Developer requests expansion of Miami-Dade development boundary

A Homestead developer wants to push the boundary.

Manuel Diaz’s Marista Holdings is proposing an expansion of the Miami-Dade Urban Development Boundary, which separates city living from farms and protected areas, by 113.5 acres in Homestead.

The application requires a super majority vote by the county commission before it could be adopted. The dividing line was implemented in the early 1980s to prevent development from moving farther west.

Marista Holdings is requesting the county rezone more than 45 acres of agricultural land so that it can build a mixed-use project with office, retail, a hotel and an assisted living facility on the site, according to the South Florida Business Journal. Property records show the developer bought the land for $10.23 million in February. It’s near the Homestead Air Reserve Base.

The expansion would bump up the boundary line on the south side of Southwest 312 Street and east and west of Southwest 137 Avenue. The remaining acreage, home to nearly 300 affordable housing units, belongs to the Homestead Housing Authority.

The last time the county redrew the line in Homestead was in 2011 to include 120 acres for business and office space near the Homestead-Miami Speedway, according to WLRN.

Applications up for review also include an updated proposal by GL Homes and the Bacardi family to build on a former golf course at Calusa Country Club in West Kendall, an industrial park, and a residential project in South Dade. [SFBJ] – Amanda Rabines