NBCRA Advisory Committee September 9. 2025 Minutes 1700 Convention Center Drive
Miami Beach, FL 33139 www.miamibeachfl.gov/northbeachcra
NORTH BEACH COMMUNITY REDEVELOPMENT AGENCY (CRA) ADVISORY COMMITTEE MEETING MINUTES
Tuesday, September 9, 2025 Normandy Shores Golf Club, 2401 Biarritz Drive
Members in Attendance
• Ronnie Issenberg, Chair
• Tom Richerson, Vice Chair
• Romina Orozco-Encio
• David Cohen
• Sam Latone
• Manning Salazar
• John Ospitia
• David Sexton, ex officio
1. Call to Order & Attendance
North Beach CRA Advisory Committee (“Committee”) Chair Ronnie Issenberg called the meeting
to order at 4:36 p.m.
2. Introduction of Committee Member John Ospitia
New Committee member, John Ospitia, was introduced. John is a full-time Miami Beach resident,
for the past five and a half years, and has been a member of the Miami Beach Sister Cities
Committee. He is the owner of a marketing agency and looks forward to working with the
Committee.
Committee Business
3. Approval of July 2025 Meeting Minutes
Committee member Manning Salazar made a motion to approve the July 8, 2025, minutes
Committee member Tom Richerson seconded the motion. The minutes approved by acclamation.
Old Business
4. Byron Carlyle Redevelopment Project
• Presenter/Guests: Daniel Alzuri (CMB Facilities and Fleet Management),
and Donahue Peebles, III (Legacy Real Estate Development, LLC)
• City Commissioner Tanya Bhatt (Virtually)
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Mr. Alzuri shared that the $190,000, previously recommended by the Committee for a financial
and development consultant on the Byron Carlyle Redevelopment Project, was not approved by
the City Commission. As a result, Mr. Alzuri and his team are tasked with delivering these services
in-house. The plan is to collaborate with other CMB departments, Miami-Dade County, and private
developers to reverse engineer a strategy to meet the City’s goals.
Mr. Alzuri outlined three (3) potential development scenarios:
1. a stand-alone cultural center with a stand-alone residential tower in the parking lot adjacent
to Prima Pasta, including 50 workforce housing units;
2. a cultural center with workforce housing built above it, though this presents cost and design
challenges due to the complexity of stacking the residential units atop the cultural center; and
3. a cultural center with 100 workforce housing units integrated within the structure, and the
potential for an additional 50 units on the adjacent site.
Mr. Alzuri also noted that Mr. Peebles indicated interest in participating in any future competitive
solicitation.
Committee member David Sexton shared that the consultant funding request was defeated due
to a misunderstanding and misinformation. Mr. Alzuri explained that a presumption had been
made, based on a statement made by a commissioner during the FERC meeting, that Mr. Peebles
had offered to provide consulting services at no cost. However, following that FERC meeting, Mr.
Alzuri spoke directly with Mr. Peebles, who confirmed he had not agreed to work pro bono and
would, in fact, be interested in bidding on the project.
Commissioner Bhatt explained that her goal for this project and process was ultimately to achieve
a final product that meets the City’s vision. While she acknowledged the strength of the City’s
team, she noted the expertise required to develop a financially self-sustaining cultural center with
workforce housing exceeds current in-house capabilities.
Mr. Peebles, whose firm has experience with complex public and private projects, commended the
stakeholders for crafting a project vision aligned with the City's objectives and the broader
development landscape. Mr. Peebles expressed support for the plan put forward, describing it as
a potentially transformational cultural center. However, he also highlighted several challenges that
a consultant could help navigate:
• Any disposition of public property in Miami Beach requires a public referendum, which can
be costly, risky, and politically sensitive.
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• He cited the Lincoln Lane RFP Project, where the developer incurred over $1,500,000 in
pre-development risk, requiring a sufficient economic return once developed to justify the
investment, and the project was ultimately defeated at referendum.
• In his opinion, workforce housing and cultural centers do not deliver large rewards. The
project needs to conform with existing legislation and provide the city’s desired outcome. It
also presents the challenge that workforce housing rents may not generate high financial
returns justifying the cost of new construction, making it difficult to attract private capital.
• Workforce housing rents, especially at or above 120% area median income (AMI), may not
support the cost of new construction.
• Environmental constraints and parking requirements further complicate development.
• The current interest rate environment also poses another barrier to financing multifamily
development projects with modest returns on cost.
Given these factors, Mr. Peebles cautioned that private investors may be hesitant to pursue capital
investment on a project of this nature without a clear path to financial viability.
Following Mr. Peebles’ presentation, the members of the Advisory Committee discussed the
benefits and downsides of engaging a consultant. Some members were concerned with the delays
that engaging a consultant might cause as well as the costs, while other members wanted to
ensure that the final project achieves the city’s desired outcome of a self-sufficient and self-funded
project.
The discussion shifted to whether a consultant was necessary, since the City already has a clear
vision for the project. However, members acknowledged the value of expert guidance in crafting
an RFP that avoids difficulties experienced on previous projects. The consultant’s role would be to
help structure the RFP in a way that safeguards the City’s goals and ensures long-term
sustainability.
