Proposed zoning changes could make Little Havana Miami’s next housing development frontier, allowing larger apartment buildings and more homes.
The decade-long planning effort now unfolds under a different set of development rules, including Florida’s 2023 Live Local Act, revised for the third time this year.
Debate around the proposal illustrates the tug-of-war cities and neighborhoods face, not just in Miami but across the country, as leaders seek solutions to increasingly chronic housing affordability concerns.
In Miami, discussions over the coming months will address more than the number of apartments permitted. City planning staff are developing design guidelines and a neighborhood revitalization district alongside the zoning proposal.
But opposition follows a similar pattern. Residents question how additional density would affect infrastructure, nearby single-family neighborhoods and Little Havana’s historic character.
Discussions continue over the coming months
City planning staff said at a September hearing that public outreach would continue as design guidelines and overlay tools take shape. The work includes a neighborhood revitalization district intended to incorporate public benefits.
Staff anticipated City Commission consideration in October, additional outreach in November and a second reading in December. Those dates were tentative, and the next community meeting remains unconfirmed.
State review could extend the process because of the acreage involved in the proposed future land-use changes. Staff said submission, review and a response would require at least 60 days, although the state’s review period is 30 days. Questions from state reviewers could stretch the process to six months.
The Planning, Zoning and Appeals Board recommended approval at the Sept. 2 hearing. Further review and outreach will address development capacity alongside rules governing new construction.
More capacity, no affordability requirement
The changes would expand development capacity across hundreds of properties in Little Havana and parts of the Miami River District. Some properties could accommodate as many as 150 residential units per acre and buildings up to eight stories.
The proposal would not reproduce Brickell’s high-rise skyline. But larger apartment buildings could substantially change streets near lower-density residential areas.
City planners argue that expanding supply could create opportunities for affordable, workforce and mixed-income development. The proposed changes, however, would allow additional market-rate housing without requiring income-restricted apartments.
Live Local offers a separate route, granting development benefits on eligible sites in exchange for affordable rentals. Qualifying projects must reserve at least 40% of residential units as affordable rentals for at least 30 years. The apartments can serve households earning up to 120% of area median income.
The law could therefore bring some affordable housing without reaching Little Havana’s lowest-income households. For existing renters, redevelopment also raises questions about the loss of older apartments and the cost of replacements.
A new apartment development contrasts with the proposed rezoning. The $53.3 million Brisas del Sol, which opened in March, contains 146 apartments restricted to households earning between 30% and 80% of area median income. Miami contributed $2.25 million in federal HOME funds toward the project.
Those apartments carry explicit income restrictions. The proposed zoning changes instead rely on increased development capacity to create more housing opportunities.
A decade of planning
Planning and design firm Plusurbia developed a Calle Ocho revitalization proposal in 2015 and a broader neighborhood plan in 2019. The work sought to improve Little Havana while retaining its housing, historic buildings and cultural identity.
The National Trust for Historic Preservation released the Little Havana “Me Importa” Revitalization Master Plan on June 11, 2019. It followed more than two years of work and input from more than 2,700 residents and stakeholders.
The plan called for compatible construction, rehabilitation of historic buildings and quality housing for neighborhood residents. Megan McLaughlin, Plusurbia’s director of preservation projects, said in an interview with HousingWire TBD the effort linked preservation with walkability, better housing options and affordability.
The strategy favored incremental development rather than assembling entire blocks for larger projects. Developers were holding properties while awaiting bigger opportunities, leaving vacant lots instead of housing, McLaughlin said.
Plusurbia proposed “inverse density,” granting greater density allowances to smaller lots to encourage construction without further property assembly. “The smaller the lot, the more density the city would give you,” McLaughlin said.
Preservation methods could also guide new housing, McLaughlin said. The approach studies enduring neighborhoods, measuring building heights, setbacks and sidewalk widths before incorporating those characteristics into development rules.
“It’s like coding,” McLaughlin said. “Like you’re documenting the DNA of that place, and then you integrate it into the code.”
