Board approves Bancroft façade restoration and Ocean Steps redesign; asks planning board to scrutinize operational intensity

Miami Beach’s Historic Preservation Board voted to approve a certificate of appropriateness for the partial demolition, restoration and adaptive reuse of the contributing Bancroft Hotel and to permit landscaping and design changes in the adjacent Ocean Steps commercial area at 150 Collins Avenue, while asking the Planning Board to scrutinize the intensity of proposed uses when it considers a separate conditional‑use application.

The project would restore exterior features of the Bancroft, reinstall interior floor plates removed in the 1990s and replace non‑historic materials added later. Staff and the applicant said the Bancroft exterior retains high integrity and that the project’s primary exterior changes are new window systems, restoration of the lobby and a program of plantings and shading structures in the Ocean Steps courtyard. “The project is meant to bring back the glory of the Bancroft Building,” said Rory Greenberg, a project representative.

Planning staff supported the certificate of appropriateness subject to conditions that the applicant preserve key historic elements and that certain rooftop shade structures be set back from public view. The design team said it would restore terrazzo, the west‑facing frieze and other articulation, reintroduce windows where earlier conversions removed them, and reskin the 1997‑era Ocean Steps structure in a darker material so the historic Bancroft remains visually primary.

At the meeting several residents of the adjacent 1500 Ocean Drive condominium said they supported the building‑restoration work but raised questions about the scale of proposed food‑and‑beverage seats and the project’s loading and valet circulation. “There’s a thousand seats on the plans,” said attorney Kent Robbins, representing multiple residents. He asked the board to be careful that approving the design did not amount to approving an intensely commercial operation that would generate traffic and noise in the historic neighborhood.

Board members approved the certificate of appropriateness and a narrow variance to allow a screened accessibility lift assembly to be recessed behind a wall along Fifteenth Street, subject to staff‑recommended adjustments (board vote: Weinstein Berman, Paschal, Lopez, Litt, Liebman, Klein, Finglas — yes). The board also voted to transmit a recommendation to the Planning Board urging that the planning review weigh neighborhood compatibility and “the potential for over‑intensity” in any conditional‑use approval. That recommendation passed by board motion and will be included in the planning‑board record.

Project team representatives said they had already adjusted many operational elements at neighbors’ request — trimming hours, limiting outdoor activity to earlier evening hours, and proposing a staging/valet plan they said would rely on on‑site garage spaces and curb management. But neighbors said additional detail was needed about peak‑hour valet queuing, loading auto‑turn movements in the garage, and emergency egress for large occupant loads.

The board’s approval allows the applicant to move forward with required building permits for the design work; operational approvals (how many patrons may be served, hours, outdoor sound limits) remain subject to Planning Board review of a conditional‑use permit. Board members asked staff to forward the board’s written recommendation that planning consider historic context and neighborhood compatibility, and to flag the project for careful operational review.