The billionaire Ansin family proposes a massive mixed-use project with more than 2,800 residential units in Miramar, amid a record multifamily construction pipeline in South Florida.
The Ansins’ Miramar-based Sunbeam Properties wants to develop Park Miramar on a 125.8-acre vacant site the firm owns on the northeast corner of Miramar Parkway and Red Road, according to city records. The two-phase project would include 2,874 residential units; a 185-key hotel; more than 500,000 square feet of retail, dining and office space; and 32 acres of parks.
On Tuesday, the Miramar Planning and Zoning Advisory Board approved a development agreement between the city and Sunbeam’s affiliates that own the site. Next, the city commission will consider the project at a first hearing next Wednesday.
The preliminary plan is for the units to be apartments, though this could change, a Sunbeam representative told the board. Park Miramar would include 100 affordable housing units for households earning no more than 120 percent of the area median income, according to the development agreement.
The tallest buildings would be eight stories, although Sunbeam can also build up to 10 stories in exchange for paying the city a fee for an additional fire truck, according to the Sunbeam representative.
Sunbeam has committed $3 million to a city affordable housing fund and another $5 million that the city can use for either affordable housing development or creating new parks.
The developer has committed to obtaining the first Park Miramar building permit within five years of obtaining project approval.
The Ansins are among the richest clans in South Florida. The late patriarch Edmund Ansin co-founded Miami-based Sunbeam Television with his father, Sidney Ansin. The media corporation’s holdings include WSVN-Channel, a Miami-based FOX affiliate. In real estate, the family is known for developing the 600-acre Miramar Park of Commerce, which is east of the Park Miramar development site.
Sunbeam Properties is led by CEO Andrew Ansin, Edmund Ansin’s son.
Park Miramar isn’t the only large-scale project Sunbeam plans. In North Bay Village, Sunbeam plans a 7.3 million-square-foot development with nearly 2,000 residential units, including workforce-priced units; 300 hotel keys; 870,000 square feet of offices and retail; and public space. The development would rise on 13 acres both north and south of the 79th Street Causeway.
The Park Miramar application comes as South Florida is experiencing a multifamily development boom. The influx of out-of-state residents to the tri-county region over the past four years, and ensuing record leasing and rent growth, prompted developers to start new projects. By year-end, 23,863 units are expected to be completed across South Florida, the highest number since 2002, according to Berkadia. That’s a portion of the 34,934 units that are under construction.
Miramar hasn’t reaped much of the development frenzy, though it has hosted some of the investment sales spree of recent years. In October, Related Companies dropped $48.2 million for the 320-unit Sorrento affordable apartments complex at 8991-9577 Southwest 41st Street.