CoralGables-June2018

estaurants and cultural offerings. “I try to
be different and not follow the trend,” says
Torre. “I like to be more of a trendsetter.”
His renovated office building at 208
Andalusia Ave. shows that progressive
streak. The private offices offer public art
exhibits and feature a mural by a graffiti
artist. Torre now has an installation outside
consisting of large, blue butterflies he
painted himself.
FROM POP-UP GALLERIES TO FUNDRAISERS
In civic circles, Torre also is known for creativity.
He came up with the idea for popup
art galleries in empty spaces on Miracle
Mile for this spring’s debut of the Street-
Scape project, says Mary Snow, executive
director of the Coral Gables Community
Foundation. “Some people thought he was
overly ambitious, but he did it,” she says.
“He got the landlords to donate the space”
for the temporary galleries designed to
activate the street.
At the Community Foundation, Torre
has been expanding the Tour of Kitchens,
a fundraiser he’s chaired for three years,
adding more kitchens at more diverse
homes. For next year’s 10th anniversary, he
plans a rooftop kickoff with a band – all
to help fund scholarships and programs
for Coral Gables High School’s culinary
program, says Snow. “He’s a thinker of the
big picture, not just for his interests but for
the betterment of the city,” she says.
Torre’s community involvement grew
partly out of real-estate. Seeking zoning
amendments in the 1990s, he got to know
then-Commissioner Jim Barker, eventually
helping with his re-election campaign. He
got involved with city groups, enjoyed it,
and soon joined the board of the new museum,
drawn by his love of art, architecture
and history.
Today, Torre heads up the Business
Improvement District that represents
downtown merchants and property owners.
He finds puzzles worth solving in amplifying
that unique voice – which is sometimes
drowned out, Torre says, because many
owners don’t live in Coral Gables and can’t
vote in the city. Yet he believes city invest-
Above left: Townhouses on Valencia Avenue
Above right: Dutch-style Campo Sano Village
Opposite: Venny Torre in a pop up gallery
If the city invests
in the downtown,
it goes right back
to them...
ments in the business hub can provide big
returns to local government. “If the city
invests in the downtown, it goes right back
to them. And here’s why: the residential tax
dollar is capped by your homestead,” says
Torre. “If the downtown is booming, the
tax increase potential is greater.”
Downtown business owners aren’t
always unified either, adds Torre. Some
landlords were against the transformation
of Miracle Mile, which pinched immediate
profits in exchange for making the
downtown a more sophisticated destination
long-term. “We have to educate people
to have more of a combined self-interest
than an individual one,” he says. “In
the long-run, we’re better off with quality
retail and restaurants.”
To foster quality, Torre also leads the
city’s historic preservation board, a group
that works to maintain such 1920s gems as
City Hall and the Biltmore Hotel and uphold
the city’s original urban plan. “What
makes Coral Gables so special is our history,
architecture and master plan, so well
defined by George Merrick,” he says. “The
founders knew what they were doing. They
set the rules and standards, and we need to
protect that.”
EXPANDING INTO CENTRAL FLORIDA
Nowadays, Torre’s biggest real-estate project
is not in Coral Gables but in Central
Florida. The lakeside city of Sanford asked
for proposals to redevelop three downtown
blocks, and Torre’s team won the competition.
His group is now designing a mixeduse
project with apartments, offices, retail
and other features – a development slated
to cost more than $50 million.
Torre’s proposal calls for using brick
and other architectural elements already
common in Sanford’s historic downtown.
New structures in the city’s Heritage Park
also will be varied, “so buildings feel like
they’ve been done over a period of time,
not by a cookie-cutter developer,” he says.
As in downtown Coral Gables, Torre
aims to create a “sense of place,” the New
Urbanist vision of somewhere folks want
to live, work and enjoy a meal – a walkable
area that can be a catalyst for the whole
city, he says. He sees his developer’s role as
“being involved, tied to the project, considerate
to the community, and giving back.
That’s how we’re approaching this project
and that’s how we are.”
To be sure, Torre’s zeal for cities,
urban travel and renovation can have
downsides. His teenage daughter Olivia
recently bemoaned an upcoming family
trip to Barcelona in Spain, because “all
you’re going to do is look at architecture,”
she told her dad. And Torre’s wife Coco
has learned to live with him buying,
renovating and selling their homes – about
10 so far, starting after Hurricane Andrew
with a 1936 Mediterranean-Art Deco
house. “My wife says, ‘I know we’re moving
when they put in the chandelier in the
entrance-foyer,’ ” he jokes.
Still, Torre can’t fathom not being
involved in business and civic efforts to
energize downtown Coral Gables: “What
I do, it’s not work for me. It’s like being
with friends all the time.”
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