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Michael Shvo’s office, apartment project on Miami Beach’s Alton Road scores approval
Developer still has to come back to city for vote on variance on Dec. 11
Michael Shvo is a step closer to building an office and apartment project on Alton Road in Miami Beach, on the former site of Epicure Gourmet Market & Café.
The Miami Beach Design Review Board voted 7-0 on Wednesday in favor of the six-story The Alton, which would consist of roughly 170,000 square feet of offices and five apartments on the northwest corner of Alton and Lincoln roads.
Prior to the meeting, the board’s vote was expected to be the final approval necessary. But following design tweaks, the developer now still needs approval for a variance for a ground-floor clearing height. The design review board is expected to take up the item on Dec. 11.
Designed by Foster + Partners and Kobi Karp, The Alton would have offices on levels four to six, and apartments on level three. It would include ground-floor retail and restaurant space.
Shvo bought the development site, which includes the former Epicure property, last year for $39.3 million. The property consists of the lots at 1656, 1664, 1676 and 1680 Alton Road, and 1677 West Avenue.
The developer originally envisioned an office project only, but changed plans to include residential units this year. Shvo representatives told The Real Deal in August that they would be condos, but the developer’s attorney, Alfredo Gonzalez of Greenberg Traurig, has referred to the units as apartments at market rate rents during meetings with city boards.
Last month, the city’s planning board preliminarily approved the project.
The Alton is one of three office developments Shvo plans in Miami Beach. The others are a six-story building at 1665-1667 Washington Avenue, and the redevelopment of the 13-story building at 407 Lincoln Road.
Shvo, who started out as a broker in New York before becoming a developer, also is betting on the city’s condo and hospitality markets. Shvo, Deutsche Finance and a group of German institutional pension funds are redeveloping the Raleigh, South Seas and Richmond hotels at 1751, 1757 and 1775 Collins Avenue into a 60-key hotel and a 42-unit condo building.