After nearly four years of negotiations, Related Urban is backing out of a pending deal to partner with the city of Homestead on a major mixed-use project, The Real Deal has learned.
Last week, the affordable housing arm of Coconut Grove-based Related Group, led by Jorge Pérez and his sons Jon Paul and Nicholas Pérez, notified city officials that Related Urban is out. It would no longer be purchasing the former Homestead city hall, a redevelopment site spanning 16 acres near U.S.1 and North Campbell Drive, according to city correspondence obtained by TRD.
Related Urban was planning CityPlace Homestead, a development that would have included a mix of 426 market-rate, affordable housing and workforce housing apartments; 10,143 square feet of retail, including a Flanigan’s restaurant; 31,000 square feet of medical office space including an urgent care center; 7,823 square feet of educational space; and roughly 60,000 square feet of green space.
In the Jan. 28 letter, Related Urban President Albert Milo Jr. reiterated concerns he raised at a city council meeting last month that the project was no longer viable. In 2021, Related Urban beat four other proposals by local developers, including 13th Floor Investments, The Meyers Group and Centennial Management, to enter into a private-public partnership with Homestead to redevelop the city hall site.
The correspondence noted several factors, including that the city still had not rezoned the property for commercial mixed-use, the lengthy permitting process and financial risks associated with a lack of clear direction from Homestead staff and city council members about how the project would move forward.
Milo told TRD that Homestead officials are not ready to commit to the type of mixed-use project Related Urban proposed.
“From our perspective, after almost four years, it is clear that the council is very indecisive on how to proceed,” Milo said. “We can’t continue to invest money and resources on something that doesn’t come to fruition.”
Homestead Mayor Steven Losner disagreed with Milo, saying Related Urban and the city came to a “mutual parting of ways.”
“I wouldn’t call it indecisive,” Losner said. “This is a premium location and a crown jewel of a property. The burden landed on our lap to do something special, and not something ordinary you could find anywhere else.”
On the Homestead section of the Nextdoor mobile application, Losner recently criticized Related Urban’s design as “always too dense and too high in my view” in response to multiple comments criticizing the city council.
“I do not think the people of Homestead want that site to be another trendy looking, high density and primarily residential project that could be found anywhere in South Florida,” Losner wrote. “Further, the main focus was residential, not commercial, retail, restaurant and other entertainment. Again,in my view, that is what we need and want.”
