Hollywood, FL-based Beacon Tradeport Associates has requested a substantial deviation on a 302-acre development of regional impact, which would allow development of industrial-warehouse property under the county's recently adopted telecommunications hub zoning classification.

The rezoning request would primarily affect development within the Miami LightSpeed Center, a 100-acre industrial-telecommunications site located roughly between Northwest 12th and 25th Streets and Northwest 111th and 117th Avenues.

Since the application affects covenants approved in an existing DRI, the rezoning request would also technically cover all or part of the Dolphin Mall, a 1.3 million-sf retail center adjacent to the LightSpeed Center.

It is unknown publicly how much the partnership would benefit financially from such a zoning change, although industry experts speculate it could shave millions off long-term development costs. Officials at Beacon Tradeport, an operation managed by SREG Beacon Tradeport Inc. and an affiliate of Hollywood-based Swerdlow Real Estate Group Inc., did not respond to a request from GlobeSt.com for comment.

In mid-June, GlobeSt.com first reported the Miami-Dade County Commission adopted the new telecommunication hub zoning classification. The new classification allows developers to reduce site-parking requirements and possibly increase the leaseable space on projects designed primarily to store high-tech telecommunications equipment.

Since telecom hubs typically require less parking than other industrial-use classifications, the county commission authorized use of the new zoning classification on any site constructed to store "computer servers, communications routers, switches and similar machinery or equipment for directing or facilitating communications traffic."

The new classification requires one parking space per 2,000 sf of gross floor area. In comparison, traditional industrial-use projects must provide one parking space per 1,000 sf feet of gross floor area up to 10,000 sf, then one parking space per 2,000 sf thereafter.

All of this activity follows the announcement in April that an investment group led by Dallas-based Olympus Real Estate Corp. acquired a substantial ownership stake in the Miami LightSpeed Center from an affiliate of Swerdlow Real Estate Group. Under terms of the deal, Swerdlow remained as the telecom park's operating partner.

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GlobeSt.com UPDATE: LightSpeed Group Angles for Rezoning

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