CLIENT NEWS: New Miami Live Local Act projects have over 1,400 apartments
November 20, 2024Two developers are seeking approval for apartment projects in Miami’s Wynwood Arts District through the state’s Live Local Act.
The law allows the developers to bypass Wynwood’s normal height and density limits in exchange for including income-restricted workforce housing in the projects. The normal height limit in Wynwood is 12 stories, and both of these projects would greatly exceed that.
Both projects will go before the city’s Wynwood Design Review Committee to consider their artistic elements, design and several waivers on Nov. 18.
In the bigger project, Ultimate Equity, managed by David Segaghati in Miami, has proposed Ultimate Wynwood on the 1.9-acre site at 520 to 590 N.W. 26th Street, plus 2401 N.W. 6th Ave. It currently has a group of warehouses that were constructed in the 1950s and are covered in Wynwood’s signature street art.
The site would be redeveloped with Ultimate Wynwood, totaling 1.06 million square feet in two towers of 36 stories each connected by a podium and a pedestrian bridge. It would feature 1,300 apartments, 21,601 square feet of commercial space and 1,099 parking spaces.
The developer is seeking waivers for a 30% parking reduction and to exceed the maximum lot area with the building footprint.
As per the Live Local Act, 40% of the apartments in Ultimate Wynwood would be workforce units for people making up to 120% of area median income. The median household income in Miami-Dade County is $79,400, according to HUD.
All of the workforce housing in Ultimate Wynwood would be “micro units.” These 524 rental units would range from 300 to 375 square foot. The market-rate units would range from 400 to 1,014 square feet. There would be 456 studio apartments, 308 one-bedroom units, eight two-bedroom units and four three-bedroom units.
Each tower would have a separate amenity deck on the sixth floor and the roof. Amenities would include a pair of fitness centers, coworking spaces, saunas and rooftop pools. There would also be a single pool and a single paddle court on the sixth floor for both towers to share.
Miami-based attorney Carli Koshal, who represents Ultimate Equity in the application, couldn’t be reached for comment. Miami-based Kobi Karp Architecture designed the project. Artist Kelsey Montague was hired to create murals along the podium.
Clara Wynwood
“The scale and mass of the building will enhance the Wynwood streetscape by bringing the property into compliance with the Wynwood Streetscape Master Plan and will improve the neighborhood character by bringing vibrancy and a destination to the NW 6 Avenue Corridor,” the developer stated in the application. “All building elevations visible from the public realm include architectural elements and materials that complement the character of the area and create a cohesive architectural composition.”
On the same street, Clara Wynwood LLC, an affiliate of Bay Harbor Islands-based Clara Homes, is seeking approval for a Live Local Act project on the 16,800-square-foot property at 2601 NW 6th Ave. The developer purchased the property for $7.7 million in January. It currently has an 11,434-square-foot building occupied by men’s clothing retailer Austin Burke.
Clara Wynwood would total 168,000 square feet in 22 stories, with 147 apartments, 2,055 square feet of commercial space and 130 parking spaces. It’s seeking waivers for a 30% parking reduction and to place parking spaces on the second level atop the first floor.
As per the Live Local Act, 40% of the apartments in Ultimate Wynwood be workforce units for people making up to 120% of area median income. The apartments would range from 405-square-foot studios to 924 square feet with two bedrooms.
The amenities on the fifth floor of Clara Wynwood would include a pool, a gym, coworking space, a sauna and an outdoor fitness area. There would also be a pet grooming station on the ground floor and a paddle court on the roof.
Clara Homes CEO James Curnin said the workforce units would be mostly studios and one-bedroom units, but would include some two-bedroom units.
“At 120% of AMI, their rents as of today are pretty similar to market-rate apartments,” he said. “When the units are smaller, you are able to do it.”
The biggest benefit of the Live Local Act for him is the 75% property tax abatement on the workforce housing, along with a proportional tax reduction for the building’s common areas, he said. That will reduce operating expenses and make up for the limitations on rent, he said.
Curnin hopes to break ground on Clara Wynwood in summer 2025.
He’s working with attorney Koshal, Kobi Karp Architecture and artist Loriel Beltran on the project.
“The project brings much needed active residential, including income restricted residential units, and commercial uses to this currently quiet section of Wynwood,” the developer stated in the application. “The density and residential use of the project will improve the walkability of the area and promote transit use.”
The Live Local Act has the potential to transform Wynwood from a mid-rise neighborhood to another of Miami’s high-rise communities with downtown-like density. The tallest project proposed so far in Wynwood is 48 stories.
