Ken Griffin's Terminal Island Helipad Heads to a Nov. 3 Planning Board Vote

Ken Griffin's request for a private helipad at his Terminal Island megayacht marina is still alive but far from approved as of October 13, 2026. Miami Beach's Land Use and Sustainability Committee recommended the zoning change on September 24 over objections from leaders of eight South of Fifth condo buildings, and the Planning Board is scheduled to take it up on November 3. After that it still needs the City Commission, the Florida Department of Transportation and the Federal Aviation Administration.

What is being asked

Griffin won approval earlier this year for a private marina at 120 MacArthur Causeway, on the industrial strip of Terminal Island across the water from South Beach. The site covers 3.5 acres and is planned with eight megayacht slips (no more than four vessels docked at once), an owner's pavilion, a crew building and a rooftop pool. The helipad is a separate request: his attorneys asked the city to amend its land development rules so a private helipad can operate as an "accessory use" in Terminal Island's industrial district. Commissioner Joseph Magazine sponsored the change. Commissioner Tanya Bhatt wanted to defer it and did not recommend approval.

Griffin's attorney, former Miami Beach mayor Neisen Kasdin, told the committee Griffin would be the only user. He said Griffin flew from his Star Island home 61 times last year, using a pad on another island, and that a sound study commissioned by Griffin put the noise at roughly the level of a normal conversation. A commissioner asked for an in-person sound test instead of relying on the study. No result of that test had been reported by October 9.

Who objects, and how far away they are

Condo leaders say the buildings they represent hold about 2,000 homes. Brian O'Brien, board president at Yacht Club At Portofino, asked the committee: "We are upsetting our quality of life so Mr. Griffin can land a little closer to his house?" John Stimmel, president of the 42-story ICON South Beach, led the opposition and called it "a land-use issue as much as a noise issue." The distance is itself disputed: Kasdin said every building in question is half a mile away, while Bloomberg reported the condos sit about a third of a mile from the site. Residents' associations on Palm, Hibiscus and Star islands back the helipad.

The buildings closest to the fight, in numbers

Own.Miami's records show what is at stake for owners in the two buildings whose leaders spoke for the opposition (data as of October 13, 2026):

• ICON South Beach (450 Alton Road, 274 units, 2005): 9 MLS closings in the last 12 months at a median $3,210,000, or $1,487 per square foot. County deeds show 15 sales from October 2025 through September 2026, 7 of them outside the MLS. Six units are listed.
• Yacht Club at Portofino (90 Alton Road, 359 units, 1999): 21 MLS closings in 12 months at a median $950,000, or $1,000 per square foot, and 22 recorded deed sales over October 2025 to September 2026. Twelve units are listed at a median ask of $915,000.

Across South Beach, Own.Miami's market report counts 911 condo closings in the last 12 months at a median $500,000 ($615 per square foot), with 925 units for sale: 12.2 months of supply, a buyer's market.

Why it matters for buyers and owners

Helicopter noise is the kind of issue that shows up in a resale negotiation long before it shows up in a price index, and a buyer touring a bay-facing unit at 90 or 450 Alton Road this fall cannot know the outcome. The November 3 Planning Board vote is the next date to watch, and the in-person sound test, if it happens, is the first independent evidence on noise. With South Beach already at more than a year of supply, sellers in these towers have little pricing power to absorb a new uncertainty, while buyers can reasonably ask for time or terms that account for it. Nothing here is decided: even a Planning Board approval leaves the City Commission, state and federal reviews ahead.