We read today in the South
Florida Business Journal :
Soffers and LeFrak buy 55 acres as part of $4B project in
North Miami
The $4 billion SoLē Mia project in North Miami took a big
step forward as the developers acquired 55 acres from the city for $22 million.
The entire site is 183 acres at 15045 Biscayne Blvd. Oleta
Partners, a joint venture between the Soffer family in Aventura and the LeFrak
family in New York, plans to build 4,390 high-rise residences, a 150-room
hotel, and more than 1 million square feet of commercial space, including
open-air retail, office and a Warren Henry Auto Group dealership.
The site will
also get two clear swimming waterways from Crystal Lagoons.
“We continue to work toward building a world-class mixed-use
community within the City of North Miami,” Michael Tillman, president of Oleta
Partners LLC. "This is just another milestone in our efforts towards
making SoLē Mia and North Miami prime destinations in South Florida.”
The city financed 80 percent of the $22 million purchase
price.
The additional acreage that wasn’t acquired is controlled by Oleta
Partners through a lease with the city.
In June 2015, the South Florida Business Journal had already announced:
Billionaire duo Soffer and LeFrak break ground on $4B SoLe
Mia project
The billionaire Soffer and LeFrak families broke ground on
Thursday on one of the largest development projects in South Florida, the $4
billion SoLē Mia in North Miami.
They aim to transform the 183-acre former superfund landfill
at 15045 Biscayne Blvd. into a community with residential towers, upscale
retail and commercial space. The project, formerly known as Biscayne Landing,
was decades in the making as many previous attempts to build there stalled out.
Two condo towers were built on the site overlooking Biscayne
Bay during the last real estate boom before the city took back the property
during the recession. Now North Miami has a lease with Oleta Partners, led by
the Soffers, who developed much of Aventura, and the LeFraks, who have built
major projects for 100 years.
The SoLē Mia name is the combination of Soffer, LeFrak and
Miami. The project is expected to open in 2018 and it will require the
remediation of the landfill to be completed.
“Miami is growing and we understand the demographics very
well and this is like the hole in the doughnut,” Jeffrey Soffer said. “In 20
years people will call it one of the premier communities to live in in Miami.”
The retail portion of the project is called SoLē Mia
Mainstreet. Jackie Soffer said it will have 400,000 to 500,000 square feet of
retail, with tenants such as a gourmet grocer, a bowling alley, a sporting
goods store and restaurants. There will also be a 40,000-square-foot dine-in cinema.
She said they are talking to multiple tenants and are prepared to sign leases
now.
The project will draw shoppers from Aventura just to the
north and throughout the county, Jackie Soffer said.
The design features an open-air main street style with
children’s play areas and a fountain.
“It is the center of the community and people want an area
where they can see and be seen,” Jackie Soffer said. “Part of shopping is
getting out and seeing other people. That is part of the entertainment. It’s a
modern version of what main street is in the United States.”
Crystal Lagoon
SoLē Mia Mainstreet will have office space above the retail
as well as freestanding office buildings, she said. The commercial space will
total 1 million square feet. The office space is estimated at 220,000 square
feet and nearly 4,200 parking spaces are planned.
Other components of the project include 4,390 high-rise
residences in at least 10 towers, two man-made lagoons, a 150-room hotel, a 100,000-square-foot
Warren Henry Auto Group dealership featuring Land Rover, Infiniti and Jaguar,
and a 37-acre public park.
The development team includes ARQ and EDSA as the planners
and designers for the residential portion and Design 3 International as the
planner and designer for the retail.
Right now, the developers are building the roads and
preparing to fill the lake, said Lenny O’Neil, senior VP of construction for
Tunberry Associates, the Soffer’s company. That’s part of $150 million in
infrastructure funded by the developers. The retail space and two rental towers
will start construction in about a year.
Jeffery Soffer compared the project to how his father
developed the Aventura Mall and the Fontainebleau Miami Beach when they took on
overlooked sites and transformed them into thriving centers for those cities.
"We believe we can put the right components in here and
create the jobs and create the right amenities to make this a great place to
live,” Jeffery Soffer said.
Harrison LeFrak said both families have demonstrated their
long-term commitment to building and owning projects for many years. They are
putting their own money into this project and they have the talent to make it
work, he added.
“If you have a big piece of land in a great location that
other people have forgotten about, it is an incredible business and community
development opportunity,” LeFrak said. “We share a long term strategy of
commitment to the community.”
North Miami Councilman Philippe Bien-Aime noted that the
development agreement requires that city residents receive preference for jobs
at SoLē Mia. The developer also promised to provide vocational training to city
residents so they can work there, he said.
While the property value revenue from the project would aid
the city, the biggest beneficiary from those funds might be the North Miami
Community Redevelopment Agency as it gets the tax incremental increases in its
district. North Miami Mayor Smith Joseph said the city is in the process of
restructuring the CRA and asking the county this fall to approve its charter
for another 20 years.
He expects the CRA to use the windfall from SoLē Mia’s
property taxes to spur redevelopment across the city, especially in the
downtown area where it’s seeking to draw businesses.
“Today North Miami realizes the dream that has been in the
works for decades and today that dream comes to fruition,” Joseph said.
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