Design Review Board approves revised five-story apartment at 780 Second Street with variances and conditions

The Miami Beach Design Review Board on May 2 approved design review for a new five-story multifamily building at 780 Second Street, granting three variances and one waiver and directing the applicant to work with staff on multiple design and landscape conditions.

The board voted 6-0 to approve the design and later approved all three variances 6-0. City staff had recommended approval of the revised design in its draft final order, subject to conditions addressing balcony composition, ground-floor screening of parking and landscape details.

The project, presented by attorney Michael Larkin on behalf of Biscayne Point Developments LLC, proposes a five-story, 14-unit building with 14 parking stalls. Architect Jean Francois Gervais described the building as “a modest project” that emphasizes exterior terraces and glass balconies; he said the team revised the design after an earlier continuance to “visually reduce the massing of the balcony.”

Staff summarized the relief requested: a design waiver to reduce garage clearance from 12 feet to 10 feet; a variance to lower the required minimum average unit size from 800 square feet…