Artificial Lagoons Offer an Alternative for Waterfront Living

SoLe Mia, located in North Miami near Oleta River State Park, is a 184-acre mixed-use $4 billion project developed by Turnberry and LeFrak with a seven-acre freshwater Crystal Lagoon. Called Laguna SoLe, it’s the size of 21 Olympic-size pools and has sandy beaches, a shallow area next to a palm-fringed island that’s ideal for small children and options for activities such as paddleboarding, kayaking and floating on loungers; a path surrounds the lagoon where residents can walk or go on runs.

The property offers close to 4,400 residential units, a mix of rentals and condominiums. To date, 800 rentals are complete while the condominium project, ONE Park Tower, developed by Turnberry, is slated for a 2026 opening, according to Richard LeFrak, the president and chief executive of LeFrak. Prices for rentals begin at $2,800 a month, and condominium sales start at $800,000.

Ramu Gutierrez is a project manager who rents a one-bedroom apartment at SoLe Mia that overlooks the lagoon. She loves the lagoon, she said, because she has access to the water where she lives as opposed to getting her fix by driving to the beach, about 15 minutes away.

“I work from home, and during the week, I take a break at midday by walking around the lagoon. On the weekends, I like paddleboarding, swimming or reading a book on one of the beaches,” she said. “I feel like I’m on vacation all the time.”

DAMAC Lagoons, in Dubai, is another master-planned development with a Crystal Lagoon — in this case, two — a footprint that’s bigger than 141 Olympic-size swimming pools. Spread over more than 45 million square feet, the project is divided into 17 clusters, each of which is inspired by a different Mediterranean locale such as Costa Brava, Nice and Morocco.