CLIENT NEWS: Miami Board Backs Large Apartment Complex Near Legion Park
September 6, 2024Despite opposition from nearby residents, Miami’s Planning, Zoning and Appeals Board backed zoning changes that will enable a developer to build more than 300 apartments near Legion Park.
Less than an hour before midnight, PZAB members voted 5-2 to recommend that 2.58 acres of land at 615 N.E. 64th Terrace be rezoned from T5-R medium density multifamily residential to T6-8L restricted commercial. That would increase the maximum density to 150 units an acre from 65 units an acre.
The zoning change is sought by MiMo Bay Apartments II LLC, an affiliate of Ponte Vedra-based ACRE Multifamily Fund IV REIT, led by Michael Van Der Poel. His firm built the 236-unit Adela at Mimo Bay immediately south of the 37-acre Legion Park in 2020.
The proposed zoning will enable MiMo Bay to build a 337-unit apartment building with some commercial space and more than 500 parking spaces on 3.25 acres of land bounded by Legion Memorial Park, Northeast Seventh Ave., Northeast 64th Street and Biscayne Boulevard.
In exchange for the zoning changes, the developer will sign a covenant that would cap the density at 337 units and the height at six stories, or 75 feet, said Melissa Tapanes Llahues, MiMo Bay Apartments II’s attorney. The developer would also commit, through the covenant, to not seek additional height and density through the Live Local Act, she added.
In addition, MiMo Bay has vowed to reserve 20 units for workforce housing, give $200,000 for improvements to Legion Park, provide up to 50 public parking spaces, and break ground on the project within three years of its approval, said Tapanes Llahues, a shareholder with Miami-based zoning, land use and environmental law firm Bercow Radell Fernandez Larkin + Tapanes.
Several Upper Eastside residents opposed the rezoning during the hearing. Allison Greenfield, VP of the Bayside Neighborhood Association, said changing the zoning from commercial to residential will encourage other developers to do the same.
“The upzoning sets a precedent that doesn’t need to be set in an area surrounded by three historic districts,” she said. “If the purpose of [the city’s] Miami 21 zoning code is to end spot zoning, then this will be a case for spot zoning.”
Bob Powers, a founder of the Palm Grove Neighborhood Association, added that Northeast 64th Street can barely handle the traffic for Adela and the 385-apartment Nirvana at 703 N.E. 63rd St.
As for the covenant, several residents expressed doubt that the city will enforce it, enabling developers or buyers of the site to seek more building rights in the future.
“This will open up the entire project to a possible end run to any local zoning [through the Live Local Act],” Greenfield said. “They can make this a 27-story building.”
Passed last year by the Florida Legislature, the Live Local Act enables developers to build multifamily and mixed-use projects on commercial-zoned land at the maximum density a city or county allows if 40% of the units are reserved for workforce housing. Developers can also build to the maximum height allowed within a mile of a development site.
But Tapanes Llahues said legal covenants governing future development – while they can be changed – can’t be ignored. And a covenant restricting the project to 75 feet would prevent the developer from obtaining the financing needed to build a larger project.
“If you can’t get a construction loan, you can’t build the project,” she said.
MiMo Bay Apartments II paid $19 million for the 3.25-acre site in March 2022, according to the Miami-Dade Property Appraiser website. The seller was ACRE GCDM Bay Investments II LLC, which invested about $15.25 million assembling the land in 2015 and 2016. ACRE GCDM Bay Investments II managers included Blake Olafson, Leslie “Les” Menkes and Van Der Poel.
The trio are founding partners of private equity investment real estate firm ACRE. Also known as Asia Capital Real Estate, it has $3.9 billion in assets under management, with offices in New York, Atlanta, Miami and Singapore.
The proposed zoning change still needs to be approved by the City Commission before going into effect. The developer will also seek special exceptions to allow additional parking. as well as the closure of Northeast 64th Terrace.
