One of the country’s biggest homebuilders is building himself a new compound on Miami Beach’s Star Island resembling something out of a James Bond film, complete with underground parking, a lagoon, guest houses and more.
A trustee for the massive 120,000-square-foot property, made up of three single-family lots, requested variances to increase lot coverage, home size, and elevations at a Miami Beach Board of Adjustment meeting on Friday morning. The board granted the variances with conditions including moving the elevation variance to September.
Plans filed with the city in May reveal what Stuart Miller is planning to build on his plot: a two-story home with underground parking that surrounds an open lagoon with a waterfall, yacht dockage, a sloping green roof, tropical landscaping, infinity plunge pool, a library, chef’s kitchen, a billiard and game room, cabana bar, wine room, gym, motor court and more. The underground parking will fit at least 32 spaces.
Requests to increase the lot coverage from 30 percent to 44.4 percent and the unit size from 50 percent to 58.4 percent were approved. That means that the home size went from 60,000 square feet to 70,133 square feet. Half of that includes parking and open areas, according to the city’s staff report.
In addition, the board approved a variance allowing for a commercial elevator that will be “much faster and bigger” than a residential one, Todd Glaser said at the meeting. Glaser, a spec home developer in Miami Beach, is part of the development team.
Domo Architecture + Design is designing the waterfront property.
Miller paid $27 million for the lots in 2006. The president and CEO of Lennar Corp. has been ranked a billionaire with his net worth ranging from $950 million to $1.5 billion. He made $17.9 million last year, making him the fourth highest-earning South Florida executive.
He also owns 22 Star Island, which includes a 1931 mansion that Miller moved elsewhere on the 1.4-acre plot. There, he’s building a modern, two-story mansion that was approved last year.