying bidder, West Construction, submitted a price of $1,245,496.63, just $5,596.63 above Hycon.
The proposed contract calls for substantial completion within 180 calendar days of the commencement date specified in the notice to proceed.
The city’s financial memorandum assigns $442,955 of the construction cost to two city accounts and identifies the remaining $796,945 as funding to be provided by the Coral Gables Cinemateque, the nonprofit organization operating the theater.
The documents do not establish whether the Cinemateque’s entire contribution has already been transferred to the city. The account for its $796,945 share is listed as to be determined. At a May commission meeting, City Manager Peter Iglesias said all funding must be in hand before contracts are awarded.
The commission also will consider a fourth amendment to the Cinemateque’s lease for the city-owned property at 240-260 Aragon Ave. The agenda identifies the amendment as subject to conditions, but the amendment’s full terms were not among the documents reviewed by the Gazette.
The contract award would advance a project that has been years in the making.
The Gazette reported in May that commissioners unanimously approved an additional $100,000 in city support, bringing their previously authorized commitment to $450,000. The construction-award memorandum now identifies $442,955 in city funding for this contract, without reconciling the difference.
The expansion would give the cinema a second screen alongside its existing 141-seat auditorium, allowing it to offer more films and programs while expanding its presence on Aragon Avenue.
Zoning changes, traffic and cultural events
Three zoning ordinances return for second reading after receiving unanimous recommendations from the Planning and Zoning Board on Sept. 16.
The measures would revise height exclusions for certain accessory areas, restrict additional height and stories through architectural incentives on Block 36 in the Crafts Section, and modify setbacks affecting motor courts, driveways and mechanical equipment.
A separate ordinance on first reading would update the city’s rules for burglary, fire and robbery alarm systems.
Vice Mayor Rhonda Anderson is sponsoring a resolution directing staff to examine traffic patterns, valet staging and parking problems along Caballero Boulevard and Madruga Avenue associated with the Paseo de la Riviera development at 1350 South Dixie Highway.
Mayor Lago is proposing a “City Beautiful Nights” component of the International Cultural Events Program. It would allow eligible foreign government agencies to receive in-kind city services or reimbursement for certain costs associated with smaller downtown cultural events.
Lago also has requested discussions of a permitting roundtable, swale planting procedures and alternatives for tree protection structures.
The consent agenda includes a proposed one-month base-rent abatement for the Haagen-Dazs shop at 286 Miracle Mile during renovations.
If you go
What: Coral Gables City Commission meeting
When: Tuesday, Oct. 27, at 9 a.m.
Where: Police and Fire Headquarters Community Meeting Room, 2151 Salzedo St., Coral Gables.
Watch: Coral Gables Television.
Participate remotely: Join the commission meeting by Zoom or call (305) 461-6769. Meeting ID: 305 446 6800.
Submit comments: Through the city’s commission meetings page or by emailing cityclerk@coralgables.com before the meeting.
Members of the public may speak for three minutes during the open public-comment period, which is limited to one hour, or address an agenda item under the meeting’s participation rules.
Author: Coral Gables Gazette News Staff
Originally established in 1996 and relaunched as a digital publication in February 2025, the Coral Gables Gazette is an independent local news organization dedicated to factual, objective and accountable community journalism. Our newsroom reports on the people, policies, institutions and events shaping Coral Gables, Florida, providing residents with timely, informative coverage of the issues affecting their community. Our reporting includes City Hall, local government, municipal elections, public spending, real estate development, business, education, arts and culture, and neighborhood affairs throughout the City Beautiful. We follow City Commission decisions, examine public records and report on the businesses, organizations and individuals contributing to Coral Gables. We believe informed residents are essential to a healthy, engaged community. Stories published under the Coral Gables Gazette News Staff byline are prepared or compiled by the publication's editorial team. We strive for accuracy, fairness, transparency and clear distinctions between news reporting, opinion and advertising. Readers are encouraged to submit news tips, corrections, editorial inquiries and story suggestions through our Contact page and learn more about our standards through our Editorial Policy.
