Miami Beach signs off on 21-story Live Local Act tower on North Beach's Harding Avenue

Miami Beach’s planning director has approved a 21-story apartment tower with shops on the block of Harding Avenue just north of 74th Street, using the state’s Live Local Act, according to a signed administrative order posted on the city’s website. Under the state law, the project needed no public hearing and no vote by a city board.

The order, file PB24-0694, covers four lots at 7401, 7409, 7417 and 7425 Harding Ave. The applicant and owner of record is BH Collins LLC. The building would hold rental apartments, at least 40% of them affordable for at least 30 years, with retail on the ground and second floors. The order does not give a unit count.

The city found the site qualifies because it is zoned commercial (CD-2), which under the state law allows residential towers without a rezoning or variance. The order also notes that the lots sit inside both the North Shore National Register Historic District and the North Shore Local Historic District.

A second building on the same block

The same company won approval in September, according to Florida YIMBY, for an 11-story building at 7410 Collins Ave., on the same block, under order PB26-0814. That plan includes partly demolishing and reusing a 1950 building that counts as a contributing structure in the Harding Townsite Local Historic District. Florida YIMBY reported that the Collins Avenue building would have 50 rental units, 8,535 square feet of retail and 25 parking spaces.

Conditions

Among the conditions on the Harding Avenue tower: trash pickup only on site, all loading off the street, non-residential deliveries only from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m., no exterior speakers or outdoor bars, a rooftop pool deck for residents and guests only, and street trees along Harding. The developer must work with FDOT and the county on signal timing for evening rush hour at Collins Avenue and 74th Street, and Collins and 71st Street.

How to appeal

The city emailed residents Wednesday explaining how to challenge a Live Local Act decision. Only owners of property within 375 feet of a project count as “affected persons.” They have 30 days from the date the city publishes the decision on its approved-applications page to file a written petition with the planning director, with an electronic copy and 10 paper copies, all supporting plans and exhibits, and the required fees. The city mails courtesy notice to nearby owners and neighborhood associations.

Appeals go to the Board of Adjustment at a public hearing. Reversing or changing the director’s decision takes five of the board’s seven votes. The city’s page does not list the date each decision was posted, so owners near the Harding Avenue site who want to appeal should confirm the deadline with the Planning Department.