Miami Beach to prohibit hotels in Sunset Harbour? Zoning overhaul could derail Ronny Finvarb’s project

Proposed regulations would prohibit hotels and only allow office buildings in the neighborhood

New proposed zoning regulations for Miami Beach’s Sunset Harbour neighborhood would encourage office development, but shun future hotels, putting a new project by Ronny Finvarb in a perilous position.

The Miami Beach Planning Board on Tuesday recommended the city commission approve the new overlay district for Sunset Harbour, along with an amendment that would allow hotel and residential projects that submitted design review board applications before April 27 to move forward. However, city commissioners could decide to remove the amendment when the proposed regulations come up for the first reading on May 12.

The overlay district would only allow primarily office buildings up to 65 feet tall in Sunset Harbour. The legislation provides for retail and restaurant uses in ground-floor spaces and some residential units, as long as a majority of a building is office use.

Directors of the Sunset Harbour Neighborhood Association, which helped craft the language for the new regulations with commissioner Ricky Arriola, spoke against Finvarb’s project, a 36-room boutique hotel that would be built at 1790 Alton Road. His affiliate Sobe 18 LLC recently paid $4 million for the 10,200-square-foot property and has an agreement with Kimpton to also manage the new hotel.

Geoffrey Aronson, an association director, said that even though Finvarb is only proposing 36 rooms, the units are large enough to accommodate up to eight guests and that it would attract tourists looking to split the cost of hotel stays. He also noted that the association voted 9-1 to oppose the hotel project.