A 1950s commercial building occupied by a CVS pharmacy is about to get an 11-story neighbor rising right through it. The City of Miami Beach approved an application on September 2 to build a mixed-use tower at 7410 Collins Avenue in the North Beach neighborhood, folding portions of the historic structure into a taller residential project made possible by Florida’s Live Local Act.
The development, standing 122 feet tall, will include 50 rental residences, 8,535 square feet of ground-floor retail space, and 25 parking spaces, according to Florida YIMBY, which reported the approval. The project is being developed by Abraham Bergman in partnership with Charles Hoffman of Opal Realty NY and The Scharf Group, with BH Collins LLC listed as the ownership entity, applicant, and owner of record. Hoffman is also named as a manager in the application, and the building was designed by Urban Robot.
From Five Stories to Eleven
The approved plan is a significant departure from what was originally proposed. The earlier scheme called for just 18 residences, 8,379 square feet of retail space, and 25 parking spaces, and it had already cleared city board approvals including historic preservation board review, per the same Florida YIMBY report. That original five-story concept for the site, along with an adjoining parcel, was first detailed by Florida YIMBY back in June 2024, before the developer pivoted to a taller residential-focused design.
Florida’s Live Local Act includes provisions that allow qualifying developments to bypass local zoning height limits by adopting the height of the tallest allowable building within one mile — or three-quarters of a mile near certain historic districts — while prohibiting cities from restricting their floor area ratios below 150 percent of the highest allowed FAR, according to the SoBe West Neighborhood Association. In exchange, developers must record a 30-year restrictive covenant guaranteeing that at least 40 percent of residential units remain affordable to households earning up to 120 percent of Area Median Income, per the Florida Housing Coalition. The plan includes 20 workforce housing units alongside 30 market-rate apartments, with the workforce units serving households earning at or below 120 percent of AMI…