Voters approve $30M Riverside Wharf project on Miami River

City of Miami voters gave the green light for a $30 million restaurant and entertainment development along the Miami River.

Riverside Wharf site (click to enlarge)

Developers Alex Mantecon and Guillermo Vadell want to build Riverside Wharf, a 58,000-square-foot project on the north bank at 236 Southwest North River Drive, owned the city. It will also include adjacent land the developers purchased in 2010 for $155,000.

On Tuesday, voters approved an agreement that gives the developers a 30-year lease with the option for two 10-year extensions, the Miami Herald reported. Mantecon and Vadell will pay a minimum of $195,000 in annual rent to the city, as well as spend at least $7 million on improvements to public land and build a public riverwalk fronting the development.

The Garcia family has leased the land for decades for its commercial fishing operation. Mantecon previously told the Miami Herald that he partnered with the Garcias, who will keep Garcia’s Seafood Grille & Fish Market farther east on the river, and will leave space for the business and a fish market.

The developers hope to break ground by the end of the year and open as early as late 2017. Koniver Stern is handling leasing for the retail project, which will also include outdoor plaza space and 20 boat slips.

Mantecon and Vadell are also the developers of the East Coast Building, a mixed-use self-storage building across the street.

Among other new projects planned for the Miami River are One River Point, a 60-story condominium developed by Shahab Karmely’s KAR Properties, and River Yacht Club, the latter of which is part of a $1 billion Chetrit Group and Dupoux Partners complex. [Miami Herald] – Katherine Kallergis