David Martin’s Terra and its partners secured unanimous approval from Miami Beach’s Design Review Board for a 330-foot-tall tower in South Beach that developer Michael Stern got the city commission to upzone last summer.
The future luxury tower at 1250 West Avenue will replace a 15-story, 238-unit condo building constructed in 1964 that Terra and Stern acquired for about $120 million in September. The deal was financed with a $98 million loan from Northwind and included the Bikini Hostel property across the street.
Stern exited the project earlier this year. Terra’s partners include Rafi Gibly’s RG Development Group and Gianluca Vacchi’s GV Development, who previously partnered with Stern on the development.
The planned tower, designed by Hollywood-based ODP Architecture and Design, will have 106 luxury condo units averaging nearly 3,500 square feet. The project’s two penthouses are set to include a pair of rooftop pools and a private amenity deck.
The building also calls for underground parking, a 2,685-square-foot commercial space on the ground floor, and tropical gardens maintained by pollutant filtered bio swales.
Stern, the project’s original developer, convinced the city to grant him an overlay zoning district last summer that will allow for the 330-foot high rise. In exchange, the developer has to complete its portion of a baywalk and the redevelopment of the Bikini Hostel across the street into a city park. The hostel at 1247 West Avenue was previously utilized as a shelter by the Miami-Dade Homeless Trust.
Stern, who is now fighting a foreclosure on his Mercedes-Benz Brickell condo development site and being sued by his business partner Vacchi, transferred ownership of the 1250 West project to Martin’s Terra Group earlier this year.
More than a dozen Miami Beach residents, most of whom own homes on the west side of Miami Beach, spoke in favor of the project at Thursday’s meeting. Terra’s attorney, Michael Larkin, said that the developer is promising to help mitigate the impacts of demolition and construction, including washing cars and windows.
But before the future project can be completed and occupied, Terra will need to finish the baywalk behind the site. The Army Corp of Engineers and the state of Florida are reviewing the plans, Larkin said. The developer is also negotiating with neighboring Bayview Terrace to construct a baywalk segment behind that condo building as well, though a certificate of occupancy for the new tower won’t be contingent on that deal.
Martin has been very busy. Earlier this year, Terra secured a $410 million construction loan from New York-based Tyko Capital for his Well Coconut Grove condo project. Terra and BH Group also plan to acquire a 1.6-acre waterfront West Palm Beach property from billionaire Jeff Greene for over $90 million.
Martin’s firm also expects to invest $100 million into the redevelopment of the former Miami Seaquarium site on Virginia Key, is currently constructing an 800-room hotel with Aventura Mall owner Jackie Soffer by the Miami Beach Convention Center and plans to ask voters for another chance at redeveloping the Miami Beach Marina.
But not everything is going right for the Coconut Grove-based developer. Martin is on the receiving end of a $100 million fraud lawsuit filed by family members of Deauville Resort property owner Belinda Meruelo for allegedly tricking Meruelo into selling a 25 percent stake in the 3.8-acre oceanfront property in North Beach at a significant discount.And in March, Boca Raton voters overwhelmingly rejected plans by Terra and Frisbie Group to build a 1.1 million-square-foot mixed-use community on 7.8 acres of city land. To prevent future deals involving public land from advancing without citizen input, Boca Raton officials recently passed an ordinance requiring voter approval prior to the sale or lease of city-owned land larger than a half-acre.