Training residents for jobs at SoLe Mia project

As the largest project in North Miami’s history continues to make progress, a South Florida business is working to train city residents to be part of that development.

The SoLe Mia project on Biscayne Boulevard broke ground in June 2015 and Garth Solutions has been working to fulfill the project’s local preference requirements by giving residents and local businesses training opportunities in carpentry, plumbing, security services and electrical work.

Yvonne Garth, whose company has been involved in projects like MetLife Stadium in New Jersey, the Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport and the Broward Health Medical Center, said that since coming on board with SoLe Mia in March, her company has helped about 150 people with scholarship opportunities for training to work on the site.

“The program has been around for years but hadn’t gotten a lot of traction,” Garth said.

The program has partnered with local schools like Turner Tech and the Miami Lakes Education Center to provide training and for North Miami residents and businesses. They are eligible for a share of $2.5 million in scholarships provided by the developers.

The program’s first female graduate, Kathleen Cordon, said the program gave her a chance to return to a city that she loved and to advance her career. Cordon graduated from Florida International University with a degree in construction management and moved to North Carolina, but she returned last year and entered the training program to work at SoLe Mia.

“I know that being in the industry I’ve had obstacles, but now, to have this other knowledge on my belt, people know that I know how things should be done,” Cordon said.

The company also hopes to expand beyond the traditional construction skills training to do additional management training. Applicants also receive resume and interview assistance.

Garth said that the biggest challenge has been identifying a large enough pool of residents and vendors to work on the SoLe Mia site.

The 183-acre project, which stretches along Biscayne Boulevard just south of Northeast 151st Street, has been in the planning stages for decades but has picked up in recent years. The site had been the former Biscayne Landing property.

In the past year, progress has been made through the partnership of Jeffrey Soffer, Jackie Soffer and Richard LeFrak. They bought 55 acres of land from the city of North Miami for $22 million last year.

Previous developers had tried and failed for 50 years to the build on the land, which for many years was a federal Superfund site. Soffer and LeFrak want to build two 200-unit rental buildings, a 10-acre swimming lagoon and a retail center.

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The project’s spine road has been completed and the groundbreaking for the two residential towers is expected to take place at the beginning of next year.

Potential applicants can stop by the local preference office, at 12540 NE Eighth Ave., from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. on weekdays or call 786-801-1366.

This story was originally published September 13, 2016 at 10:36 PM with the headline "Training residents for jobs at SoLe Mia project."