Another Star Island manse to be knocked down

The Miami Beach Design Review board this week unanimously approved design plans for the construction of a new lavish residential project at 44 Star Island.  

The decision will allow owner Shay Kostiner to demolish a six-bedroom, five-bathroom mansion built in 1935 by John H. Levi, a marine engineer who worked with Miami Beach founder Carl Fisher on a number of projects to create Miami Beach.   

Plans submitted by Kostiner indicate he will build a two-story trapezoid structure with floor to ceiling glass panels running the length of the new home.  He purchased the one-acre-plus waterfront lot in 2010 for $7.2 million.  

44 Star Island

Preservationists who fought to save the structure had circulated a petition calling for its preservation or relocation, and the Design Review Board had criticized plans presented by Kostiner earlier this year that included the removal of several trees.  Landscape architects said on Tuesday that they had made a number of changes to the original plans to enhance its landscaping.  

Kostiner told an earlier meeting of the Design Review Board that he and his team had spent over a year designing his new home and that he had brought together “a great team” to design a architecturally significant contemporary home.  

The Miami Beach Design Review Board on Tuesday also unanimously approved design plans for the construction of a new 8,800-square-foot modern home that will replace a 14,800-square-foot mansion at 31 Star Island Drive, built in 1920 and one of the earliest large homes built on Miami Beach.