Related Group breaks ground on workforce apartments, health clinic

By Mark Dovich for South Florida Business Journal

Related Group’s workforce housing division has broken ground on a new affordable housing project in Miami-Dade County.

Miami-based Related Urban Development Group began construction Dec. 4 at 860, 930 and 950 N.W. 95th St. in Miami’s West Little River neighborhood.

The project, dubbed Residences at Palm Court, would provide 316 residential units, including 191 apartments for seniors. Amenities in the 12-story development would include an on-site Jessie Trice Community Health System clinic, fitness center, computer lounge and co-working spaces.

Miami-based Modis Architects designed the project. The name of general contractor was not immediately available.

The Residences at Palm Court would replace two multifamily buildings offering a total of 191 public housing units. Those structures, named Palm Court and Palm Tower, date back to the 1970s.

The Miami-Dade County Commission approved a 99-year ground lease for the 3.64-acre site in 2023. The county is also supporting the project with $3.5 million in funding from the Home Investment Partnerships Program.

Some of the units in the new complex would be reserved for residents making between 20% and 80% of Area Median Income. The exact number of workforce units planned was not clear.

The median household income in Miami-Dade County is $87,200, according to the Department of Housing and Urban Development.

Current residents of Palm Court and Palm Tower would have the right to move back into the Residences at Palm Court once completed, according to the application.

“The start of construction marks another milestone in our mission to build dynamic, inclusive communities that serve all Miamians,” said Related Urban Development Group President Albert Milo Jr.

In an updated zoning application for the project filed June last year, Related Group said it would tap Florida’s Live Local Act to slightly boost the allowable density on the property.

Passed in 2023, the legislation aims to spur the creation of more workforce housing across the Sunshine State by allowing developers to bypass local zoning and density requirements and by offering tax incentives.

Dozens of Live Local projects have been proposed in South Florida, though only a handful have actually broken ground so far.

Residences at Palm Court would be one of the largest new-construction Low-Income Housing Tax Credit projects in Miami-Dade County history, according to the developers.

In recent years, Miami-Dade County officials have moved to redevelop many older public housing sites to increase density by combining newly constructed public housing with workforce housing and market-rate housing. Related Group has successfully executed several of these deals.

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