Miami Beach commissioners on July 17 settled a high-profile battle of starchitects when it chose Rem Koolhaas and his Netherlands-based firm, OMA, to redesign and revamp the city's convention center and surrounding 52-acre site, estimated as a $1-billion project. Tishman of New York leads the development team, which also included Atlanta-based tvsdesign, which specializes in convention centers.

"We are thrilled to be chosen to develop one of the most significant urban districts in the U.S.," Shohei Shigematsu, director of OMA, said in a press statement. "Our design will reintegrate Miami Beach's vital convention center with its neighbors, offering new facilities as well as amplifying the character of this exciting city."

Commissioners opted for the OMA-Tishman team over a competing proposal from a group that included architectural firm Bjarke Ingels Group (BIG) of Denmark and Atlanta-based Portman Holdings.

OMA's proposed design rotates the layout of the convention center by 90 degrees, places an 800-room hotel atop the existing structure, and buries a parking garage under a landscaped public park.

Under the proposal, the revamped facility would be operational by 2018, though it mentions no start date for construction.