BH Group & Kolter Propose Boutique 37-Unit North Miami Beach Residential Tower

Key Points

• Major Redevelopment: BH Group and Kolter Group plan to demolish two oceanfront hotels—Crystal Beach Suites and the historic Normandy Plaza—to build a 17‑story, 37‑unit luxury condo with retail and parking.

• Historic Preservation: Despite demolishing the 1936 Art Deco Normandy Plaza Hotel, developers will salvage architectural elements to preserve its legacy.

• High-End Play: Site once valued at $110M as North Beach draws luxury buyers priced out of South Beach and Surfside.

BH Group and Kolter Group are betting big on North Beach. Their joint proposal to raze two aging hotels and develop a high-rise luxury condo taps into the neighborhood’s transformation into a quieter alternative to glitzy South Beach. 

The Breakdown

Out With the Old: Two Hotels Face Demolition

• The Crystal Beach Suites (built 1950) and the Normandy Plaza Hotel (built 1936) will be demolished to make way for the new project.

• Normandy Plaza, designed by L. Murray Dixon, has been abandoned since 2013 and was declared unsafe in 2018.

Legal Leverage & Historic Balancing Act

• Developers are utilizing the 2024 Resiliency and Safe Structures Act, allowing coastal demolitions—even of historic properties—if not on the National Register of Historic Places.

• In compliance with earlier recommendations, they will salvage historic elements from the Normandy Plaza and donate them to public institutions.

• The new design will incorporate visual references to the original hotel to "tell its story" without recreating it.

New Tower Specs: Boutique and Luxe

• Height: 17 stories

• Units: 37 luxury condos, ranging from 2,649 to 4,202 sq ft (average: 2,911 sq ft)

• Amenities: Ground-floor beachfront pool, 8,880 sq ft amenity deck, large balconies, and two penthouses with private rooftop pools

• Retail: 947 sq ft of ground-floor retail

• Parking: 86 spaces

Location + Market Outlook

• The site sits at 6985 and 6979 Collins Ave, spanning 1.08 acres on Miami Beach’s North Beach waterfront.

• Nearby Surfside has led the luxury boom; North Beach is now becoming a next-up target for high-end development due to its quieter appeal.

• The developers acquired part of the site for $24M in 2023 and reportedly tested market interest with a $110M price tag earlier this year.

Next Steps

• The proposal will go before Miami Beach’s Historic Preservation Board on September 16 for formal review and potential approval.

This move by BH Group and Kolter signals the North Beach condo market’s maturation. By balancing bold redevelopment with a nod to historical design, the project is positioned to attract affluent buyers seeking exclusivity without South Beach's chaos. It’s another sign that luxury demand is pushing steadily north.