Len Blavatnik, Vlad Doronin and renderings of the project. (Getty, Aman)
UPDATED February 10, 9:50 am: The developer of a proposed Aman hotel and apartment again received approval from the Miami Beach Historic Preservation Board after scaling back the project and making other changes.
Billionaires Vlad Doronin and Len Blavatnik plan to build the first Aman development in South Florida at 3425 Collins Avenue on a site that includes the historic Versailles building. Doronin heads the OKO Group and owns the Aman brand. Blavatnik, Founder and Chairman of Access Industries, supported the development of the Faena district with Alan Faena, who is not a member of the Aman. Blavatnik and Doronin are equal partners in the project.
The developer still needs more approvals for Miami Beach before they can get planning permission for the project, a proposed 56 key hotel and 23 luxury condos.
The monument protection authority approved the developer’s application on Tuesday to build a newly designed tower on the ground floor and to change the site plan. Six board members voted for the proposal, board member Barry Klein voted against.
The developer is now planning a 221 foot tall building up from the previously proposed 250 feet. Doronin plans to renovate and restore the existing 16-story Versailles, demolish the southern extension from 1955 and build a new 16-story extension.
Doronin first applied for permission to raise the altitude to 250 feet in July. The move met with considerable opposition, including from the billionaire residents of the adjacent Faena House Condo Tower at 3315 Collins Avenue. But by January, the board of directors of the Faena House Condo Association and other nearby groups had reversed their opposition and supported the developer’s scaled-down plans.
The latest plans were backed Tuesday by Faena House owners Thomas Stern and Paul Cejas, who previously opposed plans, as well as Design District developer Craig Robins.
Though Doronin’s proposal received six yes-votes from the Historic Preservation Authority, CEO Jack Finglass said he had “strong reservations” that the new apartment tower would provide improved visibility and said any representation was “very misleading.”
“I just don’t see the compromise worth a hundred years from now,” Finglass said, adding that lawyers and architects in the past have “presented skewed views of their buildings” to get the Boards to vote for their plans. The architect Luis Revuelta replied that he did not think he was misleading the public.
Jack Stewart Apollo mural (Aman)
As part of the permissions, the developer will donate a Jack Stewart mural and pay to restore, move, and install the mural. The restoration and renovation of the historic Versailles building would have to be substantially completed or fully completed before a temporary certificate of use is issued.
On January 12, the monument protection authority issued specific design approvals, including for the new eastern extension of the project. The following day, the Miami Beach City Commission referred the height reduction ordinance to the planning authority, which will be reviewing an amendment to the Faena District Overlay on Feb.23. The developer must also return to the Historic Preservation Authority later for additional approval.
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