Bazbaz proposes 48-story Wynwood project – area’s tallest – under Live Local Act

Bazbaz Development wants to build a 48-story apartment tower in Wynwood under the Live Local Act, marking the tallest project proposed for the Miami neighborhood. 

The firm filed an application for a 544-unit project on a 1.5-acre assemblage at 2110, 2118 and 2134 North Miami Avenue, as well as 2101, 2129 and 2135 Northwest Miami Court, according to city records. Bazbaz Development, with offices in New York and Miami, is led by Sonny Bazbaz. 

The 755,700-square-foot project would include 321 on-site parking spaces and eight off-site spaces. 

The Wynwood Design Review Committee is expected to vote on the project at its meeting on Tuesday, including on requests to include fewer parking spaces than required. 

The Live Local Act, a state law approved last year and tweaked this year, gives developers wiggle room on sites’ zoning in exchange for designating at least 40 percent of the units for households earning no more than 120 percent of the area median income. Under the legislation, developers can build up to the highest density allowed in a city and up to the tallest height allowed within a 1-mile radius of the development site. 

Bazbaz’s proposal for 48 stories is less than the 60 stories they could build under Live Local, but it’s much higher than the 12-story maximum allowed in Wynwood, according to the application and Wynwood zoning records. 

The proposal marks a switch from Bazbaz Development’s previous proposal for an eight-story building and a 12-story building with a total of 339 apartments, 25,653 square feet of retail and a 407-space parking garage. The Miami Urban Development Review Board greenlit the plan last year. 

Bazbaz bought the development site in 2022 for $12 million, records show. The purchasing entity also ties to Isaac, Jacobo, Simon and John Bazbaz. 

Developers have seized on the Live Local Act with project proposals across South Florida. In Fort Lauderdale, Moderno Development Group and 75Invest Group proposed last month the 27-story, 290-unit 500 Art Lofts at 501 Southwest Second Avenue. 

Also, entities led by Alberto Fernandez Falcon and Rene Sanchez proposed in March an 11-story, 112-unit Live Local Act apartment project on the northwest corner of Northwest 27th Avenue and Northwest 46th Street in the Model City neighborhood of unincorporated Miami-Dade County. 

In Bal Harbour, Whitman Family Development’s proposal for a mixed-use Live Local Act project with up to 275-foot-tall towers at the firm’s Bal Harbour Shops has touched off a firestorm. Amid opposition to the project, the village council has voted on ordinances that could preempt the development, while Whitman Family Development has sued the village.