Keyah Real Estate Group, led by Xaver Kriechbaum and Gavin Crescenzo, has acquired a mixed-use property in Miami Beach for $20 million with plans to develop a seven-story, 238-key hotel on Washington Avenue. The project, designed by Miami-based Arquitectonica, involves demolishing the existing single-story retail building and a 13-unit apartment building at 1509 and 1515 Washington Avenue.
According to the South Florida Business Journal, the sellers, Washington Gardens Inc. and Washington Gardens MB LLC, managed by James Resnick, originally purchased the retail building for $550,000 in 1987 and the apartment building for $4.6 million in 2015. The sale included $15 million in seller financing and covers 0.63 acres of land.
1509 and 1515 Washington Avenue. Photo from Google Earth. (July 2022)
The new hotel will span 91,230 square feet and include 238 rooms, a 5,677-square-foot restaurant on the ground floor, a pool deck with a small bar on the second floor, and a 3,525-square-foot rooftop restaurant. The Miami Beach Planning Board and the Miami Beach Historic Preservation Board are scheduled to review the proposal in July. The plans do not include on-site parking.
Cloud One Hotel. Credit: Arquitectonica.
Keyah Real Estate Group is also in discussions with Cloud One Hotel, a European hospitality brand, regarding the potential branding of the new hotel. This initiative aligns with recent efforts by Miami Beach officials to redevelop older commercial properties along Washington Avenue for hospitality and residential use.
The sale provided a notable profit for Resnick, who had previously negotiated with Urbin, a subsidiary of Location Ventures, to sell the properties. However, the deal did not materialize due to legal and financial issues faced by Location Ventures. Rishi Kapoor, former CEO of Location Ventures, had planned a co-living project for the site but abandoned those plans amidst legal challenges.
This acquisition is part of a broader effort to revitalize Washington Avenue. Other notable projects include the seven-story, 202-key Moxy South Beach by Lightstone and the $200 million Goodtime Hotel by Imperial Companies, completed in 2021. These developments reflect the area’s transformation into a vibrant hospitality and residential district.
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