Mr. Alzuri explained that the consultants, including AMS and Denham Wolf, are highly regarded in
the field of cultural center development. AMS is known for its responsiveness, while Denham Wolf
is mission driven, has worked on multiple cultural centers, and specialize in assisting nonprofits
leverage real estate assets. Mr. Alzuri explained that these consultants could provide critical insight
in shaping an RFP aligned with the City’s community goals.
Commissioner Bhatt requested that funding be made available to allow flexibility to engage a
consultant if needed and asked the Advisory Committee to re-authorize the funding.
Further discussion followed on whether proceeding directly to an RFP without consultant support
would jeopardize the project’s success. This led to a motion recommending the CRA Board and
the City Commission reconsider and approve the previous Committee recommendation for
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consultant funding. The motion also suggested eliminating the public engagement component from
the consultant’s scope and requested regular updates to the Committee on project progress.
Motion: Reconsideration of the motion for the engagement of a consultant to analyze
the workforce housing component of the Byron Carlyle Cultural Center as
amended
The North Beach CRA Advisory Committee recommends that the CRA Board and
the City Commission reconsider the previous North Beach CRA Advisory
Committee motion recommending the North Beach CRA allocate up to $190,000,
from the workforce housing funds, to engage a consultant to analyze the workforce
housing component of the Byron Carlyle Cultural Center, to understand how to
best leverage the value of the City’s contribution to the project; and the North
Beach CRA Advisory Committee recommends that the consultant provides
progress reports at the 90 and 180 day mark. (The additional $30,000 public
engagement funding is not authorized)
Motion made by: Manning Salazar
Seconded by: Romina Orozco-Encio
Vote: Passed (6 –1)
5. Legislative Update
• Presenter: Farosha Andasheva, Office of the City Attorney
Ms. Andasheva, Senior Assistant City Attorney, provided updates on:
• Taste of North Beach
• The restaurant crawl was presented, in July, to the PSNQLC. The commission will
consider approval at the September 17 meeting with funding assistance from the
Economic Development Department budget.
• Ms. Andasheva shared that during the July 23, 2025, City Commission meeting, the CRA
board and the City Commission allocated $100,000 and waive the competitive bidding
requirement so that the project can move forward quickly. The CRA budget was then
amended at the September 3rd meeting to include the $100,000 capital cost for the project.
• North Shore Park Tennis Center
• The capital improvement project has referred the funding of the terrace for the
North Beach Tennis Center to the Finance Committee.
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Project Updates
6. Normandy Fountain Shade Structure Proposal Update
• Presenter: David Gomez, Director, Capital Improvement Projects
Mr. Gomez indicated that the City Commission approved the funding of $100,000 and CIP
received a revised proposal from the vendor for $99,955 with some exceptions. Committee
member Sexton indicated that the projected sails would need some additional structural support
poles. Mr. Gomez then indicated that they were still seeking clarification from the vendor as the
project costs with the revised proposal exceeds the allocated funds. He said once he receives
this clarification he will provide another update.
7. North Beach Streetscape Improvements & 71st Street Bridge Light Enhancement Project
• Presenters: John Norris and Rodney Knowles, Public Works Department
Mr. Norris, the new Public Works Director, provided a briefing on both the 71st Street Bridge
enhancement and North Beach Streetscape situation. For the 71st Street Bridge, he confirmed
that there is electrical power servicing the bridge and the next step is to evaluate whether the
city wants to pursue a design to present to FDOT and whether that can be done in-house or
with the assistance of a consultant. He also shared that the 1992 agreement between the City
and FDOT, FDOT is responsible for the maintenance of streetscape, sidewalks and curbs and
the City is responsible for any upgrades like pavers, planters, etc.
A discussion followed on the longstanding disagreement between FDOT and the City over
maintenance responsibility, which has resulted in no improvements to the sidewalks. Mr.
Knowles clarified that under current FDOT guidelines, “Miami Beach Red” is considered the
standard sidewalk color. Mr. Norris clarified that while FDOT hasn’t formally denied any City
requests, the City Manager is actively engaged in discussions with FDOT to resolve the issue.
He also noted the possibility for legal enforcement if necessary. In the meantime, staff has
been working diligently to address issues noted on the Commissioner Bhatt walking tours,
along with other needed repairs, while seeking resolution to the dispute with FDOT.
They further discussed the MBPD installation of cameras along the beachwalk.
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8. North Shore Park Tennis Center Capital Improvement Project
An update was provided by Ms. Andasheva in her legislative update.
9. Good and Welfare
The Committee was presented with the new vacant storefront cover design exclusively for the
North Beach CRA District.
• Members again discussed the issue and frustration with consultants.
• The members also expressed concern about increased homelessness and transient
activity in the fountain, especially now in the low season. They requested a presentation
from a member of the Police Department to discuss their concerns.
10. Public Comment
There were no public comments.
11. Adjournment
A motion to adjourn was approved, and the meeting was adjourned at 5:57 p.m.
Next Meeting: Tuesday, November 18, 2025, at 4:30 p.m. – Normandy Shores Golf Club