The Ben-Josef family, owners of the Sagamore Hotel South Beach, is proposing a 561-unit apartment building near North Miami.
Their plan comes at a time when South Florida is experiencing a boom in multifamily construction, with the tri-county region expecting a record number of new housing units by year’s end.
Ben Josef Group Holdings wants to develop the project on a 4-acre vacant lot between Biscayne Boulevard and Northeast 14th Avenue, south of Biscayne Shores and Gardens Park, in unincorporated Miami-Dade County, according to an application the property owner filed with the county this month. The site has been vacant for more than 15 years.
Designed by Kobi Karp, the project would include 84 worker-rate units, 1,858 square feet of commercial space and 723 parking spaces. The project would rise 15 stories along Biscayne Boulevard, tapering to five stories in the middle of the building and along Northeast 14th Avenue.
Property owner Biscayne Shores Development Group, led by Ron Ben-Josef and Ronit Neuman, plans to submit an application for amendments to the comprehensive master development plan and future land use map, as well as a special permit under the SMART Corridor Subzone of the Rapid Transit Zone.
Miami-Dade’s SMART corridors, which include Biscayne Boulevard, are streets designated for public transit expansion. In general, rapid transit zoning in the SMART corridor sub-area allows developers to build larger projects than site zones allow.
Biscayne Shores Development is currently requesting a pre-application meeting with Miami-Dade, which is typically requested so developers can get input from county staff.
According to Bisnow, which first reported on the planned project, Neuman and Ben-Josef appear to be siblings.
Ben-Josef Group and InSite Group purchased the five-story, 93-room Sagamore at 1671 Collins Avenue in Miami Beach for $63 million in 2016. InSite later sold its ownership interest in the hotel.
In 2020, the Ben-Josef Group and its partners, the Kanavos family’s Flag Luxury Group and the Lowensteins’ Lionstone Group, which owns the two Ritz-Carltons in South Beach and Bal Harbour, merged to take ownership of their hotels.
Last year, the three firms filed an application to build a 15-story, 30-unit condominium building behind the Sagamore and cantilever it over part of the Ritz-Carlton at 1 Lincoln Road in Miami Beach.
The South Florida housing market experienced a boom in 2021 and 2022, fueled by unprecedented demand due to an influx of out-of-state residents and record rent increases. Developers capitalized on the boom with plans for new projects. A report from Berkadia shows that 23,863 units are expected to be completed across South Florida by year’s end, the most since 2002.
