Approval of Infinity Collective’s proposed mixed-use project on Miami Beach’s Alton Road was postponed amid concerns over traffic, setbacks and nearby retail vacancies.
The Miami Beach Planning Board on Tuesday voted to continue the item to its May 5 meeting.
New York-based Infinity Collective’s preliminary plan is for a 14-story building with 184 apartments, 43,000 square feet of offices and 42,000 square feet of retail, according to its application. It’s asking for the creation of the Alton City Center Overlay district for the 1.4-acre assemblage at 1656-1680 Alton Road and 1677 West Avenue.
The proposal stirred up talks of Miami Beach’s ever-present problems with traffic congestion and lack of parking in many residential buildings. Congestion is increased by cars circling around to find on-street parking, while privately owned garages cost up to $20 per hour, according to a resident and a board member.
But Infinity bills its project as an “ecosystem” that aims to tackle –– not exacerbate –– those issues.
The goal is for apartment tenants to lease the offices, Infinity’s David Berg told planning board members. The office space would be offered in chunks of roughly 4,000 square feet as a way to avoid having large leases adding to traffic and parking.
Infinity has been in discussions with major Miami Beach employers such as Mount Sinai Medical Center and the Fontainebleau Miami Beach resort to incentivize housing their employees at the project. The developer is considering offering apartment rent discounts for bulk leases signed by staff members at these employers, while Fontainebleau also has considered providing a shuttle service from the building to its resort, Berg said.
Infinity’s preliminary plan is for 367 parking spaces for the apartments, retail and offices, and the building would include a micromobility station offering alternatives to cars, such as bicycles and scooters. It would allow Miami Beach residents at nearby buildings to use its parking overnight.
Board member Jonathan Freidin questioned how Infinity plans to lease up the retail space since nearby Lincoln Road has struggled with vacancies. The pedestrian promenade, formerly the premier Miami-Dade County retail and dining hub, has struggled with vacancies in more recent years, spending much of the early 2020s trying to recover.
But apartment and office tenants at the building would drive retail leasing, Berg said.
“You need people,” he said.
Another sticking point was the three-level garage and how far it would be set back from Alton Road.
“My concern is … what that block of Alton Road is going to look like,” board member Scott Needleman said, adding that it’s potentially creating a 75-foot high and 325-foot long façade. “You could end up with a wall.”
Although a city staff member said the development will be set back from Alton Road, Berg later declined to provide to The Real Deal the exact distance.
If the setback is increased, the project would have to rise higher than the planned 150 feet to accommodate all planned parking spaces, Berg told the board.
“We are open to having a little bit more height and having the setback on the garage,” he said.
The original plan called for a 180-foot tall building, but Infinity decreased it to 150 feet following city staff members’ feedback, he said.
Infinity Collective bought the development site in September from Michael Shvo’s eponymously named firm through a deed in lieu of foreclosure for $28.3 million. Shvo had assembled the land, formerly home to the Epicure Gourmet Market & Cafe, for a total of $39.3 million, with plans for 17,000 square feet of offices and five apartments. Miami Beach officials approved that plan in 2023.
The deed in lieu of foreclosure came as Shvo’s Miami Beach investments crumbled. He sold his marquee project, the 3-acre Raleigh Miami Beach hotel where he also planned a condo project, to Nahla Capital for $270 million in October.
That sale came amid a reported fallout between Shvo and his investment partner on many of the holdings, Bayerische Versorgungskammer, Germany’s largest pension fund. Though BVK was an investor in the Raleigh, it hadn’t invested in The Alton.
Infinity also owns the Esme hotel on Española Way, the Variety Hotel at 1700 Alton Road and properties on Ocean Drive, all in Miami Beach.
After the May 5 meeting, the Alton Road project also has to go in front of the city commission and the design review board.
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