GlobeSt.com UPDATE: Fisher Island Project Delayed

MIAMI BEACH, FL-Fisher Islands Holdings has hit a slight snag in its multimillion-dollar plan to build four, new 10-story apartment structures on the exclusive 218-acre Fisher Island community.

The Miami Beach-based development group is asking the Miami Beach Design Review Board to approve the 15.38-acre, 140-unit phased-development project, which would clear the project for the construction-permitting stage. But appointed members of the community board could not reach a consensus on the project’s architectural design at a recent public meeting.

“They continued it because they wanted the architect to explore ways to improve the view,” Thomas R. Mooney, the Miami Beach Planning Department’s manager of design and preservation, tells GlobeSt.com.

An employee of the development group referred all inquiries about the proposed project to the firm’s public relations agency, where a spokesperson argued there is nothing newsworthy about the project except to say it is no longer internally labeled as the Hazelwoods Apartments.

“The application they submitted and the design specifications say Hazelwoods Apartments,” Mooney says. “More than likely they will be condominiums. Given where they’re located, they’ll likely be luxury.”

Depending on the company’s response, Mooney says it is likely the planning review board will re-examine the development application at its regularly scheduled meeting in September. “As soon as it’s approved by the Design Review Board it goes to permits,” Mooney says. “If the decision it appealed, it could go to the City Commission.”

The Hazelwoods project is one of the latest ventures for Fisher Island Holdings, a partnership that Dan McLean, John J. Melk and Dan Melk formed in 1998.

Earlier this year, the partnership announced the construction start on Valencia Estates, 31 single-family residences ranging in size from 4,000 sf to 7,000 sf with prices starting at $3 million.

This is the type of community that has attracted homeowners like TV celebrity Oprah Winfrey, legendary Miami Dolphins quarterback Dan Marino, retired Miami Dolphins coach Don Shula and movie star Sylvester Stallone.

Also earlier this year, the partnership completed construction of two luxury multifamily projects, Oceanside V and Bayview VII, and started work on Ocean VI and Bayview VIII. Those units range in size from 2,500 sf to 7,000 sf, and are priced from $2 million to $6 million. Through March this year, the partnership had completed construction on a total of about 600 condominium units.