Miami-Dade school could relocate to make way for mixed-use project

By Brian Bandell for South Florida Business Journal

A private school in the Kendall neighborhood of Miami-Dade County could relocate to make way for a mixed-use development with multifamily and senior living.

Miami Beach-based 11405 SW 82 Avenue LLC and 8080 SW 112 St LLC, both managed by Frank C. Mena and Michael Baldwin, filed a pre-application with county officials for the 9.2-acre site at the same addresses, plus 11555 S.W. 82nd Ave., and 8000 S.W. 112th Street (Killian Parkway). The developers already own 7.4 acres of the site and it has the rest under contract from Roig Holdings (owner of the Roig Academy private school) and 8080 SW 112 St LLC.

The property currently has the 3,956-square-foot school building and a few homes, but it’s about half vacant.

The developer wants to rezone the properties to “residential modified district” to allow a mixed-use development. The Roig Academy would be relocated from the northern part of the site to the center.

The site plan calls for 400 apartments in eight stories, 123 assisted living units in seven stories, six senior villas of four stories each with a combined 36 units, and 71 senior condos in six stories, plus an eight-story parking garage with 690 spaces.

The developer’s attorney Ben J. Fernandez, of Miami-based Bercow Radell Fernandez Larkin + Tapanes said the project is vital because it addresses the need for housing in the county, especially for seniors, and it promotes mass transit on the neighboring South Dade TransitWay, where the county built a rapid transit EV bus system.

“At nearly 10 acres, this project is the county’s last piece of undeveloped land of its size on US-1 from Aventura to Cutler Bay,” Mena and Baldwin said in a statement. “It’s especially meaningful to us because it creates a true multi-generational community to protect our senior citizens, continue to serve children with language-based disabilities such as dyslexia, adds much-needed housing, promotes mass transit, enhances the vacant South Dade Trail Mini-Park, activates the South Dade Trail, and protects our environment. This project is a rare opportunity for Miami-Dade residents that gives a broader civic value than a typical development.”

The owners of the Roig Academy, Gus Roig and Dr. Jenni Roig, said the project would allow their school to continue its presence on the site for years to come. The Roig Academy focuses on students with language-based disabilities, such as dyslexia.

The developers don’t have a rendering of the project yet. It will be designed by Miami-based Modis Architects.

“From a design and planning perspective, the vision is for a multi-generational, transit-oriented community to be located where the need is greatest and the infrastructure to support it already exists,” Modis Architects said in a statement. “The project blends traditional housing with one of the only age-in-place communities in Miami-Dade designed to serve our seniors, and it allows the school that has been part of this community for decades to continue in a modern facility.”

External Source: Frank C. Mena and Michael Baldwin propose multifamily, senior living on Roig Academy site in Kendall – South Florida Business Journal