City in Transformation: Miami Beach Major Developments

By: Ismael Rodriguez

The City of Miami Beach, a multi-cultural, real estate playground for foreign investors and established American-based developers alike, continues to thrive since the current real estate cycle began in 2011.

Since then, a horde of developers scattered across the city, proceeding with plans to build more than 2,270 new condo units in this barrier island city, according to CraneSpotters.com. As a result, Miami Beach currently ranks as the seventh most active coastal condo development market in Miami-Dade, making up nearly 5 percent of 47,000 new South Florida units announced east of Interstate 95.

The Miami Beach City Commission has overseen the birth of 16 new condo buildings—including high-risers like One Ocean, Marea South Beach and the Faena House—with at least 689 units constructed since 2011, according to Cranespotters.com. City officials can also expect an additional 15 buildings with about 394 units to be topped-off in the near future.

“In Miami, we have dubious distinction for when things go well, we do disproportionately better and vise versa.” The market has recovered to unprecedented levels,” Alex Zylberglait, an investment agent at Miami-based Marcus & Millichap, told the press. “Miami has grown as a destination.”

Investors and developers, despite the last economic slowdown, have also continued to supplement the city’s residential development diet with ample commercial developments, too. Many investors are placing long-term bets on these acquired properties, expecting to bring the residents and tourists a wide variety of retail stores, restaurants and supermarkets.

Many of the current projects approved by city officials have broken ground and are underway. Some of these include projects by Crescent Heights, a Miami-based real estate developer, and a joint project that brings an 800-room hotel and renovations to the Miami Beach Convention Center by Portman Holdings, an Atlanta-based real estate company, and Clark Construction Group.

Below is a complete list of major projects shaping Miami Beach’s image: 

RESIDENTIAL

ONGOING:

 1- Eighty-Seven Park:

8701 Collins Ave, Miami Beach, FL 33154

Renzo Piano designed the 20-story Eighty Seven Park, a luxury condo project in North Beach, which is being developed by David Martin’s Terra Group in partnership with Bizzi and New Valley. The project, which currently sits in the former site of the Howard Johnson Dezerland Hotel, could be finished by October 2018.

The 70-unit oceanfront tower will feature an underground parking garage, a gym/spa and a rooftop terrace, according to a city meeting last year. A forest of 200 trees would also surround the Eighty-Seven Park condo, entering the ground floor lobby.

2- Ritz-Carlton Residences Miami:

15701 Collins Ave, Sunny Isles Beach, FL 33160

Lionheart Capital is expected to finish developing the Ritz-Carlton Residences, which sits on the former site of the Miami Heart Institute, in the second quarter of 2017.

The Lissoni Associati, an Italian-based group, described the project as a community. It spans seven acres on Surprise Lake, and it will have 111 condo units along with the 15 villas. They, Lissoni, designed all aspects of the three-bedroom model villa, including the Boffi kitchen, as well as the furniture.

3- 6080 Collins Beach House:

6080 Collins Avenue, Miami Beach FL 33140

Urbis Real Estate partnered with Domus Group, a Chicago-based real estate firm, led by a group of Argentine developers and architects, to launch the 6080 Collins Avenue Beach House, a condo-hotel project in Miami Beach.

The six-story hotel residence with Streamline Moderne architecture will have 70 studios and one-bedroom residences, starting at $267,000. Each unit will have a deep private balcony, with corner units featuring a wrap-around terrace. Three ground level residences will also have a private garden.

So far, 65 percent of the studios have been sold after launching sales in June 2015, according to a news release from the developer. The completion of the project is expected for the summer of 2017.

4- Faena Mar:

 3425 Collins Avenue, Miami Beach FL 3313

Alan Faena has placed the Faena Mar project, formerly called Faena Versailles Contemporary, a 41-unit condo, on hold.

The project is part of the Faena District, which runs from 32nd Street to 35th Street in Miami Beach.

5- Faena Versailles Classic:

3425 Collins Avenue Miami Beach, FL 33139

Alan Faena has placed the Versailles project on hold as of October 2016.

The planned condo towers are part of what has become the Faena District, which runs from 32nd Street to 35th Street in Miami Beach.

