Miami Beach board approves Galbut hotel, Shvo office project

A trio of major projects scored key approvals from the Miami Beach Preservation Board on Tuesday.

Russell Galbut can move ahead with the redevelopment of an apartment complex into a hotel in the city’s South of Fifth neighborhood. Michael Shvo can charge forward with his reimagining of the office clock tower on Lincoln Road. And Witkoff and Monroe Capital got authorization to demolish portions of the Shore Club hotel complex on Collins Avenue before obtaining building permits for a planned redevelopment.

1030 Sixth Street

The board voted 5-1 to approve the partial demolition, renovation and restoration of three buildings at 1030 Sixth Street proposed by Galbut’s Miami-based GFO Investments. The developer also wants to build a new seven-story structure behind the complex, which was completed in 1938. It was designed by the late architect Henry Hohauser, who was well known for his contributions to the Art Deco style.

The new development will be a 76-room hotel with a rooftop pool and restaurant, a letter of intent states. The board also approved two variances, including a request to increase the maximum number of rooms between 300 square feet and 335 square feet to 61 from 15.

“We will get this project done,” Galbut told board members. “But in order to get it done, we need the variances. Since we took over this property, we have spent significant dollars cleaning it up because it was in bad shape.”

In June, an affiliate managed by GFO executives paid $5.7 million for the two-story complex with 12 units, records show.

407 Lincoln Road

The board unanimously approved Shvo’s proposal to completely overhaul 407 Lincoln Road, the 13-story office tower with an iconic digital clock on the roof. Completed in 1940, the building is currently owned by EuroAmerican Group, which is under contract to sell it to Shvo for an undisclosed price.

Designed by Foster + Partners and Kobi Karp, 407 Lincoln Road’s update would completely transform the existing blue and black marble facade. Shvo wants to renovate the building into a mostly glass tower with concrete elements, according to renderings and plans submitted to the city. The plans also call for sprucing up and fixing the inoperable digital clock at the top of the building, as well as renovations to the lobby, elevators and other common areas.

While 407 Lincoln Road was built shortly after the beginning of World War II, it is not a contributing historic building, Miami Beach Historic Preservation Officer Debra Tackett told the board.

“I think the resulting product will enable this building to be more contributing than the existing design,” Tackett said. “[The existing building] is very much out of scale with the historic district.”

Alex Witkoff, Steve Witkoff, and Monroe Capital’s Theodore Koenig, and The Shore Club at 1901 Collins Avenue (Witkoff, Monroe Capital)

The Shore Club

The board unanimously approved a request by Witkoff and Monroe Capital to first demolish the non-historic portions of the Art Deco hotel complex at 1901 Collins Avenue before commencing on the redevelopment of the property into a luxury condo hotel. In May, board members greenlit the overall plan to renovate the Shore Club.

Witkoff, led by Alex and Steven Witkoff, and Monroe, led by Theodore Koenig, will tear down a 20-story building, a pool deck and cabanas that were added to the Shore Club in 2001. As part of the redevelopment, Witkoff and Monroe are proposing two new additions to the Shore Club, which is being rebranded under the Auberge flag.

Getting the demolition done first will shave eight to 11 months off the construction schedule, representatives for the developers told the board at the meeting.

“We take this project very seriously,” Alex Witkoff told the board. “That is why we are applying for this waiver, so we can do it sooner.”