Co-living is coming to Washington Avenue in the Beach
A co-living and co-working project is moving forward on Miami Beach’s Washington Avenue near the Post Office, part of the continuing evolution of the South Beach thoroughfare.
Plans call for a 6-story residential building at 1260 Washington Ave. with 60 furnished units. Some will be for sale, starting with a one-bedroom, one-bathroom layout. Co-living units — individual rooms with private baths — have access to common areas with a kitchen, living area and dining room and start at $1,000 per month. Building amenities include a cafe and marketplace on the first floor, gym and rooftop deck with a pool, yoga lawn and bar.
The adjacent historic 4-story office building at 1234 Washington Ave. will be converted into co-working spaces. Maurice S. Weintraub designed the MiMo-style, boutique building in the 1960s. (He also designed the Gold Dust Motel — now the Selina Gold Dust — and former Stardust Motel, now the home of Blue Collar and the closed Biscayne Inn, all on Biscayne Boulevard.)
Plans are moving ahead after the Coral Gables-based Location Ventures and its co-living and co-working brand Urbin acquired the sites for $20 million in May, according to the Location Ventures CEO Rishi Kapoor. The building includes restaurants Chicken Brasa, Harat’s Irish Pub, BurgerFi and Pepper’s Authentic Mexican.
A whirlwind of projects begun in 2018 on the two-mile strip have begun transforming the stretch from South Pointe Park to Soundscape Park, including Kimpton Angler’s Hotel South Beach, Moxy South Beach and, most recently, Pharrell and David Grutman’s Goodtime Hotel in South Beach. More is on the way, including the conversion of the Paris Theater into a restaurant.
“Urbin is catering to the demand for spaces that encourage creativity and socialization in the city’s urban centers,” Kapoor said by email, “and will complement the transformation underway in the Washington Avenue District.”
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Location Venture and Urbin’s project received its final blessing from the city of Miami Beach’s Historic Preservation Board last year, as first reported by RE: Miami Beach. Plans have been in the works since 2019, Kapoor said. Work is anticipated to start on both buildings in 2022.
The offices will cater to growing demand for workspace in Miami Beach, Kapoor said. According to the first quarter 2021 JLL office report , Miami Beach has 13% total vacancy rate of a total of 1.8 million square feet of space. After Kendall — which has a total of 3 million square feet of space and a 12% total vacancy rate — Miami Beach has the lowest vacancy rate in Miami-Dade. The Wynwood-Design District area has the highest, with 51% total vacancy and about 900,000 square feet of space.
“The co-working concept at URBIN is specifically designed to cater to the needs of entrepreneurs and established business owners that are seeking a private office space near their home with business support services available on demand.”
Office demand is anticipated to grow as financial and tech executives buy homes in Miami Beach. The migration even moved the city to take action and try to provide more offices.
This story was originally published May 21, 2021 at 7:00 AM.
