Lack of land in Miami-Dade has developers turning south

Story Highlights

• Developers are rapidly acquiring farmland in south Miami-Dade for housing.
• Homestead area sees major development projects totaling billions of dollars.
• Industrial and retail developments are also planned for the region.

In recent months, developers have snapped up dozens of acres of farmland and proposed hundreds of new housing units in south Miami-Dade.

At the center of these changes is the area around Homestead – usually better known as an agricultural hub and the gateway to the Everglades and Florida Keys than as a booming development zone.

But the county’s land scarcity issue is now forcing developers to turn south, where some undeveloped areas remain.

Richard Candia, the business development manager at Doral-based construction firm Florida Lemark Corp. and a longtime Homestead resident and real estate watcher, put it simply: “All the homebuilders are building down in south Dade because that’s the last place where there’s land.”

In the past, he continued, south Miami-Dade “was just a bedroom community, but without any of the bells and whistles, no places to go or shop. But now that’s changing.”

Candia pointed to the planned $275 million athletic complex in Homestead and $1.5 billion partial redevelopment of the former Southland Mall in Cutler Bay as evidence the area was now coming into its own.

“We’re not sexy, it’s not Brickell, it’s not the beach, and the New Yorkers that are coming aren’t looking to us down here. But there’s a lot going on,” Candia said.

Sports Performance Hub

In August, Homestead officials approved an 80-year ground lease with VSGS Facilities LLC, a Ponte Vedra Beach-based firm, to develop a multi-phase sports and recreation complex on some 112.5 acres at Homestead Regional Park. The privately funded project, known as the Sports Performance Hub of Miami-Dade, will be built at no cost to taxpayers and represent a private investment of about $275 million. The complex will include a 10,000-seat multipurpose stadium and sports academy, among other features. It is expected to create about 4,084 jobs during construction and 513 permanent jobs once stabilized.

Southplace City Center

In February, Tampa-based American Landmark Apartments and Aventura-based BH Group broke ground on the $1.5 billion partial redevelopment of the Southland Mall in Cutler Bay into a mixed-use project known as Southplace City Center. The project is approved for more than 5,000 multifamily units, 500,000 square feet of retail and restaurants, a 60,000-square-foot medical center and a 150-room hotel. The first phase is slated for completion in the third quarter of 2027.

Redlands Ridge

The Miami-based homebuilding giant Lennar Corp. (NYSE: LEN) has been particularly active in south Miami-Dade County. Most recently in September, a land bank acting on the company’s behalf paid $16.25 million for a 31.05-acre agricultural site at the northeast corner of Krome Avenue and S.W. 288th St./Biscayne Drive in Redland. Lennar, which frequently works with land banks to keep land assets off its books while it builds homes, has slated the property for 92 single-family homes in a project dubbed Redlands Ridge. 10% of the units would be set aside as workforce housing for people making up to 140% of Area Median Income (AMI).

Legacy Villas at Palm Drive

South Miami-Dade land is drawing the attention of developers outside of South Florida, too. In April, Boston-based Freehold Capital Management acquired 50 acres of farmland near Florida City for $31.6 million. The property at 19700 S.W. 344th St. would become Legacy Villas at Palm Drive, featuring 309 rental townhouses, with 10% of the units reserved for people making up to 140% AMI.

Retro West

Further down the development pike, Lennar filed a pre-application in June for a townhouse community in Redland on land it purchased the December prior. The Retro West project at 33700 S.W. 192nd Ave. would have 106 townhouses, 10% of them workforce. The development would sit on a portion of two parcels totaling 19.83 acres that Lennar acquired last December for $21.75 million.

Lennar buys out Century Homebuilders sites

Lennar has also taken over five south Miami-Dade development sites from Coral Gables-based Century Homebuilders Group, whose founder and CEO died last July, leaving his widow to run the company. In March, Lennar, through land banks, paid a combined $24.78 million for three sites totaling 24.7 acres near Florida City and Homestead. Together, the plots are slated for 117 townhouses and 108 single-family homes. In April, Lennar added two more Century Homebuilders sites to its portfolio, paying an additional $22.87 million for two more sites in Florida City, totaling 18.2 acres. At the time, the first site was already approved for 106 townhouses, while the second site had yet to secure full development approval.

Communities at Southwest 344th Street and Mowry Drive

Arlington, Texas-based builder D.R. Horton is also looking to get in on the development action, filing pre-applications in June for two new communities near Redland. The larger project would see 190 townhouses and 57 single-family homes rise on a 26.2-acre site at 19300 and 19360 S.W. 344th St. The second project would add another 34 single-family homes on 7.37 acres at 19470 and 19400 Mowry Drive.

South Dade Logistics Hub

Residential is far from the only use planned for south Miami-Dade County’s vacant land. In July, Dade Land Advisors, led by David A. Perez in Miami, filed an application to build a 3.9 million-square-foot industrial park on 237.7 acres of land that is vacant or in agricultural use near Homestead. The proposal would need County Commission approval, as it would require the expansion of Miami-Dade County’s Urban Development Boundary. The allowed uses under the proposed zoning would include logistics, warehousing, maintenance and repair, office, light manufacturing, wholesale showrooms and data centers.

29601 S.W. 137th Ave.

Abreu Development LLC, owned by Daniel Abreu and Grisel Abreu in Miami, also have their sets sight on industrial development in the area. In July, they filed an application to rezone 30.9 acres at 29601 S.W. 137th Ave. for industrial. The site, which is just west of the Homestead Air Reserve Base, is mostly vacant, but has one house. The project would see about 673,000 square feet of warehousing or self-storage space come online.

Flightway Eighteen and Flightway Twenty

In June, Coral Gables-based Blueteck filed fresh plans that would more than double its two proposed industrial/office flex projects in Homestead. Under the new proposal, the 8.25-acre parcel at the southwest corner of Southeast Eighth Street and Southwest 147th Avenue would have about 394,000 square feet of flex warehouse/office space. Blueteck, which has built many flex buildings throughout Miami-Dade County under the Flightway name, estimates the development cost at $43.9 million.

Palm Cove Reserve Retail Center

On the retail side, J.F.M. Development Corp., managed by Jeannie Graveran Santana in Hialeah, has proposed a new shopping center that would rise near a Lennar community under development in Homestead. The plans, filed in June, call for a nearly 46,000-square-foot retail center with 215 parking spaces over 4.51 acres at the northwest corner of East Palm Drive and Southeast 12th Avenue. It would be the retail component of a 296-unit townhouse community called Palm Cove Reserve that Lennar is developing next door.

Source: By Mark Dovich – Reporter, South Florida Business Journal. Oct 2, 2025