Developer Michael Swerlow cleared a major hurdle for a $3 billion mixed-use community in Miami’s Little River neighborhood, as the county’s housing department begins to move its offices.
The Miami-Dade County’s Department of Housing and Community Development is relocating for the project, exiting its building at 7217 Northeast Miami Court, the South Florida Business Journal reported.
Swerdlow, founder and principal of Swerdlow Group, is developing the Little River District as SG Holdings, in a partnership with Virginia-based SJM Partners and Alben Duffie of Miami.
The project site spans 64 acres, consisting of county-owned land and properties privately owned by AJ Capital Partners. Swerdlow has a 99-year lease with the county.
SG Holdings developed the final replacement piece for the county’s housing facilities, an 18,800-square-foot building, called Poinciana Industrial Center West, at 2430 Northwest 74th Street.
The developer plans to start construction on the Little River District early next year.
Miami-based Arquitectonica is the designer of the project, which is the nation’s largest new construction project under the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s Rental Assistance Demonstration program.
The master-planned Little River District will ultimately deliver 5,730 affordable and workforce housing units, over 400,000 square feet of commercial space, and a $33 million Tri-Rail station. Existing public housing residents on the site will relocate into the new buildings upon completion. Home Depot, BJ’s Wholesale Club and a supermarket are planned as anchor tenants.
The Miami-Dade County Commission approved the plan last year, and the agreement required Swerdlow to build the new buildings before demolishing existing ones.
Phase one focuses on two multifamily buildings: 366 units on the former county facility site and 336 units at 7275 Northwest Seventh Avenue. Construction of the big-box retail likely would follow that, and work on the Tri-Rail station is expected to start in 2028.
—Rachel Stone
