On the corner of Northwest Sixth Avenue and Northwest 26th Street in Miami’s Wynwood, a developer wants to replace the one-story Austin Burke menswear store with an apartment tower of up to 20 stories.
The project would jut out above the surrounding one-story and two-story warehouses retrofitted into businesses, as well as above a 10-story building to the east.
Developer Clara Homes’ building is one of five proposed Live Local Act projects that promise to bring hundreds of high-rise units to Wynwood.
The Live Local Act, a state law approved last year, incentivizes developers to include affordable and workforce apartments in their projects by granting them tax reprieves and permitting them to build taller buildings with more units than allowed by site and municipal zonings. Developers have to designate at least 40 percent of the units for households earning no more than 120 percent of the area median income. The apartments have to remain at below-market rents for at least 30 years. Miami-Dade County’s annual AMI is $79,400.
The legislation has opened the door to a flurry of applications for large projects across South Florida. But in Wynwood, a neighborhood known for its mid-rise heights and artistic character created through colorful graffiti, the Live Local Act towers have raised concerns that the area’s carefully curated look and feel are threatened.
In 2015, architects, urban planners, property owners and other stakeholders crafted Wynwood’s Neighborhood Revitalization District (NRD-1) that outlines development principles and designs for the neighborhood. They capped Wynwood heights to eight stories in most of the neighborhood, allowing for 10 stories from Northwest Fifth Avenue west to I-95, and 12 stories on commercial corridors such as North Miami Avenue and Northwest/Northeast 29th Street, according to Joe Furst, a developer who was on the task force that worked on NRD-1.
Furst, founder of Miami-based Place Projects, said the intent of the Live Local Act is good due to the dire need of affordable housing in South Florida.
“The issue is that in practice it can obliterate character and scale and erode the sense of place of certain communities,” he said. “It’s a very concerning tool that people can use to erode” neighborhood planning and zoning.
But James Curnin, founder of Clara Homes, questions whether critics truly want to alleviate the affordable housing shortage when they oppose projects or if that’s just “a cool talking point” for them.
“The only way to fix the affordability crisis is to build more units,” he said. “The best thing to do is to allow developers to be responsible developers and build.”
Projects have to go through the Wynwood Design Review Committee, and those over 200,000 square feet also have to go through the Miami Urban Development Review Board. Both are volunteer committees that only have the power to recommend approval or denial of a project, with city planning and zoning staff having the final say.
Most of the proposed Live Local Act projects in Wynwood are yet to go through either board.
Here is an inside look at the five projects stirring up controversy in Wynwood.
Tallest one of them all
Bazbaz Development filed a proposal for the tallest Live Local Act proposal so far, a 48-story tower with 544 apartments.
The building would rise on a 1.5-acre assemblage at 2110, 2118 and 2134 North Miami Avenue, as well as 2101, 2129 and 2135 Northwest Miami Court.
New York-based Bazbaz bought the site in 2022 for $12 million, according to records. The firm is led by Sonny Bazbaz, and records show the purchasing entity also ties to Isaac, Jacobo, Simon and John Bazbaz.
The project was the first Live Local Act proposal to go before the Wynwood Design Review Committee in June. Because the Live Local Act is a state law, the committee can’t recommend denial of a project due to its height and size. It can only weigh in on aspects such as setbacks and designs.
At the meeting, the committee voted against Bazbaz’s project, with some members having choice words for the project.
The proposal is “unremarkable” and “efficient,” said committee member Shamim Ahmadzadegan. “I want to call it efficient as a euphemism for too simplistic,” he added.
Committee member Amanda Hertzler echoed her colleagues in saying the tower will be a misfit in the neighborhood.
“It’s a glass tower. It does not represent the authenticity of Wynwood architecture,” she said. “This is not a Wynwood project.”
Sonny Bazbaz didn’t return a request for comment.
Second tallest
North of Bazbaz’s proposed project, a pair of developers plan a 39-story tower with 336 units.
New York-based Hidrock Properties and Robert Finvarb, founder of Aventura-based Robert Finvarb Companies, want to build the project on a half-acre lot they co-own at 2534 North Miami Avenue.
Hidrock and Finvarb plan to designate 134 units for tenants earning up to 120 percent of the AMI.
The Live Local Act mandates that the units at below-market rents are apartments, and allows developers to build either rentals or condos for the remainder of the units. Hidrock and Finvarb are still evaluating whether their market-rate units will be for rent or for sale, said Finvarb, who is managing partner of the project.
The developers went before the Wynwood Design Review Committee in July. A committee vote to approve the project with conditions was tied 3-3, according to records. The Urban Development Review Board approved the project in July.
Next, the developers will submit a final site plan and address the city’s latest comments on the proposal, according to a representative from Robert Finvarb Companies.
Finvarb countered the notion that their project may be out of scale with Wynwood, pointing out that the project is on the major road of North Miami Avenue and near a planned Tri-Rail station on the Brightline tracks. This allows for easy connectivity to employment centers such as Brickell and downtown Miami.
“The purpose of Live Local is to create this kind of attainable housing in areas where people do actually want to live in,” Finvarb said.
Also, the developers aren’t building as big as they can under the Live Local Act, Finvarb said. The legislation allows for projects to reach the highest density allowed in a city and the tallest height within a mile of the site. In Miami, this would allow the developers 1,000 units per acre, or 548 units, and 60 stories, records show. They are proposing 336 units and 39 stories.
“We felt going to this level made sense for our projects, and we were extremely thoughtful with curating the ground-floor art and streetscape, so that experience to the pedestrian will continue to perpetuate the feeling of being in Wynwood,” Finvarb said.
Furst said that generally, he doubts that creative designs could alleviate the impact of a Live Local Act tower on Wynwood.
“I am not sure what design elements would have a material effect in mitigating the differentiation of that scale,” he said.
Third tallest
Ultimate Equity wants to develop a 25-story complex with 996 apartments on an assemblage on the southeast corner of Northwest 26th Street and Northwest Sixth Avenue.
The properties consist of 520, 524, 530, 540, 550, 570, 580 and 590 Northwest 26th Street, as well as 2401 Northwest Sixth Avenue, records show.
The entity is led by David Sedaghati.
He didn’t immediately return a request for comment.
Cohen’s plans
Immediately west of Bazbaz’s proposed tower, developer Joseph Cohen proposes a 19-story building with 401 apartments.
The development site consists of the properties at 2100 Northwest Miami Court and 2101 and 2127 Northwest First Avenue.
Miami Court Holdings, led by Cohen, assembled the lots for $3.2 million in two deals in 2012 and 2014, according to records.
Cohen, a real estate investor, had listed the sites on the market in 2022 with an asking price of more than $30 million.
Cohen didn’t immediately return a request for comment.
Clara Homes’ proposal
Miami-based Clara Homes’ proposal is for about 150 apartments, with roughly 48 of them for households earning no more than 120 percent of the AMI. The tower would rise 18 to 20 stories.
The project is expected to go before the Wynwood Design Review Committee in November, Curnin said. It does not need a vote from the Urban Development Review Board because it does not meet the size threshold.
Clara bought the 0.4-acre site in January for $7.7 million, records show.