Miami Beach to discuss ban on West Avenue hotel developments

The Miami Beach Planning Board is scheduled to consider a couple items important to West Avenue residents today:

— The proposed apartment and retail complex that includes the old South Shore Hospital building called 600 Alton Road;

— New rules governing that would ban new hotel uses on West Avenue and in the Palm View Neighborhood.

The West Avenue Corridor Neighborhood Association has pushed for the hotel restrictions, driven in large part by issues with the Mondrion Hotel, a luxury property at 1100 West Avenue, and the Bikini Hotel, a party-themed property between 12th and 13th streets and West.

The association is encouraging West Avenue residents to attend the hearing, scheduled to begin at 3 p.m., and has an online petition residents can access to show their support for the restrictions.

The proposal also addresses the Palm View neighborhood, located south of Dade Boulevard and north of 17th Street between Lenox Court and Meridian Avenue.

In the  staff report of the proposal, Miami Beach planners said the Planning Board might want to consider some exceptions to an outright ban. Among them: conditional uses, limits on hours of operations for restaurants, prohibitions on outdoor uses.

 

West Avenue neighborhood group meets Thursday

WAVNA — the West Avenue Neighborhood Corridor Neighborhood Association — holds its March meeting at 6 p.m. Thursday at the Miami Beach Botanical Gardens with a host of issues on the agenda:

— An update on the long-awaited (and somewhat dreaded) Alton Road reconstruction project, which is scheduled to start Monday — April Fools Day.

— The status of the 600 Alton Road project, which would put retail, restaurants and a 440-unit apartment complete between West Avenue and Alton Road north of Fifth Street. The project includes the South Shore Hospital site.

— Efforts to combat neighborhood nuisances, including the Bikini Hostel, the party-themed youth hostel at 12th Street and West Avenue.

The Botanical Gardens, 2000 Convention Center Dr., is a cool venue, and the meeting kicks off with a little social. The association would appreciate an RSVP.

 

After much talk, Miami Beach Planning Board delays decision on 600 Alton Road

The Miami Beach Planning Board heard  developer Russell Galbut’s plans for his 600 Alton Road residential and retail project (and residents dissection of it) for nearly four hours Tuesday before postponing a final decision on the 444-apartment complex until its April 3 meeting.

“We all agreed that much more time would be needed to hear the board member’s views on the project and then discuss them,” board member Charles Urstadt said after the meeting. “So, the board voted to continue the application to to next meeting (April 3) in order to give the other applicants” on Tuesday’s agenda a chance to have their applications heard.

Several other items were deferred as well, including a controversial proposal to reduce parking requirements at hotels and rules for mechanical parking garages.

In regard to 600 Alton Road, there was a lot to talk about — potential problems with 1073 parking spaces underground in one of Miami Beach’s most flood-prone neighborhoods, how traffic will move through an already congested area, how late to allow restaurants and bars to stay open along residential West Avenue, the possibility of a bar on the rooftop for residents  and more.

The discussion went on from about 4:30 p.m. to nearly 8 p.m., and was tweeted live by The Miami Herald’s Christina Veiga.

In general, the project got a favorable review, with some rough spots. The city planning staff report recommended its approval, with myriad conditions. In Tuesday’s meeting, much of discussion involved the developer’s concerns with the staff report — as well as several areas where residents and the board wanted more information.

But first, here are some vital features and stats on the huge project, which includes property between Alton Road and West Avenue between Fifth and Seventh streets:

— It calls for 60,000 square feet of retail and restaurant uses on the ground floor, 444 apartments, 1,073 parking spaces below ground.

— A new seven-story building will be constructed on the 500 block of Alton Road, and a five-story building on the 600 block.

— The dilapidated South Shore Hospital building, 10 stories, would be rehabbed and included in the project.

— The 60,000 square feet of retail and commercial space on the ground level allow pedestrians to walk open air through the base of the project. Outdoor restaurants on West Avenue side would have to close by midnight.

If the project clears the Planning Board, it would next be reviewed by the Design Review Board.

Proposed 17th Street hotel, 600 Alton Road project on Miami Beach Planning Board agenda today

Two proposed developments closely followed by Venetian Causeway, Sunset Harbour and West Avenue residents appear on today’s Planning Board agenda, but it looks like only one — the proposed apartment complex called 600 Alton Road — will be examined.

The developers of a proposed 116-room hotel at 1231 17th St. — planned as a Marriott Residence Inn with a 66-space mechanical parking garage — have asked to defer their project until the board’s April 3 meeting. It’s the second time they have asked the Planning Board to delay considering the project.

As for 600 Alton Road, the city planning staff is recommending approval of the 440-unit apartment and retail complex — with dozens of conditions.

In its 18-page planning staff report on the project — which covers the area between Alton Road and West Avenue and Fifth and Seventh streets — the city recommends several measures to reduce the impact on residential West Avenue.

Among them: allowing no outdoor dining and no bars or restaurants open after midnight.

