Icon Brickell Owners Win Say on Church Site Next Door

A Miami-Dade appellate court ruled on July 16, 2026 that the owners' association of Icon Brickell's second tower had the right to take part in the city's decision to lift historic protection from part of the First Miami Presbyterian Church site, and it quashed the city's approval. The church land on Brickell Avenue is where developers plan the 75-story 619 Brickell by Nobu, so the case goes back to the city for a new public hearing.

What the court decided

The petition came from IconBrickell Condominium No. Two Association, whose tower stands about 160 feet from the church property. In December 2024 the city's Historic and Environmental Preservation Board refused to let the association intervene and approved the church's request to remove its educational building and parking lot from historic protection, keeping the protected area to the 1949 sanctuary. On April 10, 2025 the City Commission voted 4-0 to reject the residents' appeal on standing grounds, as WLRN reported at the time.

The Eleventh Judicial Circuit's appellate division set those decisions aside, according to an announcement by the Brickell Homeowners Association and Florida YIMBY. The preservation board now has to hold another hearing and vote on the boundary change, with the neighbors on the record.

What it does not decide

The ruling does not reject the tower. Florida YIMBY describes 619 Brickell as a roughly 296-unit, 75-story condominium by 13th Floor Investments and Key International, designed by Foster + Partners, which continues through the city's review process. Its timeline depends on the new historic hearing, so any delivery date marketed today should be read with that in mind as of October 13, 2026.

Why condo owners should care

The case is a reminder that a condo association can be a party, not just a spectator, when a large project is proposed next door. A new tower changes views, light, traffic and years of construction for the owners nearby, and a hearing record is where those concerns count.

The neighbor at the center of this case is a large market of its own. Own.Miami's data for Icon Brickell, updated October 13, 2026:

• 128 units for sale and 51 closed sales over the last 12 months, at a median $667 per square foot.
• About 30 months of supply, well above the Brickell-wide figure of 18.2 months.
• Regulated lenders financed 15% of its recorded sales in the last 12 months, and the building's Financeability Index is 65.
• The state record shows 10 complaints filed with the state's condominium regulator against the association, 2 of them open.

The building's full record is on the Icon Brickell page, and neighborhood figures on the Brickell page. For a buyer weighing a unit beside a development site, ask the association for its board minutes on the project and any legal costs it has budgeted for the case, and read the condo documents before you are bound.