New Jersey Developer Squeezes 378 Apartments Into Downtown Miami Proposal
A 50-story apartment tower with workforce housing is being proposed in Downtown Miami, four blocks west of the Adrienne Arsht Center.
The 378-unit project at 1315 NE Miami Court was submitted in a preapplication to the county by Optimum Properties, a Jersey City-based developer and property manager.
Optimum is looking to use rapid transit zoning rules and the Miami-Dade County Workforce Housing Development Program to boost density at the 19K SF site adjacent to Highway 395.
The tower’s ground floor would have a lobby and 1,150 SF of retail space, along with the entrance for a 10-story parking garage with 321 spaces.
The project would typically require more parking under Miami’s zoning rules, but the site was added last March to the county’s rapid transit zoning, which allows for fewer spaces, because of its vicinity to the School Board Metromover station.
A pool deck would top the parking garage. Plans call for a second pool on the tower's rooftop, which would also have nearly 2,400 SF of indoor amenity space.
The unit mix would include 38 studio apartments, 184 one-bedroom units and 156 two-bedroom units.
Optimum plans to take advantage of Miami-Dade County’s Workforce Housing Development Program to secure the necessary density bonuses for the tower, Greenberg Traurig attorney Ethan Wasserman wrote on behalf of the developer in a letter of intent.
A site plan submitted with the preapplication says Optimum is seeking a 25% density bonus under the county's workforce housing program by designating 10% of the units, which corresponds to all of the proposed tower's studios, for tenants making no more than 140% of the area median income, or up to $111K for a single person.
Optimum purchased the property for $8.5M in December 2021 through 1315 Partners LLC. The seller was Art Center LLC, an entity registered to an attorney at Carlton Fields in Miami. The site hosts a three-story multifamily property.
Coral Gables-based architect Behar Font designed the tower with a modern white and gray facade and balconies on all sides. The apartments would sit atop the metal-clad parking garage and jut out over the 11th-floor pool terrace.
Optimum Properties and Wasserman were unavailable for comment Thursday afternoon.
The developer also owns the Aliro Apartments in North Miami in partnership with the investment giant Blackstone, which paid $117M for the apartment complex in 2016. At the time, the development had 870 apartments, but the joint venture announced plans in 2021 to spend $120M on renovations and the construction of an additional 516-unit building.
Close to 3,000 new apartments are expected to be delivered in Downtown Miami by the end of the year, with 8,900 units set to come online across the county, according to Marcus & Millichap.
The projects are part of a glut of construction of high-quality buildings that was propelled by pandemic-era migration trends. Their deliveries have pushed Miami Class-A apartment vacancy above 5% and flattened rent growth, with more affordable Class-B and C vacancy below 2%.
While rent growth has slowed to 2.5% on the year, the average effective rent in Miami is still expected to clear $2,600 per month by the end of 2024, up nearly 50% compared to 2019, according to Marcus & Millichap. The average apartment rent in the U.S. is $1,739 per month, according to RentCafe.
