A Little More Time …
Developers Have Yet to Break Ground on South Beach Retail Project  

“The Chinese government has been buying large amounts of steel and concrete, so the price has shot through the roof….”

Some day there will be a supermarket, a parking garage and other retail on this lot. Some day. Photo by Ryan Brown.

By Ryan Brown

The properties at Fifth Street and Alton Road on Miami Beach are currently little more than fenced-in empty lots covered with rubble. However, the development planned for this land just might change South Beach entirely.

Jeff Berkowitz and Alan and Robert Potamkin are the private developers who own the property. Their plan is to build 175,000 square feet of parking, supermarket and retail facilities, including a Best Buy and numerous restaurants.

According to Wayne Pathman, a longtime resident of Miami Beach and the developers’ attorney, this project has the potential not only to create much-needed parking on South Beach, but to ease traffic throughout the area.

“MacArthur Causeway is the most used portal into Miami Beach. Fifth and Alton is a great place to capture those cars,” says Pathman.

If the influx of cars from the causeway is fed into parking lots at Fifth and Alton, Pathman argues, South Beach streets will become less congested and more pedestrian- friendly.

Seeing these possible benefits, the city of Miami Beach entered into a deal with the developers in 2005 and earmarked $9.5 million to purchase parking for public use.

The problem is that the project has still not begun. Pathman says getting approvals from the city has been a slow process. Since cost estimates were first calculated in 2003, the company hired to do estimates, Moss Construction, has raised the price tag from $32 million to $54.8 million.

“There are three reasons for this,” says Pathman. “First, the Chinese government has been buying large amounts of steel and concrete, so the price has shot through the roof. Second, hurricanes made building more expensive. Third, the huge increase in development means everyone has plenty of work, so it’s more expensive to hire people.”

“So now we have to use a company called ABM – Anybody But Moss,” says one of the project developers, Jeff Berkowitz, referring to Moss Construction.

The Miami Beach Finance Committee has agreed to back the extension of its agreement with the developers to Feb. 17.  The extension has to be agreed to by the full Miami Beach City Commission. The next meeting is on Jan. 17.

Comments? Ryan@miamisunpost.com.