Crescent Heights has tall plans for Miami Beach’s skyline, pitching an upsized project under the Live Local Act.
The developer filed applications to build a 43-story residential tower at 1575 Alton Road, which would be one of the city’s tallest structures since the Blue and Green Diamond condo towers rose along Collins Avenue in 2000, Florida Yimby reported. The development calls for 1,700 square feet of retail space.
The 163-unit project would reach 557 feet, just 2 feet shy of the Diamond towers. The development site, in the Flamingo/Lummus neighborhood, contains a 1935 former Firestone building that was converted to restaurant space.
Developer Russell Galbut bought the site for $10 million in 2016, when it was still a tire shop, The Real Deal previously reported. The lot spans 15,000 square feet.
Miami-based Crescent Heights, led by Sonny Kahn, Galbut and Bruce Menin, is seeking approval for the project under Florida’s Live Local Act. Sixty-two workforce housing units are planned for households earning no more than 120 percent of the area median income under Live Local, which allows developers to bypass local zoning laws if 20 percent of multifamily units are set aside as affordable.
The move allows the developer to supersize its plans from a previous proposal that called for an 18-story building, Florida Yimby reported.
The design, by RSP Architects, features a slender residential shaft springing from a multistory podium wrapped in decorative screens to conceal a 149-vehicle parking garage.
The income-restricted apartments will occupy the lower levels, and floors 15 to 43 will be for market-rate apartments. Amenities would include a pool and outdoor terraces.
Crescent Heights is also using Live Local for developments at 3180 Biscayne Boulevard in Edgewater, where it is planning the two-tower “Legends,” with 1,300 rental and condo units, plus 99,000 square feet of commercial space. In Miami Beach, it submitted a Live Local application for a 31-story rental project at 824 Alton Road and a 15-story building at 1826 Collins Avenue with 29 units.
Apartment landlords in greater Miami are dealing with a historic wave of supply that followed the pandemic and has dragged on rents and resulted in concessions such as a month of free rent. At least another 24,000 units are in the pipeline, but some experts say the area’s population growth will level out the market. —Rachel Stone
