Ian Bruce Eichner Buys Second North Bay Village Parcel for $75M

Ian Bruce Eichner’s Continuum Company is doubling down on North Bay Village, paying $75 million for another site on the island town, Commercial Observer can first report. 

The 4.4-acre parcel, located at 1819 and 1855 79th Street Causeway, is home to Shuckers Waterfront Bar & Grill and a five-story Best Western on the Bay Inn & Marina. Longline Financial provided a $67.5 million acquisition and pre-construction development loan.

Initial development plans include a condo component under the Continuum brand, a luxury hotel, a members-only club, restaurants and a marina. The Shuckers restaurant and the Best Western hotel, now named North Bay Inn Miami, will remain open until construction starts.

Montreal-based Jesta Group bought the site for $15 million in 2016, according to property records. Last year, it unveiled plans to build a $300 million, 30-story rental tower, which never got off the ground. A representative for Jesta did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Continuum’s purchase comes over a year after it purchased the neighboring, 1.4-acre surface parking lot for $35 million, where it plans to build a 31-story, Continuum-branded condo tower with about 200 units. 

The new project will mark South Florida’s third Continuum-branded condo. In 2002, the developer completed the first in Miami Beach’s South-of-Fifth neighborhood. The 40-story building helped cement the area as a luxury home destination. 

“The vision for North Bay Village is exactly the same as the Continuum on South Beach 20 years ago. We saw a substantially undervalued oceanfront development opportunity and then transformed the neighborhood into one of the most coveted places to live,” Eichner, chairman and CEO of Continuum Company, said in a statement.

North Bay Village, an island town between Miami and Miami Beach, is set to undergo its own transformation. 

Together, Harry Mackelowe and Related Group are buying up the Majestic Isle condo with plans to redevelop it. Shoma Group announced plans for a 24-story condo development with 333 units. 

In 2022, town officials approved a 7.3 million-square-foot, mixed-use development spearheaded by the Ansin family, which owns the Sunbeam Television broadcasting company.

Update: The story was amended to clarify that the Continuum Company plans to develop two separate projects.

Julia Echikson can be reached at jechikson@commercialobserver.com.