Vestcor buys Naranja dev site planned for 576-unit multifamily complex

Less than a year after proposing a 576-unit apartment complex in south Miami-Dade County’s Naranja neighborhood, Vestcor scooped up the 7.7-acre site. 

Vestcor paid $12.5 million for the assemblage of seven lots between South Dixie Highway and the South Miami-Dade Busway, north of Southwest 280th Street in unincorporated Miami-Dade, according to records and real estate database Vizzda. The deal breaks down to $1.6 million per acre. 

An entity led by Bruno and Maritza Ramos of BEA Architects sold the property, records show. 

Jacksonville-based Vestcor wants to build two eight-story buildings and two three-story buildings, according to Vizzda. The firm filed an application for the project, called Ambar Station, in August. The project would include 5,800 square feet of ground-floor commercial space and 846 parking spaces. 

Founded in 1983 by John Rood, Vestcor develops affordable and workforce housing, as well as student and senior living complexes, according to its website. Steve Moore is president of Vestcor. 

At Ambar Station, 12.5 percent of the units will be workforce housing-priced, according to Vestcor’s application submitted to the county. 

Developers have homed in on south Miami-Dade with proposals for multifamily projects. The area has large swaths of buildable land that come at a discount compared with development site prices in Miami’s urban core. 

Also in Naranja, Atlantic Pacific Companies plans to redevelop the Heritage Village II public housing complex on the northeast corner of Southwest 270th Street and Southwest 142nd Avenue with 116 affordable apartments.