Carrots are more densely populated south of Miami Beach’s Fifth Street neighborhood. The three hoteliers are rabbits.
At least one of these hotel owners, an affiliate of Miami-based Key International, is eyeing that carrot.
Miami Beach City Council on Wednesday approved a measure to encourage South of Fifth hotel owners to redevelop their properties into condos or multifamily projects. By agreeing to convert the land from temporary uses such as hotels, hotels and short-term rentals to residential use, the allowable floor area ratio (FAR) for property owners will increase from 2.0 to 2.75, according to a city memo.
Key International, led by Diego Ardid, owns the Marriott Stanton South Beach at 161 Ocean Drive through its affiliate Komar Investments, records show. Christopher Penelas, an attorney for the hotel owner, said the Key International affiliate was interested in exploring the possibility of redeveloping the 224-room hotel and taking advantage of the density dividend.
“We’ve been having conversations with the South of Fifth community about what this might look like,” Penelas said. “I would assume [Key International] Condominiums will continue to be built due to the goals of the market and legislation. “
The legislation, sponsored by Miami Beach City Commissioner Alex Fernandez, is enforceable by Miami Beach residents. In November, 66 percent of voters approved a referendum requiring the city to enact the legislation.
To receive the density bonus, landlords must guarantee that no shorter than six months’ rent will be allowed for any new development.
The new measures also affect two other hotels, the Hilton Bentley Miami/South Beach at 101 Ocean Drive and the Savoy Hotel & Beach Club at 455 Ocean Drive. Gatineau, Quebec-based Heafey Group owns the hotel portion of the 110-unit Hilton Bentley condo-hotel, and New York-based Allied Partners owns the 75-room Savoy, records show.
Heafey and Allied have expressed no interest in redeveloping the two hotels, according to a city memo.
