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South Florida

Jesta joins rental frenzy in new plans for Shuckers site

Montreal-based firm tweaks proposal to focus on apartments instead of hospitality

A photo illustration of Jesta Group’s CEO Elliott Aintabi along with a rendering of the planned tower at 1819-1855 79th Street in North Bay Village (Getty, Jesta, Kobi Karp)
A photo illustration of Jesta Group’s CEO Elliott Aintabi along with a rendering of the planned tower at 1819-1855 79th Street in North Bay Village (Getty, Jesta, Kobi Karp)

Jesta Group doesn’t want to miss out on South Florida’s booming multifamily market.

Jesta revised its two-year-old development plan for the Shuckers Waterfront Grill site in North Bay Village, dropping significantly the number of planned hotel rooms in favor of apartments, according to filings with the city.

Plans now call for a 30-story tower with 345 rentals and 245 hotel keys on the 2.3-acre site that fronts Biscayne Bay. Shuckers will likely have a space at the project.

The property, at 1819-1855 79th Street, includes a Best Western hotel. Jesta, through an affiliate, paid $15 million for the property in 2016, according to property records.

Jesta’s original proposal from 2020 called for a pair of buildings, one rising 15 stories and the other 21 stories, with 546 hotel keys. Designed by Kobi Karp, the newly proposed project also would include 7,500 square feet of meeting space and almost 20,000 square feet for restaurants, Jesta’s filing to the city shows. Eighteen of the apartments would be workforce housing.

The North Bay Village Planning & Zoning Board will vote on the new plans on Wednesday.

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Jesta is joining several builders who are betting on North Bay Village, a three-island community between Miami and Miami Beach.

The billionaire Ansin family scored commission approvals in October for a rezoning and other items that open the door to a planned 7.3 million-square-foot mixed-use project spread across 13 acres north and south of the 79th Street Causeway. The village also OK’d 650-foot heights for part of the project. The Ansins own Sunbeam Television, parent of the WSVN Channel-7 station that sits on a portion of the development site.

Masoud and Stephanie Shojaee’s Shoma Group plans a 21-story, 327-unit condominium building in North Bay Village, launching sales in September.

Although the expected development flurry promises to morph the look of North Bay Village, some things will remain the same. Shuckers, a longtime local staple popular for sports-watching, is likely to remain.

Jesta wants to incorporate the restaurant into its project and is helping the venue find a temporary space to use during construction, Anthony O’Brien, senior managing director at Jesta, told the South Florida Business Journal.

Jesta, based in Montreal, is led by Elliott Aintabi. Its other South Florida holdings include another popular watering hole, The Clevelander South Beach, which includes a hotel. Jesta was one of a few South Beach venue owners that took the city to court in March over a rollback of alcohol sale hours, an initiative commissioners took in an aim to tame spring break crowds.

Tags
HotelsKobi KarpNorth Bay VillageRestaurantsSouth Florida Multifamily Market