Two towers proposed for Greater Downtown Miami

Developers submitted plans for hotel in Miami's A&E District, mixed-use tower downtown

Rendering of the Sterling and the hotel at 511 Northeast 15th Street (Credit: Shulman + Associates, Behar Font & Partners)
Rendering of the Sterling and the hotel at 511 Northeast 15th Street (Credit: Shulman + Associates, Behar Font & Partners)

Developers of two major projects submitted proposals to a city of Miami board, including plans for a hotel in the Arts & Entertainment District and for a mixed-use tower in downtown Miami.

Behar Font & Partners submitted plans for the Sterling, a proposed 73-story tower at 555 North Miami Avenue called the Sterling. Property records show Dania Beach-based Miami 6th Street LLC, an affiliate of the Turkish Okan Group, owns the 36,000-square-foot development site.

Plans call for 362 residential units, a 300-unit key hotel, 55,400 square feet of office space, and retail space.

The Istanbul developer paid $18.1 million for the parking lot near the historic Central Baptist Church in March. At the time, a broker involved in the sale said the site was zoned for a 1,000-foot building with as much as 1.3 million square feet of space for retail stores, offices, hotel rooms and condos.

Sign Up for the undefined Newsletter

One Miami Biscayne Bay and Arts District Hotel, a company controlled by Vinay Rama, submitted plans for 42-story, 270-key hotel on the corner lot at 511 Northeast 15th Street in Miami’s A&E District.

Rama heads Miami-based Mandala Holdings, a hospitality investment platform. His firm paid $8 million for the development site north of downtown Miami. The plans, designed by Shulman + Associates, include meeting space, a lobby with retail space, office space for the hotel management, a pool deck and fitness center. The proposal also calls the project Marriott Miami.

Both developments will go before the Miami Urban Development Review Board on Friday.