Pinnacle proposes a 110-unit affordable apartment project for seniors in Princeton, amid a continuing development rush in south Miami-Dade County.
The Kendall-based firm wants to build the eight-story building with 1,000 square feet of ground-floor retail on a 1-acre site on the southeast corner of South Dixie Highway and Southwest 250th Street in unincorporated Miami-Dade, according to an application filed to the county on Monday.
The project, called Tropical Crossings, would consist of studios and one-bedroom to three-bedroom units.
Generally, age-restricted units are for renters at least 55 years old, and affordable housing targets households earning no more than 80 percent of the area median income. In some cases, the restriction is up to 60 percent of the AMI.
In Miami-Dade, the annual AMI is $79,400, according to the Florida Housing Finance Corporation.
Pinnacle is an affordable housing developer with a portfolio of nearly 10,000 units across the U.S., according to its website. Founded in 1997, Pinnacle is led by Louis Wolfson III, David Deutch, Timothy Wheat, Coraly Rodriguez and Hugo Pacanins.
The firm’s other South Florida projects include a five-story, 120-unit building under construction at 10455 Old Cutler Road in Miami-Dade’s Cutler Bay neighborhood. This year, Pinnacle expects to complete its 110-unit Pinnacle at La Cabaña complex at 8911 Miramar Parkway in Miramar.
In Ojus, Pinnacle and RAM Realty Advisors plan the 16-story, 334-unit Aventana building at 19640 West Dixie Highway.
Last year, Pinnacle completed the first phase of its Pinnacle 441 affordable project, a 113-unit apartment building on the southwest corner of State Road 7 and Johnson Street in Hollywood.
South Florida has long been plagued by a lack of affordable housing with a high number of residents housing cost-burdened. This means they pay more than 30 percent of their income for rent, utilities and other housing costs. The issue was exacerbated by the influx of out-of-staters in 2021 and 2022, which prompted unprecedented apartment demand and record rent hikes.
The high demand for below-market rentals makes these projects a safe investment for developers due to quick lease-ups, experts say. Roughly 20,000 applications were filed for Pinnacle 441, necessitating a lottery to select tenants, according to a Pinnacle spokesperson.
Many affordable housing developers have turned to south Miami-Dade, an area with plenty of buildable land that comes at a discount compared to sites in the county’s urban core.
Also in Princeton, developer Lewis Swezy plans an eight-story, 132-unit age-restricted rental building for low-income households at 13841 Southwest 252nd Street. A partnership that includes Shadi Shomar wants to build a pair of eight-story buildings with 278-units at workforce-priced rents at 23435 Southwest 127th Avenue in Princeton.