Foram Group has announced plans to develop Brickell Financial Centre, the two-tower office and hotel landmark structure of 1.5 million square feet. As the first LEED-pre-certified (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) building in the state of Florida, Brickell Financial Centre and its monumental public plaza will occupy a full block between Sixth and Seventh streets on the west side of Miami's Brickell Avenue.

LEED was developed by the U.S. Green Building Council to give the building industry consistent, credible standards for what constitutes a green building. Credits are awarded based on five categories of performance: sustainable sites, energy and atmosphere, water efficiency, indoor environ-mental quality, materials, and resources.

When complete, the RTKL-designed complex has the potential of shifting the center of downtown Miami's business district back toward the banks of the Miami River, where Mary Brickell, Henry Flagler, and Julia Tuttle established commerce in the late 19th Century. Brickell Financial Centre will be the midpoint between West Flagler Street and SW Eighth Street, the northern and southern boundaries of downtown Miami's business core.

The proportions of its open space and buildings are comparable to those of New York City's Rockefeller Center, made famous by its landmark plaza. Ground floor retail and restaurants on two sides of the new Miami plaza will encourage public usage, much as Rockefeller Center's does, according to Rod Henderer of RTKUs Washington, D.C., office and the project's lead architect. "Brickell Financial Centre will bring significant value to the City of Miami with its vital urban space that will be a magnet for people," says Henderer. The $245 million first phase of the Brickell Financial Centre will break ground in April and will be completed in Fall 2009.