Alton Road Miami Beach: Planning Board Hears 14 Story Dec 8

Business & Policy

Miami Beach Planning Board hears PB26-0863 on Dec. 8 for a 14-story Alton Road mixed-use tower. What nearby owners should do before the hearing.

By Brian D'Antoni November 6, 2026 7 min read

On a quiet block where Alton Road meets Lincoln Road, the former Epicure Market site still reads as empty pavement and unfinished promise. That changes on the calendar first. The City of Miami Beach Planning Board public hearing notice for Tuesday, Dec. 8, 2026 lists a new Conditional Use application for a Neighborhood Impact Structure on that gateway: file PB26-0863, covering 1656, 1664, 1676 and 1680 Alton Road, 1209 and 1245 Lincoln Road, and 1677 West Avenue.

The board meets at 9:00 a.m. at City Hall, 1700 Convention Center Drive, Miami Beach, FL 33139, with a Zoom webinar option (ID 861 4342 6327). Written comments go to PB@miamibeachfl.gov by 5:00 p.m. three business days before the hearing. Audiovisual materials follow the same deadline at planningaudiovisual@miamibeachfl.gov.

In plain terms: on Dec. 8 the Planning Board hears whether Alton Ventures Development, LLC may build a new building over 50,000 square feet under Sections 2.5.2 and 7.2.11 of the Miami Beach Resiliency Code. City application materials reviewed in local coverage list about 146 long-term rental apartments, roughly 51,194 square feet of office, about 45,313 square feet of retail, and 364 parking spaces. Nearby retail, hospitality and contractor owners should read the file, send comments by the deadline, and decide whether to attend in person or on Zoom.

What should Miami Beach owners do before the Dec. 8 Planning Board hearing?

Pull the PB26-0863 packet and the Dec. 8 notice. Mark the comment deadline: 5:00 p.m. three business days before Tuesday, Dec. 8, which lands on Thursday, Dec. 3, 2026 for a standard business-day count. Email PB@miamibeachfl.gov if you have a clear support, condition or concern about retail frontage, loading, construction staging or pedestrian access. If your business sits on Lincoln Road, Alton Road or West Avenue within walking distance of the site, plan to watch the hearing live so you can react to any continuance, approval with conditions or deferral the same day.

This is a Conditional Use hearing for a Neighborhood Impact Structure, not a ribbon cutting and not a building permit. The question on the table is whether the project as filed may proceed under the code sections named on the notice. Owners who treat Dec. 8 as a rumor day miss the window to put operational facts into the record.

What PB26-0863 Puts on the Dec. 8 Docket

The Miami Beach Planning Board notice flags PB26-0863 as a new application. The addresses span the Alton and Lincoln corner and pull in West Avenue parcels, including 1677 West Avenue. The legal ask is Conditional Use approval for a Neighborhood Impact Structure so the applicant can construct a new building that exceeds 50,000 square feet.

Trade and local reporting describe a roughly 14-story mixed-use tower on the former Epicure block. Miami Beach Review, covering the Residents Right to Know item and Oct. 4 application materials, names Alton Ventures Development, LLC as applicant and summarizes city materials as listing 146 long-term rental apartments, 51,194 square feet of office, 45,313 square feet of retail and 364 parking spaces. Miami Lookout's Nov. 2 report lands in the same range: about 146 apartments, roughly 51,200 square feet of offices, about 45,300 square feet of retail and 364 parking spaces, with PBDW Architects on the design side and a letter of intent signed by attorney Neisen Kasdin.

Some trade coverage, including a Traded report cited in the Review piece, has used 142 apartments and described a separate five-story garage at 1677 West Avenue. Prefer the city docket and packet numbers: file PB26-0863 and the 146-unit figure in the application materials city staff posted for the Residents Right to Know track. When two secondary counts disagree, the Planning Board file is the owner source of record until the board acts.

Rental Hold, Not a Condo Flip Signal

Miami Lookout reports that the apartments are framed as rentals that must remain rentals for an extended hold period, with leases of at least one year and no short-term rental product in the program as described. That matters for neighboring operators. A long-term rental tower changes who walks Lincoln Road and Alton Road on a Tuesday morning versus a weekend condo flip crowd. It also changes the vendor mix that follows: property managers, FF&E suppliers, residential services and daytime office tenants rather than only hotel-style turnover.

The same reporting ties the larger envelope to the Alton City Center Overlay the City Commission adopted in September, a zoning path that allows more housing when units stay as rentals under the overlay rules. Owners should read that as a policy choice already on the books, then watch how PB26-0863 applies it on this specific block. Do not invent rents, absorption or approval odds. The hearing is the next verified step.

Public program notes in coverage also mention padel, scooter and bike facilities, wellness space, outdoor dining and a covered walkway linking West Avenue to Alton Road. Those amenities, if approved and built, are foot-traffic design choices that Lincoln Road retailers and Alton hospitality operators can plan around once the board decision and later permits are clear.

