Galbuts, Lefferts North Beach Project Approval Delayed

Citing the style and scope of the project, the Miami Beach Design Review Board delayed a vote on the Galbuts, Navarros and Mendy Chudaitov’s Lefferts’ proposed North Beach condominium.

The 19-story building would have 125 condos and 16,300 square feet of retail space at 600 72nd Street, and would mark the latest in a packed pipeline of North Beach development.

“This is transforming an entire city block,” said board chair Sarah Giller Nelson, as she and other board members cautioned about the proposed building’s potential impact on the neighborhood during a board meeting on Wednesday.

“It’s just gonna be one similar building after another, 20 stories tall, which I don’t think benefits the community,” she said. “I’d like to see something more interesting happening with the design of the building.”

After discussing the project, with input from Russell Galbut and community members, the board voted unanimously to continue consideration of the project at its Nov. 13 meeting. New plans for the development, dubbed 72B, must be submitted for review by Monday.

“We’ve required quite a bit [contextually] from other applicants that have come in front of us. There is an urban plan here to create a town center, but there’s also the context of the whole neighborhood of North Beach,” said board member Jason Hagopian. “To me the building, it’s not really fitting right now. To me it’s a complete miss.”

Other issues raised include the proposed placement of garbage facilities for the building, landscape design, open space requirements, a requested height waiver, parking and the building’s proposed podium.

Planning documents show one-, two-, and three-bedroom floorplans, as well as six larger penthouse units, all ranging in size from 734 square feet to 2,393 square feet. 72B’s amenities will include a basketball court, pickleball court, and a rooftop pool. Arquitectonica designed the project.

Douglas Elliman is handling sales for the project, with prices starting at $1 million.

Board member Mayra D. Buttacavoli advocated for the development. “We need people like Arquitectonica to come and design things,” she said. “We do need to move on projects like this.”

The project’s local investors include GFO Investments’ Russell, Ronalee, Marisa and Jenna Galbut, MMG Equity Partners’ Martin and Patricia Pico and Michael, Marcel, and Gabriel Navarro, and Matis Cohen. The project’s investors from the Northeast include Pasquale DeBenedictis and Alex Solovey, who head the nursing home provider Cassena Care, and Lefferts’ Chudaitov.

The Galbuts and Lefferts have partnered on other North Beach projects, including a planned multifamily development at 666 71st Street, and 72 Park, a planned 22-story, 206-unit condo project adjacent to 72B.

At the meeting, Galbut noted that he had other projects in the area approved on first reading.

“We’re here in good faith to move this project,” he said.

The developers have spent at least $40.1 million on development sites in Miami Beach’s North Beach neighborhood, records show. A 2018 upzoning of the neighborhood made it an appealing investment for the team, according to Chudaitov.

They’re not the only ones looking anew at North Beach. Constellation Group, Boschetti Group and Vietmar launched sales for their planned 10-story, 95-unit Ella Miami Beach condos in June, with prices starting at $450,000. New York-based Northlink Capital landed approval for its 11-story 72 Collins Condominium in July of last year.