Avalon Bay, MG Developer bet on Miami apartment market to balance out

As South Florida’s multifamily market slows, AvalonBay Communities and MG Developer are proposing 374 apartments in separate Miami projects.

Arlington, Virginia-based AvalonBay wants to develop an eight-story, 166-unit building on a 1.6-acre site on the southwest corner of Southwest 23rd Street and Southwest 32nd Avenue, according to its application to the Miami Urban Development Review Board.

AvalonBay paid $11.2 million for the site in November, property records show. It consists of lots at 2340 Southwest 32nd Avenue, 3224-3232 Southwest 23rd Street, and 3209, 3219 and 3231 Southwest 32nd Terrace.

Designed by Baker Barrios Architects, the project, called Kanso Coral Way, will taper down to three stories on the west side, where it will include townhome-style units, the application shows. It will have 21 studios, 75 one-bedroom units, 39 two-bedroom units, 18 one-bedroom lofts, five two-bedroom lofts, and eight three-bedroom units.

Coral Gables-based MG Developer is proposing five- and six-story buildings with 208 multifamily units at the site of a hotel it owns at 1000 Northwest 42nd Avenue, near Miami International Airport, according to the firm’s application.

The buildings would rise on the parking lot surrounding the five-story, 176-key Regency Miami Airport by Sonesta, which MG Developer purchased for $36 million in 2024.

The site is also near the Miami Freedom Park project that’s under construction. David Beckham, and Jorge and Jose Mas, are developing the complex with a 25,000-seat stadium for Inter Miami CF, as well as offices and retail.

MG Developer is seeking the board’s approval for three waivers, including for 161-foot pedestrian distances, more than the maximum allowed of 75 feet, as well as for an extension of the parking into the building’s second layer and for a reduction of the required lot frontage.

Miami’s Urban Development Review Board will review the two proposals next week.

AvalonBay, led by Benjamin W. Schall, is a real estate investment trust that develops and invests in multifamily, with a portfolio of nearly 100,000 units nationwide, according to its website and application. It has a pipeline of 7,800 units under construction across 21 projects.

In August, it paid $98.3 million for the 270-unit garden-style complex at 5401 Wiles Road in Coconut Creek. In 2024, AvalonBay completed the 254-unit Avalon Merrick Park near the Douglas Road Metrorail station in Miami.

MG Developer, led by Alirio Torrealba, was founded in 2014 and initially focused on Coral Gables, where it launched sales last year of the 78-unit Alhambra Parc condominium at 33 Alhambra Circle. Vertical Developments is a project partner.

The firm has expanded beyond Coral Gables, planning Doral Parc with partner Ernesto de Luca in Doral. The project will consist of three mixed-use buildings with 552 apartments, nearly 23,000 square feet of ground-floor retail and two garages. MG Developer also has been developing the three-phase Metro Parc in Hialeah and has plans for development in Princeton.

After developers jumped on South Florida’s pandemic-era multifamily boom, defined by unprecedented demand and rent growth, they completed a record number of units in 2024. The deliveries came just as the in-migration lessened, leading to slower leaseups, more concessions and a supply overhang.

Still, developers starting projects now argue that by the time their new buildings are completed, demand would have caught up and rent growth will be restored.

AvalonBay pays $150M for apartment building with Whole Foods in Fort Lauderdale