5,730-Unit Miami Megaproject Advances After Developer Agrees To Water Breaks For Workers

One of the largest development proposals in Miami history took a big step forward on Tuesday.

A development team led by Coconut Grove-based Swerdlow Group received approval from the Miami-Dade County Housing Committee to advance Little River District, a $2.6B project with more than 5,000 housing units across Miami’s Little River and Little Haiti neighborhoods.

The developers propose replacing five public housing complexes and a series of industrial sites with 5,730 multifamily units, 370K SF of retail space — including new locations for The Home Depot and BJ's — as well as a new Tri-Rail Station, SG Holdings Managing Partner Michael Swerdlow said at the meeting Tuesday.

The 65-acre Little River District project would be built partly on land leased from the county for 99 years with a 99-year extension option. The proposal still must be approved by the Miami-Dade County Commission at its April 1 meeting.

Residents of the housing complexes attended the meeting and expressed concerns about displacement and being left out of the redevelopment conversations, while local labor advocates said they wanted protections for construction workers built into the agreement.

SG Holdings reached a deal that provides protections for workers, infrastructure improvements and a promise not to displace the local residents during the development.

“Our development team is delivering an extensive Community Benefits Agreement that is part of our lease with the County and will ensure worker protections, particularly related to heat, and responsible hiring with local hiring preferences for both construction and permanent jobs, including low-income and public housing area residents,” Swerdlow said in a statement.

Of Little River District's residential component, 2,284 units would be allocated as affordable housing at 60% of the area median income, and 1,398 units would be designated for workforce rentals priced up to 120% of AMI. The developers said the remaining 2,048 units could also be workforce condos ranging up to 140% AMI.

SG Holdings, a joint venture of Swerdlow, SJM Partners and Alben Duffie, would knock down Miami-Dade housing complexes Victory Homes, Newberg, Gwen Cherry 22, Gwen Cherry 06 and New Haven Gardens. The developers said all of the public housing residents would be relocated to the new buildings.

The developers are in negotiations to bring a Publix to the project, Swerdlow said at the meeting. They also plan to allocate 250K SF for green space and have committed an estimated $35.4M for the new rail station, according to a Swerdlow representative.

The proposal is larger than what Swerdlow proposed last year, when it targeted 4,900 affordable and workforce housing units, and made the retail and green space smaller by a combined total of 80K SF.

Over 99 years, the development is projected to generate $9.6B for the county, with $5.5M in annual lease payments and a revenue-sharing agreement. It is expected to create 518 permanent jobs.

The residents who spoke during the public comment portion of the meeting Tuesday said they have not reached an agreement with the developers and have not been included in discussions for the development. They requested a 60-to-90-day extension to gather more information. 

“We are confused because no one has talked with us about this big project, which impacts our daily life,” Erica Barrella, a resident at the Victoria Homes building, said in Spanish, according to a translator at the meeting. “We, the subsidized residents, want and need to have an opportunity to have conversations with the developers and public housing development before this item gets approved.”

Alex Ballina, Director of Miami-Dade Public Housing and Community Development, said the developers have held multiple meetings with residents to discuss the project, the most recent of which was March 6.

County Commissioner Marleine Bastien urged the developers and Ballina to strengthen their outreach efforts and continue their meetings. 

“I'm saying people are saying ‘No, no, no, no,’ so, make sure that you take their information,” Bastien told Ballina just before approving the motion. “They are here. Take their information and make sure that they are invited.”

Expected to create nearly 4,000 construction jobs, the project has also been a source of tension from a coalition of labor groups and medical professionals known as Build a Better Miami. They held a rally last week for greater labor protections for construction workers at the project, WLRN reported.

Members of Build a Better Miami flooded the meeting in matching white T-shirts with blue lettering and acknowledged that they met with the developers who agreed to provide safe working conditions for construction workers, including heat protections, sufficient breaks and access to drinking water.

County Commissioner Eileen Higgins applauded the developer for the community benefits agreement, which she said was agreed to over the weekend after the group's rally.

“Oftentimes, what happens is people show up here and there's been no resolution. And it looks like your meetings have resulted in quite a lot of things,” Higgins said. “I especially when I received a covenant on the heat protections over the weekend, I was very pleased.”

Ashley Toussaint, vice chair of the Little Haiti Trust, a City of Miami board that promotes economic development, business and commerce for the area, requested a $1M grant to protect historic small businesses. Swerdlow didn't respond to the request, but said the project would provide space for about 30 to 40 small businesses.

“Small businesses ought to understand that this project will create opportunities for them that they never would have had otherwise,” he said at the meeting. “If you take a quick look at our site plan, you'll see lots of room for small businesses who will come there because of the large businesses and the train station we're building. That should be the least of people's worries.”