Site History Owners Already Know

The block is not anonymous to Miami Beach operators. Epicure Market closed in 2017. Later redevelopment attempts, including a Foster-linked office concept that never rose, left a visible gap at one of South Beach's busiest corners. Commercial Observer reporting cited by Miami Lookout says Infinity Collective took the roughly 1.4-acre site through a deed in lieu at about $28.3 million. Alton Ventures is the named applicant heading into the Dec. 8 Conditional Use hearing.

For owners who lived through years of fencing and delay, Dec. 8 is useful precisely because it is a public, dated step with a file number. It does not guarantee steel in the ground next month. It does put a Neighborhood Impact Structure Conditional Use on a published agenda with comment rules anyone can follow.

Lincoln Road businesses already plan around seasonal spikes, including Art Week. The Art Basel Miami Beach 2026 local businesses guide is the near-term visitor playbook. A multi-year rental and office project on Alton is a different clock: construction staging if approved later, then resident and office demand. Lease and rent context for Miami-Dade storefronts still sits in the Miami-Dade retail rent tenant playbook, and corridor dynamics that behave like third places are mapped in the South Florida third place economy map.

Owner Checklist for Retail, Hospitality and Contractors

Use the hearing window as an operations checklist, not a speculation forum.

Download the Dec. 8 Planning Board notice and open PB26-0863 before you draft any comment.
Email PB@miamibeachfl.gov by 5:00 p.m. three business days prior (Thursday, Dec. 3, 2026 on a standard count) if you want language in the record about loading, sidewalks, hours or construction logistics.
Send any audiovisual materials to planningaudiovisual@miamibeachfl.gov on the same deadline.
Attend at City Hall or join Zoom webinar ID 861 4342 6327 at 9:00 a.m. on Dec. 8.
If you are a GC, sub, FF&E vendor or security firm, treat Dec. 8 as a go or no-go signal for pipeline tracking only after the board acts and later permits appear; do not bid as if approval is automatic.
If you run retail or hospitality on Lincoln, Alton or West Avenue, map how a covered West Avenue to Alton walkway and new office daytime population would change lunch, evening and event-week patterns if the project advances.

Keep the tone practical. A Conditional Use hearing is how Miami Beach weighs large buildings against neighborhood impact rules. Owners who show up with file numbers and operating facts help the board see the corridor as it actually works.

For Miami Beach operators, the takeaway is short. PB26-0863 is on the Dec. 8 Planning Board agenda for a Neighborhood Impact Structure Conditional Use on the Alton and Lincoln gateway. City materials point to about 146 long-term rentals plus office and retail. Read the packet, meet the comment deadline, and watch the hearing so your next move is based on what the board actually does.

Sources

Key Facts for Owners and Search

When is the Miami Beach Planning Board hearing for PB26-0863?

The Planning Board hears PB26-0863 on Tuesday, Dec. 8, 2026, at 9:00 a.m. at City Hall, 1700 Convention Center Drive, Miami Beach, FL 33139. A Zoom webinar option uses ID 861 4342 6327. Written comments are due to PB@miamibeachfl.gov by 5:00 p.m. three business days before the hearing, with audiovisual materials to planningaudiovisual@miamibeachfl.gov on the same deadline.

What addresses and approval does PB26-0863 seek?

The notice lists 1656, 1664, 1676 and 1680 Alton Road, 1209 and 1245 Lincoln Road, and 1677 West Avenue. The ask is Conditional Use for a Neighborhood Impact Structure to build a new building exceeding 50,000 square feet under Sections 2.5.2 and 7.2.11 of the Miami Beach Resiliency Code. Alton Ventures Development, LLC is the named applicant in local coverage.

How many apartments and how much commercial space are in city materials?

City application materials summarized by Miami Beach Review list about 146 long-term rental apartments, 51,194 square feet of office, 45,313 square feet of retail and 364 parking spaces. Miami Lookout reports the same apartment count and similar commercial square footage. Some trade reports have cited 142 apartments; owners should prefer the Planning Board packet and file PB26-0863 until the board acts.

Are the units framed as long-term rentals or condominiums?

Local reporting describes long-term rental apartments with an extended rental hold and leases of at least one year, not a short-term rental product. Coverage also ties the larger housing envelope to the Alton City Center Overlay adopted by the City Commission in September. That rental framing matters for nearby retail and hospitality operators planning for residents and office daytime traffic rather than condo flip turnover.

What should nearby owners do before Dec. 8?

Read the Dec. 8 notice and the PB26-0863 packet. Email comments to PB@miamibeachfl.gov by 5:00 p.m. three business days prior, which falls on Thursday, Dec. 3, 2026 on a standard business-day count. Attend in person or on Zoom webinar ID 861 4342 6327. Contractors should track the board outcome and later permits before treating the project as bid-ready work.

Filed Under Business & Policy