Small, compatible infill buildings have long been added within historic districts, McLaughlin said. Applying similar methods elsewhere could accommodate more housing without abrupt changes in scale.
For Juan Mullerat, Plusurbia’s founder and McLaughlin’s husband, acceptance also depends on transportation. During the same interview, Mullerat described pairing affordability with transit access and smaller housing types.
Selling density means addressing mobility
Mullerat challenged the assumption that additional density necessarily produces more traffic. Housing in the right locations, paired with usable transit connections, can reduce car trips, Mullerat said.
“Transportation is critical too,” Mullerat said. Work in Miami’s West Grove illustrated the gap between proximity to transit and convenient access.
Plusurbia developed an economic study and affordable housing zoning strategy in the neighborhood, where residents feared displacement. A nearby train station offered an advantage, but reaching it required crossing six lanes of U.S. 1, Mullerat said.
Improving mobility was therefore essential, alongside incentives for housing development. The zoning strategy also differed from Live Local, emphasizing smaller housing types within existing neighborhoods.
Mullerat described the approach as “gentle density”: small apartment buildings, accessory dwelling units, triplexes and four-unit buildings. The housing could serve different household needs, including an older relative or student living in an accessory unit.
Smaller buildings that fit existing neighborhoods generally face less resistance than taller buildings beside houses, Mullerat said. Carefully placed additions could expand housing options without sharply changing the surrounding scale.
Residents question the limits
At the September hearing, a property owner argued that existing zoning already provides ample room for housing growth. The owner cited a 2016 city planning study titled “Maximum Density Potential.”
The owner said that existing zoning could accommodate eight times the number of housing units recorded in 2010. The owner said that capacity preceded subsequent increases through other development measures.
The owner questioned whether roads, drinking-water supplies, sewage treatment, garbage disposal and hurricane evacuation systems could support substantial growth. Its proposed map would also violate Miami 21’s gradual-transition principle, the owner argued.
“How much is enough? How much is too much?” the owner asked.
Separately, a city analysis estimated capacity for nearly 20,000 additional residents under the broader land-use proposal. Both figures describe potential capacity, not forecasts of construction or population growth. The eightfold figure remains the owner’s characterization of the 2016 study.
A preliminary school district review found insufficient capacity at six of nine schools serving the affected area. Additional capacity or other measures could be needed as development proceeds.
City planners point to bus routes and transportation corridors as reasons for permitting more housing. The approach seeks to bring homes closer to employment, shopping and services.
Public concerns prompt changes
City planning staff said an earlier community meeting drew about 75 people. Participants objected to rezoning near single-family areas south of Calle Ocho and along Ninth Street.
Planners subsequently removed almost all affected properties in that area, staff said. A few remained to complete a gradual transition between higher-density development and lower-density neighborhoods.
The department also engaged a consultant to develop the neighborhood revitalization district and design guidelines. Staff expressed support for separate conservation-district efforts in Shenandoah and the Roads.
Those measures would address how development fits into existing neighborhoods, not simply how many apartments are permitted. Continued outreach will accompany work on the district and other potential overlay tools.
Improvements along Calle Ocho
Miami is also investing in Calle Ocho, Little Havana’s core commercial corridor. Commissioners approved $7 million for sanitation and security, half the $14 million originally proposed.
“It’s a good start,” Zion Mass, CEO of Mass Construction, told HousingWire TBD. Mass sees potential in the commercial corridor, surrounding housing, historic homes and long-established convenience stores.
The neighborhood remains home to longtime residents, while proximity to downtown Miami and Brickell could attract younger households. Mass said that even a relatively small city investment recognizes Calle Ocho’s continuing relevance and opportunities.
“It’s a great opportunity for the neighborhood to change and become a new hub for younger crowds to start to move into,” Mass said.
The funding addresses corridor conditions instead of housing costs or supply. The proposed revitalization district would separately incorporate public benefits and design guidelines, city planning staff said.
“It’s the responsibility of the citizens and the community leaders to make sure that it preserves some of its history,” Mass said. “And there are things in place to preserve the history.”
