Three major developers are seeking approval from Miami’s Urban Development Review Board to add a total of 1,600 multifamily units to the city. The projects include a significant portion of workforce housing under Florida’s Live Local Act.
Namdar Group, Helm Equities, and Crescent Heights have each submitted proposals that will be reviewed by the board on Wednesday. These plans reflect ongoing confidence in Miami’s rental market despite recent concerns about an oversupply following a surge in new apartment completions over the past two years. Developers argue that demand will align with supply as construction concludes and emphasize their strategy of targeting specific neighborhoods to avoid market saturation.
Namdar Group, based in Great Neck, New York, is proposing the largest project among those up for review. The company aims to build a 42-story tower with 1,011 apartments at 250 and 296 Southwest Seventh Street in Brickell. Designed by Behar Font & Partners, the building would reserve 405 units for households earning no more than 120 percent of the area median income (AMI), meeting the Live Local Act requirement that at least 40 percent of units qualify as workforce or affordable housing. Namdar has also requested permission from the city to include 599 micro-units ranging from 275 to 400 square feet.
The Live Local Act was enacted in Florida in 2023 and modified over the following two years. It allows developers to construct buildings up to a jurisdiction’s maximum density and height if they allocate at least 40 percent of their units for residents earning up to 120 percent of AMI.
Although Namdar could potentially build up to 48 stories and 1,030 units on its site according to its application, its current plan is slightly smaller. The property is owned by Baywood Hotels.
Elsewhere in Brickell, Namdar is already working on another multifamily development featuring two towers with a combined total of 1,400 units. Phase I—a 43-story tower with 680 apartments at 55 Northeast Second Street—is expected to be completed early next year. Construction began in September on Phase II: a second tower with 714 apartments at nearby 50 Northeast Third Street; completion is projected for 2028.
Helm Equities—an affiliate of JEMB Realty from New York—has revised its proposal for a Live Local Act project in Miami’s Design District, known for high-end retail destinations largely developed by Miami Design District Associates. Helm proposes constructing a 36-story residential tower with 278 apartments alongside an eight-story office building offering approximately 101,400 square feet of workspace. According to Helm’s application, the project would also provide over 56,400 square feet of retail space, an underground garage accommodating more than six hundred vehicles, open space totaling about six thousand square feet, and civic space covering nearly fourteen thousand square feet. The development would occupy a property at 220 Northeast 43rd Street that Helm has owned since 2014. Previous versions included different configurations but maintained focus on leveraging incentives under the Live Local Act. The Gindhi family is listed as limited partners in this venture.
Crescent Heights continues expanding its presence in Edgewater with plans for a new phase adjacent to its recently finished Forma apartment tower. Led by Sonny Kahn, Russell Galbut and Bruce Menin, Crescent Heights intends to build a new forty-two story residential building containing three hundred sixty apartments along with an adjacent six-story commercial structure for retail and offices at 200 Northeast Thirtieth Street. This site sits next door to Crescent’s existing forty-story Forma tower—which contains five hundred eighty-eight apartments renting between $3,565 and $7,515 per month according to the company’s website—and was reportedly ninety-seven percent leased as of October per comments from Galbut.
The planned expansion designed by Arquitectonica would connect both towers via pedestrian bridges linking them also with the commercial building.
