Many Miami developers covet waterfront sites and locations in bustling neighborhoods like downtown and Wynwood, but Armando Bravo is among those investing in south Miami-Dade.
Bravo, through his Bravo and Partners 11 Acres LLC, bought an Opportunity Zone development site at 503 South Krome Avenue in Homestead for $5.4 million, he said. The 11 acres is from U.S. 1 west to South Krome Avenue and between Southeast Fourth and Sixth streets.
Seller Homfarmland, managed by Coral Gables-based attorney Michael Cease, bought the property out of foreclosure in 2015, records show.
Lazaro Vilarchao of Realty Quest Group represented the seller. Bravo’s wife, Neyda Bravo of Bravo & Partners Realty, represented him in the purchase.
Bravo plans to build a roughly 190-unit apartment complex with several four-story buildings, and 60,000 to 70,000 square feet of retail facing U.S. 1, he said. He has not yet submitted an application to the city.
Miami already is built out, pushing development south to “growing” Homestead, Bravo said, which he called the future of the real estate market.
Exactly how the OZ designation will come into play is to be decided. The federal program allows investors to defer capital gain taxes in exchange for putting these gains in a real estate or business project in economically struggling areas. Investments are channeled through OZ funds.
The land was previously a mobile home park destroyed by Hurricane Andrew in 1992, according to Bravo.
He expects to complete the project in 2023.
Bravo is not the only one to opt to build in Homestead, where major homebuilders such as Lennar have developed thousands of homes.
Five development groups responded in August to a city solicitation to transform a 16-acre site, which includes the former city hall, into a mixed-use project.
In another OZ venture, a Miami-based OZ fund led by Jose Mallea wants to build a Bitcoin mining facility and technology business park near the Homestead-Miami Speedway.