FINISHED:

6- Beach House 8:

3651 Collins Ave, Miami Beach, FL 33140

Arquitectonica designed Beach House 8, which sits in the same Miami Beach neighborhood as the Faena District, expanding from 32nd Street to 35th Street.

Ugo Colombo and Valerio Morabito completed the 10-story building in 2015 after breaking ground in 2014. Units feature Boffi kitchens, marble countertops, Lutron lighting systems and custom home automation systems.

7- Marea South Beach:

801 South Pointe Dr, Miami Beach, FL 33139

In 2015, Related Group completed the Marea South Beach condo complex, which consists of three buildings, each reaching 21 floors and 30 units. It is located at the intersection of South Pointe Drive and Washington Avenue near the southern tip of the barrier island in Miami Beach.

The Marea South Beach is also the first of two new condo projects by the Related Group being developed in the South-of-Fifth neighborhood.

The buildings features floor-to-ceiling energy efficient windows, individual access high-speed elevators and a rooftop pool terrace surrounded by lounging cabanas, intimate dining and poolside daybeds.

8- One Ocean:

1 Collins Avenue, Miami Beach, FL 33139

The Related Group, led by Jorge Perez, also developed and completed the One Ocean condominium project in 2015. This condo consists of a pair of eight-story buildings with a combined 49 residential units and nearly 130,000 square feet, located in the one hundredth block of Ocean Drive in the South-of-Fifth neighborhood of Miami Beach.

The two buildings feature 24-hour on-site concierge service controlled from an iPad, an outdoor clubhouse designed by Yabu Pushelberg, and an infinity edge pool deck designed by Swiss landscape architect Enzo Enea.

9- Residences Miami Beach Edition:

901 Collins Avenue, Miami Beach FL 331

Ian Schrager partnered with Marriott to redevelop the former site of the Seville Hotel at 2901 Collins Avenue in Miami Beach. The condos are located in a newly built 18-story tower adjacent to a landmarked building from the 1950s with 294 hotel rooms. The residences and hotel have separate doors, with the condos also having a separate entrance.

In 2014, John Pawson completed this 18-story Edition hotel, which offers 26 units, floor-to-ceiling windows and bleached teak wood flooring throughout, including the balconies and terraces.

10- Faena House:

3315 Collins Ave, Miami Beach, FL 33140

Foster + Partners joined Alan Faena, owner of the Faena Group, in 2011 and designed an 18-story picturesque, beachside residence that was eventually completed in 2015. In September of the same year, Ken Griffin, a hedge-fund manager, bought a 12,516-square-foot duplex penthouse in the building for $60 million—a record price for any single-family home in Miami.

The building holds 41 luxury apartments, arranged above two luxury facilities for its residents that include: a spa, pool and state-of-the-art fitness center. The lower levels are elevated above grasses and lily ponds, which flow beneath the building and enhance the aesthetics of the entrances.

11- Faena Hotel Residences:

3201 Collins Avenue, Miami Beach FL 33140

Faena Group also opened the 14-story, 169-room Faena Hotel Miami Beach on Collins Avenue in 2016. The hotel is clothed in colorful murals, houses a 3,000-square-foot theatre and two of Damien Hirst sculptures in the lobby.

Baz Luhrmann and his wife, costume designer Catherine Martin, helped design the hotel’s interior. The hotel features sleek interiors, with fixtures and appliances selected or custom-designed. Rates start at $745 a night for a hotel room or $2.5 million for one of the ten penthouse suites on the top two floors.

COMMERCIAL

12- 929 Alton Road:

929 Alton Road, Miami Beach FL 33139

Alton Sobe LLC, led by Dominique Nameche, received approval from the Miami Beach Planning Board for a proposed 50,000-square-foot development project in November.

The development is located on the east side of Alton Road, west of Flamingo Park Local Historic District. Despite many commercial zoning districts being separated from residential areas, there is nothing separating 929 Alton Road from the residential areas. Therefore, the developer proposed texture paving to reduce noise and adding landscaping at the back of the building to create a distance from its neighbors.

Other initiatives by the developer include locking the outer parking spots at 9 p.m. every night, and closing the parking garage at midnight.

13- The BLVD at Lenox:

Fifth Street and Lenox Avenue, Miami Beach FL 33139

Commercial real estate developer Michael Comras received approval in December from the Miami Beach Historic Preservation Board to build 82,251 square feet of retail space he named The BLVD at Lenox on Fifth Street, Miami Beach.

