Masoud and Stephanie Shojaee’s Shoma proposes 201-unit Live Local Act project in Coral Gables

Shoma Group proposes a 201-unit Live Local Act apartment project in Coral Gables, marking the first known development in the city under the state’s affordable and workforce housing law.

Coral Gables-based Shoma wants to build the 16-story Ponce 8 on a 0.8-acre site at 3808-3850 Southwest Eighth Street, near the Douglas Entrance office campus, according to the developer’s news release. Designed by PPKS Architects, Ponce 8 will include 18,000 square feet of commercial space.

Shoma is led by married couple Masoud and Stephanie Shojaee. Stephanie Shojaee joined “Real Housewives of Miami” as a cast member late last year.

Shoma has the two-lot property under contract for an undisclosed price.

The sellers are Jilk Investments and ABC Development, both led by Jorge Gonzalez; and S17TPA Corporation, led by Adolfo, Alain and Amanda Bonvecchio, according to property and state corporate records.

At Ponce 8, 40 percent of units, or about 81, will be designated for households earning no more than 120 percent of the area median income, according to Shoma. That’s in line with the Live Local Act’s requirement.

The state law, approved in 2023 and tweaked in the subsequent two years, allows bigger projects than permitted by a site’s zoning as long as the buildings include apartments at workforce and affordable rents. At a minimum, 40 percent of the units have to be for households earning no more than 120 percent of the AMI for at least 30 years.

The Live Local Act is giving Ponce 8 more density and bigger floor area ratio (FAR), a measurement of a project’s size. Shoma also is using Coral Gables’ Mediterranean Bonus, a zoning designation that allows for two additional stories to 16 levels and also grants a bigger FAR.

The city’s Mediterranean Bonus is for projects with designs that align with and invoke Coral Gables’ traditional Mediterranean Revival architectural style, according to the city. Coral Gables was planned and developed by the late George Merrick.

Construction of Ponce 8 is expected to start in the second quarter of next year, according to Shoma. Completion is expected in the second quarter of 2028.

Shoma’s other planned projects include the 24-story, 333-unit Shoma Bay condo tower with a Publix and an additional 15,600 square feet of retail in North Bay Village. This month, the firm scored a $30 million predevelopment loan, used to pay off existing financing on the site at 1872 79th Street Causeway.

In March, Shoma scrapped plans to redevelop a closed auto dealership at 3650 Bird Road in Miami, selling the site to 13th Floor Investments, LeFrak Organization and the Pérez family’s Related Group for $35 million. Shoma had paid $34 million in 2022 for the site, which is approved for a pair of 40-story high-rises with 748 apartments and 20,000 square feet of retail.

Across South Florida, developers are seizing on the Live Local Act to supersize buildable capacity on sites. In May, Raanan Katz’s RK Centers listed for sale the 8.1-acre former Sears at 3655 Southwest 22nd Street in Miami for more than $100 million, after getting a 1,050-unit Live Local Act project approved for the site.

Spanish developer Pablo Castro and his local partner Laura Tauber, of Bay Harbor Islands-based Taubco, plan a 4,032-unit Live Local Act project with seven 35-story towers at 8395 Northwest 27th Avenue in West Little River. It’s the biggest known planned Live Local Act project in South Florida.

Development

South Florida

Midtown Capital plans 348-unit Live Local Act tower in Miami’s Little River, amid flurry of proposals under state law