Keystone Development + Investment has secured a $62 million loan to convert two office buildings near Dadeland Mall into residential apartments, marking an uncommon example of office-to-residential retrofitting in South Florida. The financing was provided by Arbor Realty Trust, based in Uniondale, New York.
The conversion project will create a total of 212 apartments at the seven-story building located at 9400 South Dadeland Boulevard and the eight-story building at 9500 South Dadeland Boulevard, both situated in unincorporated Miami-Dade County’s Dadeland area. According to Keystone’s filings with Miami-Dade and statements from a company representative to The Real Deal in May, the 145,400-square-foot building at 9400 South Dadeland Boulevard will be converted into 121 apartments, while the 113,100-square-foot building at 9500 South Dadeland Boulevard will house 91 units. Completion is expected next year.
Both buildings were originally constructed in the early 1980s. The conversions are part of Keystone’s broader Hyve project on its 8.3-acre site that currently features an office complex and two garages. Following these initial conversions, Keystone plans to build a new 25-story apartment tower with 219 units on the site of one existing garage.
While office-to-residential conversions have become more common in places like New York due to increased vacancies linked to hybrid work trends, such projects remain rare in South Florida. The region’s office market experienced significant growth during the pandemic as new companies moved into the area; however, some landlords have faced challenges from rising interest rates and continued shifts toward hybrid work arrangements.
In some cases, rather than converting offices for residential use, property owners are demolishing older buildings for new developments. For example, after Ryder System vacated its former headquarters campus at 11690 Northwest 105th Street in unincorporated Miami-Dade County—moving instead to a smaller location at 2333 Ponce de Leon Boulevard in Coral Gables—Bridge Industrial acquired the site and intends to redevelop it as a pair of warehouses totaling approximately 330,000 square feet.
Similarly, in Boca Raton, BH Group along with Pebb Enterprises and Related Group plan to replace an existing office structure on Office Depot’s headquarters campus with an eight-story apartment building containing about 500 units. Two other office buildings on that campus leased primarily by Office Depot will remain intact.
