Will 500 homes be built on a former Kendall golf course? Before vote, more talk
Homeowners and a developer will have to wait another month before the Miami-Dade County Commission decides whether to allow 540 single-family homes to rise on a former West Kendall golf course.
On Thursday, commissioners delayed until March 19 their vote on a proposal from GL Homes to redevelop the old Calusa Golf Course, a 168-acre property off Southwest 127th Avenue near Killian Parkway. The golf course has been closed since 2011.
The decision came after more than two hours of public comments, presentations from the developer and the opposition, and discussion on the dais. Some residents opposing the plans wore green “Save Calusa” T-shirts.
Amanda Prieto, an activist who lives near the proposed development and has led the nonprofit Save Calusa Inc. for years, told the Miami Herald after the meeting that she was “pleasantly surprised” by the delay. During her comments at the meeting, she called the Calusa dispute a “David versus Goliath” situation.
GL Homes has proposed redeveloping the golf course, which is surrounded by a residential development. Since the course shuttered more than a decade ago, rare birds have made nests in a lake on the property.
The Tropical Audubon Society has pushed for the developer to create a 330-foot buffer around the nesting site, and the developer has agreed to 100 feet. This has been a point of contention for Prieto and other residents who oppose the current plans.
After the meeting, Richard Norwalk, a senior executive at GL Homes, said that the company would try to discuss the plans further with the opposing residents before the next meeting.
“We’ll have to sit down with them and see what the conversation brings,” Norwalk said.
Norwalk said he’s optimistic the next vote will go the developer’s way.
READ MORE: Rare redo: Builder needs new Miami-Dade vote to develop the Calusa golf course
In addition to the Miami-Dade residents that showed up at Thursday’s meeting to protest the development plans, dozens were there to support the project.
Mayi de la Vega, the executive chair of ONE Sotheby’s International Realty, isn’t involved in the project, but she spoke in favor of the development during public comments. After the meeting, she told the Herald that there’s a need for more housing in the county. She said she’s seen people in the real estate industry leaving Miami-Dade for other counties because they can’t find places to live.
The developer has declined to specify home prices in the new community, but they’re expected to be higher than the existing houses that surround the closed golf course.
On the dais, Commissioners Roberto Gonzalez, Danielle Cohen Higgins and Vicki Lopez raised concerns about the project. Gonzalez said he was worried about the traffic the development could bring to the already-congested area.
Commissioner Raquel Regalado, whose district includes Calusa, supported the proposal. She said she was ready to vote on Thursday but offered to postpone the vote until the next zoning hearing.
“I think that the concessions have been made are good,” Regalado said. “I think that time has made this a better project.”
The dispute over the Calusa redevelopment has been going on for years. In 2021, the commission voted to approve plans for the project. But a lawsuit filed by Save Calusa Inc. that went up to the Florida Supreme Court forced the developer to start the zoning hearing process over again.
The County Commission was previously set to vote on the proposal in a zoning hearing last month, but the vote was postponed because proper notice had not been given for the meeting.
This story was originally published February 19, 2026 at 4:47 PM.
