A 14-story tower with apartments and commercial space has been proposed on the north side of Miami Beach.
On May 5, the city’s Design Review Board will consider the plans for the 1.24-acre site at 409 71st St., 430 72nd St., 7124-7140 Abbott Ave., and 7117-7135 Byron Ave. It’s just south of the North Shore Park tennis center and baseball fields.
The site is within North Beach Town Center, where city voters approved a density increase in 2017. City officials have been looking to encourage new projects and businesses in the relatively underdeveloped area, which has many old buildings.
The tower would total 176,656 square feet, with 232 apartments, 16,045 square feet of ground-floor commercial space, and 147 parking spaces, including one electric vehicle charging station.
The gas station on the southern half of the property would remain because it’s subject to a ground lease with the property owner. The commercial, office and apartment buildings on the balance of the property would be demolished.
The application was filed by Pumps at 71 LLC, 7433 Collins Ave. Corp. and Abbott Avenue Partners LLC, which are co-owned by Robert Finvarb, Rochelle Finvarb, Arielle Klepach, Celina Klepach, Julius Klepach and Esther Klepach.
Robert Finvarb, a developer based in Aventura, said he grew up in North Beach and played Little League baseball on the nearby fields.
“It’s a huge opportunity to bring market-rate rentals and retail to spur the local economy, similar to what was done in Sunset Harbor 10 years ago,” he said. “We will create neighborhood-style retail that will active the area. Right now, it’s sort of a ghost town.”
Finvarb and the Klepachs, his cousins, would utilize a new ordinance approved by Miami Beach that permits micro units/co-living in North Beach Town Center.
Of the 232 apartments, 141 would be micro units smaller than 550 square feet. The smallest would be 376 square feet. The other units in the building would be one- and two-bedroom apartments, ranging up to 839 square feet.
“The intent is to bring in the younger demographic that has, to this point, not had a product type on Miami Beach that was appealing to them, so they have been going to Midtown, Brickell, the Design District and Wynwood,” Finvarb said. “We will build a comparable type of new, fresh, modern amentized apartment project that will bring them back to Miami Beach.”
Amenities would include a rooftop soccer field, pool deck, fitness center, summer kitchen, lounge and dog walk.
Finvarb said the commercial space would have high ceiling heights because he expects Miami Beach to raise the roads and sidewalks in the area to account for sea-level rise. That would allow the commercial space to raise the ground floor, as well.
The project was designed by Arquitectonica.
Attorney Ethan B. Wasserman represents the developers in the application.
By Brian Bandell
– Senior Reporter, South Florida Business Journal
Apr 29, 2020, 3:15 pm EDT
