SB, Hazelton revive controversial 55-story Edgewater resi tower

SB Development and Hazelton Capital Group have revived a controversial proposal to build a 55-story residential tower on a 0.3-acre lot in Edgewater. 

The Miami Urban Development Review Board will consider the project for a second time at its meeting on Wednesday. SB and Hazelton, both based in New York, first went in front of the board in October and withdrew their application at that meeting after hearing an earful from board members and nearby residents over building a tower this size on a lot that’s less than half an acre. 

At the meeting, the developers’ representatives vowed to tweak the tower’s design. While the latest filing shows changes to the parking podium, an increase in parking spots and other design tweaks, the height and number of units remain the same. 

Designed by Fogarty Finger, the tower would have 463 units at 419 Northeast 19th Street in Miami, between the Cité on the Bay complex and the Quantum on the Bay complexes. The site also is near Margaret Pace Park. 

The developers didn’t clarify whether the units would be condos or apartments. 

The tower’s garage podium would have 180 parking spaces, up from the previously proposed 172. Other changes include a redesign of the tower podium, including adding plants on the north façade that create a green wall appearance; and a ground-floor water fountain on the northeast façade, according to the application. 

Joseph Stern, principal at SB, said in a statement that the developers worked “directly with” neighbors, “aiming to create a design that is harmonious with the environment and its surroundings.”

“We paid particular attention to the pedestrian experience and the potential impact on nearby residents,” Stern said. “As a result, we voluntarily set back the podium and tower by over 30 and 40 feet, respectively at the northeast property line, opening up sightlines for water views to benefit our neighbors.” 

Some Edgewater residents still oppose the project. They are concerned with an increase in traffic in the already congested area, potentially creating safety issues for pedestrians and dog owners walking to Margaret Pace Park; and the lack of proposed parking, which would strain the already high demand for on-street parking. Also, some Cité unit owners still say the tower would be too close to their building. 

The tower “will be only 41 feet away from [some Cité] balconies and main entrance. The only separation between the two buildings will be Cite’s private driveway,” one unit owner said in an email to The Real Deal. 

Cité and Quantum on the Bay condo owners raised concerns with potential safety issues due to the area’s frequent flooding, as it’s in a high-risk flood zone. 

“Construction on the small parcel, combined with risks of flooding also cause structural concerns about the integrity of the new building and its impact on the abutting property,” the residents wrote in a May letter to Miami zoning officials. 

After the October UDRB meeting, Stern told TRD that this is an as-of-right project, meaning the existing site development regulations allow for the planned height and density. The site’s shape “necessitates some flexibility,” including minor standard waivers that are allowed in the city code, he said in a statement at the time. The site is shaped like “blade of a X-Acto Knife,” an attorney for the developers told the UDRB in October. 

But some Cité unit owners and other Edgewater residents have decried how the developers obtained the as-of-right density. At issue: A previous board of directors at the Cité condo association voted in 2022 to transfer at least 150 units of density unused by the Cité development to the new tower. Angered Cité residents questioned whether the board had the right to approve the transfer without a vote by unit owners, and raised concerns with the transfer of  at least 150 units, meaning more units could be allocated. The previous board has argued it had the right to make the decision without a membership vote, and told residents in a 2022 letter that it had to commit to selling a minimum of 150 units because a deal for a nominal amount of units wouldn’t be worth it for the Cité association, according to records attached to lawsuit over the matter. 

The Cité board sold the density units at a price of $14,000 per unit, according to a letter the association sent to residents in 2022. The board also transferred unused Cité floor lot area to the development site at $14 per square foot. 

Despite the ex-Cité board’s claim that it had the right to approve the density transfers without a vote by condo owners, unit owners have continued to disagree. One unit owner sued the developers and the Cité condo association over the matter in 2022. The case was dismissed last year following a settlement. 

Some Cité condo owners continue to fight their ex-board’s agreement to the density transfer. 

“The fact is that owners of La Cite were robbed by their Condo Association Board of Directors of their rights to democratically vote and take decisions in a transparent manner on such an impactful project on their lives and assets,” one unit owner wrote in an email to the UDRB. 

Now, Cité residents are asking Miami zoning officials to deny SB and Hazelton a covenant in lieu of title, which is the last step for the unit density and floor lot area allocation to become final. 

In their letter to zoning officials, residents argue that the city code mandates that potential negative impacts are considered prior to approval of such a covenant. A Change.org petition urging the denial of the covenant had 320 signatures as of Monday afternoon. 

According to SB and Hazelton’s application, the covenant in lieu of title would allocate 300 units to their tower, allowing for the proposed 463 units. Also, the covenant allows for an allocation of 60,042 square feet of floor area from Cité, and the developers also plan to obtain an additional 179,537 square feet of bonus floor area by contributing to a city public benefits trust fund to reach their planned floor lot area of 552,604 square feet. 

Through a contribution to that fund, SB and Hazelton also plan to obtain 19 stories of bonus height to supplement the 36-story height allowed as-of-right, according to their application. 

SB bought the 0.3-acre site in 2022 through a bulk purchase of all 13 units at the five-story Belmar Condominium for $12 million.

“After many months of discussions and various design iterations, we were able to address concerns raised and executed our agreements with Cité,” Stern said in the statement. “The project is situated in one of the highest residential density areas in Miami, surrounded by numerous existing and planned high-rises along the waterfront.

Over the past decade, developers homed in on Edgewater, transforming the low-rise neighborhood of single-family homes and apartment buildings into a canyon of residential skyscrapers. 
Recent project plans include Vertical Developments and Urban Network Capital Group’s 25-story, 180-unit condo-hotel at 3618 Northeast Fifth Avenue, branded by the Elle luxury fashion and media company. Also, Camino Capital Management, Lujeni and Building Block Realty proposed in April the 28-story Metro 2 mixed-use apartment building with 103 units at  3055 Northeast Fourth Avenue. The project would be next to their completed 32-story, 279-unit Metro apartment tower.