Developer Michael Swerdlow wants to develop 5,730 multifamily units with some affordable and workforce apartments, replacing five public housing complexes across Miami.
Coconut Grove-based Swerdlow Group’s project also will include 370,000 square feet of commercial space such as offices and a school; 250,000 square feet of open space and amenities and a new Tri-Rail passenger train station, according to Miami-Dade records.
The project would replace the existing public housing complexes of Victory Homes at 520 Northwest 75th Street, Newberg at 7200 Northeast Miami Court, Gwen Cherry 22 at 7101 Northeast Miami Court, Gwen Cherry 06 at the intersection of Northwest 71st Street and Northwest First Court, and New Haven Gardens at 7200 Northeast Second Avenue in Miami.
The Miami-Dade Housing Committee will vote on Tuesday whether to lease the county-owned sites to Swerdlow Group. The term would be for 99 years, with a 99-year extension option.
If approved, Swerdlow would first replace the existing 314 public housing units with new apartments through the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s Rental Assistance Demonstration program. Current residents will be provided with relocation agreements for the new apartments.
Some of the remaining units could be developed as for sale, instead of rentals, the filing shows.
In 2023, Miami-Dade issued a solicitation for the redevelopment of a total of 10 public housing complexes. Swerdlow was the sole bidder to redevelop five of those properties.
Under the county’s lease, the project could yield $9.6 billion to the county over 99 years. This would include annual $5.3 million lease payments, and 30 percent of the estimated developer fee of $37.6 million. Also, if Swerdlow sells or refinances the properties, the county would receive 16 percent of the proceeds, according to Miami-Dade records.
Separately, Swerdlow and Nashville-based AJ Capital plan to develop about 2,100 apartments at market-rate rents and 293,000 square feet of retail on parcels the firms own near the public housing complexes.
The proposal marks a continuation of Swerdlow’s focus on affordable housing. Late last year, the firm completed Sawyer’s Walk with 578 apartments for low-income seniors and 175,000 square feet of retail and public plaza. Virginia-based SJM Partners and Miami-based affordable housing developer Alben Duffie partnered on the project that’s on the 3.4-acre site at 249 Northwest Sixth Street in Miami’s Overtown.
Swerdlow joins other developers that have partnered with the county by redeveloping or adding multifamily to existing public housing complexes. The Pérez family’s Related Group proposes to supersize the existing 1,379-unit Haley Sofge complex with 10 buildings by using the Live Local Act to add a pair of 21-story towers and a 12-story building with 1,038 apartments on the site. The property is at 800 Northwest 13th Avenue, 780 Northwest 13th Court and 1389 Northwest Seventh Street in Miami’s Little Havana.
Related also proposes a 14-story, 398-unit Live Local Act multifamily project on the site of the Claude Pepper age-restricted public housing building in Miami’s Health District. All of the new units will be at below-market rents.