N.Y. developer proposes condo project in Miami Design District

4201 Northeast Second Avenue
4201 Northeast Second Avenue

A New York development group is proposing a new mixed-use project with at least 82 condo units on the site of a church located kitty-corner from the $1.4 billion Miami Design District retail center currently under construction. 

The development group – led by Ayal Horovits, Isaac A Gindi and Raymond Gindi – paid $12.5 million in July to the Southeastern Conference Association Of Seventh-Day Adventists for the church location, which encompasses an entire city block at the intersection of Northeast 2nd Avenue and 42nd Street, according to Miami-Dade County records.

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Condo units in the newly proposed project – for which a name has not been publicly announced – are to average about 1,100 square feet and sell for about $450 per square foot, according to an application filed with the Miami Planning, Zoning and Appeals Board.

In addition to the new condos, which could ultimately end up totaling as many as 100 units, plans call for the project to feature 100,000 square feet of commercial space and a 12,600-square-foot “civic space garden and companion open space,” according to the application.

In order to build the proposed project, the development group is seeking city permission to amend the existing Miami Design District Retail Street Special Area Plan across the street to the east to include the block where the church is located, according to government records.

By expanding the special area plan to include the church site, this proposed project could serve to “provide a rational terminus of the commercial district and an appropriate transition to the abutting residential neighborhoods to the north and guard against future commercial encroachment,” according to the development group’s application filed by Miami attorney Javier E. Fernandez of Stearns Weaver Miller Weissler Alhadeff & Sitterson.   

An initial Miami Planning, Zoning and Appeals Board discussion of the application on Nov. 5 was “continued” to a subsequent meeting date scheduled for Dec. 3, according to city records.

The Miami Design District – which currently stretches from Northeast 38th Street to 42nd Street on the east side of Miami Avenue – is expected to emerge as a combination of South Beach’s Lincoln Road meets Beverly Hills’ Rodeo Drive in becoming one of the premier luxury retail destination in South Florida. Expectations are high that residents could have a strong interest in living within close proximity to the Miami Design District project.

To date, only one project – dubbed the Sweetbird South Residences at 92 NE 40th St. – is reportedly in the works.

At least five new condo towers and an additional three rental towers have already been announced within about a 10-minute walk of the Miami Design District, according to the preconstruction condo projects website CraneSpotters.com. (For disclosure, my firm operates the website.)

The unanswered question going forward is whether the desire to live near the Miami Design District will be strong enough to fill all of the residential units that are planned and already exist in the area.   

Peter Zalewski is a real estate columnist for The Real Deal who founded Condo Vultures LLC, a consultancy and publishing company, as well as Condo Vultures Realty LLC and CVR Realty brokerages and the Condo Ratings Agency, an analytics firm. The Condo Ratings Agency operates CraneSpotters.com, a preconstruction condo projects website, in conjunction with the Miami Association of Realtors.