‘Affordable luxury’: Here’s where you can find it in North Miami and more is planned
A long-awaited 184-acre mini-city continues to expand, adding more living options in North Miami.
Villa Solé opened in November and about 28 of its 187 units are already leased, according to Richard LeFrak, a co-developer of the project and CEO of the New York-based LeFrak. The 6-story rental building is a component of the Solé Mia project based at 2201 SoLé Mia Square Lane, which opened in 2019 with the twin rental building The Shoreline. More living options are on the way — another 6-story rental building.
Units at Villa Solé range from an approximately 700-square-foot one bedroom for $2,450 per month to 1,200-square-foot two bedroom unit for $3,600 per month. Renters slated to move in as early as December will have access to a heated outdoor pool, tanning shelf, yoga studio, pet spa, gaming area and co-working spaces.
Development plans stalled for decades for the former Biscayne Landing and Superfund site. From the mid-1970s through the early 1980s, the City of North Miami operated a solid waste landfill from the entire site. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency deemed the site safe for development in 1999. North Miami’s City Council decided to sell the site and remove contaminated rock from the land in 2014. A year later, LeFrak and Turnberry partnered to develop the project and launched construction on a 7-acre swimming pool and The Shoreline.
“If The Shoreline is any indication,” LeFrak said, “we expect that this will be absorbed almost immediately. We have this crystal lagoon, jogging trails, open space. It’s affordable luxury. It’s not super expensive. Our clientele here is not buying $3,000 a foot condos. It is more aimed at people that live in Miami full time.”
The Shoreline — 17-story twin towers with 397 units — float at around 96% occupancy, LeFrak said. Most renters earn a median household income of about $130,000 a year. LeFrak anticipates the same renter profile and occupancy level for Villa Solé.
Villa Laguna will be the next residential building to grace the mini city. The fourth building is anticipated to be completed by July 2022.
LeFrak sees more development opportunity for his firm beyond Solé Mia, betting on South Florida’s population growth given the wealth migration from across the country and the recent lifting of the COVID travel ban on 33 countries.
Named one of world’s richest people by Forbes — he’s worth $3.3 billion — LeFrak has long bet on the local market, entering 12 years ago and, among his earliest projects in Miami, revamping the 1 Hotel South Beach.
“In the end, real estate is a service business that serves population growth,” he said.
LeFrak acquired an undisclosed site in Fort Lauderdale in November, its head developer said. The development firm anticipates it will build another rental project.
The local LeFrak team will also expand to 25 from 10 next year to meet growing development needs.
“If people are moving to South Florida and you want to be part of it, you need a local presence,” LeFrak said. “You can’t run [a business] from a Zoom call. We will continue to expand down here.”
This story has been updated to reflect there are 187 units in the project, not 184, and to add that the EPA found the site safe for development in 1999.
This story was originally published November 22, 2021 at 1:00 AM.
