Arkadia Property Group has acquired one of the last remaining gas stations in Miami Beach, located at 1840 Alton Road. The firm, led by Richard Kilstock and David Aaron, plans to redevelop the site into a mixed-use Class A office building named Sunset House.
The property, which spans 0.4 acres in the Sunset Harbour neighborhood, will be transformed into a 40,000-square-foot office building with an additional 2,500 square feet designated for food and beverage retail space. The project will also include at least one residential-office live-work unit as required by local zoning regulations. Arkadia previously secured zoning changes that allow for an extra 10 feet of height on the development.
David Aaron noted that the acquisition was a long-term effort: “We saw this convergence of neighborhoods and we knew something was happening but we didn’t pretend to know what and when,” Aaron said. The original deal structure as a sale-leaseback did not proceed as planned. “The only solution we found was to create an option for the property.”
Richard Kilstock commented on the area’s evolution: “The neighborhood has ‘changed dramatically over the past 12 years.’”
Arkadia paid $4.2 million for the site, with Vertix’s Jose Godoy providing a $4.5 million loan that will also cover some predevelopment expenses.
Alton Road Supreme Services, led by Jose M. Suarez, sold the property, which was originally developed in 1997. There are now only six gas stations left in Miami Beach.
Aaron cited demand for new office space in Sunset Harbour and referenced Eighteen Sunset—a nearby five-story office project—where available space is limited and leases have reportedly reached $160 per square foot (net). Tenants at Eighteen Sunset include Audemars Piguet.
Kobi Karp Architecture & Interior Design designed Sunset House. Newmark’s Matt Himmelsbach is managing office leasing while Sara Wolfe of Wolfe Town Retail handles retail leasing. Robert Kaplan and Mark Rutherford of Cushman & Wakefield were debt brokers; Mark Meland and Bryan Vega at Meland Budwick along with land use attorney Michael Larkin of Berkow participated in the transaction.
Construction is expected to take about 30 months after environmental remediation is completed. Prospective tenants may come from North Bay Road, Sunset Harbour, Venetian Islands, and surrounding areas.
“Sunset Harbour is extremely demanded and special. People want to work there but there’s no supply,” Himmelsbach said. “There’s a missing hole that this building will fill.”
