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Clevelander Submits Plans To Turn South Beach Party Spot Into Housing

the clevelander affordable housing rendering_image courtesy of boardroom pr 1170x435

The owners of the Clevelander Hotel and Bar submitted plans to the city of Miami Beach on Monday to transform the famous party spot into a restaurant and 18-story housing development, shorter than the 30 stories first floated last month but substantially taller than other buildings nearby on Ocean Drive.

The proposal calls for a 200-foot tower above a ground-floor restaurant where the Clevelander currently stands. The project would have 137 residential units, 55 of which would be designated as workforce housing.

Monday’s submission comes more than six weeks after Jesta Group announced its intention to redevelop the Clevelander and adjacent Essex House hotel under Florida’s Live Local Act, which lets developers circumvent local height and density regulations if they commit to designating 40% of new housing units as affordable to renters earning up to 120% of the area median income.

 

Source:  Miami Herald

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Developer Under Contract To Buy 17,000-SF Lot In Wynwood For $7.7 Million

austin burke building wynwood 1170x435

Clara Homes is the latest developer to seek a piece of Wynwood.

The Miami-based company is under contract to buy a 17,000-square-foot lot for $7.7 million, with plans to build a luxury rental building on the site under Florida’s newly enacted Live Local Act, according to a company spokesperson. The sale is expected to close by the end of 2023.

The parcel holds a single-story retail building that’s home to the Austin Burke men’s clothing store at 2601 NW Sixth Avenue, located between the Interstate 95 and the 545 Wyn office building,

The clothing retailer owns the property and will remain there for now, as the deal includes a sale leaseback for one year. Austin Burke purchased the property, completed in 1967, for $340,000 in 1988, according to property records.

Clara Homes plans to build a 152-unit luxury rental building with ground-floor retail designed by Miami architectural firm Kobi Karp. The developer plans to utilize a provision from the Live Local Act, a state housing law enacted earlier this year, that allows added density in return for designating at least 40 percent of apartments as workforce housing.

 

Source:  Commercial Observer

 

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‘Bullish on Allapattah’: Miami’s Next Frontier Of Development

No. 17 Residences in Miami's Allapattah neighborhood 1170x435

At 4.6 square miles, Allapattah is an eclectic landscape of warehouses, single-family homes, apartment buildings, hospitals, justice facilities, restaurants, shops, and art museums.

In recent years, the predominantly working-class Miami neighborhood has become something else: the next frontier of real estate development.

Real estate insiders said Allapattah won’t have the same fate as Wynwood, with office and retail rents are among the highest in South Florida. For one thing, it is more than three times the size of Wynwood. For another, real estate investment there has been at a moderate tempo, at least so far, said Francisco “Paco” De La Torre, an artist who transformed two Allapattah industrial buildings into arts studios and offices.

“It’s been a slow and steady growth,” he said. However, since the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic, that growth has manifested at a “stronger, steadier pace.”

Among Allapattah’s agents of change are Don and Mera Rubell and their son Jason. The family of prominent art collectors moved their collection’s exhibition site from Wynwood to a 100,000-square-foot warehouse building at 110 N.W. 23rd St. in Allapattah in 2019. Since then, the Rubells have converted two other neighboring warehouses to display their art. Their most recent acquisition is the 45,711-square-foot former Rex Discount Wholesale warehouse at 1090 N.W. 23rd St., purchased for $10.7 million in 2022.

In 2019, Jorge Pérez, founder of Miami-based Related Group, turned a 28,000-square-foot warehouse at 2270 N.W. 23rd St. into an art exhibition space called El Espacio Twenty Three.

On the multifamily apartment front, Neology Life Development Group, led by Lissette Calderon, completed No. 17 Residences, a 13-story, 192-unit market-rate apartment building at 1569 N.W. 17th Ave., in 2021. Two more 14-story apartment complexes – the 237-unit Fourteen Allapattah Residences and the 323-unit The Julia – will be finished in six months, she said.

Alfredo Riascos, principal of Miami-based Gridline Properties, said most of Allapattah’s warehouses will either remain industrial uses or be converted into office or art-related uses. But along its major vehicular corridors, developers will have an incentive through the Live Local Act to replace warehouses with workforce housing projects.

“Allapattah is a [desirable] market, given its location in the Miami urban core and the vicinity to downtown Miami, Wynwood and the Medical District,” he said.

 

Source:  SFBJ

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South Beach’s Clevelander To Be Transformed Into Affordable Housing Development

the clevelander affordable housing rendering_image courtesy of boardroom pr 1170x435

The Clevelander Hotel and Bar announced a transformational redevelopment of its current site designed to address the lack of affordable housing in the area. This residential project will be the first of its kind in Miami Beach developed under Florida’s newly enacted Live Local Act.

The Clevelander has engaged a prominent architect to develop what will become one of the most significant affordable housing developments ever to be built on private land in the City of Miami Beach. 40 percent of the units will consist of affordable housing rentals.  The new development will be built on the sites of the Clevelander and adjoining Essex House hotel properties, which are both owned by Jesta Group. The Art Deco facades of these historic buildings shall be preserved and retained.

