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Deco Capital Group buys missing piece of Sunset Harbour assemblage, plans new proposal to the city of Miami Beach
Developer won’t be seeking variances, height increases or setback with new design
Deco Capital Group has closed on the missing piece of its Sunset Harbour assemblage with plans to submit a new proposal to the city of Miami Beach for a mixed-use project.
The company, led by developer Bradley Colmer, paid $3.53 million for the Bay Road Animal Clinic building at 1730 Bay Road last week. “The original plan required additional height. We didn’t have this lot, which forced everything to the Purdy [Avenue] side,” Colmer said. Now the company is working on a new design.
The new plans will include more than 20,000 square feet of retail space, parking and about 12 residential condos. The proposal, which Colmer plans to submit at the end of the month, won’t require a request for variances and will stay within the allowed heights and setbacks. Domo Architecture and Design is the project architect.
In 2015, the developer withdrew its height increase request after it was unable to reach agreements with residents living at the adjacent Lofts at South Beach Condominium — some of whom would have their bay views blocked by the new building — and with Beach Towing, which holds a deed restriction that it says prevents parking on property previously owned by the towing company. Deco Capital also went to court alleging that Beach Towing was operating illegally, a claim based on Beach Towing allegedly not receiving the proper permits to operate a tow lot prior to a 1989 zoning change that prohibited two lots from operating at its location on Dade Boulevard.
About a year ago, Miami Beach commissioners again rejected a proposed height increase for the development, known then as Sunset Harbour Residences, at 1733-1769 Purdy Avenue. New York-based RWN Real Estate Partners, backed by billionaire Marc Rowan, is a majority partner in the project.
Susan Gale, a commercial agent with One Sotheby’s International Realty, was hired to sell the “missing piece” about six months ago by the seller, James Dougan. He’ll continue to operate the animal clinic for a few months, Gale said.
Records show Duggan paid $180,000 for the 3,750-square-foot lot in 1996. It includes a 2,115-square-foot building.
Dougan’s property had actually been for sale for about four years, Gale said, but “there was no meeting of the minds” between Deco Capital and the seller – until recently.
“It was a roller coaster, crazy kind of deal that we didn’t think was ever going to close,” she said, calling it “a really difficult property to sell to anybody else.”
The developer’s LLC is still in litigation with Beach Towing, which Colmer declined to comment on. “Realistically I don’t think we would be breaking ground until some time in 2019,” he said.