Demolition and renovation has started at 728 Ocean Drive after being purchased for $12.4 million in 2015 by New York based Infinity Group. The first floor of the two story building was a Johnny Rockets Restaurant, while the second floor sat vacant. Plans are to turn the building into a CVS.
The back portion of the building is currently being demolished, but the original front façade, including the round Art Deco porthole windows will be restored.
Built in 1953, by architect Don Reiff in a post war modern style architecture, the building was originally three stories with 21 apartments units called the Sun Ray Apartments. The apartment was known for the 1983 Al Pacino movie Scarface, which has the infamous chainsaw scene.
As South Beach experienced a rebirth during the late 80's, the building was purchased in 1989 by Irene Marie. She renovated the property using preservationist architect Les Beilinson and converted the three story building into two floors and used the top floor for the Irene Marie Modeling Agency and the first floor was a restaurant called the The Booking Table, which later became Johnny Rockets.
In 2011, Irene Marie sold the the building to MER Ocean Drive Holdings for $8 million who then sold it for $12.4 million four years later to Infinity Group.
