The Montreal family company behind two South Beach hotels now under Live Local review

The two South Beach hotels that drew Live Local Act filings last week, the Clevelander on Ocean Drive and the Essex House on Collins Avenue, belong to a Montreal real estate company run by one family.

Jesta Group lists both hotels in its portfolio on its website. County property records show the two sites are owned by separate partnerships, Clevelander Holdings LP and Essex House Collins LP, each in care of Jesta Management Corp. Both changed hands on Oct. 4, 2018: 1020 Ocean Drive for $20.6 million and 1001 Collins Ave. for $7.9 million.

On Nov. 6, pre-applications under the state’s Live Local Act were filed for both addresses, as Red Sidewalks reported Monday. The law lets a developer who sets aside 40% of a project’s units as workforce housing skip the city’s limits on height and density, with approval by city staff and no public hearing. The city’s records don’t name the applicant, and the filings show no height, unit count or design.

It isn’t Jesta’s first try. In September 2023, the company announced a 30-story apartment and condo building to replace both hotels under the then-new law, Bisnow reported. After criticism from city officials, it cut the plan that October to 18 stories and 137 units, keeping the 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 that the idea would “effectively destroy” Ocean Drive, Commercial Observer reported. The city’s online records don’t show what became of that plan.

Jesta did not respond to emailed questions sent Monday night about whether it filed the applications or what it plans for the sites.

Who runs Jesta

Elliott Aintabi founded the company in 1992, according to its website, which says his children have since joined its management. The site lists:

• Elliott Aintabi: chairman of the board and CEO
• Eric Aintabi: vice president
• Stephanie Aintabi: vice president of development
• Judah Bendayan: chief financial officer

Jesta Management Corp. has been registered in Florida as a foreign for-profit corporation since Jan. 15, 2019, according to state records, which list Elliott Aintabi, Eric Aintabi and Judah Bendayan as officers and a principal address on Notre-Dame Street East in Montreal.

The names Eric Aintabi and Stephanie Aintabi appear on a May 2015 Federal Register list of people who chose to expatriate, which the Treasury Department publishes each quarter. The list gives only names. Jesta did not respond when asked whether they are the company’s executives.

What else it owns

Jesta’s website also lists properties in Montreal and Laval, Cannes and Antibes in France, and London, and a development in North Bay Village, describing them as “a small sample” of its past work and investments.

The North Bay Village project was the Shuckers and Best Western site on the 79th Street Causeway, which Jesta bought in 2016 for $15 million. The village commission approved Jesta’s 30-story tower there in January 2023, with 345 rental units, 18 of them workforce housing, and a 273-room hotel, Commercial Observer reported. Jesta sold the site in June 2024 to Continuum Co. for $75 million, Bisnow reported.

What happens next

The Live Local filings are pre-applications, an early step. If full applications follow and city staff find them eligible, staff will approve or reject the projects without a public hearing. Owners of property within 375 feet could then appeal to the Board of Adjustment within 30 days of the city posting a decision.

A City Commission committee was scheduled on Tuesday to take up a proposal that would require developers seeking zoning changes to disclose any Live Local filings they are behind.