Billionaire hedge fund manager Ken Griffin’s proposal to build a private helipad at his megayacht marina is picking up speed.
Griffin secured approval for his private marina at 120 MacArthur Causeway, on Terminal Island earlier this year. This summer, his attorneys sought approval to amend Miami Beach’s land development regulations, allowing private helipads as an “accessory use” within Terminal Island’s industrial zoning district.
The city’s Land Use and Sustainability Committee recommended approval of the change at its meeting on Thursday, the Miami Herald reported. That means it will head next to the city commission, likely in about three months. The proposal was sponsored by Miami Beach Commissioner Joseph Magazine. Commissioner Tanya Bhatt, who wanted to defer the item, did not recommend approval.
Griffin, who has made South Florida his home base, spending well over $1 billion on real estate in the past decade-plus, would be the sole user of the helipad, according to his attorney, Akerman Miami’s managing partner Neisen Kasdin. Griffin also plans to dock his 308-foot megayacht, called Defy, at the marina.
Leaders at eight luxury condo buildings near the site, home to about 2,000 residents combined, oppose the proposal, the newspaper reported. Brian O’Brien, the condo board president at the Yacht Club at Portofino, questioned why the city would approve the land use change all for one person.
“We are upsetting our quality of life so Mr. Griffin can land a little closer to his house?” O’Brien asked. Griffin owns a number of luxury waterfront homes, including properties on the ritzy Star Island in Miami Beach, and the former Adrienne Arsht estate in Miami’s Coconut Grove.
Kasdin insisted that concerns over noise are a “low impact issue.” He said Griffin has the support of residents from neighbors on Star, Palm and Hibiscus islands. Griffin also hired a sound expert to estimate how much noise the helicopter would generate, the newspaper reported.
The marina, designed by BMA Architects, is set to feature eight megayacht slips (capped at four vessels at any one time), an owner’s pavilion and private suite, a separate crew pavilion and operations center and a rooftop swimming pool.
In Brickell, Griffin hired Related Companies to build the bayfront high-rise where his firms, Citadel and Citadel Securities, will house their headquarters. Work was halted on the site earlier this month when a drill rig collapsed, injuring a handful of people. — Katherine Kallergis
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Whirlybird dreams: Ken Griffin wants helipad for Miami Beach megayacht marina
Billionaire Ken Griffin proposes private megayacht marina on Miami Beach’s Terminal Island
