Sunset Harbour mixed-use development, Catch restaurant win design approvals

A proposed six-story mixed-use project and a famous seafood restaurant splashed into the permitting phase of development in Miami Beach after scoring design approvals.

The Miami Beach Design Review Board on Tuesday gave the green light for both projects to move forward. An investment group led by Wayne Boich is proposing a building with offices, retail and a handful of condos in Sunset Harbour. And New York-based Catch Hospitality Group is planning to open a South Beach outpost in a commercial building adjacent to a South of Fifth luxury condominium. 

1920 Alton Road

After some cosmetic tweaks to a previous design, the Sunset Harbour mixed-use project scored unanimous approval. The review board voted 6-0 to authorize three variances, including increasing the proposed building’s height by three feet, and allowing for two loading spaces instead of three as required under the city code for Sunset Harbour. 

Two residents spoke against the building height increase, claiming that the structure as proposed is already too tall for Sunset Harbour. “I wasn’t aware how large the building [is going to be],” said resident Mike Bucella. “It seems substantially out of line with our neighborhood.” 

Carter McDowell, an attorney for the development entity, told the board that the building would be 88 feet high if the mechanical equipment on the roof is factored into the overall height. “From the finished floor elevation to the top of the roof, it’s 63 feet,” McDowell said. “[The mechanical equipment] is not counted in the building height.” 

Last year, the Boich-led investment group paid $21.3 million for the redevelopment site at 1920 Alton Road. Related Companies’ Bruce Beal Jr. and SL Green’s Andrew Mathias are partnering with Boich, CEO of Miami Beach-based Boich Investment Group, to redevelop the property. 

The development entity plans to demolish an existing three-story existing building currently leased to a Pura Vida restaurant and an Anatomy gym. 

The mixed-use project, designed by San Francisco-based Gensler, will have a garage, 25,223 square feet of office space, and roughly 8,284 square feet of restaurant space at the ground level, split between two tenants. The building’s proposed three condo units will total 13,271 square feet. 

Catch

Interior work has already begun inside the 12,000-square-foot building at 200 South Pointe Drive, but the owners of Catch — Eugene Remm, Mark Birnbaum and Tilman Fertitta — needed the board’s permission to reconfigure the entrance and the rooftop terrace of their new restaurant.

The board unanimously approved their request to shift the front door from the side to the corner of the two-story building, and add a retractable trellis and awnings to the rooftop terrace. Catch Hospitality and its landlord, Miami-based Black Lion Investment Group, also got authorization to add more planters, a water feature, a trellis and entry arches made out of aluminum to the front facade. 

Miami-based Kobi Karp Architecture & Interior Design is handing the renovation, estimated at $1.3 million. Catch Hospitality signed a lease shortly after Black Lion, led by Robert Rivani, acquired the building for $11.5 million last year. 

The property is adjacent to the Continuum at South Beach luxury condominium.