A Miami review board has recommended approval for two major affordable and workforce housing projects, which together would bring nearly 730 new rental units to the city. The urban development review board considered proposals from The Cornerstone Group and Brookstone Partners for a Little Havana project, as well as Atlantic Pacific Companies’ plans in Overtown.
The board’s role is advisory; final decisions rest with the city’s planning director.
Cornerstone Group and Brookstone Partners, both based in Hollywood, succeeded on their second attempt to move forward with an eight-story building at 805 West Flagler Street in Little Havana. The plan calls for 354 apartments aimed at workforce renters on a 2.4-acre site. The building will include about 5,000 square feet of retail space intended for a small market or pharmacy, a rooftop pool deck, and two courtyards—each covering 8,000 square feet—with one designed as a dog park.
The developers’ initial proposal was rejected by the board last November. Corwil Architects revised the design, adding features such as curving balconies that received positive feedback from most board members. However, Vice Chair Gia Zapattini noted concerns remain: “The goal is really for a pedestrian to not experience an almost 400-foot long façade,” she said.
Alberto Cordoves of Corwil Architects explained that breaking up the building’s mass was central to the redesign and that further improvements could be made by adding more glass elements. Board member Manuel Gustavo Gallardo questioned whether the retail space was large enough for its intended use, but attorney Melissa Tapanes Llahues said it would serve as a mini-market due to limited demand in light of other recent nearby developments.
Approval came with conditions requiring additional modifications to break up the façade along Flagler Street, study alternative balcony railings (especially on ground-floor units), and provide more landscaping details.
Atlantic Pacific Companies received conditional approval for phase two of its Culmer Place affordable housing development in Overtown. This seven-story project will add 375 apartments—including 94 reserved for extremely low-income residents—with most other units available to households earning up to 80 percent of Miami-Dade County’s area median income (AMI). According to Florida Housing Finance Corporation data, Miami-Dade’s annual AMI stands at $87,200 but is subject to updates each spring.
This latest phase adds to the recently completed first portion of Culmer Place at 801 Northwest Seventh Avenue where Atlantic Pacific obtained temporary occupancy certificates late last year. The company leases this nearly 14-acre site from Miami-Dade under a long-term agreement; construction is phased partly to prevent displacement of current residents. Public housing redevelopments typically give existing tenants priority access to new units.
Corwil Architects also designed Culmer Place V. As with the Little Havana project, some board members raised concerns about long façades and repetitive design elements. “There’s another 376-foot long building, and I have a hard time seeing the separation… I see a giant 400-foot long concrete block,” Zapattini commented during deliberations.
Sergio Rodriguez from Corwil responded that designers paid special attention to façade details using vertical and horizontal bands in combination. Other issues included insufficient natural lighting in certain areas and lengthy internal corridors that could challenge elderly residents’ mobility.
Board approval requires several adjustments: breaking up the exterior massing further; adding windows near hallways adjacent to garages; enhancing landscaping; installing benches; providing double doors at some entrances; increasing privacy for select ground-floor units; and improving signage throughout the site. Corwil representatives indicated willingness to make these changes.
Separately on the agenda were two projects seeking administrative approvals under Florida’s Live Local Act—a law passed in 2023 allowing certain developments with sufficient affordable housing components (at least forty percent of units reserved for households earning no more than one hundred twenty percent of AMI) to bypass public hearings if they meet specific criteria set out by state legislation.
