Developer Pacific Star Capital is now looking to build a Target-anchored shopping center in North Beach, after a deal to swap land with Miami Beach fell through.
Aria Mehrabi’s Pacific Star wants to buy the Miami Beach-owned parking lot to build the shopping center, according to a memo he sent last week. The Santa Monica, California-based real estate firm has offered $4.2 million for the North Beach lot, which is located on the corner of 71st Street and Byron Avenue. The prior deal involved swapping land so that Pacific Star could build a residential and retail project at that location.
Mehrabi’s letter of intent said the lot would be combined with two other properties, including a former City National Bank building the firm purchased in April 2017 in order to build a 72,000-square-foot retail building with two levels. The ground level would encompass 30,000 square feet for shops and the second level would be divided into 33,000 square feet for the Target, and 9,000 square feet for a junior anchor tenant.
Mehrabi did not return messages seeking comment. The city commission recently referred Pacific Star’s proposal to the finance and citywide projects committee for evaluation. In June 2017, Pacific Star proposed a joint redevelopment agreement in the North Beach Town Center area, but that fell through in March.
“This one-block swath of land in the heart of the Town Center represents a golden opportunity to inject new investment into the area and create a vibrant activity node,” according to Mehrabi’s letter.
The proposed Target shopping center would rise near the $220 million mixed-use project along Ocean Terrace planned by partners Alex Blavatnik and Sandor Scher.
Mehrabi, whose firm built a Whole Foods-anchored shopping center at 123rd Street and Biscayne Boulevard in North Miami, wrote that he would like to attract small incubator retailers along 71st Street and include a parking garage for 237 spaces.
“North Beach needs additional retail options and is lacking national credit retailers,” he wrote.