Miami-Dade County Mayor Daniella Levine Cava is working to expand her real estate initiatives while facing a recall petition. During her recent state-of-the-county address, Levine Cava discussed efforts to make the permitting process easier, encourage more affordable and workforce housing construction, and offer financial support to condominium owners dealing with large special assessments.
The recall effort is led by Alex Otaola, a Cuban American social media influencer who lost to Levine Cava in the August 2024 election. The county’s Republican Party supports the recall through social media campaigns, paid advertisements, and a website aimed at collecting signatures. To move forward with the recall election, at least 4 percent of Miami-Dade’s 1.6 million registered voters must sign the petition.
Levine Cava is expected to receive backing from South Florida’s real estate industry as she works against the recall effort. Campaign finance reports analyzed by The Real Deal show that about one-quarter of the $4.6 million raised by her political action committee before the August election came from 17 real estate developers and commercial property investors. Billionaire hedge fund manager Ken Griffin made the largest contribution with a $500,000 donation. Recently, Miami-Dade County approved plans for Citadel’s high-rise headquarters in Brickell.
Her political action committee collected $110,000 between October and December, with half coming from real estate developers.
Since taking office in 2020, Levine Cava said Miami-Dade has added 9,000 affordable and workforce housing units and aims to add another 12,000 by 2028. Her administration has reached agreements with developers to build mixed-income projects on county-owned land and redevelop old public housing sites. She pointed out Gallery at River Parc and Brisas del Rio—projects developed by Related Group—as examples.
“What was once outdated, public housing is now a walkable, mixed income community with more homes, shops, green spaces and support services,” Levine Cava said. “But there’s still more work to do. I directed our housing team to identify vacant county land that can be transformed into housing.”
She also described new permitting kiosks around the county intended to help small businesses navigate bureaucratic processes more quickly. One example involved Harrison Bloom, an audience member who opened a frozen yogurt shop in Miami Beach: “Harrison ran into familiar problems,” Levine Cava said. “His plans were stalled by red tape, and city and county permitting. Through our new Strive 305 permitting kiosks, Harrison was able to complete all his permits in just 16 days.”
Additionally, Levine Cava mentioned that nearly 2,000 households have received interest-free loans totaling $53 million through a program assisting condo owners unable to pay special assessments.
