Harry Gross’ G-Holdings has filed a lawsuit against the city of Aventura and the developers behind Cassa Residences, aiming to overturn recent zoning changes for a mixed-use project near its own planned development. The suit, submitted by a G-Holdings affiliate, targets approvals granted in July for the Cassa Residences site at 2770 Northeast 187th Street and 2822-2850 Northeast 187th Street.
Miami Off Center Associates, comprising Boca Raton-based The Lojeta Group and a Delaware entity, plans to build a 17-story tower with 208 apartments and ground-floor retail totaling 12,000 square feet. The plan also includes a seven-story garage and retains an existing one-story commercial building that houses Mo’s Bagels & Deli.
Neisen Kasdin, an attorney from Akerman representing the G-Holdings affiliate, stated: “We have been engaged in discussions with our neighbor, and we are optimistic we will be able to resolve it. The result will be good for their project, for our project and for the city.”
City officials and Michael Marrero, land use counsel for Cassa Residences, did not respond to requests for comment.
According to court filings dated August 8 as well as an appeals petition by G-Holdings, the rezoning does not comply with Aventura’s comprehensive development plan. G-Holdings claims it would negatively affect its adjacent site at Northeast 185th Street and Northeast 28th Court. In 2018, G-Holdings received zoning approvals for Port Aventura—a two-tower condo-hotel featuring 121 condos and 167 hotel rooms—which has yet to break ground but is expected to start construction next year.
Records show G-Holdings acquired its site in 2015 for $21.6 million.
The prior zoning limited construction on the Cassa Residences parcel to a commercial building of up to twelve stories. However, during a July commission meeting, officials approved changes allowing five additional stories—raising the limit to seventeen—as well as increasing residential density per acre from twenty-five units to sixty-nine. Minimum floor area requirements were also reduced for one-bedroom units from nine hundred square feet down to between eight hundred and eight hundred fifteen square feet.
G-Holdings’ lawsuit asserts that these decisions have left it “aggrieved and adversely affected by the City’s approval,” adding that “significant resources” have already been invested into Port Aventura’s planning process.
The legal filing further alleges that the new parking garage associated with Cassa Residences would obstruct light and air access for lower floors of Port Aventura while the main tower would impact upper floors in similar ways.
Additionally, G-Holdings contends that city commissioners only agreed to rezoning after developers committed twelve apartments within Cassa Residences under Aventura’s Hero Housing program—a local initiative providing below-market rentals for teachers and first responders working in the city.
Kasdin said any settlement could involve adjustments both to zoning rules and aspects of the Cassa Residences design.
