Inside the Playbook Panel | North Beach Miami Luxury Real Estate Surge

North Beach is no longer Miami Beach’s overlooked outlier—it is rapidly emerging as one of the city’s most compelling frontiers for luxury development. That momentum was on full display on January 15, 2026, during Inside the Playbook: Leadership Strategy & The Future, a high-level panel discussion that convened some of South Florida’s most influential real estate minds to examine the neighborhood’s transformation and what lies ahead.

Headlined by developers and brokers with a proven track record of reshaping once-overlooked neighborhoods into some of Miami’s most desirable addresses, the panel delivered a clear and unified message: North Beach’s moment has arrived.

Panelists included Crescent Heights visionary Russell Galbut, Lefferts Founder and CEO Mendy Chudaitov, and brokerage leaders Fredrik Eklund and Jay Phillip Parker. Drawing on decades of experience shaping South Florida’s most successful residential markets—including the evolution of South Beach’s West Avenue corridor—Galbut emphasized that true neighborhood transformation hinges on timing, leadership, and a cohesive vision.

“North Beach was the forgotten child of Miami Beach,” Galbut said. “For 50 years, nothing new and creative was created in this community. It needed a real heart and soul—and that’s where Mendy came in. He put the pieces together and dreamed the dream to create a new community.”

That vision has been central to Lefferts’ strategic entry into North Beach, following the voter-approved increase in floor area ratio (FAR) that unlocked new development potential and made thoughtful density financially viable. While the policy change set the stage, it was Lefferts’ early conviction that helped turn possibility into momentum—ultimately paving the way for other major developers to follow.

With the panelists gathered in Lefferts’ first project, 72 Park, Chudaitov spoke to what makes North Beach uniquely positioned for its next chapter, citing its walkable streets, cultural anchors like the Miami Beach Bandshell and Byron Carlyle Theater, and stretches of some of South Florida’s most pristine beachfront. Just as important, he noted, is the neighborhood’s evolving lifestyle offering—one intentionally curated to support a true sense of place.

A prime example is the recent opening of Ezio’s, an Italian steakhouse from the team behind New York’s Michelin Bib Gourmand-recognized Roberta’s. The concept recently opened on the ground floor of 72 Park, signaling the growing confidence award-winning brands and developers have in the neighborhood and its evolving culinary scene.

That philosophy underpins Lefferts’ three-project luxury pipeline in North Beach – including 72 Park, which opened in March 2025, PALMA Miami Beach Residences, which is currently under construction and already 50% sold, and 72 Carlyle, a 20-story, 134 unit condominium designed by Italian architect and designer Piero Lissoni. Sales are currently underway for the project and sales are being led by the Eklund Gomes Team at Douglas Elliman.

From the brokerage perspective, Eklund and Parker noted that buyer interest in North Beach has accelerated as savvy purchasers recognize a rare opportunity to be early entrants in a neighborhood on the cusp of widespread recognition. Sales at 72 Carlyle are exclusively led by Fredrik Eklund of the Eklund | Gomes Team at Douglas Elliman Development Marketing, with residences priced from the $900,000s.