A new multifamily proposal in the Ojus neighborhood of Aventura is the latest in a string of signals that developers are leveraging the recently opened Brightline station in the area to add density to their projects.

Developers Ram Realty and Pinnacle Housing are proposing a 16-story apartment building at 19640 W. Dixie Highway, directly across from the Aventura Mall and Brightline station. The joint venture submitted a pre-application with Miami-Dade County for the project, which would include 334 units, 10% of which would be designated as workforce housing, set atop a four-level parking garage.

Site plans submitted to the county include a 2,900 SF ground-floor retail space marked for coworking and a dog-washing station. A fifth-floor pool deck would have amenities including a fitness center, golf simulator and 2,700 SF club room. The building, designed by Orlando-based architect Baker Barrios, would have units ranging from studios to three-bedroom apartments.

Apartments would rise on three sides of the pool deck starting on the fifth floor before shifting to cover only two sides of the property beginning on the ninth level.

The proposal is an update to plans originally presented in January 2022, leveraging zoning changes passed last year to increase the project’s density by 49 units, according to a letter of intent submitted by Edward Martos, a partner at Weiss Serota Helfman Cole + Bierman who is representing the developers.

The workforce housing units would be available for residents making up to 110% of the area median income, or $82,170 for a single person, Martos said in the letter of intent, which asks the county to provide feedback on the project at the next available pre-application meeting.

Miami-based Pinnacle and Palm Beach Gardens-based Ram didn’t respond to Bisnow’s request for comment.

The joint venture paid $15.4M in January 2022 to acquire the vacant 2.25-acre parcel via an entity called 19640 WDH LLC, property records indicate.

The seller was an entity controlled by Miami Beach-based Privé Group, a development and land banking firm that has also proposed a new project near the Aventura Brightline station.

Privé Group filed a pre-application in January, disclosing plans for an 11-story office building with a 12-unit residential component connected by a parking garage at 18820 W. Dixie Highway, half a mile from the Ram and Pinnacle site.

That proposal also took advantage of changes to the zoning rules that increased the maximum allowable density in the county’s Ojus District. The neighborhood has attracted interest from developers since the Brightline added a station adjacent to the Aventura Mall in December 2022.

Aventura-based BH Group also filed a pre-application last January to replace eight small apartments and a vacant lot with a 132-unit apartment building spanning 232K SF, the South Florida Business Journal reported at the time.

Raphael Ammar, a preschool developer and operator, filed plans in August for an 18-story mixed-use project with 210 apartments called The Gateway in Ojus, The Real Deal reported, and Lumer Real Estate and Goldberg Cos. filed plans in November for a 700-unit apartment complex in the neighborhood, according to TRD.

Mark Gilbert, a vice chair at Cushman & Wakefield who recently brokered the $48M sale of a 90K SF shopping center near Ojus in Aventura, told Bisnow earlier this month that the opening of the Brightline station was transformative for the area.

“The amount of residential growth and commercial activity in the region is probably unprecedented,” Gilbert said.