975 apartments coming near Dolphin Station

Upland Park, a $1 billion transit-focused development near the park-and-ride station at Dolphin Mall is progressing with phase one as a utilities deal was signed earlier this summer.

The developer, Terra International Services LLC, entered an agreement with Miami-Dade County to supply water and sewer to the site in June. Background documents show 531 apartments will be built in Upland Park’s east plat while 444 rise in the west. The combined apartment count under the agreement is 975.

In 2021, the county commission authorized Terra to develop the 47 acres of government-owned land located near the corner of NW 14th Street and NW 118th Place. The master-planned, transit-oriented community will rise across from Miami-Dade County’s SMART Plan Dolphin rapid transit station.

Upland Park is described as the “first truly viable alternative to automobile commuting,” according to its official website.

“Upland Park is the largest public/private transit-oriented development in Miami-Dade County’s history and is designed to increase ridership of the transportation system and anchor the new East-West Corridor of the County’s SMART public transportation plan,” Terra CEO David Martin said in a statement.

In December 2022, Terra signed a lease for the land and obtained a $35 million loan to fund the mixed-used development. Coral Gables-based Dolphin KS Finance LLC provided the mortgage to Terra affiliate Upland Park Phase I LLC. The loan authorized Terra to begin site work on the project in early 2023 with vertical construction coming later.

Phase one includes 441 garden apartments, along with a midrise building encompassing 350 multifamily units, 35,000 square feet of neighborhood-oriented retail, and about 800 parking spaces to accommodate retail, residential and transit patrons, a spokesperson for the developer told Miami Today in February 2022.

Once completed, Upland Park is to include over 1,700 mid-rise and garden residences, 140,000 square feet of retail and 427,000 square feet of commercial space, a 126-room hotel, office space and a charter school.

The design architect is Arquitectonica, a Miami-based firm with global offices. Plusurbia Design is responsible for the urban planning aspect and BCC Engineering is the project’s civil engineer.

Terra is a South Florida-based real estate development company founded by David Martin and Pedro Martin with properties in Coconut Grove, Miami Beach, Doral, Miami, Sunny Isles, West Hialeah, Bay Harbor, Pembroke Pines and Weston.

An updated schedule for the second and third phases is still unknown, although preliminary documents shared show phase two starting in May 2025 and phase three in November 2027.