The New York investors who purchased a 94-year-old Mediterranean revival building at 1700 Alton Road for $21 million ten months ago plan to restore the mixed-use property to its original state.
At the monthly meeting of the Miami Beach Historic Preservation Board, AC 1700 Alton Owner – an LLC controlled by Adam Verner of Springhouse Partners and Chaim Cahane of Forte Capital Management – cleared the most important hurdle by securing a recommendation to the Miami Beach Commission for historic designation for the five-story structure, which was completed in 1922.
Deborah Tackett, design and preservation manager, told board members the historic designation would allow AC 1700 to begin renovations that would eliminate modifications made to the building in the 1950s. The board granted the recommendation based on several conditions, including restoring the interior of the apartment side lobby and the ground floor retail space as close as possible to its original design and the installation of awnings on upper floor windows on the east and south sides of the building.
According to a January Miami Beach Planning Department report, the 1922 building is an “an excellent example of the City’s 1920s Boom period architecture” and that it “retains much of its architectural integrity, despite several alterations that have been made over time.”
Located one street north of Lincoln Road with access to the Venetian Causeway via 17th Street, the 35,530-square-foot building was designed by local architect Martin Luther Hampton. In addition to 70 studio-sized apartments with an existing hotel license, the property has 25 parking spaces, a 5,000-square-foot courtyard, and 8,165 square feet of ground floor retail, anchored by Vespa.
At the time of its construction, the building was the second tallest in Miami Beach and opened as the Mayflower Hotel. The 15,000-square-foot site last sold for $1 million in 1991, according to Miami-Dade property records.
Correction: An earlier version of this story incorrectly stated that the Miami Beach Historic Preservation Board designated the building historic. The board recommended that the commission designate the property historic.