The first beachfront apartment house in Surfside was designated as historic on Thursday.
The Miami-Dade preservation board’s unanimous decision overrode a request from Surfside officials that it hold off on designations in the town, according to published reports.
Seaway Villas was under the threat of demolition over its potential sale to a developer. Three owners of the 29-unit building had refused to sell to Fort Capital, which had contracted to buy a majority of the condos in the small, two-story building, the Miami Herald reported.
At the meeting, the board also granted historic status to part of a Streamline Moderne apartment house on the west side of Collins Avenue, among others. [Miami Herald] — Katherine Kallergis