Alger family sells nearly 800 acres outside Miami-Dade’s UDB for $56M

The Alger family, who have been farmers in Miami-Dade County for generations, sold a nearly 800-acre land tract outside the Urban Development Boundary for $56 million. 

The deal marks the second big south Miami-Dade property sale this month by the Algers, as the family is trimming its land holdings. 

The Algers sold 797 acres across 22 parcels that span from north of the Homestead-Miami Speedway to just south of the Homestead Air Reserve Base to a mystery buyer using the Delaware-registered entity Miami-Dade Land Co for the purchase, according to records. The parcels of land are both in the city of Homestead and in unincorporated Miami-Dade. 

Aside from members of the Alger family, sellers include Catherine E., Corey Michael and Addison Hames Chung; Kevin R. and Barbara J. Hallahan; Katrina J. Manos; Stephanie Catherine Mireles and Amanda Jean Money. 

Because the land is outside Miami-Dade’s UDB, the buyer would face an uphill battle if it wants to redevelop the property. The UDB is a development ban aimed at preserving the Everglades to the west and Biscayne National Park to the east. 

Developers that wish to build on land outside the UDB must obtain county commission approval to expand the boundary. Generally, a supermajority vote is required to move the UDB line and even if a project passes this threshold, it’s still bound to face opposition from environmentalists and others arguing against moving the UDB. 

Last year, a pair of development firms scored approval to move the UDB and allow for their 5.9 million-square-foot industrial project after going in front of the commission five times. But in March, a judge dealt the developers a blow, ruling that Miami-Dade had missed a crucial deadline to pass a Comprehensive Development Master Plan amendment needed to move the boundary, essentially nullifying the project. 

Some south Miami-Dade farmers with land outside the UDB have said that this is standing in the way of their plans to exit farming and sell their land because anything outside the UDB has a much lower valuation. 

The recent land sale comes on the heels of the Alger family selling 97 acres of farmland at Southwest 328th Street and Southeast 6th Street in Homestead for $65 million last month. Homebuilder D.R. Horton bought the property, which is inside the UDB, with plans for the Sandero Landing mixed-use project with more than 1,170 residential units and over 216,000 square feet of commercial space.