Altman proposes 373-unit apartment complex near North Miami 

Altman Companies wants to build a 373-unit multifamily complex near North Miami. 

The Fort Lauderdale-based firm has the 3.4-acre development site at 11240 Biscayne Boulevard in unincorporated Miami-Dade County under contract for an undisclosed price, according to an application Altman submitted to the county last week. 

The complex would rise 11 stories along Biscayne Boulevard and taper down to eight stories on the rest of the lot. Designed by CFE Architects, the development would include the required 12.5 percent of units as workforce housing, or roughly 46 units, and also provide another 11 apartments at workforce rents, the filing shows. 

The project is within a Strategic Miami Area Rapid Transit corridor, or roadways Miami-Dade has designated for potential public transportation expansion. 

Altman is seeking a pre-application meeting with the county. Developers generally request this to receive Miami-Dade administrators’ feedback prior to filing an official proposal. 

The site owner, an entity led by Alex Silberman, put the land on the market for $10.5 million in 2021. Development sites’ prices have fluctuated significantly since then. While prices skyrocketed during the low interest rate party of 2021 and early last year, they nosedived starting in the second half of last year, following the Federal Reserve’s interest rate hikes. 

Led by Seth Wise, Altman has developed, purchased and managed more than 26,000 rental units since 1968, according to its website. It’s focused on Florida, where the firm’s portfolio totals nearly 17,600 apartments. It also builds and invests in the Sun Belt, Illinois and Michigan. 

The firm declined comment on its latest proposal.

Last month, Altman sold the 312-unit Windsor Ludlam Trail apartment complex at 7004 Southwest 40th Street in unincorporated south Miami-Dade to GID for $91.4 million, according to records. 

BBX Capital Real Estate, a division of Fort Lauderdale-based BBX Capital, owns Altman. BBX bought a 50 percent stake in the firm in 2018 and purchased the remaining ownership interest this year. Joel Altman, who founded Altman, stepped down as CEO in February and is now chairman emeritus. 

South Florida’s multifamily market slowed from the boom days of 2021 and early last year. Occupancy across the tri-county region dropped 2 percentage points to 95 percent in the first half of this year, compared with the same period of last year, a Berkadia report showed. A construction pipeline of over 19,000 units is largely credited for the drop in occupancy. 

South Florida led the nation in rent increases in the two years after the pandemic started. But rate growth calmed to 6.3 percent in the second quarter, year-over-year, according to Berkadia. 

Developers still are betting on the rental market. Last month, MMG Equity Group filed a proposal for a 247-unit complex near Coral Way in west Miami-Dade.