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About St. Tropez 2 (single 12 stories Tower II in addition to 3 original towers
(article from Miami Sun Post)
By Randy Abraham
The Sunny Isles Beach City Commission approved a site plan for St. Tropez II, a single-tower addition to a mixed-use high-rise community planned for the corner of Collins Avenue and Sunny Isles Beach Boulevard.
During the July 20 meeting, developer Joe Milton requested and received site plan approval for a 12-story, 78-unit condominium tower and a setback variance for the penthouse portion. The San Tropez 2 tower will rise from the same pedestal parking garage facility that will also support three towers to the west that comprise the original 283-unit San Tropez project approved in the past year — two 20-story structures and one 19-story building at 150-260 Sunny Isles Blvd. The original garage design is being extended to accommodate the fourth tower. Milton’s attorney Cliff Schulman said his client acquired the parcel after the city approved the original St. Tropez project.
The addition would use the same entrance and exits as St. Tropez I, Schulman said. St. Tropez II will feature a strip of ground-floor retail and restaurants. Assistant City Manager Jorge Vera said the city had been encouraging developers to present such a project for several years, and believes St. Tropez II will trigger additional redevelopment on the boulevard.
“This is something we told the development community we wanted to see in that location,” said Vera.
The project may also usher in another initiative close to the city’s heart: a road improvement project that was awarded $3 million in funding by the Florida Department of Transportation. During discussion of St. Tropez II, Commissioner Dan Iglesias, an FDOT engineer, noted that funding for the Sunny Isles Beach Boulevard road project, originally slated to begin in the year 2010, has recently moved up in priority: $2 million will be available in a year, and $1 million the following year.
Dan Iglesias asked Milton if he would be willing to consider taking on the road improvement project, which will be located almost entirely in front of St. Tropez I and II. Iglesias noted that if Milton made the road improvements while constructing St. Tropez, the area would be torn up only once, not twice.
“It just makes good economic sense for the guy who’s going to be there and who needs to pull an FDOT permit – we should let him finish the job,” said Iglesias, who noted that the road project is itself a product of city/FDOT collaboration. Several years ago, FDOT informed city officials of their plan to resurface and make drainage improvements to the road. The city offered to contribute to the project if it also included traffic calming beautification, and in 2003 the two parties signed an agreement. The project will now include narrowing lanes to 11 feet, adding seven-foot sidewalks on each side of the road, planting trees and landscaping, and installing brick pavers. “It’s going to be a much more pedestrian-friendly corridor than initially envisioned,” said Iglesias.
Schulman said his client could implement the road project “quicker, better and cheaper” than the public sector could since there are not the same restrictions. “Generally the private sector can do a better job since they don’t have to go through the same kind of process that government has to,” he said. “A lot of developers do road projects in conjunction with the public sector, and anything that is good for Sunny Isles Beach Boulevard is also good for us.”
Schulman said Milton would consider taking on the project, and attended a preliminary August 8 meeting with city officials and consultants to discuss a number of projects planned for SIB Boulevard. However, said City Attorney Hans Ottinot, it’s not a done deal: The city will request bids and review all applicants before making a decision, probably by year’s end.
If the parties do agree to terms that would allow Milton to implement the roadway project, FDOT would reimburse the city $3 million. The city would then pay Milton for handling the road project. The total road project is estimated to cost about $4.5 million, said Iglesias.
Milton also offered to enclose a nearby city sewage pump station to the south to obscure it from buyers and residents of the project, an offer that drew praise from elected officials. Schulman said he did not have an estimate of the cost of enclosing the sewer facility.
Oceania 5 resident Teresa Lewis, though, objected to the city allowing additional units that would contribute to traffic congestion in the area.
However, Vera, formerly the city’s planning and zoning administrator, said the city scrutinizes project modifications, and gives notice of them to as wide an audience, as requests for approvals of original site plans.
City officials conditioned their approval of St. Tropez II on Milton enclosing the city sewer pump station and placing no entrance or exit on Collins Avenue. Commissioner Roslyn Brezin also requested that a waterfront promenade feature a decorative railing to address safety concerns.
Afterward, Milton said St. Tropez has been selling well, despite the recent slowdown in the condo market, and he is confident the second phase would also do well. He has acquired other parcels on the street, but said his plans for those sites aren’t yet finalized.
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