Michael Swerdlow Plans Thousands of Affordable Homes in Miami
By Jeff Ostrowski August 5, 2024 2:00 pm
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Veteran developer Michael Swerdlow has ambitious plans for an 80-acre site near Downtown Miami. His redevelopment calls for nearly 8,000 affordable housing units, retail space and a new Tri-Rail train station that would connect to downtown.
Swerdlow, founder of Swerdlow Group, is seeking approval for Little River District, an assemblage of land just west of Interstate 95 in Miami’s Little Haiti neighborhood.
The $3 billion project is slated to include 600,000 square feet of retail space, along with for-sale and for-rent housing units that are in reach of Miami residents of modest means.
Swerdlow said it’s important to him that the homes are of higher quality than typical affordable housing units.
“Large amenity decks, pools, pickleball courts, floor-to-ceiling windows — you’d be happy to live there,” Swerdlow told Commercial Observer. “I don’t like those buildings you see with punch-out windows. They have no swimming pools. They treat the residents like poor people, and it’s unnecessary.”
As an example of higher-end affordable housing, Swerdlow pointed to the affordable units for seniors at Sawyer’s Walk, his recently completed project in Miami’s Overtown neighborhood.
“These apartments look just like market-rate apartments,” Swerdlow said. “You wouldn’t be able to tell the difference. They have floor-to-ceiling windows. They have a washer and dryer in every unit.”
Swerdlow submitted a plan to Miami-Dade County in response to a request for proposals to rebuild and expand four of its public housing projects in the neighborhood. The broader project is awaiting county approval and would need seven or eight years to complete, Swerdlow said.
The site includes properties owned by Swerdlow and an assemblage owned by AJ Capital Partners of Nashville, Tenn.
Swerdlow would build the Tri-Rail train station as a part of the project.
“The project is big enough that the saving in parking spaces warrants the construction of a train station,” he said. “Also, it’s a new century, and we have to do something about unclogging the roads.”
Swerdlow said it’s too early to say how many parking spaces he might forgo because of the train station. He’s still putting together financing packages and tax breaks from a variety of government agencies.
“I’m going to get as much money as I can from whomever I can get it,” he said.
To design the project, he has hired architecture and planning firms Arquitectonica and PlusUrbia.
Swerdlow Group, based in Coconut Grove, has developed more than 30 million square feet of commercial space ranging from residential to retail, industrial and office space.
Jeff Ostrowski can be reached at jostrowski@commercialobserver.com.
