Proposed Alton Road condo project to expand

Plans for the former South Shore Hospital site
Plans for the former South Shore Hospital site and the existing structure

A fifth building is being added to Crescent Heights’ Wave condo project in South Beach, by the Alton Road flyover.

The design of the proposed 60-foot tall, 96,105-square-foot condo at 659-737 Alton Road will be presented to the Miami Beach Design Review Board Tuesday morning, along with several design changes for three other proposed residential towers within the Wave complex.

Located from Fifth to Seventh streets along Alton Road and West Avenue, the Wave would total 541,653 square feet and include 904 residential units and 1,499 parking spaces. The tallest building in the complex will be the 113-foot tall skeleton of the former South Shore Hospital. The other four towers will be new construction and range from 53 feet and 75 feet in height.

Designs for the buildings on the 500 block and 600 block of Alton Road were already approved by the Miami Beach Design Review Board two years ago. But Crescent Heights, headed by developer Russell Galbut, wants to make some changes to the design of the 600 block, including raising the flood elevation by one foot to nine feet, building above ground parking instead of subterranean parking, increasing the size of the units, and “converting the balcony profile from an internalized balcony to a continuous projecting balcony,” according to the city’s staff report.

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Miami Beach planners are critical of the redesign of the wave-shaped balconies for the former South Shore Hospital and two proposed 53-foot tall condo towers.

“While the previous design consisted of almost disappearing balconies, the proposed modifications entail the introduction of projecting undulating balconies which create thick bands around each story of the building,” Planning Director Thomas Mooney described in his report to the Design Review Board. Besides looking “monotonous” from the street, the projecting balconies will also block view corridors, Mooney stated, especially if variances are granted.

City planners told The Real Deal that they continue to work with Crescent Heights on the balconies’ design.