Ronald Bloomberg plans mixed-use project on Biscayne Boulevard near Design District

Requested zoning change would allow a tower with 136 residential units and 40k sf of commercial space

3801 Biscayne Boulevard, Biscayne Medical Plaza (Credit: Ruth Hara)
3801 Biscayne Boulevard, Biscayne Medical Plaza (Credit: Ruth Hara)

An investment group led by Miami Beach-based developer Ronald Bloomberg wants to redevelop medical offices and an adjacent apartment building near the edge of the Miami Design District into a mixed-use project.

The proposal has been in the works for two years, but an initial vote to rezone the properties by the Miami City Commission has been pushed back six times, most recently to Thursday’s regular meeting.

Two companies majority owned by Bloomberg put in a request to change the rear portion of a 50,442-square-foot lot at 3801 Biscayne Boulevard and the entire 9,030-square-foot-lot at 455 Northeast 38th Street from medium density multifamily residential to medium density restricted commercial. The proposed change would allow 3801 Biscayne Ltd. and 3801 Biscayne Corp. to build a luxury tower with 136 residential units and about 40,000 square feet of commercial space on the 1.36 acre site, according to city documents

A declaration form attached to the rezoning application lists Bloomberg and seven partners as owners of the two companies. Currently, a three-story medical office building and adjacent surface parking lot are located at 3801 Biscayne Boulevard and a two-story, 12-unit apartment building sits on 455 Northeast 38th Street.

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The 3801 Biscayne entities retained architect Kobi Karp to design the new project, according to a Sept. 22, 2015 letter from Ben Fernandez, a shareholder with Bercow Radell Fernandez and Larkin, representing the developer.

Fernandez and Bloomberg could not be immediately reached for comment. Miami-Dade records show 3801 Biscayne Ltd. purchased the medical office building for $3.7 million in 2003 and 3801 Biscayne Corp. bought the apartment building for $330,000 in 2013.

Bloomberg owns the upscale Palm Court office building at 309 23rd Street in Miami Beach. In April, he acquired a 15,000-square-foot warehouse at 55 Northeast 24th Street in Wynwood after settling a legal dispute with the property’s former owner, according to the Daily Business Review.