UPDATED, March 31, 8:10 a.m.: Developer Michael Shvo is moving forward with his major redevelopment of the Raleigh Hotel and adjacent properties in Miami Beach after obtaining approval for a deeper underground garage.
Shvo’s attorney, Alfredo Gonzalez of Greenberg Traurig, and architect Kobi Karp presented a proposal to the Miami Beach Historic Preservation Board last month, with modifications to the previously approved plans for the project at 1751, 1757 and 1775 Collins Avenue. The board unanimously approved the changes, allowing Shvo to begin major work to the nearly 3-acre assemblage fronting the ocean.
Shvo plans to build a new 175-foot luxury condo tower and restore the Raleigh, South Seas and Richmond hotels. New York architect Peter Marino designed the plans along with Kobi Karp Architecture & Interior Design.
Shvo, Bilgili Holdings and Deutsche Finance America paid about $243 million for all three hotels in 2019. Bilgili is no longer involved.
Construction is underway, according to a spokesperson. The project marks the first in South Florida for the New York developer.
During the public comment period in last month’s meeting, preservationist Daniel Ciraldo asked that the city ensure that allowing three floors of underground parking instead of the previously approved one level does not threaten the integrity of the structure of the historic buildings.
“All the decisions we make here… they really have big impacts down the road,” Ciraldo said, alluding to the collapse of Champlain Towers South in Surfside and approvals of the building next door, Eighty Seven Park, which is in the city of Miami Beach.
Read more
Popular
South Florida
Michael Shvo’s proposed Miami Beach tower gets haircut and approval
Commercial
South Florida
Michael Shvo gets zoning for 200-foot South Beach tower
Miami Beach Historic Preservation Board member Kirk Paskal said the request for two additional basement levels was “daunting.”
“I’m assuming the city has the proper expertise to ensure that not only [with] sea level rise, but [also] hurricanes, that this will be a safe process,” Paskal said. “It seems like a real construction and engineering feat.”
The neighboring Shelborne Hotel at 1801 Collins Avenue had opposed the redevelopment, but its legal challenges to the project were voluntarily dismissed last year. At the most recent historic preservation board meeting, the Shelborne supported the additional levels of basement parking.
The Raleigh, which is known for its pool and other Art Deco features, closed in 2017 as a result of Hurricane Irma, and the historic property has been a vacant shell of a building for years. Fashion designer Tommy Hilfiger and Dogus Group sold the hotel to Shvo and his partners in 2019 for $103 million, or over $1.2 million a key, marking one of the highest per-room sales in Miami-Dade County. Hilfiger had planned to turn the hotel, built in the 1940s, into a private club.
Other nearby properties are also getting makeovers, including the Shore Club at 1901 Collins Avenue and the Delano Hotel at 1685 Collins Avenue. Witkoff and Monroe Capital plan a new hotel and condo tower at the Shore Club, which was previously owned by New York-based HFZ Capital, and Eldridge Industries plans a renovation of the Delano.