Michael Stern plans to build Miami Beach tower on condominium foreclosure site

Michael Stern’s JDS development team plans to build a luxury apartment tower next to the Monad Terrace project. The real deal learned.

A JDS subsidiary plans to buy the 238-unit Bay Garden Manor apartment building at 1250 Bay Avenue, a source said. The firm began purchasing apartments and has recorded six sales since June, ranging from $215,000 to $310,000 per unit, property records show.

The 15-story Bay Garden Manor was built in 1964 on a 1.9-acre site, making it 60 years old.

According to the source, Stern secured the participation of almost all apartment owners. The remaining units are expected to close next year. He plans to close the apartment and build a new project on the bay.

Stern is proposing to change the property’s zoning to allow for a height of more than 400 feet, up from the 150 feet currently allowed, and to increase the floor area ratio. Both require city approval.

Plans filed with the city show the JDS affiliate is proposing a 29-story, 100-unit luxury condominium with a 180-seat restaurant. The developer will build and pay for a parking garage that will rise on lots at the southwest corner of 13th Street and West Avenue: 1247 and 1255 West Avenue, and 1234 13th Street.

JDS is seeking approval for legislative changes to the city’s future land use map to create an overlay district that would include the proposed parking garages in exchange for space-height ratio bonuses. The bonuses would result in a 7.75 FAR, which is approximately 643,900 square feet of space and a building up to 435 feet tall.

The Miami Beach Planning Board will consider the proposed plan and code amendments at its meeting Tuesday.

Kobi Karp Architecture & Interior Design developed plans for the new project.

Apartment foreclosures are notoriously challenging, as they typically require just over 95 percent approval from apartment owners. However, in the more than three years since the deadly apartment building collapse in Surfside, developers have increasingly sought to acquire older buildings.

New state laws require buildings 25 and 30 years old, depending on proximity to the coast, to be recertified. Multifamily safety laws passed in the wake of the collapse require apartment buildings to fully fund their reserves and maintain their buildings to code.

Next to Bay Garden Manor, JDS and its partners completed the Monad Terrace project at 1300 Monad Terrace, designed by Jean Nouvel, in 2020. The 59-unit luxury condominium was also designed by Karp’s firm. JDS spent more than $50 million installing the facility, which spans the block between West Avenue and the Bay.

In Brickell, JDS is working on two major multifamily projects: Mercedes-Benz Places and 888 Brickell Avenue under the Dolce & Gabbana brand. The JDS affiliate closed the development’s last site in April for $61.2 million. Previously, this was supposed to be the Major Food Group tower.