Swerdlow, Pinnacle Propose Over 1K Homes in Miami-Dade

Swerdlow Group and Pinnacle propose separate projects to redevelop six public housing complexes in Miami-Dade County with more than 1,000 below-market rate apartments and for-sale homes. 

The pair are the latest to file plans to Miami-Dade through the federal Rental Assistance Demonstration program, which allows municipalities and counties to redevelop and modernize aging public housing. 

The Miami-Dade housing committee will vote on Wednesday whether to proceed with working with Swerdlow and Pinnacle, including negotiating leases with the developers for the county-owned sites, and construction and design criteria. The committee will also vote to skip the competitive process of leasing and awarding development rights of county-owned property to private firms. 

Kendall-based Pinnacle is partnering with Delray Beach-based Smith & Henzy Affordable Group to propose 821 homes at three public housing complexes and a vacant lot in the West Little River neighborhood in an unincorporated area of the county. 

Pinnacle is led by Louis Wolfson, David O. Deutch, Timothy P. Wheat and Coraly Rodriguez, its website shows. Smith & Henzy is led by Darren Smith and Timothy Henzy. 

Coconut Grove-based Swerdlow –– led by Michael Swerdlow, Stephen Garchik and Alben Duffie –– proposes both apartments and for-sale homes at three public housing complexes and a vacant site in south Miami-Dade. Its application doesn’t list a specific number of units, and the county staff members’ memorandum to commissioners says the goal would be to maximize development to up to 1,000 homes. 

Swerdlow would partner with Miami-based Lennar on the development of the for-sale homes, according to its filing. 

Residents at the public housing complexes will have the right of first refusal to move into the new homes.  

Pinnacle’s West Little River project

Pinnacle and Smith & Henzy’s total project is expected to cost $335 million, partly covered by grants and government loans that often finance below-market rate housing, according to the county’s memo. 

The pair propose to redevelop the 38-unit Kline Nunn complex at 8300 North Miami Avenue into a seven-story, 96-unit building with 2,400 square feet of retail; as well as the 86-unit Little River Plaza at 8255 Northwest Miami Court with an eight-story, 121-unit building with 3,500 square feet of retail. 

They also propose a 604-unit complex with buildings ranging from three stories to eight stories at the 108-unit Little River Terrace at 8320 Northwest Fifth Avenue, according to the application. 

Their projects would consist primarily of rentals, except the Little River Terrace site will include 22 for-sale townhomes. 

The developers also want to build a 5,000-square-foot community center at the nearly 2-acre vacant Larchmont Gardens Park. The park is on the northeast corner of I-95 and Northwest 85th Street Road. 

Pinnacle and Smith & Henzy would lease the site under a 99-year term, during which they would pay Miami-Dade a total of $704.7 million in rent and $16.8 million in additional benefits, such as 15 percent of the developer fee and net cash flow. 

Swerdlow’s south Miami-Dade project

Swerdlow’s proposal is to redevelop the 114-unit Arthur Mays Villas at 11351 Southwest 216th Street in the Goulds neighborhood; the 116-unit Naranja complex at 13924 Southwest 260th Street in Naranja; and the 130-unit Pine Island complex at 26862 Southwest 127th Avenue and 27101 Southwest 128th Avenue, according to its application. 

It also wants to build out the vacant Modelo II site at 15302 and 15370 Southwest 282nd Street, and 17375 Southwest 284th Street. 

The Arthur Mays project would consist of for-sale homes and at least 75 apartments, while the Naranja and Modelo II projects would be entirely for sale. 

The Pine Island project would have about 246 Rental Assistance Demonstration units, meaning apartments at the same rents that residents pay now, and 279 workforce apartments, the application shows. 

For-sale home prices will be $385,000, Swerdlow’s application shows.