Hialeah Market Station Plan Ready for Approval
January 8, 2016City could approve transit-oriented development zone with 5.6M square feet, 3,800 units
Hialeah commissioners will consider final approval on Jan. 12 for the Hialeah Market Station plan, an 80-acre transit-oriented development zone for mixed-use projects.
If the zoning is approved, the maximum density for the area could accommodate 3.9 million square feet of commercial/retail, 1.7 million square feet of flex space for office or industrial, 3,800 residential units and 1,000 hotel rooms, according to a city traffic study.
Since the area would be mixed use, it’s up to developers how much of those elements makes sense for their properties, and whether the city approves specific site plans, said Melissa Tapanes Llahues, an attorney with Bercow Radell & Fernandez who represents local landowner Gerard Keating and worked with the city to draft the comprehensive plan amendment.
Zyscovich Architects consulted with the city on the zoning plan.
The area surrounds the Tri-Rail station at 1200 S.E. 11th Ave. It’s near where U.S. 27 meets State Road 112 and is heavily industrial.
The plan is to create a mixed-use district that’s a quick train ride from the major employment centers of Miami International Airport and downtown Miami, Tapanes Llahues said.
The greatest density allowable would be close to the Tri-Rail station, with 15 stories and 125 units per acre. Further away from the station, buildings of six or eight stories would be allowed.
In order for land owners to obtain those density increases, Tapanes Llahues said they’d have to create rights of way for pedestrians and linear park along the railway. They could either do that on their property or help the city purchase those rights from other properties, she said.
Keating owns about 20 acres there. Tapanes Llahues said he’s crafting a development plan with residential, ground floor retail and office space.
“I have regularly received phone calls from industrial owners in the area,” Tapanes Llahues said. “There seems to be movement in the market as well.”
Hialeah approved the creation of a Community Redevelopment Agency for the Hialeah Market Station area to capture part of the property tax increases from development and reinvest it into the district. The CRA plan is pending before the county. – Brian Bandell
