Alta kicks off plans for second rental building near Dadeland Mall

Alta Developers is diving into the final portion of its multifamily project near Dadeland Mall.

Raimundo Onetto’s firm filed plans for a second 18-story building directly south of its first that’s under construction at 9600 South Dixie Highway, according to the application submitted to Miami-Dade County last week. The 2-acre development site is in an unincorporated area less than half a mile from the Dadeland South Metrorail station and just outside the Pinecrest municipal boundary.

Plans call for 223 apartments on 12 floors atop a six-story pedestal with a garage and ground-floor retail, the application shows. Units will include 130 one-bedroom apartments, 68 two-bedrooms and 25 three-bedrooms.

Although plans are in line with the existing zoning and development regulations for the site, they still require administrative approval by county departments.

The Behar Font & Partners-designed project also includes the first 18-story building with 296 apartments. It’s in line to get its temporary certificate of occupancy in March, an Alta representative said via email.

In 2017, Alta bought the development site for $11 million and also scooped up a pair of adjacent lots for $3.4 million. Last November, it made progress on the first apartment building with the help of a $77.1 million construction loan.

The Miami-based firm has embarked on several apartment projects in South Florida. In October, it paid $20.8 million for a downtown Fort Lauderdale site on the southeast corner of Southwest Flagler Avenue and Southwest Sixth Street. Alta is picking up where the sellers left off, with plans for a 35-story rental building.

Alta hardly is the only one betting on the multifamily market in the Dadeland Mall area.

Atlantic Pacific Companies and Florida Value Partners want to build a pair of apartment towers with 500 units combined on the sites of Shorty’s BBQ and a body shop across the street at 9200 and 9180 South Dixie Highway. The restaurant, which has been a Kendall staple for decades, will remain at its location for another four years and could be included in the future project.

The area also has attracted big-name New York developer Harry Macklowe, who paid $31.9 million in April for a 1.7-acre site between the mall and the Metrorail tracks. His Macklowe Properties wants to build a pair of 25-story towers with 674 apartments combined.