Long-abandoned townhouse project could be revived as apartments

By Brial Bandell for South Florida Business Journal

A townhouse development site in Miami Gardens that has sat vacant for decades could be revived as an apartment project.

The City Council will consider the new site plan for the Vista Verde Apartment Homes on April 24. Barr Villas LLC, managed by Raul Bolufe, Carlos Rodriguez, and Luis Rubalcabal of B2R Builders, filed the site plan for the 3.78-acre property. It’s located on the south side of Northwest 215th Street, just west of Northwest 38th Avenue. It’s just south of the Miami-Dade/Broward County line and Florida’s Turnpike.

The site was platted in 1987 for 27 individual townhomes. However, no development took place.

Barr Villas has proposed 54 apartments in seven buildings of two stories each for a total of 69,861 square feet. There would be 127 parking spaces, including nine spaces in standalone garage buildings. The only major amenity area would be a dog park.

Ivo Fernandez, a principal and co-founder at Miami-based Modis Architects, which designed the project, said Vista Verde would be a walk-up townhouse-style project but with rentals, not sales. The developers decided against seeking higher density for the site because they wanted to keep with the scale of the surrounding neighborhood, which has mostly single-family homes and townhouses, he said.

“They are very eager about this project,” Fernandez said regarding his clients. “They really like the location and the scale of it and I think they want to move pretty quickly.”

There’s been more apartment development in Miami Gardens in recent years as renters seek more affordable places to live amid a surge in rents in the urban core.

External Source: B2R Builders plans Vista Verde Apartments in Miami Gardens – South Florida Business Journal (bizjournals.com)