Faith Group Plans Live Local Act Project Near Aventura

A developer wants to replace its office building with a 376-unit Live Local Act project, as part of growing redevelopment of aging, suburban South Florida offices, despite a continued pipeline of out-of-state companies to the region.

The Faith Group, through two affiliates, proposed The Gateway 2 project with a 14-story building on an 1.8-acre site at 2627 and 2691 Northeast 203rd Street in unincorporated Miami-Dade County, according to a pre-application filed this month. The property now is home to the two-story, 37,000-square-foot Aventura Offices and Medical Center building.

South Florida has benefitted from an influx of businesses over the past half-decade, and the region was bolstered again by the blue-to-red state migration. Many newcomers are demanding new top tier spaces and overlooking older office buildings. This has unlocked the land underneath the vintage properties for redevelopment, with developers seizing on multifamily and the Live Local Act.

The state law, first approved in 2023 and tweaked in subsequent years, allows developers to build taller buildings with more units than a site’s zoning allows if they designate 40 percent of units as apartments for households earning up to 120 percent of the area median income. Miami-Dade’s annual AMI is $89,800.

Florida lawmakers tweaked the Live Local Act most recently this year, expanding eligible sites to those owned by school districts, counties and religious organizations, as well as prohibiting local governments from capping heights through setbacks or stepbacks.

Faith Group’s pre-application is a preliminary step that allows developers to gauge the input of staff members at various Miami-Dade departments before an official application is filed.

The Gateway 2 will include ground floor co-working space, a parking podium and a 10th floor pool deck, the filing says.

The Faith Group, led by co-founders Kevin and Victor Faith, lists its headquarters at the Aventura Offices and Medical Center, according to its website.

Others planning redevelopment of offices include Miami-based Midtown Capital Partners, which paid $44.5 million in January for a Pembroke Pines business complex with plans to eventually pursue a multifamily project.

In Boca Raton, the Pérez family’s Related Group, Toledano family’s BH Group and Pebb Enterprises are developing one of three office buildings with a 500-unit apartment project at the business complex formerly known as Office Depot’s headquarters.

In Miami’s Edgewater, Valoro Capital paid $19 million in April for an office building –– a $2 million discount from its 2019 price –– with plans for redevelopment. The site allows for an over 700-unit Live Local Act project.