A developer proposes a 119-unit multifamily building near Miami’s Culmer Metrorail Station, amid a record South Florida apartment construction pipeline.
New York-based Urban Builders Collaborative, through an affiliate, wants to develop the 16-story building on a 0.8-acre vacant site at 1136 Northwest Eighth Avenue, according to the developer’s application filed this month to Miami-Dade County. The neighborhood is called Riverside.
The 11-story residential portion of the building would rise atop a five-story podium with 123 parking spaces, the filing shows.
Urban Builders is asking for a pre-application meeting with Miami-Dade staff, which is generally requested for developers to obtain insights on proposals. The developer is betting on the site’s inclusion in the rapid transit smart corridor subzone, a zoning that allows bigger projects due to the proximity to public transportation stops.
Urban Collaborative is affiliated with Lettire Construction, a firm founded by brothers Nicholas and Gerard Lettire in 1979, according to both companies’ websites.
South Florida experienced record demand and rent increases from 2020 to 2022 due to an influx of out-of-state residents to the tri-county region. Developers seized on the bonanza with plans for new projects, resulting in a hefty pipeline. By year-end, 23,863 units are expected to be completed across South Florida, marking the highest number since 2002, according to a Berkadia report.
In recent proposals, the Ben-Josef family filed an application this month for a 561-unit apartment building between Biscayne Boulevard and Northeast 14th Avenue, near North Miami. The project would rise 15 stories along Biscayne Boulevard and scale down to five stories at the center of the building and along Northeast 14th Avenue. Also this month, Clara Homes landed a $53.6 million construction loan, primarily to finance a six-story building with 45 apartments at 1145-1163 100th Street in Bay Harbor Islands. The building is part of a three-phase development.