Why We Tore Down a House to Build a Dream: The Story of 2880 Fairgreen Drive

There's a particular kind of courage it takes to knock something down.

Standing on a 13,900-square-foot corner lot in Miami Beach, watching a 1933 house come apart piece by piece, you don't feel like you're destroying something. You feel like you're making room. Room for something that doesn't exist yet — but should.

That's the story of 2880 Fairgreen Drive. And it's just getting started.

The Lot That Demanded More

Fairgreen Drive sits in the Bayshore neighborhood of Miami Beach — one of those rare pockets where you get the calm of tree-lined streets without sacrificing proximity to everything that makes this city magnetic. Bayshore Park is next door. The beach is minutes away. Lincoln Road, the Golf Club, the restaurants and galleries that define Miami Beach living — all within reach.

“I see Fairgreen Drive as the Coconut Grove of Miami Beach. You pull into that street from W 29th with all the landscaping towering overhead providing shade and canopy and it just feels different than what you are used to seeing in Miami Beach.”

— David Solomon

The lot itself is special: a corner parcel, 100 feet by 139 feet, totaling nearly a third of an acre. In a city where buildable land is measured in precious square feet, that's an extraordinary canvas.

But the house that sat on it? It was a relic. Built in 1933, renovated once in 1975, and increasingly out of step with what modern buyers want and deserve. Low ceilings. Choppy layouts. No impact glass. No open floor plan. No connection to the outdoors. And critically, the existing structure sat below base flood elevation — a non-starter in today's Miami Beach.

I could have renovated. I could have patched and painted and listed it as "charming" or "full of character." But that would have been a compromise — and this lot doesn't deserve compromise.

So I made the call: tear it down.

Demolition as a Creative Act

People think demolition is just destruction. It's not. It's the first act of creation.

But before the excavator touched a single wall, I went in and gutted that house like a fish. Every piece of original Dade County pine — the framing, the joists, the bones of a 1933 home — was carefully pulled out and salvaged. Dade County pine is one of South Florida's most prized materials: termite-resistant, dense as iron, and impossible to source new. It hasn't been commercially harvested in decades. The plan is to reuse it in the new build — weaving the history of this lot into the home that will stand on it next. The old lives on inside the new.

Then came the excavator. Every swing was deliberate. We documented the entire process — photos, videos, drone footage — because this is a story worth telling. The old foundation cracking. The walls coming down. The lot opening up, sunlight flooding a space that had been closed off for nearly a century.

What emerged was a blank canvas. And for that canvas, I wanted the best.

Enter Touzet Studio

This isn't my first time working with Touzet Studio. I spent 15 years working alongside one of Miami Beach's top developers, where I was hands-on in bringing Touzet Studio projects to life — including two that became landmark sales:

88 La Gorce Circle ("OKTO") — a 1.1-acre La Gorce Island estate with 260 feet of waterfront. Sold in April 2025 for $75 million — the second most expensive residential sale in Miami Beach history.

6396 North Bay Road — a modern waterfront masterpiece featuring Touzet Studio's signature double-height great room. Sold in January 2022 for $38.5 million.

When I went out on my own as a developer, Touzet Studio was the first call I made. Our first project together — 415 East Rivo Alto Drive on the Venetian Islands — sold for $10.447 million with the same land-plus-plans model I'm using at Fairgreen.

When you've seen what this team can do at the $75 million level, you know exactly who to call for your own projects.

If you've walked down Lincoln Road in Miami Beach — and you have — you've experienced Touzet Studio's work. They designed the Nike flagship store, a building that had to satisfy both a global brand's identity and the city's demand that it feel like Lincoln Road, not like a corporate rollout. They also designed the Apple and Gap stores on the same block. Three iconic retail spaces on one of the world's most famous shopping streets, all from the same studio.

But Touzet Studio isn't just about commercial showpieces. Their residential work is where the magic really lives. The Coral Gables Residence, with its stone-clad volumes that transition to crystalline bay-facing facades. La Escondida, a home that feels like it grew from the landscape rather than being placed on it. The 121 North Hibiscus Road project on Hibiscus Island.

Before founding the studio, Carlos served as Vice President and Senior Designer at Arquitectonica, one of the world's most recognized architecture firms. It was during this period that he and Jacqueline designed the tower at The Setai Miami Beach — the iconic 40-story oceanfront landmark that helped redefine South Beach luxury. The Setai was their first major collaboration, and it became the catalyst for launching Touzet Studio in 2004. In the two decades since, the firm has spent over 20 years mastering a design language that is distinctly Miami: climate-intelligent, materially rich, deeply connected to the tropical landscape, and relentlessly modern without being cold.

When I brought the Fairgreen project to Carlos and Jacqueline, I didn't just want a house. I wanted a vision. Something that would honor this extraordinary lot and create a home that belongs in this specific place, on this specific corner, in this specific city.

They delivered.

The Vision: 6,800 Square Feet of Contemporary Living

The plans for 2880 Fairgreen Drive call for a 6,800-square-foot contemporary home that does what Touzet Studio does best: blur the line between inside and outside, between architecture and landscape, between shelter and experience.

The design takes full advantage of the corner lot's proportions, creating sightlines and openings that pull light and air through every room. This isn't a spec home with luxury finishes bolted on. This is a purpose-designed residence by one of Miami's most respected architectural firms, conceived specifically for this piece of land.

Every detail reflects the studio's philosophy: subtropical design that embraces Miami's climate rather than hiding from it. High ceilings. Impact glass. Contemporary layouts built for how people actually live today — entertaining, working from home, moving fluidly between indoor and outdoor spaces.

The design also features an understory that sits five feet above base flood elevation — a design approach approved and encouraged by the City of Miami Beach to combat flood zone concerns. Where the old house sat below base flood elevation, the new home will rise above it, giving buyers peace of mind and a structure built for the next century, not the last one.

“This understory is a design challenge for most but when you embrace challenge that is when you find gold. Not only is this space architecturally significant but now it becomes your outdoor living room, spa, kitchen and it gives you shade when the west and southern exposure beat down on you in the summer.”

— David Solomon

Why Sell the Land with the Plans?

Here's the thing about building a custom home: the hardest part isn't construction. It's the vision. Finding the right architect, going through the design process, aligning your aspirations with the realities of a specific site — that alone can take a year or more.

At 2880 Fairgreen Drive, that work is done. The vision exists. The plans are nearly drawn. A buyer isn't starting from zero; they're starting from here — with a world-class design already in hand, ready to refine and build.

You're not just buying a lot. You're buying a head start on the home of a lifetime.

“We are almost done with the design and then plans will go to permit. If someone comes along and buys the lot with plans I will deliver the permitted drawings so they can break ground. If someone doesn't come along and the permit is approved, I will break ground myself and build a $20,000,000 masterpiece.”

— David Solomon

The Opportunity

Buildable lots in Miami Beach are genuinely scarce. This is a barrier island — they're not making more of it. When a 13,900-square-foot corner lot comes to market with architectural plans from a firm featured in Architectural Digest, that's not a listing. That's a moment.

2880 Fairgreen Drive is offered at $5,250,000.

The plans. The lot. The location. The vision. It's all here.

If you'd like to see it — the lot, the plans, the full story — I'd love to show you. Reach out anytime.

— David Hunt Solomon