Live Local filings land for the Clevelander and two other South Beach sites

Update (Nov. 9, 10:31 p.m.): Jesta, which owns the Clevelander, announced a Live Local tower for the site in 2023 and scaled it back to 18 stories after city officials objected, according to news reports from the time. Details are under “Jesta’s earlier Live Local plan” below.

Update (Nov. 9, 10:25 p.m.): Added Jesta Management Corp.’s Florida corporate registration, which lists a Montreal address; Jesta Group’s own description of its leadership and portfolio, which includes both hotels; and an explainer on the Live Local Act.

Update (Nov. 9, 6:01 p.m.): County property records show that two of the three sites, the Clevelander at 1020 Ocean Drive and the hotel at 1001 Collins Ave., are owned by separate partnerships that list the same company, Jesta Management Corp., in their records, and both changed hands on the same day in 2018. Details are under “Who owns them” below.

Three more South Beach properties, including the Clevelander Hotel’s address on Ocean Drive, have entered the city’s Live Local Act review. Their owners filed pre-applications on Nov. 5 and 6, according to Miami Beach’s online permit records.

What the Live Local Act is

The Live Local Act is a Florida law meant to speed the building of affordable housing. It passed in 2023, and lawmakers widened it in 2024, 2025 and 2026, according to a resolution the Miami Beach City Commission passed in October. In short:

• Who can use it: owners of land zoned commercial, industrial or mixed use. Land zoned only for housing doesn’t qualify, which is why the city rejected a filing at 910 West Ave.
• The trade: a developer sets aside 40% of a project’s units as workforce housing for 30 years.
• What they get: the city’s own limits on use, height, density, floor area and parking don’t apply.
• Who decides: city planning staff approve projects that meet the law. There is no public hearing before the City Commission or a land use board.
• Appeals: owners of property within 375 feet can appeal within 30 days of the city posting a decision. The Board of Adjustment hears the appeal, and reversing a decision takes five of its seven votes, the city says.

The city has pushed back on the law. The commission’s resolution argues it mainly encourages market-rate building, since only 40% of the units, not of the floor space, must be workforce housing. Mayor Steven Meiner has asked state lawmakers to change it.

What it means for these sites

All three filings sit on South Beach blocks of Ocean Drive and Collins Avenue, in buildings from 1925 to 1938, according to county property records. If full applications follow and city staff find them eligible, the projects would be approved or rejected by staff under the state law, not at a public hearing. Residents would learn the details when the city posts a decision, and nearby owners would then have 30 days to appeal.

For now, they are only pre-applications, which show no height, unit count or design.

What was filed

• 1020 Ocean Drive (LLA26-0015, filed Nov. 6): “Live local application for a mixed-use project,” the record says. It is listed as under review. City licensing records from 2019 name the business at that address as the Clevelander Hotel.
• 1001 Collins Avenue (LLA26-0014, filed Nov. 6): also described as a mixed-use project and listed as under review. A 2019 Historic Preservation Board approval in the city’s records covered both 1001 and 1021 Collins.
• 215 6th Street and 604 Collins Avenue (LLA26-0013, filed Nov. 5): city staff wrote on the day it was filed that the submittal was “insufficient.” They asked for reasonably complete architectural drawings by a registered architect. A recertification filing for 215 6th Street lists the building as built in 1925.

Who owns them

Miami-Dade Property Appraiser records list:

• 1020 Ocean Drive: Clevelander Holdings LP, in care of Jesta Management Corp. The appraiser classifies it as a hotel, built in 1938, with five floors and 60 units. The last sale was Oct. 4, 2018, for $20.6 million.
• 1001 Collins Avenue: Essex House Collins LP, also in care of Jesta Management Corp. It is listed as a three-story hotel with 70 units, built in 1937. The last sale was also Oct. 4, 2018, for $7.9 million.
• 215 6th Street and 604 Collins Avenue: both parcels are owned by MMS 600 COLLINS LLC. They are listed as one-story retail buildings, built in 1925 and 1930. Both show a $100 transfer on June 26, 2026, the most recent recorded sale.

Jesta Management Corp. is registered in Florida as a foreign for-profit corporation, according to state Division of Corporations records. It registered on Jan. 15, 2019, is listed as active and gives its principal address as 601 Notre-Dame Street East in Montreal. Its listed officers are Elliott Aintabi, Eric Aintabi (vice president) and Judah Bendayan (secretary). Its Florida registered agent is NRAI Services Inc. in Plantation.

The company’s website describes Jesta Group as a Montreal real estate company that Elliott Aintabi founded in 1992, and says his children have since joined its management. It lists him as chairman of the board and CEO, Eric Aintabi as vice president, Stephanie Aintabi as vice president of development and Judah Bendayan as chief financial officer. The site’s portfolio lists the Clevelander and the Essex House as Miami Beach hotels, along with a development in North Bay Village and properties in Canada, France and Britain.

Jesta’s earlier Live Local plan

This isn’t the first time Jesta has looked to the Live Local Act for the Clevelander. In September 2023, the company announced plans to replace the Clevelander and the Essex House with a 30-story apartment and condo building, with 40% of its units set aside as workforce housing, under the then-new law, Bisnow reported. After criticism from city officials, Jesta cut the plan in October 2023 to an 18-story, 137-unit building that would keep the two hotels’ facades, with 55 workforce units and the rest sold as condos, according to Bisnow, citing the Miami Herald. Then-Mayor Dan Gelber wrote to the company opposing the plan, Commercial Observer reported.

The city’s online records don’t show what became of that plan, and they list no earlier Live Local case for the address. This month’s filings don’t name an applicant, and whether they revive the 2023 plan isn’t clear from the records.

The city records name no developer and give no height, unit count or design for any of the three. A pre-application is an early step: the city’s records show some filings later replaced by full Live Local applications and at least one earlier pre-application, at 910 West Ave., marked denied.

How many there are now

Counting these three, the city has issued 15 case numbers in its 2026 Live Local series. The other filings are at 42 and 1501 Collins Ave.; 425 Ocean Drive; 824, 1920 and 709 Alton Road; 1030 6th St.; 1771 West Ave.; 910 West Ave.; and 7410 Collins Ave. The filings at 709 Alton Road and 7410 Collins each include a case marked void, and the 709 Alton project now carries a newer case number, according to the records.

Mayor Steven Meiner said Monday that he has written to state lawmakers urging changes to the law (see the related story). A city committee on Tuesday takes up a proposal requiring developers who seek zoning changes to disclose any Live Local filings.

The filings can be looked up by case number on the city’s Civic Access portal.