Mill Creek cuts back Ojus multifamily project, as South Florida sees record apartment construction pipeline

Mill Creek Residential scaled back the second phase of its Modera Aventura multifamily project, nearly halving the building plans. 

The Boca Raton-based firm now proposes an eight-story, 251-unit project, down from its previous plan for 15 stories and 420 units, according to Mill Creek’s application to Miami-Dade County submitted on Monday. The proposal also is for a 440,500-square-foot floor area ratio and 358 parking spaces, down from the previous plan for a 688,000-square-foot FAR and 557 parking spaces. 

Led by CEO William MacDonald, Mill Creek is developing Modera Aventura on a 5.5-acre site at 2681 Northeast 191st Street and 2660 Northeast 192nd Terrace in the Ojus neighborhood of unincorporated Miami-Dade. The project is near the Brightline station at 19796 West Dixie Highway. 

The first phase, a 15-story, 420-unit apartment building, is under construction and its size remains unchanged. Completion of this phase is expected next year, according to a news release issued last year announcing the project’s construction financing. At the time Mill Creek had scored a $107.5 million construction loan from Bank of America for Modera Aventura.  

It’s unclear exactly why Mill Creek opted to change Modera Aventura’s second phase, though the scaling down of the project comes at a notable time. 

South Florida’s apartment construction pipeline is at record size, which has slowed the leasing bonanza and unprecedented increases in rent over the past four years. Across the region, some developers are tweaking their planned apartment projects by downsizing, converting them to condos or pausing construction altogether. 

Developers are expected to finish 23,863 units in the tri-county region by year-end, the highest number since 2002, according to Berkadia’s mid-year South Florida multifamily report.

Mill Creek did not return a request for comment, so it’s unclear if the bloated pipeline led to its decision to downscale Modera Aventura’s second building.  

Mill Creek is an apartment and single-family rental investment and development firm. It has built nearly 41,000 units nationwide and purchased more than 5,300 units, and deployed $17.8 billion in capital, its website shows. 

In September, the firm scored an $82.3 million construction loan for the second phase of Modera Coral Springs with 353 apartments and 32,280 square feet of retail at 3310 University Drive in Coral Springs.

Ojus has caught developers’ eyes in recent years, with some investing in the nearby Brightline station helping generate demand. In February, RAM Realty Advisors and Pinnacle expanded their planned Aventana building at 19640 West Dixie Highway to 16 stories and 334 units from their previous proposal for 285 units in a 15-story building that tapered down to 11 levels. 

Also in Ojus, Yakov and Cheryl Cohen proposed in February the 11-story Aventura Office Center with 120,000 square feet of offices; 4,400 square feet of commercial space; and 12 apartments at 18802 and 18820 West Dixie Highway. 

Mill Creek isn’t the only one downsizing its planned project in the area. Dan Kodsi, CEO of Royal Palm Companies, is considering substituting his plans for a 15- to 20-story building in Aventura with an eight-story building, citing the elevated costs for building a high-rise due to higher interest rates, still high construction costs and expensive insurance.