Developers File Coastline Review for a 30 Story Mixed Use Tower

August 8, 2022

In North Bay Village at 1755 Kennedy Causeway, B Developments under the LGE NBV, LLC submitted a request to Miami-Dade County for a coastline review. Arquitectonica was hired by the developer to create a mixed-use structure that would be 345 feet tall, 30 floors tall, and directly face Biscayne Bay.

Due to the property’s frontage on Biscayne Bay and its compliance with Article III, Section 33D of the Miami-Dade County Code of Ordinances, the application is necessary. The coastline setback and side setback are subject to variance requests from the developer. A structure with 30 floors must be 75 feet away from the main shoreline and 25 feet away from the side shorelines, according to the County Code’s setback requirements.

The property can’t be developed strictly in accordance with the criteria due to the tower’s height, the property’s size, and the lot’s proportions. To build in compliance with the site plans, the setback from the beach would have to be decreased to 25 feet, resulting in a 50-foot variance.

The developer is offering to construct a public bay walk behind the property along Biscayne Bay as leverage to get the variances allowed for the project because the County standards cannot be met. On the plus side, the proposal complies with the 2020 Island Walk Design Criteria as well as the North Bay Village Unified Land Development Code.

According to floor designs submitted in February 2022 to the North Bay Village Planning & Zoning Board, the distinctive two-story waterfront restaurant would occupy 19,455 square feet of area between the ground floor and mezzanine level. From the mezzanine level to floors 2 through 5, 8 and 9, the majority of the west podium would be occupied by offices. There are five storeys of parking on the podium’s remaining surface.

On the 6th and 7th floors are the residential amenity levels, which have a landscape deck with three pools, barbecue spaces, fire pits, kids’ splash pads, party lounges, residential lounges, game rooms, sky lobbys, and fitness centers. On the south and west sides of the sixth level, there will be a separate amenity deck that the office tenants can use.

Building Plans Description

• 473,252 square feet project
• 201 residential units
• 32,654 square feet of amenities
• 19,455 square feet for a 2-story restaurant with a waterfront terrace
• 1,860 square feet of office space
• 408 parking space in a parking structure podium

The landscape architect is listed as Arquitectonica and the civil engineer as Kimbley-Horn.

Residential units would start on the 10th level and range in size from 670 to 2255 square feet, including 104 one-bedroom, 83 two-bedroom, 8 three-bedroom, and 6 four-bedroom units.