At its November 18, 2020 meeting, the City Commission approved a dual referral to the Land Use and Sustainability Committee (LUSC) and the Finance and Economic Resiliency Committee (FERC) to discuss the request from BHI Limited Miami Corporation to renovate their property, the Seagull Hotel, located at 100 21st Street.  The Property is an oceanfront parcel located on the south side of 21st  Street, consisting of an 8-story structure which was built in 1950 and designed by Miami Beach architect Albert Anis. 

The Applicant is proposing a major renovation of the existing, contributing structure, in order to accommodate a new hotel operator.  As part of this renovation, the following has been proposed by the Seagull Hotel:

1. The vacation of the southern half of the 21st Street right-of-way (“ROW”) along the front of the Seagull Hotel property. This would enlarge the overall size of the development site, creating a unified development site, and therefore permit the aggregation of additional floor area (FAR).

2.  As a condition of the proposed vacation, the Developer would grant a perpetual, non-revocable easement in favor of the City, for the City’s continued use of the ROW, so that roadway access and circulation would not be affected.

At its December 18, 2020 meeting, the Finance and Citywide Projects Committee members were briefed by the Applicant on the proposed Seagull Hotel renovation and request for vacation of the City's ROW.  The Applicant stated that it had also conducted its own independent appraisal of the proposed vacated property.  Based on the Applicant's appraisal, the market value "as is" reported on November 11, 2020 was estimated at $5,000,000.  This amount would be proffered as a public benefit for the City by way of a monetary contribution to the City, to be used as directed by the Commission. 

Public Works stated it had just received an appraisal reimbursement agreement by the Applicant, and was now ready to order its own appraisal.  The Committee members made a motion to move the item to the next Committee meeting.

On January 13, 2021, Public Works received its appraisal results.  The City's appraisal of the market value "as is" was estimated at $7,400,000.

PUBLIC BENEFIT

In addition to a monetary proffer (whether it's 5 million or 7 million,) the Applicant has proposed granting  the City a 25 foot wide perpetual roadway and pedestrian access easement across the vacated City ROW.

Results from the 2019 Resident Survey regarding Satisfaction with Perceptions of the City show that 47% of residents rated City efforts to plan for growth as very satisfied/satisfied. In order to continue maintaining excellent standards in this area, the City will be reviewing the request from the Applicant to vacate a portion of the City's ROW.

The City has conducted an independent appraisal of the proposed vacated ROW land and, based on the City's appraisal, the market value "as is" is estimated at $7,400,000.  The Applicant's appraisal came in at  $5,000,000.  Both results are being presented to the members of the FERC for discussion and direction.