Related Group CEO Jorge Pérez is reviving plans for a luxury condo project he wants to build in Miami Beach.
The Miami condo developer went before the Miami Beach City Commission on Wednesday to present the firm’s latest proposal for a waterfront property it owns on Terminal Island.
Over the years, Related has proposed building different projects on the 3.7-acre parcel at 120 MacArthur Causeway. The commission agreed to refer a discussion item regarding the project to the city’s Land Use and Development Committee.
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Related has the zoning rights to build a four-story office building on the property, but it is seeking a height increase that would allow for a roughly 400-foot residential tower with about 90 luxury condo units. In exchange, Related would rebuild the city’s fleet management installation on Terminal Island so that it would operate throughout construction. The developer would also give the city about 26,000 square feet of land and build the city a new parking and warehouse structure.
Pérez, who was accompanied by Arquitectonica co-founder and principal Bernardo Fort-Brescia and his son, Related Vice President Jon Paul Pérez, said that a residential tower would have less impact than an office building. An office building would create “376 percent higher traffic than the residential tower proposed,” Jorge Pérez said.
He added that a third of the residential tower would likely have permanent residents and two-thirds would be for second homeowners, usually from the Northeast or Latin America.
Commissioner Michael Gongora requested that the developer try to reduce the height of the proposed tower.
Related, the most prolific condo builder in South Florida, has built a few luxury high-rises nearby, including Apogee, Icon South Beach and One Ocean. Pérez recently slashed the asking price of a penthouse he owns at One Ocean to nearly $11 million due to the stagnant condo market.
Miami Beach Port LLC, a Related Group affiliate, paid $9.94 million for Terminal Island property in 2013.
Commissioner John Elizabeth Aleman supported the referral to the land use committee, but was concerned with the U.S. Coast Guard’s issues with the development. Two years ago when Related proposed a 25-story tower on the site, Coast Guard officials said the project could have a “negative impact on security and operations” at the Coast Guard Miami Beach station that shares the island with Miami Beach fleet management facilities, an FPL facility and parking and ferry facilities for Fisher Island.
“Personally I would have preferred that we chew on those things more before we do that referral,” Aleman said. “What concerns me about the action is that we are therefore endorsing going forward. I’m not sure we really have exercised the support of the project.”