A hostel turned largely into a homeless shelter in Miami Beach could soon be demolished – and neighbors could not be happier.
The development comes as a developer cut a deal with the owner of the Bikini Hostel to buy the property.
That move prompted the Miami Beach city commission last week to unanimously approve the developer’s request to move forward with plans to build a taller condo than current zoning allows across West Avenue from the hostel.
Long before it became home to more than 100 homeless people displaced from a shelter in Miami, neighbors along West Avenue and 13th Street say Bikini Hostel’s sometimes noisy, party atmosphere had been a nuisance.
The deal between the owners of the hostel and the JDS Development Group, looking to expand its real estate empire across the street, could make almost everyone happy.
When it came to the homeless people winding up there, JDS’ CEO Michael Stern wanted city commissioners to know this:
“I want to make it clear that we had utterly nothing to do with it,” he said at last week’s meeting. “We were burdened with this problem by bad actors, and if this deal gets approved, it will end up costing us tens of millions of dollars.”
That’s how much he could wind up paying to buy the hostel property, a deal one commissioner said would allow Stern to charge more for each of the 100 to 125 units planned for the 330-foot-tall condo he wants to build across the street.
“I really doubt that Mr. Stern, that JDS, that the development team would be able to sell these units for what they’re going to be asking for if they had to say that they had a homeless shelter in front of these multi-million-dollar luxury units,” said Commissioner Alex Fernandez.
The discussion produced much talk of win-wins.
“To me, what’s being presented here, with the elimination of the Bikini Hostel, is actually a public benefit,” said fellow commissioner David Suarez.
The commission’s unanimous support of Stern’s request is the first step on a road to oblivion for the Bikini Hostel — a longtime goal of its neighbors.
“Most importantly, Mr. Stern is buying the Bikini Hostel,” one director of a nearby condominium told commissioners. “When I heard that he was going to do this, I started to cry. The Bikini Hostel has been a scourge and a blight on the West Avenue neighborhood for 15 years now.”
Added another neighbor: “It’s dangerous for the residents, it’s dangerous for children, it creates an unsafe environment, and it’s been growing worse and worse over time. The demolition of the Bikini Hostel is imperative.”
How dangerous the homeless made it is not clear from police calls in the area since they were shipped to the hostel in November.
NBC6 Investigates found the number of police calls for crimes and serious quality of life issues in the area actually fell slightly, by about 3%, in the months afterwards, compared to the same months a year earlier. One reason could be the round-the-clock presence of a Miami Beach Police unit outside the building, costing the city more than $1,000 a day.
The hostel was not violating laws or zoning ordinances in housing up to 117 people in its fewer than 20 small rooms stacked with bunk beds, but there’s no doubt their presence unnerved neighbors.
“It has created a perception of safety concerns in West Avenue,” said Commissioner Fernandez. “It’s drawn just endless complaints from the neighbors. And frankly, the city doesn’t have the $20 million it would take to buy and repurpose the property.”
But developer Stern does.
“We would be thrilled if the city could solve this issue on its own,” he said, “but we are unaware of any mechanism to make that happen.”
So he made his deal to buy the hostel, demolish it as soon as September and give the land to the city two months after his company receives permission to start occupying the condo building he hopes to complete in 2030.
As for the homeless, the hostel owners have agreed to use at least $1 million from the sale to purchase a property in Miami where they and others in need can be relocated.
An attorney for the hostel owners told NBC6 the deal “represents a constructive and humane solution, demonstrating how the private sector and local government can work together to solve intractable social problems while preserving constitutional rights.”
Stern and his lawyers did not return calls or emails seeking comment.
The commission still must approve the development agreement and finalize the zoning changes.
But as last week’s vote was unanimous, it looks like the days of the Bikini Hostel and the complaints it generates are numbered.
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