Miami condo Aston Martin Residences won’t be getting its private beach club on Virginia Key

Virginia Key Beach in Key Biscayne

 via Marc Averette/Creative Commons

Aston Martin Residences, a fancy new condo that will rise on a waterfront lot next to the Epic Hotel in downtown Miami, has failed to secure what would’ve ended up being one of Miami’s most unique condo amenities: an off-site private beach club on Virginia Key.

The Miami Herald reports that city commissioners have decided not to pursue an unsolicited bid from G and G Business Developments to construct a $4 million pavilion at Virginia Key Beach Park despite its attorney assuring officials yesterday the oceanfront lounge would be open to the public and not just condo residents.

The amenity was originally thought to be a private space exclusively for Aston Martin Residences, which would ferry residents the roughly four nautical miles to the venue, which would be located on a once-segregated beach. In December, the idea evolved into two buildings, one for public events and the other a members-only enclave.

However, the plan continued to change in an effort to secure approval.

It wasn’t until conversations with the Virginia Key Beach Park Trust, which runs the historic, former “colored only” beach for the city, that G and G pledged to build something entirely open to the public year-round. The asset, which would be managed by the developer, would still serve G and G Business Developments as an amenity for its condo residents, but they wouldn’t have any access beyond what other city residents would have, Escarra said Thursday.

Still, Commissioner Ken Russell, who represents Virginia Key, said the evolution of the proposal makes it hard to consider, even if a 2003 master plan of the park included a beach pavilion.

“By coming to me first, we could have worked out and gotten maybe to where you are now,” he said. “The story that got us here speaks to the intention of the developer, and that betrays the trust of the public.”

The trust’s board favors the proposal so long as its “based on commitments to keep the venue open to the public and owned by the public.”

So the beach club is on hold for now.

Rendering of Aston Martin Residences

 via Miami Condo Investments