Medical office/residential project planned in Miami-Dade (Photos)

By Brian Bandell for South Florida Business Journal

MAS AJP has proposed a medical office and residential development in South Miami.

The city’s Development Review Board will consider plans for the 1.63-acre site at 6800, 6820, and 6842 S.W. 62nd Ave., plus 6825 and 6843 S.W. 62nd Court, on May 20. Miami-based MAS AJP, led by Juan Carlos Mas and Alberto J. Perez, have the property under contract from Key Biscayne-based Southeastern Investment Group. The land is mostly vacant, but it has two houses.

The developer wants to change the zoning to add this block to the city’s transit-oriented development (TOD) district. That would require a City Council vote at a later time. After that, the developer would need to receive site plan approval.

MedSquare South Miami would feature 78,885 square feet of medical office and 396 parking spaces in six stories, with the medical office fronting 62nd Avenue. There would be a separate residential building along 62nd Court.

While the initial site plan showed 12 townhouses in the residential building, Perez said it was downsized to eight for-sale duplexes. These two-story units would average 3,200 square feet and include garages and pools, he said.

“It’s a good way to transition from commercial on 62nd Avenue into residential on the west side of the site to be sensitive to our neighbors,” Perez said.

As for the medical office building, it would have 13,000 square feet of medical office on the ground floor, he said. Like the rest of his MedSquare building, it would be designed with Class A finishes and special elevators, ceiling heights, electrical and plumbing to accommodate medical users.

He noted the site is two blocks north of Baptist Health South Florida’s South Miami hospital. Data shows there is positive absorption of medical office space in the neighborhood, Perez said.

“There is built up demand for a new Class A medical office in that market,” Perez said. “There is a flight to quality and when you look at the competitive environment, there’s a lot of Class B and C vintage [buildings] from the ‘70s and early ‘80s.”

Miami-based Modis Architects designed MedSquare South Miami.

MAS AJP has completed two MedSquare projects in Miami-Dade County and it has another seven either under construction or in permitting – with six of them in Florida and the other in Virginia. Perez said the plan is to grow the MedSquare business model throughout the southern U.S.

According to the first quarter report from Blanca Commercial Real Estate, medical office space in Miami-Dade County has a 95% occupancy rate and 140,000 square feet of positive net absorption over the past 12 months. About 1.37 million square feet of medical office was under construction.