Private-public partnership moves forward with West Brickell school, mixed-income housing

MIAMI – A group of mostly men in suits walked into the construction site of a private-public project in Miami on Wednesday morning. They held on to a shovel and posed for pictures in front of a “GROUNDBREAKING” sign with icons associated with the city, county, and a billionaire real estate developer.

The West Brickell vision includes a public school with 10 apartments for Miami-Dade County Public Schools employees and an apartment building with units that will be up for rent — some at market rate and some with government subsidies.

The construction site is just east of Interstate 95 and west of the high-rise oceanfront buildings with luxury amenities and hotels and office towers along Brickell Avenue. The growing neighborhood is close to restaurants, shops, nightlife, and Downtown Miami.

“This location matters because it’s also five minutes from Metrorail and Metromover. Affordable housing built near reliable public transportation is even more affordable because, well you don’t need a car,” said Miami-Dade Commissioner Eileen Higgins, who represents District 5.

Miami-Dade County and its federal and state government-funded public housing agency co-own the project’s three lots: 929 and 945 SW 3 Ave., and 201 SW 10 St. The private developer is associated with Miami’s Jorge M. Pérez, an art collector, and philanthropist.

The vacant parking lot on the corner of Southwest Second Avenue and 10 Street, south of the Miami River, is home to The Gallery, a 24-story residential building that will have nearly 500 apartment units and a seven-story parking building with a pool terrace.

The Gallery’s inventory includes about 180 apartment units to be leased exclusively to qualifying low-income tenants, according to Albert Milo, Jr., who heads Related Urban, a Related Group privately-owned development entity focused on affordable and workforce housing with public funding.

“It’s not just about housing; it’s about mixed-income housing. We have affordable housing, we have workforce housing, we have market-rate housing,” Milo said.

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, or HUD, defined “affordable” in 2006 as not costing more than 30% of the resident’s gross income. Miami-Dade defined “workforce” as residents whose incomes are within 60% to 140% of the area median income, most recently at $68,300.

The lots at 929 and 945 SW 3 Ave. will be the home of a public middle school for about 610 students and about 10 apartments for the school’s teachers, northwest of the Southside Preparatory Academy, an elementary school at 45 SW 13 St.

“We have no middle school here to serve parents in Brickell and downtown,” Higgins said.

Location