Luxury South Beach Hotel Owner Proposes 561 Apartments In North Miami
A parcel in North Miami that has been vacant for more than 15 years could become the site of a 561-unit multifamily development.
The development on the 4-acre site at 11400 Biscayne Blvd. would rise up to 15 stories and include 20K SF of ground-floor commercial space and a 723-car garage. Around 84 of the apartments would be designated as workforce housing, according to a letter of intent submitted with a preapplication.
The narrow, rectangular parcel is owned by Biscayne Shores Development Group, which is being represented by Matthew Amster, a zoning attorney at Bercow Radell Fernandez Larkin + Tapanes.
The Biscayne Shores entity is managed by Ronen Ben-Josef, a New York investor and developer, and Ronit Neuman, the owner of the Sagamore Hotel South Beach and co-owner of two Ritz-Carlton properties on Miami Beach. The entity purchased the property in 2004 for $3.2M, property records show.
Ben-Josef, who is also a director at Piermont Bank, and Neuman appear to be siblings. Edeed Ben-Josef, Neuman’s father, originally purchased the Sagamore in 2016 before his death in 2021.
A site plan filed with the preapplication lists New York-based Ben Josef Group Holdings as the developer. Amster, Ben-Josef and Neuman didn’t respond to Bisnow’s requests for comment.
The proposed project, designed by Kobi Karp, includes a 15-story tower on the east side with 370 units and a four-to-eight-story tower to the west with up to 191 apartments. The two would be connected by a parking deck and retail space, while an amenity deck atop the garage would include a pool and a separate lounge area.
The units would be broken down into 116 studios, 216 one-bedroom apartments, 212 two-bedrooms and 17 three-bedrooms. The workforce units, which amount to 15% of all planned apartments at the property, would be required under zoning rules.
Renderings show two distinct towers clad in glass with balconies dotting the exterior supported by undulating horizontal design elements. The towers sit atop a metal-clad parking garage and ground-floor retail with tall windows.
The property is called Biscayne Shores in the site plan. Integra Investments is already building a property with the same name less than a mile away.
Ben-Josef Group's proposal would be directly next to and span the length of Biscayne Shores and Garden Park. The property would include a walking path connecting the green space to the community west of the proposal, Karp said in an email.
The design was an "opportunity to connect the pedestrian circulation and treat shaded sidewalks along with walking paths from Biscayne Boulevard through the development site," he said.
While the site is in a rapid transit zone, it is zoned for medium-density residential and office space. The preapplication meeting was requested with the county, which oversees development in the transit zones, to seek amendments to the Miami-Dade County Comprehensive Development Master Plan to allow for more density.
The development is the second large multifamily project next to a North Miami park to be revealed in as many months. Miami Beach-based Redwood Co. is advancing plans for a 2,190-unit project across eight buildings that were also designed by Kobi Karp.
Rents in North Miami averaged $2,276 per month in March, according to RentCafe. That figure is $2,538 per month in the city center.
Rent growth across South Florida has peaked, up just 0.5% year-over-year, according to Apartment List, but some developers are pressing ahead, betting that rent growth returns once the record construction pipeline spurred by the pandemic is absorbed.
