Couple paid $44M for two Sunset Island houses. Here’s what they want to build instead
A New York couple who paid $44.47 million last fall for a pair of Sunset Island houses wants to replace them with a modernist house designed by Kobi Karp. In the process, they plan to demolish a 1930s-house built for William Fisher of General Motors-forerunner Fisher Body.
The owners, Alex Kleyner and Diana Ulis, have submitted plans to the Miami Beach Design and Review Board to replace the adjacent single-family houses at 1771 N. View Drive and 1753 N. View Drive. Both were built in the 1930s; the latter was constructed for Fisher.
The DRB will review plans in February.
Greenberg Traurig Shareholder Alfredo Gonzalez declined to comment on behalf of his clients.
The four man-made Sunset Islands are home to single-family houses; even those without water frontage start at $1 million. Celebrity residents have include Instagram star Gianluca Vacchi. The islands are within easy biking distance of Sunset Harbor, the Miami Beach Golf Club and Lincoln Road.
Kleyner hired Kobi Karp to design a 2-story house on approximately two acres. Plans call for a rooftop lounge, kids playroom, gym, guest house, pool and dock.
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The Miami Design Preservation League is communicating with Kleyner to try to save the 1753 N. View Drive house., said Daniel Ciraldo, executive director of the Miami Design Preservation League. Some owners have relocated historic houses and restored them over the years, including Lennar CEO Stuart Miller.
“It’s of the most significant landmark homes from the 1930s,” Ciraldo said. “It would be a tragedy to see this home land in the landfill.”
Holocaust survivor and businessman Israel Lapciuc previously resided at 1753 N. View Drive. Formula One race car driver Eddie Irvine previously lived in 1771 N. View Drive. Enrique Iglesias resided at the house from 2000 to 2004.
This story was originally published January 18, 2021 at 7:00 AM.
