Calta Group Plans Luxury Coral Gables Townhomes

The Calta Group plans a luxury townhome development in Coral Gables, months after acquiring the property from Shoma Group co-founder Maria Lamas.

A Calta affiliate is seeking approval from the city’s development review committee on Oct. 27 for the 12-unit townhouse project planned for 915 and 920 Palermo Avenue, according to the agenda. The Riviera Country Club will seek site plan approval from the same committee for a new three-story tennis facility to replace the existing tennis courts.

Calta’s Venetian Townhomes, designed by architect Nelson de Leon’s Locus Architecture, would replace apartment buildings with a total of 32 units on the Palermo Avenue property.

Coral Gables-based Calta, led by brothers Ignazio and Gaetano Caltagirone, will launch sales of the townhouses early next year with Judy Zeder of The Jills Zeder Group at Coldwell Banker, Ignazio Caltagirone said. Construction could begin in the fourth quarter of 2024.

The three-story townhomes will be about 5,000 square feet each, with four bedrooms and luxury finishes.

Calta paid $12 million, or $375,000 per apartment, for the buildings in April. The developer financed the purchase with a $7.8 million mortgage from Terrabank.

Though the project is less dense, Calta plans to take advantage of additional floor area ratio through the city’s Mediterranean bonus and will next seek approval from the Coral Gables Board of Architects. Caltagirone said his firm plans to secure permits by the third quarter of next year.

The 1-acre property is across from the Venetian Pool and near the Biltmore Hotel, west of the city’s downtown. The planned project calls for about 16,500 square feet of open space, six parking spaces per unit and streetscape improvements. The townhouses would each include four-car garages, two-space carports and covered terraces.

Calta has at least $250 million in real estate investments in South Florida, according to a press release from earlier this year. In August, Calta broke ground on Revv, a 180-unit apartment development planned for 2233 Hollywood Boulevard in Hollywood. It marks Calta’s first multifamily project in Broward County.

The Caltagirone brothers have been investing in South Florida since 2008. After leaving their family’s real estate business in Europe, they began buying single-family homes in Hollywood and Hallandale Beach during the recession. They renovated them and sold them in 2012.

More recently, they have also developed luxury single-family homes in Coral Gables, Pinecrest and South Miami.

Caltagirone said his firm is building three homes in Coral Gables at 1231 Anastasia Avenue, 1211 Anastasia Avenue and 545 San Antonio Avenue. The developer is also building a home off of Sunset Drive near South Miami and another in Pinecrest.