Miami Beach voters to decide about marina project, sale of public land for high-rise
This November, Miami Beach residents will vote on whether to allow the city to sell public waterfront land attached to the Miami Beach Marina to a real estate developer, who intends to build a luxury high rise, renovate the marina and gift the city a 1-acre public park.
Also part of the proposal, which the City Commission approved Wednesday, is a new 99-year lease on the marina property at 300 Alton Road in South Beach. The current marina building will be demolished and its business tenants, including the popular Monty’s restaurant, will be displaced.
The project is led by developer David Martin, CEO of the Terra Group development firm, who told the Miami Herald he “will work with existing and potential tenants to curate a unique and exciting retail amenity for the city and surrounding neighborhood.”
The deal would involve the city’s selling 0.3 acres of property and the air rights over 300-390 Alton Road to make way for a 275,000-square-foot residential tower with 60 units. The maximum height of the tower, a skinny high rise designed by Bjarke Ingels Group, would be 385 feet. If approved by a majority of voters Nov. 3, the developer would demolish the current marina building and spend at least $22.5 million renovating it into a similar but more refined commercial space connected to the planned residential tower. The money would also go toward building the park and upgrading the adjacent baywalk area. The new lessee would spend an additional $40 million improving marina operations.
The sale would earn the city $55 million and ownership of the new park. The current lease for the marina was signed in 1983 and can be extended to 2052. The marina fueled the city’s growth as a global destination for yachting and boating, Martin said.
“Unfortunately now, 30 years later, the marina site has become a little bit dated [and] a little bit tired,” Assistant City Manager Eric Carpenter told the City Commission Wednesday in communicating the city’s support for the project. “We really appreciate the proposal that we have gotten to bring the marina back to a world-class facility.”
Martin, who is a Miami Beach resident, said the project has received positive feedback from residents in the South of Fifth neighborhood and he hopes a majority of voters will approve of the proposal.
“With Miami Beach voter support in November, we intend to move quickly into the design and city review and approval process,” he said in a statement. “Construction will follow.”
This story has been updated to clarify how much money will be spent on the project
This story was originally published July 31, 2020 at 6:18 PM.
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