Terra Plans Live Local Project at South Dade Gov Center

Terra proposes a 724-unit Live Local Act project on land at South Dade Government Center that it leased from the county through a no-bid deal.

The Coconut Grove-based firm wants to build a two-phase project on a 12-acre site at 10710, 10750 and 10800 Southwest 211th Street in Cutler Bay, according to an application filed to the county early this month. The first phase would consist of a pair of eight-story buildings with about 362 units and 458 parking spaces. The second phase would have 343 parking spaces. A unit count for this phase was not provided.

Miami-Dade has a record of declaring some of its properties “surplus” and awarding them to real estate companies for redevelopment in no-bid deals. In 2023, Terra submitted an unsolicited proposal to county commissioner Danielle Cohen Higgins for a 500-unit workforce housing project on a portion of South Dade Government Center.

Terra Plans Live Local Project at South Dade Gov Center — Renderings of the proposed project (Terra, RSP Architects)

Generally, local governments would seek competitive bids before allowing an unsolicited redevelopment proposal to move forward.

In January, Miami-Dade and Terra signed a 99-year lease for a portion of South Dade Government Center, records show. The agreement was for a 352-unit project, with an option to develop another 322, for a total of 674 units.

Led by David Martin, Terra appears to have increased the size of its planned project to 724 units from its previously planned 674 units.

The Live Local Act, a state law approved in 2023 and tweaked in subsequent years, allows developers to build bigger projects than zonings permit, in exchange for designating at least 40 percent of the units for households earning no more than 120 percent of the area median income.

This means that if Terra develops all 724 units, at least 289 have to be at below-market rents.

Elsewhere in South Florida, Terra also is partnering with the Meruelo family on a plan to redevelop the Deauville Beach Resort with a 120-unit condo and 150-key hotel. The resort is at 6701 Collins Avenue in Miami Beach. In Key Biscayne, Terra and Edgardo Defortuna’s Fortune International Group paid a record $205 million for the former Silver Sands Beach Resort property at 301 Ocean Drive. The pair plan a 56-unit condo building.

In December, Terra and One Thousand Group scored a $285 million construction loan for a Major Food Group-branded, 56-story, 70-unit condo tower at 710 Northeast 29th Street in Miami’s Edgewater.