Amit Kort, Karl-Ulrich Ansorg, Kobi Elbaz, Ofir Gabriel Plan Miami Tower

A partnership of four developers wants to build a mixed-use tower with condominiums in Miami’s Edgewater neighborhood.

Karl-Ulrich Ansorg, Yakov Elbaz, Ofir Gabriel and Amit Kort plan a 44-story building totaling roughly 615,000 square feet on almost a full acre on the southwest corner of Biscayne Boulevard and Northeast 34th Street, The Real Deal has learned. Their vision is for 172 condos atop 100,000 square feet of offices, 10,000 square feet of retail and a 420-space garage, they told TRD. Kobi Karp is the architect.

Three-quarters of the units will be three-bedroom condos priced at $1.5 million, and the remainder will be two-bedroom condos priced at $1 million, Kort said.

The plan is for a bigger project than the 36-story, 127-unit building allowed as of right on the site. The developers purchased transferable development rights from the historic Beverly Terrace residential co-op immediately south of the site at 3300 Biscayne Boulevard, Kort said.

The tower marks the partnerships’ first major South Florida project. In his other local projects, Kort said he is developing luxury waterfront houses in Golden Beach and Surfside with his son Tomer Kort.

Elbaz and Gabriel have some real estate investments in the region. Elbaz is working on gut renovations on investment homes in Aventura and Golden Beach, and Gabriel is involved in a planned mixed-use Aventura project, Kort said.

Still, Elbaz and Gabriel, as well as Ansorg, would likely summon more name recognition abroad.

In Thailand, Elbaz, who more often goes by Kobi instead of Yakov, is a prolific hotel and condo developer mainly in the city of Pattaya. Projects by his firm, Tulip Group, include the Centara Grand Residence, Royal Tulip Suites and the Royal Park 2 Condominium @ Soi Rangnam, according to real estate listing website Thailand-Property.com.

Gabriel, who leads Miami-based logistics firm goTRG, was a homebuilder in Toronto, he said.

Ansorg founded Berlin-based Ansorg Development about 30 years ago. The firm has built projects across asset classes for a combined worth of 442 million euros ($430 million), according to its website. It has invested in and renovated existing buildings in Germany, as well as in the Netherlands and Switzerland.

The four partners, through Tulip Developments Group, scooped up the Edgewater development site for $16.5 million last week. The six-lot assemblage is at 234-264 Northeast 34th Street.

David and Leila Centner, owners of the controversial private school Centner Academy in Miami’s Buena Vista neighborhood, sold the land. They became nationally recognized last year for their controversial threat to fire teachers vaccinated against Covid-19 before the end of the school year. The Centners, through an affiliate that ties to their Miami Beach-based DLC Capital Management, had paid $11.5 million for the Edgewater property in 2018, records show.

Rena Kliot of Pulse International Realty handled the latest deal.

Ansorg, Elbaz, Gabriel and Kort expect site plan approval in about five months, though they didn’t provide a construction timeline.

The planned project would add to the canyon of high-rises that have transformed the Edgewater skyline over the past decade.

As of this summer, 6,000 apartment and condo units were in the pipeline in the neighborhood.

Oak Row Equities, which rebranded from its previous name Carpe Real Estate Partners, wants to build a 40-story residential and office tower between Northeast Second Avenue and Biscayne Boulevard, and between Northeast 26th Terrace and Northeast 26th Street. It would include about 399 apartments, although the unit count could change.

In September, Rotem Rosen and billionaire Anand Mahindra’s MRR Development paid $30 million for the development site at 1801 Northeast Second Avenue. With bonuses, the site allows for a mixed-use project of up to 1.9 million square feet and 710 residential units.

Two Roads Development launched sales of the first of its planned three-tower condo project in September. The Edition-branded, 55-story building will have 185 units at 2121 North Bayshore Drive.