The proposal from Crescent Heights development (South Beach Heights LLC in the formal application) involves renovation — not demolition — of the old (and hurricane damaged) South Shore Hospital structure as part of the project.

The vital statistics: 60,000 square feet of retail and restaurant uses on the ground floor, 444 apartments, 1,073 parking spaces below ground. A new seven-story building will be constructed on the 500 block of Alton Road, and a five-story building on the 600 block. The South Shore building is 10 stories.

Today’s regular Planning Board meeting starts at 2 p.m. at City Hall, 1700 Convention Center Dr. The project is not the first item on the agenda.

It’s important to note that if the Planning Board approves the project, it next must undergo scrutiny by the city’s Design Review Board.

The next 600 Alton Road reveal: the traffic plan

Crescent Heights development, which owns the abandoned South Shore Hospital and surrounding properties between Alton Road and West Avenue, has scheduled another session with West Avenue residents — this time to outline  the traffic plans for the proposed apartment/retail complex it calls 600 Alton Road.

The meeting happens Thursday, Feb. 21, at 6 p.m. at the Miami Beach Golf Course clubhouse. The West Avenue Neighborhood Association asks that you RSVP if you plan to attend.

At a meeting in January, Crescent Heights showed a proposal for a sleek complex that included 440 rental apartments above 60,000-square feet of retail space and parking for 1073 cars.

The configuration of the retail at street level included open air walkways under the building, and green space (described as a mini-park) facing Fifth Street. Parking was underground, an interesting challenge given the frequency of street flooding in the area.

There were many questions about traffic impact during that meeting, and Crescent Heights promised to follow up with a session with the traffic plan — and this is it.

Meanwhile, Crescent Heights is scheduled to appear at the Planning Board on Feb. 26 and the Design Review Board on March 5.

West Avenue Corridor group to hold first-ever annual meeting

The West Avenue Corridor Neighborhood Association — a  community group that’s been extremely active on issues from bicycle and pedestrian safety to zoning and flooding issues — holds its first annual meeting at 6 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 19 at the Mirador 1200 condominium.

With leadership from co-chairs Christine Florez and Gayle Durham, the WAVNA community group has drawn serious attention from Miami Beach officials and developers who want to do business in the area. Florez, by the way, recently filed papers to run for the Miami Beach City Commission.

Key items on the West Avenue agenda this year:

–How the city and the Florida Department of Transportation handle the reconstruction of Alton Road and new pumping stations to reduce flooding;

— The proposal from Crescent Heights to replace South Shore Hospital with a large new rental/retail complex called 600 Alton Road. The proposal goes to the Miami Beach Planning Board on Feb. 26, and the Design Review Board on March 6.

— How Miami Beach deals with valet parking and neighborhood concerns associated with the renovation of Southgate Towers on the east side of West Avenue and 10th Street and plans to open a 200-seat restaurant with outdoor seating and valet parking on that property.

— The efforts of the Bikini Hostel, 1255 West Ave., to acquire a liquor license. The association launched a petition drive to try and block the granting of the liquor license.

Galbut unveils plans to 440-unit apartment-retail project to West Avenue Corridor residents

Crescent Heights presents 600 Alton Road to West Avenue residents.

The project that developer Russell Galbut wants to build to replace the crumbling South Shore Hospital building will house 440 rental apartments above 60,000-square feet of retail space with a swath of green space facing Fifth Street and underground parking for 1073 cars.

Rendering of proposed rental/retail at South Shore.

Known as 600 Alton Road, the sleek glass and silver project would include two main buildings between Fifth to Eighth streets and Alton Road and West Avenue.

There would be 440 apartment units with an average size of 850 square feet — and they would range from one bedrooms to three bedrooms.

An alley running east-west between Alton and West would divide the two main buildings between Sixth and Seventh streets. At the street level, pedestrians would be able to walk corridors under the main buildings to the various retail shops and restaurants.

At a meeting organized by the West Avenue Corridor Neighborhood Association, Crescent Heights project manager Chaim Elkoby said no more than 30 percent of the retail space would be restaurants, and the restaurants on the West Avenue side of the complex would have to close by midnight.

WAVNA posted YouTube videos and photos from the presentation on its Facebook page.

He said he is trying to be sensitive to noise concerns on West Avenue and “we will have residents on our own site to worry about.”

All the parking would be “below grade,” and that means underground. So the city project to renovate Alton Road and add pumping stations for drainage in the Alton-West Corridor is pretty important to the plan.

Elkoby said that if the project moves forward as planned, it will go before the Miami Beach Planning Board, the Design Review Board and then the construction document phase would take four to six months. Based on that scenario, the target is to begin construction in November 2013, and construction would take 24 months “from groundbreaking to opening.”

About 60 residents attended the presentation at the Miami Beach Golf Course. Several had questions about the traffic impact from the project, and were told there could be another meeting with the traffic engineer “in a couple of weeks.”