A trio of billionaires received good news from the Miami Beach Planning Board on Tuesday.
The board approved items related to hedge fund manager Ken Griffin’s private yacht marina on Terminal Island, and tweaks to Vlad Doronin and Len Blavatnik’s Aman Miami Beach development.
Griffin, founder and CEO of Miami-based Citadel, secured conditional use approval to redevelop the 3.7-acre property at 120 MacArthur Causeway into a 30,000-plus-square-foot private marina with a crew pavilion, owner’s suite, a pool and more.
Griffin owns a 308-foot Viva superyacht with interior design by Peter Marino, according to Superyacht Fan.
Griffin relocated the headquarters for Citadel and its sister firm Citadel Securities to Miami from Chicago in 2022 and plans to develop a $2.5 billion bayfront supertall for the firms’ main offices in Brickell. The 1.3 million-square-foot project will include a 212-key hotel, spa, fine dining restaurants with 915 seats and more.
In addition to assembling land for a massive residential compound in Palm Beach, the Daytona Beach native purchased homes in Miami and Miami Beach.
The Terminal Island marina project, designed by BMA Architects, will include a gatehouse at the entrance of the marina with security offices and an operations center with a repair shop and marina staff offices.
Griffin’s attorney, Neisen Kasdin, co-managing partner of Akerman’s Miami office, agreed to a handful of conditions on behalf of his client.
Board members raised concerns about the effect that special events held at the marina pavilion will have on traffic and noise, especially with the U.S. Coast Guard nearby.
Tuesday’s approval requires Coast Guard consent for special events and progress reports every two years. All parking has to be self-contained on Terminal Island. Griffin can’t host any special events until a temporary certificate of occupancy is issued. And if ownership of the property changes hands, any future owner has to return to the board.
The planning board also approved a comprehensive plan amendment and floor area ratio (FAR) preservation incentive within the Faena District that will allow billionaires Vlad Doronin and Len Blavatnik to add 5,000 square feet of floor area ratio (FAR) to the hotel component of Aman Miami Beach, so that the developer can take advantage of empty space and make it mechanical space.
Doronin’s Miami-based OKO Group is the developer, and Blavatnik’s New York-based Access Industries is backing the oceanfront project at 3425 Collins Avenue.
It will include a 22-unit Aman-branded condominium in a new 18-story building, and the 56-key Aman hotel in the historic Versailles structure, which is currently a shell.
In August, an affiliate of New York-based Golden Tree Asset Management provided $85 million in mezzanine financing, adding to the $277 million-plus in debt provided by Little Rock, Arkansas-based Bank OZK in 2020 and 2023. Vertical construction began around the same time and the project is now expected to be completed in 2027, and construction has been moving quickly since August, Kasdin said at Tuesday’s meeting. He is also representing the Aman development team.
“Construction is progressing rapidly at this point… You’ll see the residential tower is starting to come above ground. We’re going to be pouring the fifth floor before Thanksgiving, and then it will continue to top out into the new year,” Kasdin said.
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Development
South Florida
Billionaire Ken Griffin proposes private megayacht marina on Miami Beach’s Terminal Island
Development
South Florida
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