Arkadia Property Group has acquired one of Miami Beach’s last remaining gas stations, located at 1840 Alton Road, with plans to redevelop the site into a mixed-use office building. The project, named Sunset House, will feature 40,000 square feet of office space and 2,500 square feet designated for food and beverage retail. The property sits on 0.4 acres in the Sunset Harbour neighborhood.
The firm is led by Richard Kilstock and David Aaron. According to Aaron, zoning changes secured two years ago allow the building to reach 75 feet in height—10 feet higher than previously permitted—and require at least one live-work unit as part of the development.
Aaron said that Arkadia’s interest in the site began over a decade ago when he and his partner bought an option to purchase it 12 years ago. Mika Mattingly helped arrange that contract in 2013. Property records show that Alton Road Supreme Services, headed by Jose M. Suarez, sold the gas station site which was originally developed in 1997. There are now only six gas stations left in Miami Beach.
“We saw this convergence of neighborhoods and we knew something was happening but we didn’t pretend to know what and when,” Aaron said about the long-term vision for the area. He added that although their initial plan involved a sale-leaseback arrangement, it ultimately did not proceed as intended: “The only solution we found was to create an option for the property.”
Kilstock commented on how much the neighborhood has evolved: “changed dramatically over the past 12 years.”
Arkadia paid $4.2 million for the property and secured a $4.5 million loan from Vertix’s Jose Godoy to help fund predevelopment costs.
Aaron noted demand for new office space locally and cited Eighteen Sunset—a nearby five-story project—as evidence of limited supply. That project has reportedly signed leases at $160 per square foot net and includes tenants such as Audemars Piguet.
Kobi Karp Architecture & Interior Design is responsible for designing Sunset House. Newmark’s Matt Himmelsbach will manage office leasing while Sara Wolfe of Wolfe Town Retail will handle retail leasing duties. Debt brokerage was provided by Robert Kaplan and Mark Rutherford of Cushman & Wakefield; legal work involved Mark Meland and Bryan Vega at Meland Budwick along with land use attorney Michael Larkin from Berkow.
Environmental remediation will be completed before construction begins; delivery is expected within approximately 30 months according to Aaron.
Potential tenants could include residents from North Bay Road as well as those living on nearby islands or within Sunset Harbour itself. Preleasing efforts are already underway but asking rents have not been disclosed.
“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.”