The lack of affordable housing in Miami Beach has created a pervasive labor shortage in Miami Beach’s hospitality industry.  Workers – particularly those in the hospitality industry — are unable to live near their jobs because of the cost of housing, forcing lengthy daily commutes to and from work.  This labor shortage was further exacerbated in the last few years due to the large number of hospitality workers leaving the industry during the Covid lockdowns.

“We are now facing a severe labor crisis in Miami Beach’s hospitality industry,” says Clevelander spokesperson and Shutts & Bowen attorney Alexander Tachmes. “It is extremely difficult to attract and retain talent in an industry with a dwindling labor pool and nowhere for existing employees to live.”

In the coming days, the Clevelander will be meeting with the City to submit architectural plans for this project under Florida’s new Live Local Act.  The Live Local Act, which went into effect on July 1, 2023, is a statewide workforce housing program designed to increase the availability of affordable housing opportunities, thus allowing Florida’s workforce to live in the communities in which they work. The Act makes it economically feasible to build affordable housing by eliminating harsh and overly restrictive zoning regulations.

For example, for a qualifying project under the Act, the maximum height allowed for an affordable housing project can be as tall as the highest building allowed within one mile of the site.  In the case of the Clevelander property, the maximum height allowed is approximately 30 stories.  Similarly, the maximum density allowed is equal to the highest density allowed anywhere in the respective city.  Under the Act, the Clevelander redevelopment project’s maximum density would be 150 residential units per acre. Additionally, the affordable housing units would be guaranteed to stay affordable for 30 years.

“Since purchasing the Clevelander Hotel and Bar a few years ago, we have been proud to operate this legendary and iconic establishment in South Beach.  Although we are happy to continue operating as we have, some have expressed a desire that we change our business model at the property.  With the Live Local Act, we now have a unique opportunity to do that.  The Act allows us to redevelop the Clevelander and Essex House sites with enough density and square footage to justify the shift in our business model while providing an important public service in the form of affordable housing,” said Anthony O’Brien, Senior Managing Director of Jesta Group. “We are excited at the unique opportunity to offer true affordable housing on South Beach which will remain in place for decades to come.”

The new development will transform the legendary Clevelander from its current use as a hotel and bar with outdoor entertainment until 5 a.m. into a residential development with hotel services and a high-end restaurant on its ground floor.  The Clevelander’s current staff will be given priority to fill positions in the new project.

For years, the Miami Beach Mayor and Commission have been attempting to change the business model of South Beach in order to reduce its supposed dependency on nightlife tourism. Until now, there has been no forum for dialogue with the Mayor’s office regarding reasonable and effective tools that would make it financially feasible to revamp the Clevelander’s current business model.

Today, thanks to the Florida Legislature, the economic paradigm for development on Ocean Drive has finally been sufficiently modified to make possible a change of use at the Clevelander.  Notably, this change is occurring because of economic incentives and cooperation, rather than punitive legislation.

“We applaud the State of Florida for making this happen,” added Tachmes. “This is a huge win on multiple levels. The city wins by achieving its goal of turning a nightlife venue into a sophisticated restaurant and replacing hotel rooms with residential product on Ocean Drive.  The city and hospitality workers win by the introduction of a significant quantity of affordable housing, which will give the hospitality community greater options to live in the community in which they work.  And the Clevelander wins by replacing a highly profitable business with enough potential development revenue to justify a change in business models.  And all this can be done while maintaining the beautiful historic Art Deco facades that have made this property and the surrounding neighborhood so iconic.”

 

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Developers Looking To Buy Commercial Sites Due To New Legislation

Developers are analyzing how to take advantage of Florida’s new legislation, which will set aside over $700 million in funding, create tax breaks, and provide zoning-related incentives for affordable and workforce housing developments.

The law could contribute to a new boom in housing development, from entirely affordable buildings to mixed-income towers on commercial sites that developers are now looking to purchase, experts say.

The Live Local Act, which Gov. Ron DeSantis signed aims to help fill financing gaps, making more developments economically feasible. What is still crucial, attorneys and developers said, is combining that with incentives on the local level.

“These incentive programs, in conjunction with working cities and municipalities — that’s the way you’re going to fill a void and a gap and a huge need,” said Brian Sidman, of Miami Beach-based Redwood Dev Co. “The problem isn’t going to be solved by developers buying private land. That ship has sailed due to the cost of private land.” 

Still, Sidman called the legislation “a great start,” and applauded DeSantis and the Florida Legislature.

“If we don’t fix our housing crisis, we’ll have other material programs that will trickle down,” he said.

Redwood is analyzing the SAIL (State Apartment Incentive Loan) program to see which of its projects could secure low-interest loans for workforce housing. Redwood, which has more than 1,500 units in the pipeline in South Florida, aims to build more than 5,000 affordable and/or workforce units over the next five to seven years. It recently broke ground on Mosaic, a 98-unit development in Opa-locka.

The new legislation sets aside $259 million in SAIL funds. It also promises $252 million in SHIP (State Housing Initiatives Program) funding to incentivize local governments to partner with developers preserving or building new housing.

The law goes into effect July 1. Developers are expected to apply for incentives this summer, and receive funds next year.

 

 

Source:  The Real Deal

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