Public-private deal to build workforce housing downtown

The Miami Parking Authority (MPA) has joined another public-private partnership (P3) designed to improve one of its downtown garages and bring much needed workforce housing units to the City of Miami.

The MPA is announcing what it calls an innovative mixed-use redevelopment project set to transform the corner of NE Second Avenue and NE Third Street.

The project will redevelop the College Station parking garage at no cost to the city’s parking agency. The redevelopment plan will feature two residential towers and commercial space.

Under a P3 agreement between MPA and College Station Partners LLC, the authority will own and operate the 1,355 parking-space garage in the heart of the urban core.

The two new residential towers will be owned by the developer.

Each tower will be comprised of 600 apartments. A total of 180 units will be dedicated to workforce housing for the entire project. The apartments will include studios and one- and two-bedroom units. There will also be 30,000 square feet of commercial space.

Under the terms of the agreement, Arquitectonica, an international architectural firm with offices in Miami and worldwide, will design the project.

“As a public organization, we have a shared responsibility to provide public parking for the community but also to address interconnected urban challenges, which housing is one of them,” said Alejandra “Alex” Argudin, MPA chief executive officer.

“The workforce housing component of the project was of utmost importance to MPA to allow individuals and families the ability to live in downtown Miami, a growing urban employment center close to schools, cultural and sports venues, and various transportation modalities,” said Ms. Argudin.

The College Station Garage was built about five decades ago as part of the original MPA portfolio. The garage also housed the MPA’s offices until the Courthouse Center Garage was built in 2010.

The College Station facility met the purpose for which it was created. However, as Miami has transformed and grown, the needs of the central business district have presented a unique opportunity to revamp this landmark corner of downtown history.

“This lease approval concludes a thorough negotiation period that we believe has yielded a win-win for the MPA, College Station Partners, and the community at large,” stated Oscar Rodriguez, principal of College Station Partners LLC.

“We are excited to begin our pre-development process with our public sector partners and look forward to breaking ground in the very near future,” he said.

Ms. Argudin added, “The key to economic expansion is to redevelop the aging urban infrastructure to attract and retain residents, entice new businesses and improve mobility on our roads. We are carving out a vision not only for today but also for the future of the city of Miami residents.”

College Station Partners LLC is a partnership between the principals of Related and ROVR Development LLC. The principals have worked together for the better part of a quarter century.

The firm boasts, “This team has single-handedly re-shaped the CBD and the city’s skyline while proving that a robust market exists for residential development in downtown Miami through such pioneering projects as One Miami, Lofts 1, Lofts 2, and 50 Biscayne.”

These market-making projects were the foundation for downtown Miami’s current growth which has seen its population grow from 44,000 residents to a projected 115,000 residents by the end of 2023, says the private firm.

The developer’s team says the redevelopment of College Station Garage represents an important next step in their collective body of work to transform the CBD into a 24-hour live-work-play community, while addressing newly emerging district needs through the provision of affordable/workforce housing and incorporation of public service amenities as part of College Station.

MPA, officially known as the Department of Off-Street Parking of the City of Miami, was created in 1955 by a Special Act of the Florida State Legislature and incorporated into the City of Miami’s Charter in 1968. The authority is an award-winning, nationally recognized leader in parking innovation, technology integration, and micro-mobility adoption that supports urban mobility.

This isn’t the first public-private partnership involving the parking authority: Others include Regatta Harbour Garage in Coconut Grove; its headquarters downtown with Grand Station mixed-use residential development rising next to and part of MPA’s Courthouse Center Garage; and a new 53-story mixed-use residential tower under construction next to the authority’s Cultural Center Garage on SW First Street, between SW First Avenue and S Miami Avenue, and north of SW Second Street.