DiLido property owner withdraws plan for two-lot mansion

Latin American cable executive Ahmad Lee Khamsi on Tuesday withdrew his proposal to build a 12,000-square-foot home on two lots he owns on West DiLido Dr. before Miami Beach’s Design Review Board could vote on the plans.

The address of the existing homes are 206 and 212 W. DiLido Dr. Each lot is 10,500 square feet, and according to the Miami-Dade Property Appraiser website, Khamsi bought 212 W. DiLido in May 2011 (for $2.6 million) and 206 W. DiLido in June 2012 (for $2.28 million).

Some Venetian homeowners opposed the plans as out of scale for the neighborhood, though Venetian Island Homeowner Association president Juergen Brendel had urged neighbors not to sign a petition against it.

The withdrawal by Khamsi came after the Design Review Board delayed for six months a controversial request to tear down a 1924 Star Island home that had been designed by famed architect Walter DeGarmo. That request came from Real Housewife of Miami Lisa Hochstein and her husband, plastic surgeon Leonard Hochstein.

Design Review Board to consider giant house on DiLido Island

Front view of proposed home at 206/212 W. DiLido Dr.

Most of the attention at Tuesday’s Miami Beach Design Review Board meeting will be focused on the request from Real Housewife 0f Miami’s Lisa Hochstein and plastic surgeon hubby Leonard to knock down a 1925 Walter DeGarmo house on Star Island — replacing it with a mega-mansion.

But at the same meeting, the design board will consider another proposal — to knock down two homes (on two lots) on DiLido Island on the Venetian Causeway and replace them with one huge house.

The address of the existing homes are 206 and 212 W. DiLido Dr. Each lot is 10,500 square feet, and according to the Miami-Dade Property Appraiser website, both homes were purchased by Ahmad Lee Khamsi — 212 W. DiLido in May 2011 (for $2.6 million) and 206 W. DiLido in June 2012 (for $2.28 million).

Khamsi is a telecom and cable executive who heads Supercable, which provides digital cable service in Venezuela and Colombia. He lived in the Boca Raton area for more than a decade.

Both existing homes were built in the 1950s, and are just under 3,600 square feet each.

The new home design is just under 12,000 square feet, plus a large roof deck. It was designed by architects Choeff+Levy. Miami Beach Design Review staff called it “very handsomely designed.”

Petitioners against it say it’s out of scale for the island.

But in an email to Venetian homeowners, Venetian Island Homeowners Association president Juergen Brendel wrote:

These larger new high end homes will sell for much more per sq ft and enhance the value of all the nearby houses and lots. Opposing such development would be scaring all the ones that are currently paying high $$$ for our members. We should not do this.

He has also hired one of the best architect firm in the world from South Africa and is paying millions in design fees. We should encourage this it will raise the caliber of the neighborhood!

In any case, the 2 houses being replaced are really ugly and in disrepair. They need to be changed!