The Pérez family’s Related Group wants to supersize a Little Havana public housing complex with a 1,038-unit Live Local Act development, as the firm ramps up its pipeline under the state’s affordable housing law.
Related Urban Development Group, the affordable housing arm of Coconut Grove-based Related, wants to build a pair of 21-story towers and a 12-story building on the adjacent lots at 800 Northwest 13th Avenue, 780 Northwest 13th Court and 1389 Northwest Seventh Street in Miami, according to an application filed to Miami-Dade County late last year.
The site, which fronts the Miami River, is home to the Haley Sofge complex that has 1,379 units in 10 buildings. At least some of the existing apartments are age-restricted for seniors.
In 2011, Related won a Miami-Dade County request for proposals from developers to aid the county in renovating and redeveloping some of its existing public housing, including Haley Sofge. Related leases the site from the county and completed some improvements to Haley Sofge in August.
If the Live Local Act expansion is approved, the 22-acre property would be home to a total of 2,417 units.
Related’s proposal shows that the pair of 21-story towers will front the river. One building will consist of 403 units, 3,600 square feet of commercial space and 436 parking spaces, and the other tower will consist of 371 units, 4,500 square feet of commercial space and 406 parking spaces. The 12-story building will be on the southeast corner of the site with 264 units, 14,500 square feet of commercial space and 375 spaces. The project also will have three garages.
Related is asking the county for a pre-application meeting, which is generally requested so that county staff members can provide feedback on a project before an official application is filed. The project also is proposed under the county’s Rapid Transit System-Development Zone’s Smart Corridor Subzone, which gives wiggle room on development regulations if projects are near public transit stops. Several bus stations are on Northwest Seventh Street, which the site fronts.
Under its public housing partnership with the county, Related also completed the 11-story, 150-unit Gallery at River Parc at 1355 Northwest Seventh Street; the 13-story, 168-unit Brisas del Rio at 850 Northwest 13th Court; and the seven-story, 182-unit Paseo del Rio at 1401 Northwest Seventh Street in Miami. All have below-market rate rents and are adjacent to Haley Sofge.
Collectively, the Haley Sofge, Gallery at River Parc, Brisas del Rio and Paseo del River site are part of Related’s River Parc master plan for the property.
The Live Local Act, approved last year and tweaked this year, incentivizes developers to include affordable apartments in their projects by allowing them to build bigger buildings with more units than a site’s zoning permits. The legislation also gives developers property tax exemptions.
Live Local mandates that at least 40 percent of apartments have to be designated for households earning no more than 120 percent of the area median income. The restriction has to remain for at least 30 years.
Developers have seized on Live Local with a flurry of applications in South Florida. Related –– led by Jorge Pérez and his sons, Jon Paul Pérez and Nicholas Pérez –– this month proposed a 14-story, 398-unit Live Local Act project at the Claude Pepper age-restricted public housing building at 750 Northwest 18th Terrace in Miami’s Health District.
Keystone Holdings Group proposes a 14-story, 284-unit Live Local Act project at 1200 Northwest 57th Avenue at the Blue Lagoon mixed-use development near Miami International Airport.
