Miami developer Crescent Heights has filed applications under Florida's Live Local Act to construct a 43-story, 163-unit residential tower at 1575 Alton Road in Miami Beach's Flamingo/Lummus neighborhood, where a 1935-era former Firestone building currently serves as restaurant space.
What exactly is Crescent Heights proposing at 1575 Alton Road?
Crescent Heights is seeking approval under the Live Local Act — a Florida state law that allows developers to bypass local zoning restrictions in exchange for including workforce housing — to build a 557-foot tower designed by RSP Architects on a site currently occupied by a converted historic commercial building in the Flamingo/Lummus neighborhood of Miami Beach.
- Proposed tower: 43 stories, 163 total residential units
- Height: 557 feet above grade
- Architect of record: RSP Architects
- Site address: 1575 Alton Road, Miami Beach
- Existing structure: A 1935 former Firestone automotive building repurposed as restaurant space
How does this tower compare to what was previously planned for the site?
The current proposal represents a dramatic departure from an earlier 18-story design that Crescent Heights had previously advanced for the same Alton Road parcel, with the Live Local Act enabling the developer to pursue a building more than twice as tall as originally envisioned.
- Earlier proposal: 18 stories — less than half the height of the current design
- The Live Local Act allows height and density increases above local zoning caps when workforce units are included
- At 557 feet, the proposed tower would fall just two feet short of the 559-foot Blue and Green Diamond towers, Miami Beach's tallest residential buildings along Collins Avenue
How much of the building would serve workforce housing residents?
Under the terms of the Live Local Act, Crescent Heights has committed to designating 62 of the tower's 163 units as workforce housing, reserved for households earning no more than 120 percent of area median income — a threshold that, in Miami-Dade County, generally targets middle-income earners such as teachers, nurses, and service workers.
- Workforce units: 62 out of 163 total (approximately 38 percent of the building)
- Income cap: 120 percent of area median income
- The Live Local Act (Florida Statutes § 166.04151) was enacted in 2023 to incentivize mixed-income development statewide
What does this mean for the surrounding Flamingo/Lummus neighborhood?
Flamingo/Lummus, a dense residential neighborhood on Miami Beach's west side between Alton Road and West Avenue, has historically been buffered from the scale of development seen along Collins Avenue, making a 557-foot tower on Alton Road a significant shift in the area's built character.
- The neighborhood sits just west of South Beach's entertainment and hotel corridor
- Alton Road serves as a major north-south arterial and primary transit corridor on Miami Beach
- Miami Beach city officials have previously expressed resistance to Live Local Act applications, citing concerns over local land-use authority
Original reporting by The Real Deal Miami.
