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City Tells Southgate Towers Owner Its West Avenue Site Doesn't Qualify for Live Local
Development NEWS

City Tells Southgate Towers Owner Its West Avenue Site Doesn't Qualify for Live Local

In a letter dated Oct. 30, Planning Director Deborah Tackett told the applicant's attorney that 910 West Ave., where two 38-story towers are proposed, is not zoned for commercial, industrial or mixed use, and so is not eligible for the Live Local Act's zoning benefits. The letter does not reach the height, phasing or density questions.

Journal Staff Oct 30, 2026
Planning Housing
Alton Road's Proposed 506-Foot Tower Draws on Development Rights From the Falwell Hostel Next Door — Now the Subject of a Lawsuit
Development NEWS

Alton Road's Proposed 506-Foot Tower Draws on Development Rights From the Falwell Hostel Next Door — Now the Subject of a Lawsuit

A 40-level tower proposed at 824 Alton Road would rise 506 feet where zoning allows about 60, using development rights from the Falwell-controlled hostel next door. A June agreement attached to a lawsuit shows how the rights moved to a company whose managers include developer Russell Galbut, and why a minority owner of the hostel wants the deal cancelled.

Journal Staff Oct 29, 2026
Planning Housing Litigation
Two New Live Local Towers Are Filed for West Avenue: 38 Stories to Replace the Southgate Towers, and a 308-Foot Wellness Tower on the Office Depot Lot
Development ANALYSIS

Two New Live Local Towers Are Filed for West Avenue: 38 Stories to Replace the Southgate Towers, and a 308-Foot Wellness Tower on the Office Depot Lot

The first notice came in a City Manager's letter on Oct. 19, under a rule the Commission adopted days earlier requiring word of Live Local filings at the start, not only at approval. The Journal pulled both pre-application plan sets and built them to scale: two 454-foot towers on the 1958 Southgate Towers site at 910 West Ave., and a Foster + Partners tower at 1771 West Ave. where zoning allows 50 feet. Both sit at the law's 40 percent workforce minimum.

Journal Staff Oct 23, 2026
Planning Housing
Commission Seeks Outside Opinion on Five Park's 519 Feet, Moves to Challenge Live Local and Safe Structures Act
Government NEWS

Commission Seeks Outside Opinion on Five Park's 519 Feet, Moves to Challenge Live Local and Safe Structures Act

On Oct. 14, commissioners told the City Attorney to get an outside opinion on whether Five Park's 519 feet sets the Live Local height benchmark, to explore challenges to Live Local and the Safe Structures Act, and agreed to a special meeting on the law. Two reports on sewer capacity and evacuation passed 7–0, and five other Live Local consent items passed too. No date is set for the meeting.

Journal Staff Oct 23, 2026
Planning Housing Litigation
What the Safe Structures Act Does, and Why Miami Beach Voted to Explore Challenging It
Government ANALYSIS

What the Safe Structures Act Does, and Why Miami Beach Voted to Explore Challenging It

The Commission voted Oct. 14, with no one opposed, to add a possible challenge to Florida's 2024 Resiliency and Safe Structures Act to its Live Local legal review. Commissioner Alex Fernandez called the Live Local tower the "secondary issue" and the Act the way a developer clears a historic site. Here is what the law says, where it has been used, and what is still unproven.

Journal Staff Oct 23, 2026
Planning Housing Litigation
Ten Live Local Items Reach the Commission Wednesday: A Repeal Push, a Possible Lawsuit and a Fight Over What 519 Feet Means
Government ANALYSIS

Ten Live Local Items Reach the Commission Wednesday: A Repeal Push, a Possible Lawsuit and a Fight Over What 519 Feet Means

Miami Beach commissioners have ten Live Local Act items on the Oct. 14 agenda: urging Tallahassee to repeal the law, studying a challenge alongside Miami, asking outside counsel whether Five Park's 519 feet sets the height ceiling, endorsing the city's stop on 1575 Alton Road, and asking for a special meeting, a community meeting and utility-capacity reports.

Journal Staff Oct 12, 2026
Planning Housing
How the Live Local Act Was Made — and Widened Three Times
Government ANALYSIS

How the Live Local Act Was Made — and Widened Three Times

Passed almost unanimously in 2023 as a workforce-housing bill, Florida's Live Local Act was amended in 2024, 2025 and again in 2026 — and the changes have mostly reached further into local zoning.

Journal Staff Oct 06, 2026
Planning Housing
A Workforce-Housing Law Is Being Used to Build a 20-Story Luxury High-Rise in Sunset Harbour. Here's What the Application Actually Shows.
Development ANALYSIS

A Workforce-Housing Law Is Being Used to Build a 20-Story Luxury High-Rise in Sunset Harbour. Here's What the Application Actually Shows.

Records obtained by the Journal show the Live Local tower filed for 1920 Alton Road would put 14 small workforce units beneath 21 luxury condominiums averaging 4,288 square feet. City staff asked for a shorter building; the plans didn't change, and the application passed every review on Sept. 18.

Journal Staff Oct 01, 2026
Planning Housing