Terra to Build Over 1,369 Apartments From Prologis Purchase

MIAMI—Terra has finalized plans to build more than 1,369 new multifamily apartments in proximity to some of the region’s largest employment centers. The project will be on a 70-acre development site Terra purchased for $52 million in Northwest Miami-Dade County, located along NW 170th Street between I-75 and Florida’s Turnpike.

Terra acquired the site from Prologis in a deal that closed on Dec. 9. The firm’s purchase of the site was made possible with a $43 million loan from Synovus. The site is fully entitled for residential development, and a permit for initial site work has been issued. Construction is expected to begin in early 2020.

Terra President David Martin tells GlobeSt.com that the development will include a series of garden-style apartment buildings within three master-planned subdivisions. Each subdivision will be centered around a communal clubhouse with pools, resident amenities and fitness centers, while a network of greenspaces will create outdoor recreation areas.

“This project is in line with Terra’s ongoing efforts to shift large scale residential density from areas that are vulnerable to climate change to higher-lying ground,” Martin says. “The firm is doing this though urban infill and new development on vacant land away from the coast. The project will address the market’s pent up demand for attainable housing and bring residents close to major employers.”

Martin says the average rent of the apartments, which do not have a name yet, will be between $1,400 and $1,500. Two bedrooms will go for $1,800 to $2,200 and three bedrooms will run between $2,400 and $2,500.

Terra says adding nearly 1,400 new units near the border between Miami-Dade and Broward Counties will address pent-up demand for rental housing in South Florida. Approximately 1.2 million Miami-Dade residents currently live in 500,000 apartment homes, according to data from the National Multifamily Housing Council and the National Apartment Association. Meeting rising market demand would require the development of an additional 13,000 new units annually.

“Solving South Florida’s market rate housing crunch means identifying opportunities for urban infill development as well as land in suburban areas that can be rezoned to accommodate new inventory,” Martin says. “In this case, we are going to convert a vacant site initially earmarked for industrial development into a residential community that will create much-needed apartment housing minutes away from some of South Florida’s largest employers. And we’re doing it in a sustainable, resilient way by building within the Urban Development Boundary and on high-lying ground.”

Terra has enlisted Pascual, Perez, Kiliddjian Architecture (PPK) to create the development’s master plan and design its buildings. JLL’s Brian Smith represented Prologis in the deal.