Moving North Beach Log Cabin back to its original lot would add $1.1 million, city says

Rebuilding the North Beach Log Cabin on its original site at 8128 Collins Ave., as some residents and two commissioners want, would add an estimated $1,106,100 to the project, and city staff recommend against it, according to a memo for Friday’s Finance and Economic Resiliency Committee meeting.

The 1934 cabin, built by Miami architect Emil Ehmann, was taken apart in 2017 and 2018 and has been stored in two 20-foot containers since. The city’s plan, approved by the Design Review Board in November 2025, puts the rebuilt cabin across Collins Avenue in North Beach Oceanside Park. At a September 2025 community meeting, residents asked to return it to the West Lots instead, and in April the commission paused the design work to study that. Earlier coverage has more of the history.

What the memo says

The architect, BEA Architects, has finished 60% of the design for the park site and stopped work under the April resolution, the memo says. Moving the cabin to the West Lots would delay the design and require restrooms, new plumbing and electrical service, landscaping and lighting that the park site doesn’t need, which is where the extra $1.1 million comes from.

The money is already short. Voters approved $1,076,000 for the cabin in the 2018 general obligation bond, and the commission put that money in the budget in 2024. A request for $1,047,279 more was made in the 2026 capital budget process but is now programmed for fiscal year 2028, the memo says. Before the pause, the city expected to seek construction bids in summer 2026.

The memo also warns that the city projects a general fund deficit for 2028 and cites the property tax measure Amendment 3 as a further risk. If the committee wants to pay for the move, staff recommend taking it up in the 2028 budget.

The item is sponsored by Commissioner Tanya K. Bhatt and co-sponsored by Commissioner Laura Dominguez. A separate Log Cabin item, on using it as a family services center, was deferred at the Nov. 9 Public Safety and Neighborhood Quality of Life Committee meeting.

How to weigh in

The committee meets at 10 a.m. Friday, Nov. 13, at City Hall, 1700 Convention Center Drive, according to the agenda. Its recommendation goes to the full commission.