Miami-Dade Approves Swerdlow’s $2.6B Workforce and Affordable Housing Dev

The Miami-Dade County Commission on Tuesday approved Swerdlow Group’s mammoth $2.6 billion workforce and affordable housing development, which could become the largest of its kind in the county.

The 63-acre development in Miami’s Little River neighborhood is a partnership with SJM Partners and Alben Duffie. It will house 2,284 affordable housing units priced to be affordable to people earning 60 percent of Area Median Income (AMI) and 1,398 workforce apartments priced at up to 120 percent of AMI. 

An additional 2,048 units could be turned into workforce condos, allowing buyers to obtain subsidies to meet the purchase price at up to 140 percent of AMI, according to a representative for Swerdlow Group.

The project will also feature a Tri-Rail train station, 250,000 square feet of public park space and 370,000 square feet of commercial space, with Home Depot having already inked a deal. Negotiations with Publix and BJ’s Wholesale Club are also underway. 

Swerdlow and his partners were the only ones to bid on a request for proposal from Miami-Dade County to redevelop public housing buildings. 

Last month, the Miami-Dade County Housing Committee approved a 99-year lease for the site, located at 530 Northwest 75th Street. The deal is expected to generate $9.6 billion for the county.

Activists and construction workers lobbied to have water and heat breaks during the construction, a demand that Swerlow’s lawyer indicated he’d agreed to.

Julia Echikson can be reached at jechikson@commercialobserver.com.