Redwood Dev Co scored approval for its 2,193-unit apartment complex in North Miami, marking one of the largest projects on tap in the western side of the city.
The North Miami City Council voted 4-0 to approve the development of eight 18-story buildings, as well as 121,500 square feet of commercial space and 4,114 parking spaces. The project would rise on a 27.7-acre site that consists of Claude Pepper Park at 1255 Northwest 135st Street and an adjacent vacant lot at 1525 Northwest 135th Street.
The Kobi Karp-designed project will include a renovation of Claude Pepper Park with a new amphitheater, public pool with a splash pad, multipurpose field, baseball field, as well as basketball and tennis courts, according to city records. The Joe Celestin Center, a community center next to the park, will be expanded with new classrooms, a computer room, kitchen, gym and banquet hall.
The development also could include medical uses such as an urgent care center and age-restricted units, according to discussions at the meeting on Tuesday. Also, some of the commercial space would be for a supermarket, with some city officials pushing for the grocer to be Aldi.
The project marks a new chapter for the properties. The city has considered the sites for renovation for the past eight years, Mayor Alix Desulme said at the meeting.
North Miami issued a request in 2022 for proposals for the redevelopment and renovation of the properties, and selected Redwood Dev Co as the winning developer that same year.
Last year, the city approved a bigger development capacity on the sites by designating it as the Joe Celestin Global Planned Corridor Development Overlay District. Redwood Dev Co negotiated a 99-year lease of the city-owned properties, and scored a conditional use permit for the project in May.
The preliminary plan is for the majority of the units to be apartments, though the developer is considering including condos in some of the buildings, said David Burstyn, co-founder of Redwood Dev Co.
The project won’t use the Live Local Act, a state law passed last year that permits bigger projects than zoning allows, in exchange for including affordable housing. Burstyn said some affordable units could be included in the project.
Redwood Dev Co, based in Miami Beach, is a joint venture between Miami-based real estate private equity firm BAS Holdings Investments and Aventura-based lender and real estate investor Winston Capital Partners. Redwood is led by co-founders Brian Sidman, who also is founder of BAS, and Burstyn, founder of Winston Capital.
At the meeting, some nearby residents took issue with the plan for towers to rise 18 stories in a primarily single-family neighborhood.
“I love the plan. I don’t love the height,” said Belinda Carbonell, who owns a home across the street from the development sites. “Why 18 stories? Why not 11? Why not six? … I mean we are not Wynwood. We are not Miami Beach.”
Others raised concerns about traffic, alleging that a comprehensive traffic study on the effects of this and other projects hasn’t been done. Another resident cautioned that allowing 18-story towers would open the door for high-rise redevelopment in North Miami under the Live Local Act. The legislation allows for developers to build up to the tallest height permitted within a 1-mile radius of their sites.
Desulme stressed the community benefits of Redwood Dev Co’s project.
“Everything the developer has put forth we have asked [for],” he said. City officials weighed in on amenities, the potential for senior housing and park renovations, Desulme said, adding that the city didn’t have input on the project height.
“I told them, ‘If this is something you could not find in Aventura, please do not bring it here,’” he said.
Redwood Dev Co has been ramping up its South Florida investments. In Opa-locka, the firm paid $30 million last year for 75 nearly completed townhouses on the northeast corner of Northwest 119th Street and West Golf Drive, with plans to convert them to workforce rentals.
Also in Opa-locka, the firm scored a $24 million construction loan last year for the five-story, 98-unit Mosaic apartment complex. The project is expected to be completed this year, according to Redwood Dev Co’s website.
In 2021, Redwood completed The Mirage at Sailboat Cove townhouse rental complex at 14301 Northwest 17 Path in Opa-locka. The complex consists of 138 townhouses, including 112 developed by Redwood, 59 townhouses built by other developers and 26 previously developed homes.
The biggest project in the works in North Miami is the184-acre SoLé Mia on the southeast corner of Biscayne Boulevard and Northeast 151st Street, on the eastern part of the city. The master developers are Richard LeFrak’s eponymous New York-based firm and Jackie Soffer’s Aventura-based Turnberry.
SoLé Mia is approved for nearly 6,000 residential units, 258,200 square foot office space, 176,100 square foot retail and approximately 250 hotel rooms, according to North Miami’s website.