By Bari Auerbach

During the height of the 2011 holiday season, Sunny Isles Beach received a great gift anticipated to generate millions in additional city tax revenues: The Mansions at Acqualina, deemed “the finest building in the world” by the Trump Group, famed developers of Williams Island and Acqualina Ocean Residences & Resort, already gracing Sunny Isles Beach.

The 46-story Mansions at Acqualina, slated to be built at the site of the former La Playa de Varadero III (17749 Collins Avenue), will feature 79 condominium/mansion homes including a 16,000 square foot “ultimate” penthouse priced as much as $40 million.

‘Another First’

During a Dec. 22, 2011 special City Commission meeting, Mayor Norman Edelcup noted, “We’re very proud to be able to hopefully have the most expensive [penthouse] apartment in all of South Florida…I haven’t heard of a property going for over $40 million down here, so perhaps we’ll have another first for Sunny Isles Beach.

“This will do wonders for our tax base…Based on our current millage rate, it will bring in over a million dollars a year in additional revenue to the city - that’s a gift that keeps giving and giving into the future. We appreciate the efforts of the Trumps and their faith in the City of Sunny Isles Beach to have such a wonderful property in our city.”

Vice Mayor Lewis Thaler added, “This will be the tallest building in the city as of now…I think it will be a marvelous addition to Sunny Isles Beach.” City Planner Claudia Hasbun also reported. site plan and transfer of development rights (TDR) applications submitted for the Mansions at Acqualina were “consistent with the city’s Comprehensive Plan and Land Development Regulations.”

‘Giving Back’

Emphasizing how The Mansions at Acqualina will benefit the city, attorney Cliff Schulman said, “We’ve brought you a project with no variances…We’re building 34  units less than we are permitted to do under your code - or thirty percent less density. We’re giving you a project with 34 percent more open space than required by the code; and a tower width of 100 feet, when in point of fact, we could have towers of 250 feet. We’re also giving you unit sizes of a minimum of 4,500 square feet - going up to 16,000 square feet.

“We believe that this project will sell out at $383 million – but as they say in the commercials, we’ve got more: We’re buying transfers of development rights (TDR’s) from [the city] at a cost of $1.6 million; we’re  paying for bonuses in the amount of $5.2 million (which is a total of approximately $6.8 million) - but there’s more: We’re going to mitigate for the waiver of beach access, which has been recommended by staff for safety reasons, by voluntarily donating to the city $10,000 for its wonderful Jazz Fest; and $10,000 to the Educational Foundation for the Norman S. Edelcup Sunny Isles Beach K-8.

“We have agreed to decoratively pave the front of our project in accordance with the city’s streetscape plan; and we’re going to also pave in front of Pinnacle and Acqualina – that’s approximately 1,200 lineal feet of decorative paving. And we’re also going to put a shower and a foot bath at the end of the beach access on the north side of the Acqualina project…We have also agreed to landscape and maintain a 17.5 foot area on the south side of our building, primarily for emergency ingress and egress for the city to make up for and mitigate the waiver of beach access.”

‘World’s Finest’

Addressing the Commission, Stephanie Trump explained, “In 1980, Eddie, Jules [Trump] and I bought an island that wasn’t really an island at that time…Almost 2,000 units later, Williams Island has become a reality and one of the most prestigious condominium projects in Florida and the United States – but we weren’t done. We fell in love with the new city across the Intracoastal waterway and were determined to build the most luxurious hotel/condominium in the newly emerging city now known as ‘Florida’s Riviera’ [Sunny Isles Beach]. And so, Acqualina Ocean Residences and Resort was born on four and a half acres of the most beautiful oceanfront property in Florida.

“We worked very hard, all with [the city’s] endless total support and cooperation, to create a great project and brand, bringing to the city of Sunny Isles Beach Acqualina, which has earned [many awards including] AAA’s Five Diamond Award for 2011 and 2010...But that was not good enough. So we decided to acquire more property so as to be able to take the Acqualina brand to a new level. In this regard, we were fortunate to acquire the property formerly known as La Playa de Varadero III.”

During the meeting, schematics of the tower were presented by architect Stuart Cohen of Cohen, Freedman, Encinosa & Associates Architects, PA (renowned for developments including the Grand Bay Hotel; Tiffany and Bellini in Bal Harbour; and Alaqua as well as the Peninsula towers in Aventura.

 “Jules has labeled [The Mansions at Acqualina] ‘the finest building in the world’ and we mean that,” Stephanie Trump said. “Our architects and designers have been given strict instructions to spare no expense. We anticipate construction costs to be in the $250 million range with minimum sized units of 4,557 square feet and a 16,000 square foot ‘ultimate penthouse’ unit.  Sales will range from $4.5 million to $40 million.

“The Mansions at Acqualina will have only the finest materials…Bathrooms with onyx on walls and vanities; his and hers master bedroom closets with wall and cabinet coverings of leather costing $100,000 per unit…And if you want a [mansion] in the clouds with its own working fireplace, outdoor kitchen and barbecue and individual balcony hot tub, come to Sunny Isles Beach and the Mansions!

“We are not speculating. Sales trailers are already on site and nearing completion, after which we’ll be ready to create, build and sell a product that will make you all very proud. We graciously thank your city team for sparing no effort in assisting us to getting to this point - and we would like to commend the city for encouraging development in these challenging economic times.”

While the state of the economy has put many new construction projects on hold throughout the nation, Sunny Isles Beach is now looking forward to luxurious new oceanfront developments including The Mansions at Acqualina  - plus  Porsche Design Residences by Dezer Development slated to rise at the former Golden Nugget site (18555 Collins Avenue), which also received site plan approval from the city in November 2011.