The four-story retail complex would make up two commercial parcels at 1045 Fifth Street, 1031 Fifth Street, 527 Lenox Avenue and 543 Lenox Avenue. It will have three floors of retail, with parking on the third and fourth floors—the rooftop level. Suria Yaffar, from Zyscovich Architects, is the project architect.

14- Baptist Health Facility:

709,721,725 and 745 Alton Road, Miami Beach FL 33139

In July, Alton Road Development, a Crescent Heights affiliate, received approval from the Miami Beach Planning Board to build a 122,000-square-foot medical complex on the land at 709,721,725 and 745 Alton Road. The facility will include an urgent care center, diagnostics, ambulatory surgery and physical therapy offices, 3,800 square feet of ground floor retail and 175 parking spaces.

15- 600 Alton Road:

600 Alton Road, Miami Beach FL 33139

Crescent Heights continues to plan the development of a mixed-use, four-building project expected to have 300,000 square feet of residential space, including 321 apartments, and approximately 60,000 square feet of retail space.

Marisa Galbut, retail development manager for Crescent Heights, told the press that construction could begin soon, with a 24-month timetable for completion.

16- 1901 Alton Road:

1901 Alton Road, Miami Beach FL 33139

Crescent Heights is also planning the construction of the 50,000-square-foot, three-story retail complex overlooking the Miami Beach Golf Club and Sunset Harbour Yacht Club. The bulk of its retail includes a 40,000-square-foot Whole Foods and a 4,500-square-foot Wells Fargo.

The project, like the 600 Alton Road project, received approval in 2015 from the Miami Beach Design Review Board to build.

17- Marshalls on 723 Lincoln Lane North:

723 Lincoln Lane North, Miami Beach FL 33139

Marshalls signed a 10-year lease in 2015 to occupy three floors of the property owned by Morgan Stanley Real Estate Investing, totaling 28,547 square feet of space.

It is located at 723 Lincoln Lane North, next to Macy’s. Terranova Corporation in Miami Beach has recently, as of 2017, completed the project. Allan Shulman was the head architect.

18- Trader Joes on 17 West:

17 West Avenue, Miami Beach FL 33139

A joint venture between Rock Soffer of Turnberry Associates and Elion Partners, along with members of the Sredni family, will bring another Trader Joes to Miami Beach on the second half of 2018.

The developers will break ground on the corner of 17 St. and West Ave, occupying 11,500 square feet. This project will feature a five-story, mixed-use building with 28,142 square feet of retail space, with 200 parking spots. Other retail stores surrounding Trader Joes will include several boutique stores, restaurants and Fearless Flyer, a newsletter offering recipes, tips, and monthly specials.

19- Miami Beach Convention Center:

1900 Washington Avenue, Miami Beach FL 33139

Portman Holdings, an Atlanta-based real estate company, and Clark Construction Group will renovate the old Miami Beach Convention Center, and the addition of a 30-story, 800-room hotel on the corner of 17th Street and Convention Center Drive.

Developer Portman Holdings will dish out $400 million to finance the hotel without public subsidy. The hotel is expected to open in March 2019, while the renovations to the convention center are due by December 2017, before Art Basel.

The city hopes to meet the construction budget of $500 million with an additional $96 million for design costs, contingencies and public art displays.

Renovations will feature a grand ballroom and junior ballrooms; about 5,000 square feet in expanded exhibition space, 874 parking spots and additional meeting rooms with upgraded telecommunications connections. The renovations will also include a linear park along Collins Canal to the north and a 6-acre park across Convention Center Drive on the site of a parking lot.

20- The Lincoln Road Master Plan:

Lincoln Road, Miami Beach FL 33139

The Miami Beach City Commission approved designs by James Corner Field Operations, a New York-based landscape architecture and public realm firm, to revamp Lincoln Road by adding more storefront space, lighting, trees and bike lanes.

With retail leasing and sales on Lincoln Road dominating the commercial industry on Miami Beach, the Lincoln Road Master plan would provide infrastructural improvements by transforming the area.

The new designs showcase integration and balancing of the public space with the commercial space by widening sidewalks, enhancing the pedestrian walkways, and adding more public seats and outdoor space for art installations and public performances.