West Palm beach official to review proposed 25-story mass timber MiMar tower

A proposed 25-story tower in downtown West Palm Beach could become Florida’s tallest wooden building, but its approval will depend on a local building official.

Known as MiMar, the project has been designed by CRA-Carlo Ratti Associati. The practice describes its structural approach as consistent with Florida’s emerging rules for tall timber.

The project faces an unusual regulatory situation.

Florida’s building code does not currently contain specific provisions for tall mass timber construction. As a result, the project would need to be evaluated under the code’s alternative means and methods provision.

That process could place the decision with a single building official.

MiMar Faces a Unique Code Review

The Building Officials Association of Florida has highlighted the issue surrounding Florida’s first projects using tall mass timber.

According to Scott McAdam, co-chair of the association’s code development committee and the Indian River County building official, a jurisdiction’s first mass timber project can leave the determination to one official under the alternative means and methods provision.

“That is a position a building official does not want to be in,” McAdam said.

The association has supported proposed changes to Florida’s building rules. The Florida Forestry Association and The Nature Conservancy of Florida also supported the changes in correspondence to the Building Commission.

However, the Commission rejected those proposed changes.

The decision came despite recommendations from the Commission’s own fire and structural experts.

Florida Did Not Adopt Proposed Tall Timber Provisions

Three proposed provisions for mass timber construction were rejected.

They would have established height limits of 18, 12 and 9 stories for different types of mass timber construction.

Each provision had previously cleared the International Code Council’s consensus process.

The American Wood Council attributed the rejection to competing material interests and what it described as misleading testimony.

Tall timber provisions are already included in the building codes of 44 other states.

Florida therefore remains an exception among states where tall timber projects must be reviewed individually under alternative code provisions.

The regulatory distinction could become particularly relevant if MiMar advances through permitting.

Fire Performance Remains a Key Consideration

Fire safety is an important element of tall timber construction.

Mass timber assemblies have already passed the world’s first three-hour fire-resistance test. That rating corresponds to the requirement associated with the tallest of the three rejected types.

The MiMar project would still have to satisfy Florida’s applicable safety requirements.

Its design would also remain subject to the state’s requirements for wind, hurricanes and termites.

Those requirements apply regardless of whether a structure uses timber, steel or concrete.

The project must therefore demonstrate compliance with the relevant performance requirements before it can receive approval.

Affordable Housing Component

MiMar is also connected to Florida’s housing policy.

Carlo Ratti, the founding partner of CRA-Carlo Ratti Associati, addressed the relationship between Palm Beach and housing affordability.

“In the collective imagination, Palm Beach is the antithesis of affordability,” said Carlo Ratti, with the practice’s founding partner asking in the same release whether coastal living could be made accessible to all.

Forty percent of the homes would be allocated to workforce households under the Live Local Act.

The 2023 law provides incentives involving height and density in exchange for long-term affordable housing.

MiMar’s approval under the Live Local framework would proceed administratively if the filing meets the statutory checklist.

No board vote or public hearing would be required under that process.

The building official would nevertheless continue to assess the project against applicable technical requirements.

A Distinctive Site and Design

The proposed tower would occupy the site of a West Palm Beach fire station dating to the early 1900s.

The project would be constructed above the station’s existing two-story base and bell tower.

The approach has parallels with another project involving developer Jeff Greene.

“I’m sure before it gets permitted, they’ll do all the testing to make sure that it’ll have the right strength,” said Jeff Greene.

Greene told Stet News that he had retained the six-story facade of an 1870s Manhattan power plant beneath 19 new stories.

The MiMar proposal similarly combines an existing historic structure with a new vertical development.

Florida Already Has Mass Timber Projects

MiMar would not be Florida’s first mass timber development.

Approved plans at Pensacola’s Maritime Park include Rhythm Lofts, a 16-story project, and the 11-story Reverb by Hard Rock hotel.

They are currently the tallest mass-timber structures identified in the state.

In Fort Lauderdale, Hines used the alternative means and methods provision for the city’s first mass timber office building.

That project reached six stories.

MiMar would represent a substantial increase in height if approved.

The proposed 25-story structure would also establish a new benchmark for timber construction in Florida.

Project History and Legislative Developments

MiMar first came before the West Palm Beach Plans and Plats Review Committee in May.

The committee returned the proposal for changes.

Separately, Senator Erin Grall introduced a requirement in a 2025 construction bill directing the Florida Building Commission to recognise tall mass timber by the beginning of this year.

That provision was removed before the bill became law.

The American Wood Council is now awaiting the Commission’s annual amendment window.

That window represents the opportunity available before the 2027 development cycle.

For Florida’s construction and timber industries, the MiMar proposal therefore extends beyond one development.

It places renewed attention on how the state evaluates tall timber construction while broader code changes remain under consideration.

If permitted, the 25-story MiMar tower would demonstrate how a major mass timber project can be evaluated under Florida’s existing alternative-code framework, while also testing the practical limits of tall timber development in a state exposed to hurricanes, high winds and termites.

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