NEW PLAYHOUSE MAY BE BUILT

Posted on Thursday, April. 28, 2005

COCONUT GROVE

NEW PLAYHOUSE MAY BE BUILT

From Herald Staff and Wire Services

The chairman of the Coconut Grove Playhouse said he is ''close'' to signing a contract with a developer to build a new theater on the site of the historic -- though not historically protected -- playhouse in Miami's Coconut Grove neighborhood.

Mitchell R. Less, who has been leading a negotiation in secret from many of the playhouse's board members, declined to disclose the name of the developer. Less said that the deal, which would result in the decades-old theater being demolished, must be approved by the theater's full board.

In return for building a new Coconut Grove Playhouse, according to The Daily Business Review, the unnamed developer would also be able to construct new retail space and condominiums on the site. Less would not confirm such an arrangement.

Less said he hoped the facade of the Playhouse is kept while the new structure would include two performance halls and what he called ''significantly more'' parking.

''I foresee a mid-rise, not a high-rise project,'' Less said. ``More than two floors but less than 10.''

Copyright 2005 Knight Ridder