93rd Street facing east

Pointe Development Company and Monceau Realty Group, both Miami-Dade County-based, have submitted a bid to develop a new Town Hall and Civic Center for the Town of Surfside. The popular enclave is situated from the bay to the ocean between 87^th St. and 96^th St., just north of Miami Beach and south of Bal Harbour.

If approved, the multi-faceted project would create a town square for the Town of Surfside’s rapidly growing population that would include a new town hall, numerous new amenities for residents including a community rooftop park and sports area overlooking the ocean, a police station, class ‘A’ offices, a retail/restaurant component and public parking.

The location of the proposed $33.5 million development would be at 9293 Harding Ave. and 269 93^rd St., which are respectively the sites of the current Town Hall and a municipal surface parking lot situated directly north.

The proposed Surfside Town Center will address a variety of needs for both the municipality and its residents, as the current Town Hall is at capacity and outdated and there is also a need for a new, state-of-the-art police station.

One of the key aspects of the project is new amenities and facilities to serve the day to day civic and recreational needs of town residents. With the Surfside Community Center across the street, the proposed project would complement and serve as an extension of those services by offering a new fitness center for residents, a multi-purpose room that can be rented out for social occasions, a large-scale rooftop park and sports plaza that can be programmed for multiple uses, and other arts and open spaces.

The project would also address the strong demand for class ‘A’ office space in the town and provide additional public parking for residents and visitors. A portion of the parking spaces would be designated for overnight parking to residents living in apartments and condominiums on Collins Avenue, many of whom do not have sufficient parking.

“We are excited about the project and believe the Town’s residents will be as well,” said Maurice Egozi, Principal of Pointe Development Company and a lifelong resident of South Florida. “After doing significant research and looking at numerous options for the development, we have what we believe to be the most viable plan for the Town of Surfside which best suits the municipality’s long-term goals.”

The proposed plan contains various facets, outlined as follows:

Surfside Civic Center

• A three-story, 17,705 sq. ft. Town Hall with sufficient space to accommodate both the immediate and longer-term needs of the municipality.
• A second, three-story commercial building will contain 10,882 sq. ft. of retail and 60,996 sq. ft. of class ‘A’ office space.
• The buildings will be sustainably designed to meet LEED standards with a portion of the roof consisting of solar panels.

Residential Amenities

• The Surfside Civic Center and commercial building will share a connected rooftop park open to the public and consisting of 16,490 sq. ft. featuring art installations, green space, and a sport plaza. The third floor of the Surfside Civic Center will have a fitness center that residents will have access to for a nominal fee, along with a flex space/banquet hall area.
• The retail component of the commercial building will spur the town’s economy, walkability and live/work/play experience with ground-level shops, cafes, and restaurants all within a short distance of each other.
• A 431-space public parking garage will support the town’s various parking needs including being used for hurricane evacuation purposes.

Police Station

• A 14,035 sq. ft. state-of-the-art police station building with ample space and capability to accommodate the needs of a highly successful police force. The new station will include a 1,900 sq. ft. rooftop deck for the station and 34 police-dedicated parking spaces.

“We are confident that Surfside Town Center will a create a sense of place for this wonderful town.” says Julien Haccoun, Principal of Monceau Realty. “We believe this new development will address the needs of the municipality for a new town hall and police station, while providing its residents a truly unique set of amenities to enhance Surfside residents’ way of life.”

The project and all new town facilities and amenities, which would be developed as a public private partnership under the Florida statutes or "p3", would be built at no cost to the town. The Town of Surfside would, however, receive revenue from the project in the form of rent from a long-term ground lease with the developer on the office, retail and parking components of the project. Surfside would be compensated in the partnership for the 99-year ground lease in three ways; (1) the completed development assets, saving the town millions in capital expenses; (2) a base rent payable on a yearly basis (3) additional rents based on a percentage of gross revenue derived from the parking structure.

"P3's are an increasingly popular vehicle for local governments to obtain needed public facilities and amenities on a cost effective and efficient basis,” said Alexander Tachmes, the developer's attorney and a partner at Shutts & Bowen. “This Surfside project is a classic p3 and will be a win-win for all parties involved".

As to the design elements of Surfside Town Center, the development’s architect, Ivo Fernandez of MODIS Architects shared: “We were inspired by the Florida Modern architecture that was prevalent in the ‘40s-‘60s in small Florida beachside towns and which is still very evident in the immediate area. Our design therefore is a response to this architecture but with a modern twist. We were also inspired by the Loggerhead sea turtles that call the Town of Surfside home and are part of the town’s motif and public art landscape. We’ve interpreted the spirit of these turtles in the project’s exterior by featuring a turtle design on one of the building walls, as well as through geometrical patterns in parts of the project which mimic a turtle’s shell, and brought in elements of the ocean as well through fluid architectural forms and tropical landscaping.”

About Pointe Development Company
Utilizing over 20 years of real estate development, financing, leasing, management, and brokerage experience, Bay Harbor Islands-based Pointe Development Company brings its nationally-acclaimed understanding of large-scale projects to Surfside, while acknowledging and embracing the community’s objectives. Founded in 1995 by Principals Maurice Egozi and Alan Sakowitz, Pointe and its affiliates have developed, co-developed, and repositioned numerous projects throughout the U.S. consisting of over 1.5 million square feet of diverse real estate assets. The company has established long-lasting roots in South Florida, and is in the process of developing a Publix-anchored shopping center in North Carolina; a mixed used development in Hialeah; and a major mixed use project in Little Havana, consisting of retail, a parking deck and apartments. Pointe Development is responsible for other significant South Florida developments, including retail shopping centers in Kendall and in Sunrise.

About Monceau Realty Group
Monceau Realty Group (MRG), an established Bay Harbor Islands-based company, is a multifaceted family-oriented real estate firm focused on value-added and strategic investments in South Florida and in the U.S. Boasting an extensive network of real estate and financial partners, MRG acquires, renovates, leases and repositions under-utilized assets. MRG has extensive real estate investments both nationally and internationally, including several U.S. based mixed used and hospitality projects currently under development.