Related Turns To Live Local To Boost Size Of Little Havana Apartment Project
Related Group’s affordable housing arm has proposed an expansion of more than 1,000 units at the Haley Sofge Towers in Miami’s Little Havana neighborhood using Florida's Live Local Act.
Miami-based Related Urban Development Group is seeking to maximize the potential of an existing 22-acre site with an additional 1,038 apartment units, more than 22K SF of commercial space and about 1,000 parking spaces, the South Florida Business Journal reported. The site currently houses 1,379 units across 10 buildings.
The preapplication submitted to the city describes plans for three new mixed-use buildings, including two 21-story towers, one featuring 403 apartments and 4,000 SF of commercial space and the other having 371 apartments and 5,000 SF of commercial space.
A third 12-story building would offer 264 apartments and more than 14K SF of commercial space along with a pool deck. Miami-based Arquitectonica designed the project, according to city records.
A Related Urban spokesperson said the company preferred not to comment at this time.
The company is known for its strategy of building workforce and market-rate housing under land leases with the county, and it completed a substantial renovation of the Haley Sofge public housing building at 800 NW 13th Ave. this summer.
Related Urban signed a land lease with Miami-Dade County for the 13th Avenue site and filed its preapplication for the massive expansion under the county’s Rapid Transit Zone rules and the state’s Live Local Act.
Live Local aims to tackle the state's affordable housing crisis by enabling developers to bypass local zoning restrictions and public hearings and increase project density. In exchange, the development must allocate 40% of the units for workforce housing, targeting individuals earning up to 120% of the area's median income.
Miami’s Little Havana neighborhood, located near the Miami Marlins stadium, LoanDepot Park, has a history as a central hub for Cuban immigrants who fled the Castro regime in the 1960s, according to the National Trust for Historic Preservation.
Related's other developments in the neighborhood, most of them affordable, include Jose Marti Villas, which broke ground in October of 2024, Paseo del Rio and Gallery River Parc.
