633-foot LED billboard tower!

A Miami Beach developer has struck a multi-million-dollar deal with a Miami redevelopment agency to build a skyscraper equipped with enormous, Las Vegas-style LED billboards.

Michael Simkins wants to build a 633-foot, three-sided tower that twists upward from a pedestal to heights taller than the Space Needle. Each wall will bear a sign as large as 30,000 square feet that flashes static and animated advertisements at up to one per every six seconds, shining 24-7 over I-95, I-395 and the Dolphin Expressway.

Miami Innovation Tower, SHoP Architects.

Miami Innovation Tower, SHoP Architects.

Combined, the five billboards included in the project — including two on the pedestal over a pedestrian promenade — stretch about two acres. They can be seen from north, south, east and west.

“The iconic tower will elevate the city’s brand on a global level, enhance the city skyline, and complement and enhance the surrounding community,” Simkins wrote in a statement.

Dubbed the Miami Innovation Tower, the building at 1031 NW First Ave. is part of a larger plan. It is proposed as beacon of capitalism in the heart of a four-block, nine-tower “Miami Innovation District” on the edge of downtown and Overtown, one of Miami’s poorest neighborhoods. Simkins’ architect, SHoP Architects, submitted plans to the city Monday for the district, comprised mostly of land owned by companies registered to the developer.

Miami Innovation Tower, Miami Innovation District, SHoP Architects.

Miami Innovation Tower, Miami Innovation District, SHoP Architects.

David McClureComment