Voters Approve Privately Funded Miami Beach Convention Center Hotel

In the highly anticipated election on Tuesday night, Miami Beach residents approved the construction of an 800-room convention center hotel. The referendum needed a 60 percent vote in order to lease public land from the city and passed at 64 percent in its third attempt to bring a headquarter hotel to Miami. The hotel will be built on a city-owned parking lot adjacent to the newly renovated convention center.

The previous attempt in 2016 failed due to concerns over the size, originally twice as large as the current proposal, and traffic congestion. The tourism bureau estimates Miami Beach lost at least $250 million in economic revenue over the last several years because it was unable to accommodate larger scale conventions.

South Beach resident Andres Montejo, 43, said that the convention center hotel was one of the issues that drove him to the polls. Montejo, a businessman who travels frequently for work, said that the other cities he visits already have hotels connected to their convention centers.

“A convention center is great, but without a hotel it’s just another convention center,” he said after casting his ballot at Miami Beach Senior High School. “Anybody that travels ... you know that’s how the game works. It’s like that all over the world.”

Other residents, annoyed with the constant flow of construction and resulting noise and traffic in the area, decided to vote against the hotel.

The hotel will connect to the convention center via a pedestrian bridge and include a 53-foot podium containing parking, meeting spaces and ballrooms as well as two 185-foot-tall wings of hotel rooms. Voters authorized the lease and the construction of an 800-room hotel with a maximum height of 185 feet, but specifics of the hotel design will be evaluated by the city’s Design Review Board at a later date.

The group behind the proposal — Turnberry’s Jackie Soffer, Terra Group’s David Martin, Miami Design District developer Craig Robins and architecture firm Arquitectonica — emphasized that the hotel would be roughly 100 feet shorter than the previous proposal and include six times more space for cars to queue on the property so that they don’t spill onto the street.

“This is the right project for our city at the right time, and Jackie, Craig and I look forward to working with the community to deliver a hotel that will make Miami Beach proud,” said developer David Martin.

On a related ballot item, residents voted to earmark the guaranteed hotel rent payments for traffic reduction measures, stormwater projects and education initiatives, rather than sending the money to the city’s general fund where it could be used for a broader range of expenses.

According to the terms of the lease agreement, the hotel will have to pay Miami Beach either fixed rent totaling $16.6 million over the first 10 years or a percentage of hotel revenue, whichever is greater. Miami Beach estimates that the city will also collect $96 million in taxes from the hotel over the next 30 years.

Article by: Katya Demina

Turnberry Ocean Club Residences Breaks Ground at 40% Sold

Turnberry Ocean Club Residences has officially broken ground in Sunny Isles Beach. Construction was originally planned to begin in the spring of 2016, but a slow in sales has caused delays. The building will break ground at just 40% sold. Turnberry Ocean Club Residences is being developed by Beach Club Acquisitions LLC, an affiliate of Turnberry Associates led by Donald Soffer, Jeffrey Soffer, and Jackie Soffer. The building will be designed by Carlos Zapata and Robert Swedroe. It had originally been reported that 2/3's of the early buyers were from South America and Europe as well as a completion date of 2018. 

Turnberry Ocean Club will be a 649-foot tall tower and residential complex consisting of 154 units at 54 stories. The units range from 2,900 SF to over 10,645 SF. Pricing ranges from $3.9 to $35 million with the higher-end of the scale consists of duplexes that come complete with their own swimming pools, starting at $19.5 million. The building will feature first class amenities including Sunrise and Sunset Infinity-Edge pools, indoor and outdoor fitness centers, a pet retreat, pool bar, salon, restaurants and cocktail lounge. The pools are rooftop to allow for breathtaking views of Sunny Isles to be enjoyed by all residents. The building also features a Sky Club from floors 30 to 32. Situated 300 feet above sea level, the $100 million Sky Club will be a first-of-its-kind offering indoor and outdoor fitness centers, fine dinging, a sunset lounge, hydrotherapy, cabanas with ocean views, a salon, "sky theater" and a "pet retreat." The developers have targeted this building at younger buyers who are looking for a residency rather than older retirees from the Northeast. “At Turnberry, perfection is a point of pride and unless we are proud of it, we will not build it. Our goal was to set the bar really high when it comes to living in a residential development. We wanted to offer our residents with a luxury lifestyle and a place to live unlike any other," said Jeffrey Soffer of Turnberry Associates at the groundbreaking ceremony. Check out our original feature on Turnberry Ocean Club Residences from August 2016. 

Turnberry Ocean Club

Although yet to break ground, the Turnberry Ocean Club in Sunny Isles is starting to become a reality. Designed by Carlos Zapata and Robert Swedroe, Turnberry Ocean Club is eying a 2018 opening. Turnberry's President of Residential Development said that about 2/3's of the early buyers were from South America and Europe.

Turnberry Ocean Club will be a 649-foot tall tower and residential complex consisting of 154 units at 54 stories. The units range from 2,900 SF to over 10,645 SF. Pricing ranges from $4 to $35 million with the higher-end of the scale consists of duplexes that come complete with their own swimming pools, starting at $19.5 million. The building will feature first class amenities including Sunrise and Sunset Infinity-Edge pools, indoor and outdoor fitness centers, a pet retreat, pool bar, salon, restaurants and cocktail lounge. The pools are rooftop to allow for breathtaking views of Sunny Isles to be enjoyed by all residents. The building also features a Sky Club from floors 30 to 32. The developers have targeted this building at younger buyers who are looking for a residency rather than older retirees from the Northeast.